3 Breaths (15 page)

“I’ve always loved Central Park,” Ivy says as we walk around and sip on our coffees after leaving the hotel and exploring this place. We’ve walked through so much of the park this morning, which has been a nice way to start the day.

“Would you ever want to live in the city?” I ask her.

She thinks about my question before responding. “Maybe if I got a job here. But I like the ocean too much. You remember that place in Long Beach I showed you the other day?”

“I remember,” I tell her, recalling how she gushed about these condos last week when we went for a run.

“If I could pick anywhere, that’d be it. What about you?”

“I don’t think I’d ever want to live here again. But, speaking of a job…this fight pays a good amount of money and since I no longer have the extra payment for the apartment here, I don’t want you to stress about work or money or anything like that for a while, okay?”

She scrunches her eyebrows at me. “I can’t let you pay for my things. I’ve got savings to last a while.”

“You can and you will. Ivy, you’re my girlfriend now and I will take care of you.”

“Girlfriend?” she asks like it’s a shock placing her hand over her chest. “Were you gonna run that by me first?”

“No, I wasn’t ’cause you already know where we stand and when we talk about things, it just complicates the whole situation.”

“Girlfriend…” she says in a quiet tone.

“Yes, accept it! Now help me clear my head for tonight. I’m starting to get anxious.”

“Don’t get anxious.”

“Ha, that’s helpful,” I blurt out. “Have you looked at social media in…I don’t know…the last ten minutes?”

“No, I haven’t and you shouldn’t either. Give me your phone.” She outstretches her hand to me and reluctantly I hand it to her. However, knowing myself, it’s the best decision. I need to keep focused. She slides it into her back pocket and I say, “If Logan calls, you better give it to me.”

“I will, you freak.”

I bust out laughing. Ivy grins, wrapping her arm around my waist and we leave the park, heading to see Logan at the gym and make a game plan for tonight. On the drive, Ivy’s phone rings. “Shit, it’s my mom.”

“Then answer it.”

She rolls her eyes at me. “Hey, Mom,” she says in a chipper tone.

I can hear Brenda yelling right away and it makes me fume. How could any mother treat their daughter the way that she does, especially when she just lost one?

“I don’t know,” she argues back.

Brenda is yelling again and I swear I hear my name. “I’ll ask him. Don’t take this shit out on me.”

A couple of beats of silence on Ivy’s end. “No,” Ivy shrieks.

Brenda yells again and I hear her say my name loud and clear. Pulling over. I snatch the phone from Ivy. She looks at me with huge eyes and I pause giving her a minute to stop me, but she doesn’t. “Brenda, it’s Krane,” I cut her off and shut her right up. “Can you tell me why your daughter is crying?”

“Oh, you have some fucking nerve, young man. After what you did to Zoë, now you’re with—”

“I didn’t do anything to Zoë but try and save her, don’t you fucking forget that.”

“That’s the last thing you did, if she hadn’t been with you, she’d be alive.”

“What happened to Zoë was out of our control. She died of SUDEP in my fucking arms and now I have to live with those images every day. Brenda, I get that you’re in pain, but please don’t take it out on Ivy.”

“You can call it whatever you want, young man, or convince yourself of anything to make yourself feel better. But she was intoxicated in the middle of the night on a desolate New York City subway, alone, with you and no one else. So it’s hard to not put the blame in your lap.”

“Why don’t you stop trying to pit the blame because nothing’s ever going to bring Zoë back.” My hands are shaking being forced to go back to that night. It was horrible the way her body rocked uncontrollably, the blood, the noises…everything. Then counting her final three breaths and I’m back there. Ivy wraps one of her hands around mine, pulling me back to reality and it calms me. “Do you ever try and understand who your daughter was?”

“I know who she was goddammit,” Brenda screams through a sob. “Stay away from Ivy, Krane, I mean it.”

“I’m sorry…but I can’t.”

“One eighty-one and a half,” Logan says and I hop off the scale.

“So you never have to cut weight?” Ivy asks me.

“Nope, not usually.” I adjust the waist of my shorts and take a drink of water.

“Oh, he has before and you better watch out ’cause it’s scary,” Logan warns.

“What’s that mean?” I ask offended.

“Uhh, that you act crazy, all agitated and moody, like a bitch.”

I laugh remembering a time when I did cut weight. “That was when you made me take a welterweight fight when I’m a middleweight.”

“No,” he shakes his head laughing, “I didn’t make you do anything. You wanted to fight that douche, remember?”

“Same difference, you encouraged me and then let me agree to it, before I knew the ramifications.”

“Whatever, you kicked his ass.”

Logan puts on the sparring gloves and I hop up, punching every time he raises a hand to me. My heart is pumping strong. Even though this is the shortest notice I’ve ever taken a serious fight on, I cannot wait to get into the ring. As I stand toe to toe with Logan, repeatedly hitting again and again, Ivy’s eyes are on me. I can’t help but look at her, and Logan hits me over the back of the head. “What the fuck, man?” I yell, dropping my arms.

“You got distracted, by whatever this is.” He points between the two of us. “It can’t interfere with your mind tonight.”

“It won’t, punk.” I nod, grabbing a towel and wipe the sweat off of my face. There is a light knock on the door and Logan answers it. His wife, Victoria, and Ethan enter. The girls met at Logan’s birthday and seemed to thankfully connect. I mean, she hugs Ivy before me. “What am I chopped liver?” I tease her.

She smiles and hugs me. “No way, how are you feeling?”

“Really good.”

Ethan and I fist bump. “You ready?” he asks.

“Hell yeah.”

“Good, it’s fucking nuts out there,” Ethan says.

