Chapter Twenty-Three
Justin
As soon as Anna and Margie walked out the door, I saw Margie grab Anna’s hand. I smiled to myself and watched them until they were out of sight. I wasn’t at all worried about Margie. I knew Margie was in great hands. She loved Anna so much. It was amazing to me how quickly they bonded, but then again, I had fallen in love with Anna quickly also. She was so easy to love.
“Thanks for hanging back, Justin. I didn’t mean to ruin your plans, but you’ve got to practice hard. A lot harder than you have been. Your opponents have been getting tougher, and you need to make sure to be one step ahead of them at all times,” Artie said to me.
I nodded my head. “I know, Artie.”
“Your next fight is Friday. You can’t slack like you did at the last one. If you want to win, you need to go all out from the very beginning.”
“I know.” No matter how many times it happened, I still hated being lectured.
“I don’t think you do,” he said, with the most serious expression on his face that I had ever seen.
I gave him a quizzical look. “Why not?”
“Because you had some pretty bad weak points during your last fight. Your biggest one being your focus. You just couldn’t focus on the fight. Your head was not in the game,” he said.
“I know, Artie. I’m aware of this. I’m going to be focused this time, I promise.” I wanted him to get off my back over what happened last time. It was over. I couldn’t change it.
Artie looked at me for a minute before he started speaking. “Your priorities, Justin. What are they?” he made his way over to the two chairs Anna and Margie had just been sitting in. I followed him and sat in the chair next to him.
“My next two fights,” I said.
“No, forget about the fighting. Forget about Markie. What are your priorities in life?”
“Margie, and, well, now Anna.”
Artie smiled. “Anna, she’s good for you. I can tell how much you both love each other already.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. Had I missed a sign that she loved me? I’d been too scared to tell her my real feelings.
“I can tell by the way you guys look at each other. And I can tell by the way Anna acts with Margie. If the girl you’re seeing isn’t into your child, she isn’t worth it. But Anna just adores Margie. She’s a great influence on you.”
“That’s nice to hear from someone who’s an outside party.” I had to admit that I loved hearing these kinds of things. I had noticed how much Anna adored Margie because I’m Margie’s dad, but coming from Artie, it made me realize just how lucky I was to have Anna in my life. I wasn’t the only one seeing how much she loved Margie. Other people were noticing it too, and that meant Anna really was a great person.
“You know, Justin, I let my own life pass me by because I was too busy chasing things that didn’t matter to me in the end.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well, I wanted the championships, the fame, the money, the glory. Those were my priorities, and before I knew it, my life had flown by. I realized I’d never had enough time with my wife. I spent so many years chasing the things that, in the end, didn’t matter. When my wife passed away, I realized how much time I had truly lost,” he said.
He sounded sad. I wasn’t quite sure how to respond. I lost my own wife; we had that in common. I didn’t get enough time with her, but it was in a different way. I couldn’t compare my life to his.
“You need to get out, Justin,” Artie said bluntly.
“What? Why? How will I pay my bills?”
“Well, from what I see, you aren’t really paying your bills with fighting. If you had to reach out to Markie, things aren’t going well.”
He had a point.
“You need to get out of this game as soon as you clear this stuff with Markie. You need to stay away from him and any sort of game he might be a part of. You need to live your life and enjoy your daughter and your relationship with Anna. Don’t let it pass you by, Justin.”
What he was saying was really hitting home for me. “Thank you, Artie. I really appreciate you talking to me and making me see things more clearly. I’m sorry that I got myself into this mess.”
Artie gave my shoulder a squeeze. “You’re welcome, Justin. You’re a good kid with a lot of potential. You’re gonna go far with whatever you put your mind to. You just need to figure out what it is you really want out of life.”
Artie got up and walked over to the ring to talk with another gym member. I stayed seated for a few more minutes and thought about everything he said to me. He was so right, about everything. I knew where my heart was and who it belonged to.
It belonged with my family. It belonged to Anna. I needed to find a better way to live my life, a better way to raise Margie, because fighting just wasn’t worth it anymore.
I got up from the bench and went over to the punching bags to get in some punches before Artie came to work me harder. I appreciated him so much more after our talk. He was only being tough on me because he saw what I was worth. And now, I saw it too.
When Artie was done with the guy in the ring, he called me up. I got back into the ring, and he helped me practice my submission holds, the holds that were going to get me further in my next two fights.
He put me in a rear naked choke, and to my surprise, when I focused, I got myself out of it and in turn put him into the same hold. He complimented me on my form and quick moves and told me that was exactly what I needed to do during my next two fights.
As we were finishing up, Anna and Margie got back from lunch.
“Daddy!” Margie yelled as I climbed out of the ring. “We brought you some food. And Anna bought me a dress and shoes!” She was so excited. I grinned down at her. Seeing her so happy made everything else seem so inconsequential.
