SHANE. “You think he’s ready, Mike?” Kelsey asked.

“I’m ready,” I said as I set my water down on the table.

Kelsey turned his head to face me and scrunched his brow, “I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to Mike.”

“Mean face,” Kace said laughing.

Kelsey looked at Kace and scowled as Ripp put his beer on the table and inhaled deeply.

“Well, I ain’t saying this because he’s sitting here, you know me better than that. I can say I’ve watched all the videos. I’ve studied this guy Mc Claskey, and if he does what we’ve been practicing,” Ripp nodded his head my direction.

“That guy ain’t got a fucking chance. Dekk’s gonna slaughter him,” Ripp finished.

“Well, we can’t go into this thinking we got it in the bag. It damned sure isn’t gonna be easy. It’s gonna be a bitch, you hear me?” Kelsey said as he turned to face me.

“A bitch boss,” I said.

“God damn it, I ain’t fucking kidding. You two arrogant assholes,” Kelsey said as he pressed his hands against the table and flexed his forearms.

“Flexin’ on me boss?” I chuckled.

“Get the ticket, I’m buying,” Kelsey said as he let go of the table.

“Kace ain’t done eating yet,” Ripp said as he pointed to Kace, who was just starting to eat her salad.

“Don’t mean I can’t pay. Now you’re gonna be there, right? I need you to be there,” Kelsey said toward Kace.

“I’m his cheerleader,” Kace responded in between bites.

“And you’ll be there?” Kelsey said as he nodded his head toward Kace again.

“Damn, Kelsey,” I complained.

“I need her to say it,” he said.

“Yes sir. I will be there,” Kace responded as she made a fist with her hand.

She held her fist over the table toward Kelsey. Kelsey turned and looked toward Ripp and then directly at me.

“Don’t look at me,” I said.

“I got this,” Kace laughed, shaking her fist over the center of the table.

“Do it,” Ripp said toward Kelsey.

Kelsey made a fist and reached out toward Kace’s fist. As Kace smacked her fist sharply against his she shook her head, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

“It’s settled,” she said, “We shook on it.”

“What do you think about the title fight, boss? If I win?” I asked.

“Shit, that’s in the bag,” Ripp responded.

“He’s right,” Kelsey said as he nodded his head toward Ripp, “If you win this fight, you’ll be a shoe-in for the Heavyweight Championship fight. All we’ll have to do is ask. For him not to fight you would be suicide for his career. This is it, kid. This is the fight,” Kelsey said.

“What did I tell you about that kid shit,” I laughed.

Kelsey had been calling me kid since the day we met. At first, it bothered me, and now it was just part of Kelsey being Kelsey. He did it to try to drive me, to build my spirit, and to give me the inner anger I needed to fight. He didn’t realize it, but there was no need to call me names. It didn’t give me reason to fight. My reason was inside of my soul, my inner demons. This was who I was, not something developed from taunting or teasing.

“I want the title. I want to get the title, and then…” I thought about trying to fight for the title, and what I would do if I won.

Retire undefeated, holding the Heavyweight Championship belt?

Defend the title?

Take the pay-off and spend a lifetime of being happy with Kace?

Have kids?

“And then?” Ripp asked as he finished drinking his beer, “then what?”

I turned and looked at Kace, as if she held the answer. I looked at Kelsey as he raised one eyebrow.

“We’re going to defend that motherfucker, aren’t we kid?” Kelsey said.

I shrugged my shoulders, not really knowing the answer. I had to win the fight on the table now, it was first. Other than fighting Ripp, I hadn’t had a fight since I fought Wilson. Not that Ripp was less of a fighter than anyone I else could find, but fighting Ripp was different.

It was easy for me to fight Ripp. Getting in the ring with him was like going to work. I knew what to expect before, during, and after the fight. As great as the sparring had been between us, and as much as I appreciated the fact he had helped train me for the last few months, I wondered.

“We’ve got to win this fight first, boss. Let’s focus on this one right now,” I responded.

“Done,” Kace said as she proudly shoved her empty plate to the center of the table.

“You eat like a girl,” Kelsey laughed.

“I am a girl,” Kace responded as she reached for her glass of water.

“I normally don’t like women around my fighters before a fight. They need to go into these things cock strong. You seem to give Shane strength. I like that,” Kelsey said.

“What’s cock strong?” Kace asked.

Ripp and I chuckled, neither really wanting to answer her question.

Ripp turned to Kace and smiled, “It’s when…well…what he means is this. It’s when a fighter or a player goes the entire length of time before a fight or a big game without getting any relief. Without getting any…”

“Pussy,” he whispered.

Kace turned toward me and then slowly rotated her head to face Kelsey. She locked her eyes on his. Slowly, she leaned forward on the table and rested on her elbows on the edge. As she lowered her chin into her hands, she smiled.

“Too late,” she said very matter-of-factly.

“Are you fucking serious?” Kelsey cried, turning from facing Kace to facing me.

Without an immediate response, he turned to look at Ripp. Ripp shrugged his shoulders and stood up.

“Ready?” Ripp asked.

“Yep,” I responded as I stood up, “Let’s get.”

Still seated, Kelsey turned to face Kace; who remained in her seat, still seated as she was when she spoke to Kelsey a moment before. Kelsey leaned his elbows on the table to mimic Kace, and placed his chin in his hands.

Ripp stood up and pushed his hands into his pockets.

Kelsey and his superstitious beliefs. It was too late to correct it now. Kelsey would be certain to blame Kace if the fight was lost. In his mind, my having sex preceding the fight would be a definite way to seal a loss. I had never dreamed sex would come up in conversation; or I wouldn’t have brought Kace to the pre-fight dinner.

“Seriously?” Kelsey asked again, staring directly into Kace’s eyes.

“No,” she chuckled as she remained focused on Kelsey.

“I know better than to fuck a man before a fight. Even if he asked me, I’d tell him no. I want him to win this more than you do,” she said as she made a fist and held it in the center of the table.

Kelsey made a fist and smacked it against hers sharply, “I like this girl, kid. She’s got spunk.”

You have no idea. I thought.

You have no idea.