Chapter Eleven
Justin
It was Friday night, my first high-pressure fight. To say I was nervous was an understatement. My whole life was riding on this fight and the next three. It was no longer just about my reputation as a fighter. This was about whether I was going to lose everything I ever loved or not. Just thinking about Markie gave me chills, and I tried to ignore them. He was a scary guy, and I wished I wouldn’t have gotten involved with him. The stress was starting to get to me.
On the other hand, I knew I had no other choice. I had been drowning in the debt for four years. I needed that money to pay off the bills. I lost it all, but I wasn’t going to lose anymore. Not with how much was on the line this time. I just had to win four fights. I could do it.
“You need to calm down and get your head in the game, Justin,” Artie said from beside me. He was looking at me, and I knew he wasn’t happy. Not after my last fight. It would take a win for him to have faith in my fighting ability again.
Shit. I was hoping that it wasn’t that noticeable. “I know. You’re right. Because if I don’t, I’m going to be screwed.”
Artie gave me a weird look. “What do you mean?”
I knew I needed to come clean with Artie. He had been there for me a lot, and I was doing a disservice to him by hiding it. I looked at him and hesitated. Telling Artie wouldn’t be easy.
“I made a new bet with Markie,” I said, avoiding Artie’s gaze. I didn’t want to deal with the judgment I knew I would find there.
“Dammit, Justin,” Artie said.
I was taken aback for a second as Artie never cussed. He was a straight-laced kind of guy that thought foul language just made people sound dumb. So, the fact that he was cussing now told me I was in some deep shit with him.
“I know, I messed up. I know. You don’t need to remind me like I’m a child,” I said. It was too late for him to be scolding me now. The deal was done, and the only thing left to do was to make sure I won my next four fights.
“What’s the bet this time?” he asked.
I was hesitant. “If I win my next four fights, then I walk away without owing him anything.”
“And if you don’t?” he sounded impatient.
“Then I owe him double,” I gave a small shrug like it was no big deal, but we both knew how huge this was.
“For fuck’s sake, Justin.” He cussed again, and I tried my hardest to ignore it. I needed to get my head in the game and stay focused. I couldn’t let him get to me. If I did, then I would lose for sure. He was saying some more things under his breath, but I ignored him. I knew he was pissed. He hated Markie, and for a good reason.
We were standing in the back as the first fight came to an end. I watched the crowd get rowdy for the winner. They weren’t nearly as loud as they got for me, but it could be different this time. I had let my fans down during that last fight, and it made me question whether or not I would still have any fans. My mind wandered to Anna. I couldn’t see much of the crowd from where I was, so I had no idea if she was there or not. I hoped she was.
I heard my name called by the announcer and made my way down the little hallway. People were screaming just as hard, if not harder than before. I was glad to know I still had fans after my beatdown last time. They were some true, die-hard fans. It made me feel good. It was an ego boost, one I really needed. But I just hoped that one fan was in the crowd tonight. One very important fan.
I stepped into the cage and went to my side with Artie where we talked strategy. Artie was saying something about jiu-jitsu. I knew I should be listening, but I wasn’t paying too much attention to what he was saying. I was distracted; I wanted to see if she was there. I searched the crowd closely, scanning each face.
Then I found her, and our eyes met. Anna. Anna was there. I wasn’t sure if she was going to make it since she was terrified of these things, but the look in her eyes when I told her I had needed her here… She knew I really meant it, and she wasn’t going to let me down. Deep down, I knew she would show up.
Her smile calmed my nerves almost instantly, and I tuned Artie back in.
“You’re smaller than he is. That gives you an advantage. All you need to do is be faster, Justin. Be faster and then you’ve got this one in the bag.” He gave me a pat on the shoulder. “Don’t let the crowd distract you. Just remember to focus on being fast. You have this, Justin.”
I looked across the cage at my opponent. He was much larger than me. Both in height and muscle mass, but I had learned in my years of fighting that size didn’t necessarily make him the better fighter.
The bell rang, and it was on. My nerves calmed some when I caught Anna’s eye, but I was still pretty anxious. I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know much about my opponent. All I knew was that I had to win this fight. I had to.
He went for a left hook. I ducked and got him in the ribs. He backed up some. I did the same. He went to lunge at me, and I ducked, again making him almost fall over. Artie had been right; all I had to do was be faster than him. I was doing great and holding up strong on my end when the end of the first round came. I was ahead and was starting to think how easy this was.
I was feeling good about myself. Maybe a little too good. I knew I should keep my cockiness in check, but I figured I could have this in the bag if I just kept evading him and making my move before he ever did.