I’ve never been one to get nervous, the hype and adrenaline of a crazy crowd just set up an intense fight, which pumps me up. But this is Ronnie’s hometown so that makes me a bit uneasy. There’s another knock on the door and Ethan opens it, “Hensley, you’re up in five.” I take my last drink of water and put on a thin white walkout hoody. Logan was right when he said that he came with everything. He had a complete fight kit with sponsors and everything on the clothes.

Ivy stands, putting her hands in her back pockets. The look in her eyes is a little off.

“You okay?” I ask, seeing that she’s clearly nervous. Stepping to her, I place my hands on her hips waiting for a reaction. “Don’t stress, baby.”

The room quiets from my words, but I don’t care. She looks down at the ground and shakes her head. “Hey.” I lift her chin bringing her eyes to meet mine. “I mean it, Ivy, I need you cheering me on. You hear me?”

She nods and I pull her against my body. Leaning down I kiss her hard, after being deprived of her lips for far too long. The room silences, our affection catching everyone off guard. I can imagine all of their eyes on us. As she pulls away, her expression has changed, the nerves from earlier have vanished. There is a knock on the door and Ethan opens it. “You guys are up,” a short stocky guy says.

“Tell me you got this,” Ivy requests.

“You know I do, baby.” I take her hand in mine and we all head out into the hallway. The noise of the crowd as we round the short corner ignites a fire inside me. I might be first out, but this is my fucking night. The crowd is roaring and as I emerge, the room erupts in the low rumbles of booing. I’ve always been a fan favorite, so this reaction is not what I’m used to. But this is Ronnie’s hometown and the crowd is making that known. Ivy squeezes my hand and then the girls veer off to their seats while Logan, Ethan, and I continue on. “Remember to keep your hands up and use your kicks,” Logan says as the ref checks my hands and arms before giving me the green light to enter the cage.

I hug them both before bolting up the stairs and take my side in the octagon. The song changes in preparation for Ronnie’s arrival. With my back to the entrance, I listen to Logan and Ethan as they stand over the cage. The crowd chants Ronnie’s name – waiting.

“You got this, Krane!” Ethan shouts.

I nod, hearing his words and turn around looking for Ivy. This will be the last time that I can look at her until this is over. She and Victoria are seated surrounded by the guys from the gym. I feel safe knowing that they will keep an eye out for her. We connect eyes and I give her a wink as the MC announces Ronnie’s entrance. Everyone goes wild and then my eyes are glued on his as his are to mine. He runs to the cage, restless to get inside, moving and weaving as the ref checks him, then in two swift steps he’s up the stairs. But I hold my ground, not giving in to his aggression. I know the rules for a fight of this caliber. I cannot lunge at him or get crazy like I can get away with in the underground world. Instead, I watch him, studying everything about him, focusing on the way that his hands move as he air boxes and how he plants his feet.

He’s a striker, so I know that I have to take this to the ground. The ref calls us to the center and states the rules, then asks, “Are you ready?” I nod once and he asks Ronnie the same. When he agrees, round one begins. I hone in on Logan’s voice, like I always have, his words my key to a victory. But before I can react to anything he’s telling me, a kick flies over my head. I duck, barely missing it, and attack back. We battle standing up, each of us sizing the other up, landing a few bombs here and there.

I get in a good right hook, but he retaliates landing a left. Both of us stay composed, neither struggling for air, and I settle in for a long one.

“Use your legs,” Logan reminds me and I start to mix in leg shots in between my jabs. He’s a shit talker too, but I don’t listen to his words. Logan’s voice is the only one that I hear. I land a solid body shot, but he gets me hard in the cheek. We continue working each other over and over again, and before I know it the ten-second bell dings and then I’m in the corner with Logan and Ethan. Logan rests a bag of ice on my shoulders while Ethan cleans my face up. “You have to get him to the ground. You don’t want this to go the full three rounds standing up.” I nod, taking a drink of water that I spit out.

Even if I give it my all standing up, he’s just as good as I am, if not a little better. “Use your leg, that’s your weapon, man.”

The break is over and as much as my head is in this fight, I still can’t wait for it to be over so I can be alone with Ivy. I can’t help the smile that’s spread across my face thinking of her. Round two begins and I focus more on my kicks to try and take him to the mat. He’s relentless though and in a last ditch effort, I press him against the cage, tiring him out with as many body shots as I can throw, doing my best to take him off his feet. The round ends and I’m pissed with myself.

Fuck!

“Don’t get frustrated, man. This is your round – now go end this shit.”

Beginning round three, I can see the exhaustion starting to sink in for Ronnie; his hands are lower than they have been the entire fight. Maybe he’s not that well trained in endurance. Either that, or he’s being cocky.

Hitting him backwards, I guide him to the cage. Then holding my forearm tightly to his neck, I reach down and grab between his legs instead of taking his feet from underneath him.

This is do or die. With all of my strength, I grip hard, lifting him as high as I can. The room goes silent as I prepare to drop him, Logan and Ethan are yelling encouragement. As I throw him down, following his body to make sure that I get on top, he lands in the most awkward way on his neck, clearly stunned but not knocked out. Taking side control, I lay elbow after elbow, watching him curl up and become defenseless. The crowd roars, urging him to get up, and it’s not but another ten seconds of this before the ref calls it. I hop off of Ronnie, screaming like a fucking animal with every muscle in my body flexing. Jumping on the side of the cage, I hug Logan and Ethan. Looking out at the crowd, they are all pissed. Egging them on would be a real asshole move, and stupid as fuck, so I get off the fence. As I look for Ivy, she has the biggest grin on her face and it makes me so happy I fulfilled my promise to her.