“She did? How was lunch with Anna and her parents?”
“It was great. I had a lot of fun, and my sandwich was so yummy!” she turned to Anna. “Show him my dress and shoes!”
“What kind of sandwich did you have?” I asked her as Anna moved the bag she was holding onto the chair and pulled out a white and yellow daisy dress and white shoes.
“Ham and cheese kid’s meal. It came with a cookie and chips. And a chocolate milk,” she said.
Anna said, “I hope that’s okay. The cookie and the chips, I mean. Well, and that I bought her this dress.”
I gave Anna a hug and a kiss. “Of course, it’s okay. She seems like she had a lot of fun.”
“She had a blast,” Anna said with a laugh.
I sat down in the chair next to Anna while Artie showed Margie around the gym. She had been begging to let me come with her for a while now.
“I hope that didn’t upset you,” Anna said.
“What?” I wasn’t sure what she was asking me.
“That I bought her the dress and shoes.”
I looked at Anna. “Of course, it’s okay. I can pay you back for it.”
“No, I don’t want to be paid back. I did it for Margie,” she said with such a bright smile that I knew she was just as excited about it as Margie was. “It’s a club, I hope that’s okay,” Anna said and handed me a to-go bag with a foil wrapped sandwich and a bag of chips.
I smiled. “I love club sandwiches.”
“Margie thought so, but she wasn’t sure. She said you had ordered one once and liked it.”
“She remembered; that’s sweet,” I said and looked over at my daughter. Artie was teaching her how to hit the punching bag. I turned back to Anna, “Thank you for taking her with you.”
“It was my pleasure, Justin. She had a blast. We all did. Plus, I couldn’t just let her starve.” She said it with a wink, and we both laughed.
The best part about Anna was that she was easy for me to get along with, and we could make each other laugh. It was simple, and nothing felt forced.
“Are you ready for your next fight?” she asked after a few minutes of silence.
I put the second half of my sandwich back down on the wrapper. “Yeah, I think I’ll be able to nail this one. I feel good about it.”
“That’s good to hear,” she said.
I watched as she moved a strand of hair out of her face. She looked so perfect in this moment, and I wished I had access to my phone to take a picture of her. She might have found it a little creepy if I just took a random picture of her, but the moment felt so perfect.
After I finished my sandwich, I got back in the ring for a few more rounds with Artie. We left two hours later. It had been a long day, and I could tell Margie was exhausted. We walked Anna to her car.
“I don’t want Anna to go,” Margie said as tears began to form.
“Awe, Margie. I’m sorry sweetheart, but Anna’s got to get home. And so do we,” I said.
Anna got down to Margie’s level and wrapped her in a hug. “I’ll try to come see you tomorrow. Would you like that?”
Margie nodded her head and sniffed. I watched as Anna wiped her tears away, and Margie made Anna promise to visit her again. Then she wrapped her little arms around Anna’s neck. Anna hugged her back, and they stayed like that for a full minute before Margie finally let go.
“You’re the best. You know that?” I said and pulled Anna into a hug.
“Thanks, Justin. So are you. And Margie,” she said.
“Thank you for the dress, Anna. Really, it means a lot.”
“It’s no problem at all. I felt honored to do that for her.”
I gave her another hug and kiss and then she got into her car. “Have a good night, you guys,” she said.
“You too,” Margie and I said at the same time. We both laughed.
We stood there and watched as Anna drove away, and I couldn’t help but feel like I had just fallen even more in love with her.
I walked with Margie back to our car and helped her get buckled up in her booster seat. She fell asleep on the way home. The only time she really took naps anymore was when she was in the car. I glanced at her in the rearview mirror, and my heart swelled with pride. I loved my daughter more than life itself and had never known a love like that until she was born.
When we got home, I decided I hadn’t been spending as much time with her as I would have liked. So, I made us macaroni and cheese with hot dogs and a side salad. Then, I let her pick out a movie for us to watch.
She chose a Winnie The Pooh movie she got for her birthday. It was her favorite, and though I had seen it a million times, I was happy to watch it again with her. Spending time with her was more important than the actual activity we were doing.
“Can I wear my new dress tomorrow?” she asked me.
“Yes, you can. It’s very pretty. Did you thank Anna for buying that for you?” I asked.
“Yes. I love my Anna,” she said.
“Me, too,” I said.
The rest of the night was so peaceful. We watched the movie, I gave her a bath, and after that, we laid in her bed as I read her stories. I knew I wouldn’t mind spending every night for the rest of my life doing the exact same thing.
But, I knew there was one thing missing: Anna. If Anna was there, then our lives would be complete. She was the best thing that ever happened to Margie and me.