The second round started, and automatically the guy picked me and flung me to the floor. I hadn’t had a chance to get away from him this time. The crowd gasped, and I got up right away, before he could put me in any sort of hold. I was glad I was quick to get up because I could have been KO’d. I could not believe how quickly this had turned around.
“You got this,” I said to myself and aimed for a right hook, then a quick left. I missed both and stumbled forward some, almost not able to catch myself. I took a couple of deep breaths to calm myself down. I could not let him have me. Just because he was bigger didn’t mean anything at all. He might not have the skills I did. He got a good hit in, and I almost fell over. I caught myself. He got a couple more hits in, and the third bell rang. I was relieved.
We started moving around in a circle a bit, eyeing each other. He was sizing me up, and I let him do it. I knew I could have an advantage if he started getting cocky. Just like I did at the end of the first round. My head was back on straight though. I was ready.
“Isn’t your wife dead?” the guy said to me. My ears perked up because I wasn’t sure if I heard him right or not. I was hoping it was the latter. No one could be that stupid.
“What?” I asked. It was hard to talk because of my mouth piece, but I made it work.
“Your wife. Isn’t she dead?” My blood started to boil, but he continued. “She probably died from embarrassment after being married to such a shitty ass fighter.”
I drowned out all the extra noise in the room. The crowd disappeared, and all I could focus on was him. I had never had anyone bring her up in a fight. The guy must have done his research and found something he thought he could use to his advantage. My breathing slowed as I thought about what he said to me.
He was taunting me now because he wanted to get a rise out of me. It was working, but I didn’t think it was working the way he hoped it would. That was one subject no one could bring up, especially if you were going to talk smack about it. My wife had been an amazing person and did not deserve some asshole bad mouthing her just to get a rise out of me.
“You better watch what you say,” I warned him. My anger was growing deeper by the second. I thought I’d give him a chance to change his mind. If he kept going this way, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to stop after I KO’d him.
“I’m just saying I wouldn’t want to live any longer if I were her.” And that was all he could get out before I lifted him into the air and slammed him on the ground. The adrenaline was pumping through my body.
He got up, clearly dazed by the fall. Then he looked at me and grinned.
“Looks like I hit a soft spot,” he chided. I saw red.
Without even thinking, I got him with three uppercuts and watched as the guy fell back down onto the ground.
I quickly moved and put him into a sleeper hold.
“No one ever talks about my wife like that,” I growled.
The guy passed out before he could even tap out.
The ref ran over, got on the ground, counted to three, and called out that I was the winner. It didn’t hit me right away. I was still so pissed about what the guy said.
The crowd went absolutely wild. And that pulled me out of my anger. I started bouncing around the ring getting the crowd even more pumped. I was still a little pissed about what the guy said about my wife, but I let my anger go. He hadn’t realized that he was just adding fuel to my fire. He helped me win by being an asshole, and for me, that was true karma. I went to the side of the cage and waved Anna over to me. She made her way down the stands and through the crowd.
I picked her up and gave her a huge kiss. The crowd went wild all over again. It felt so good to hear everyone chanting my name.
“Great fight. I’m so proud of you,” she said over the noise from the crowd.
“Thank you for being here. It made all the difference in the world to me,” I said and gave her another long kiss before I put her back on the ground.
I thought I saw her blush, but I didn’t have time to ask about it before Artie was telling me we needed to get into the changing room.
I told Anna to meet me back there in five or ten minutes.
I looked back at my opponent, who seemed to still be trying to recover from his knock out, and I gave him a dirty look. Maybe next time he wouldn’t be dumb enough to talk about someone’s dead wife.
Then I followed Artie into the back where it was a little quieter, but not for too long. The crowds were trying to make their way back to me. They wanted pictures and autographs. It felt great that these were the people who didn’t give up on me after my horrible fight last time.
Artie announced that I would take pictures and sign autographs for ten minutes, but then I had to get changed and head home. The crowd yelled in excitement. It was music to my ears.
As I talked with fans, I hoped Anna would make her way back over to me. I wanted to talk to her, to see her, to just be near her.
“You sure did get pissed in that last round,” a fan started saying to me. “Did the guy say something to you?”
I wondered if I should tell them what happened, but at the last second, I decided to go with just a vague answer. They didn’t need to know too much information about what got me fired up. I didn’t need that getting out. “He was just talking trash. I had to end it.”
The fan high fived me. “That was so cool how you ended him like that! I bet he won’t talk trash about you anymore.”
“I hope not,” I said. Because I didn’t want anyone else talking bad about Tammy that way. It was bullshit. Just thinking about it was starting to make my blood boil again. I forced myself to focus on Anna instead. I immediately began to feel better. She was this calming presence in my life, and I didn’t think she even realized how much I did need that.