Fight When You Have To
Ryan
We headed back downstairs. Miriam seemed shaken by the increasingly obvious fact that her contact, this guy she trusted to take care of her, was selling her out.
She still wouldn't tell me who the hell any of these people were.
Back downstairs, I asked Miriam to wait for me again while I talked to Reggie.
“Why?"
I arched an eyebrow at her, hoping to appear dramatic. "You have your secrets. I have mine."
She made a sound like a worn harrumph, turned on her heel, and stomped to the door. I signaled Reggie behind the bar and he came out to talk to me.
I laid out my plan. If there is anyone in the world that I trust to critique a defensive strategy, it’s Reggie Bishop. He listened carefully, made a couple suggestions, and then nodded.
"It's a good plan."
Satisfied, I waved Miriam back over. Her shoulder felt warm through the thin fabric of her tee shirt. “We’ve got everything worked out. You’re going to be safe. Will you trust me for a little while?”
Mutely, she nodded. She still seemed stricken by everything going on, and by the obvious betrayal of her friend, but the fact that she was willing to lend some trust to me gave me hope that she would make it through this.
That we would make it through this.
Just as we were about to walk out the door, I thought of something.
"Reggie, I need to borrow Rosa Linda from you."
At this, he started to shake his head. "No way—"
"Man, I'm pretty sure they know my truck by now. You don't want us to get killed before we can even start to have our fun, do you?"
Reggie growled low in his throat. Then he tossed me a set of keys. "You better take care of her."
I turned to Miriam. “We can’t trust your people, so now you're going to have to trust mine." I smiled at her. "Besides, you heard him tell me to take care of you."
Reggie, walking back behind the bar, said, "No, I told you to take care of Rosa Linda."
I leaned in and whispered in her ear, "I'll take care of you, too."
"Who the fuck is Rosa Linda?" she whispered back.
I opened my mouth to tell her, then thought it best if I let Rosa Linda explain for herself.
“You’ll see.”
We left through the door we come in. Our first time through the back lot, Miriam hadn't said much. Now, as we walked toward the garage, she looked about little more carefully. I saw her take in the stack of folding chairs propped against the side of the building. And then her eyes fell on the ring.
It was a pretty basic affair. Four steel posts set in a square. Heavy ropes suspended between turnbuckles at the corners. Instead of a mat, the floor was packed earth.
"What's that for?" she said
I shrugged. "People fight in that."
She made a face. "Like, when they get mad at each other in the bar?"
I had to laugh. "No. For money."
She looked again at the ring. Walked up to it and shook the top rope with her hand, as if testing its strength. She looked back at me, and realization dawned in her eyes.
"Your knuckles." As if in sympathy, she rubbed the back of her own hand.
I shrugged again.
"Do you…fight in there very often?"
"Once or twice a week."
She walked back up to me, looking me up and down as if she were seeing me for the first time. "When you attacked that guy at the diner, it was like you didn't even have to think about it. Like it was just second nature to go after him."
"It's a gift," I said.
She sucked her teeth. "Yeah, but he was gonna kick the shit out of you."
I barked a laugh. "Everybody loses sometimes. You fight when you have to fight. Even if you’re not necessarily going to win."
The garage had two doors. My truck was behind one. I unlocked and raised the other door. Rosa Linda practically glowed. Cherry-red. Lots and lots of chrome parts. She wasn't one of those modern Camaros that just looks fast. It was a sixty-seven model. Four-oh-five cubic inches of engine. She was a fucking beast.
If anything happened to Reggie's car, there was no doubt in my mind that he would kill me. I opened the passenger side door.
"Fair lady, allow me to introduce Rosa Linda. Your chariot." I felt a moment of satisfaction when her mouth dropped open.
“She’s beautiful.”
I got in the driver side. Ran my hands over the leather steering wheel. Breathed in the smell of the car.
“Yes,” I said. “But not as beautiful as you.” I didn’t look at Miriam, but heard the sharp intake of her breath.
Instead of the engine turning on, it roared when I turned the key.
"Where are we going"?" she said, her voice breaking with something I was sure was more than nervousness.
I backed out of the garage and turned Rosa Linda around in the dirt lot. "We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow. Tonight, we’re going to rest up.
I pulled out of the parking lot, and got the car on the road.