Struggle (2 page)
Authors: P.A. Jones
"Hey
, Peter. How are you, man?" I tried to make an attempt at conversation. I just wanted to get out of there without a fight.
I couldn't anticipate his incoming punch.
He hit my jaw near my left year, which laid me flat on the ground. Sharp pain started from my jaw, and the stink of fresh blood entered my consciousness. I spat out the dust in my mouth. "I wanted to avoid this, motherfucker, but you didn't leave me any choice." I pushed up and jumped in the air. My actual plan was to punch him in the face while jumping, but alcohol kicked in and my punch landed in his chest.
Unfortunately
, he anticipated my move. He moved to the right, pulled my shoulder towards him, then pushed me back. I collided with a man whom was sitting in a chair near the back. The wine from his glass splashed into the bartender's face, and the bartender dropped the bottle that was in his hand.
Everybody around us froze
, but when they saw a drunk man getting beaten across the room, and another man and woman coming out of the back, they continued drinking. Unfortunately, the bouncers weren’t amused. Soon enough, I was on the footpath outside.
I tried to shake off the pain from my jaw
, but something else was hurting near my butt.
Shit
,
it must be my mobile
. I took it out of my back pocket. It was shattered. Peter was standing next to me. "You bastard! Because of you, I broke my mobile!" I knew that was the alcohol talking, but I couldn’t hit him with anything else right now.
He grabbed my
collar. “Asshole! What were you doing in my fiancé’s pants?! I would kick your ass now, but I think I’ll wait until our practice match in five days.” He dropped me on the ground and walked off with Amelia.
Sharp pain ran through my butt to my head when I hit the ground
. I saw James running towards me. He gave me a hand up. “What the fuck happened, man?”
.
"Nothing. I pissed him off by giving oral to his fiancé." I was feeling like shit.
“Isn’t that Peter, the kick boxer?”
his voice shook a little. "You have a fucking practice match against him. Dude, you’re gonna get killed.”
We jumped into a taxi and headed for the lounge. When we pulled up, I saw the bouncer throwing a man out. The man was well-dressed and well built. "When the alcohol starts talking, this happens,” I whispered in Chloe's ear. Another man came out, they argued, then parted in different directions.
"Hey
, sweetie, let's go. There are always a few men who get into trouble. Don't worry about him. Let's go inside and have a drink." Chloe grabbed my hand and we entered the lounge.
Martin was
going to be a bit late so we decided to have some drinks until then. Chloe ordered shots and I raised my eyebrows at her. “Shots? This early? Are you planning to get wasted before Martin comes?”
“Listen, grandma.
I wouldn't get high by two or three shots and you know it.” She downed her first one in a blink.
The bartender looked at
me. "What can I get for you, ma’am?” He was muscular and hot.
“Just
a coke for now.” I took my coke and started drinking it slowly.
Martin
was there before Chloe could finish her third drink. He hugged her. “Hey, babe. How are you? You are already drinking without me? Guess I have to catch up.”
Chloe
glanced at the man standing behind Martin. “And who is this?”
I
glanced at him. He was around 6'2”, with an oval face and a sharp chin. There was something about his eyes. They looked determined. He thrust out his hand to me. "Hi, I am Mason, Ethan's friend. Mind if I join you?”
A
cold shiver passed through me. I looked back at Chloe. She shrugged and gave me a “whatever” look. I decided to play nice because I wasn't expecting to meet a man here, but he was good looking and certainly knew how to talk with girls. I shook his hand. "I am Eva.”
Martin
kissed Chloe on her cheek. "You know Ethan, baby. Mason is Ethan's friend. He was supposed to come here, but got busy at work.”
"Hi
, Mason." Chloe shook hands with him, then turned to Martin. “Let’s dance.”
As they walked to the dance floor,
Mason took a seat next to me and ordered a shot. “So, beautiful, I guess it’s just the two of us now. How come you are alone this evening?”
I wanted to say
“
None of your business”,
but I didn't want to sound rude. "Just trying to spend an evening alone."
His eyes were fixed on me. I
straightened my shoulders. "So what so you do, Mason?”
"I am an ERP developer. I own a company which is expanding into software."
His eyes sparkled. "You know, I will soon cross the million dollar mark."
"That's
…” I didn’t like his attitude.
“Geeky?”
I smiled shyly and his lips widened. “I think I can amaze you by telling you one more thing about me."
"
What's that?” I don’t like to pass judgment when I first meet somebody, but he looked kind of selfish to me.
"
I’ve done kickboxing at college, and now I do it as my hobby. I’m good at it." His face reflected the pride that he had for his abilities.
"
That's interesting, but it didn't impresses me because I am also into sports.”
His face turned dark
. He must not have liked my comment. There was something about him that I didn’t like. He looked nice, but he hadn’t impressed me with his body language, especially his attitude.
"That's a bit harsh, but I
don’t mind it from a lovely lady like you." He gave me a sexy smile. Maybe he only ever had to smile to get girls into his bed, but it wouldn’t work with me.
"Mason
, don't try to hit on her. You’re not her date.” Chloe touched my shoulder. "Now, sweetheart, let’s go and get a table."
We grabbed a table
. Mason tried to talk to me couple of times, but I just avoided him. He wasn’t my type.
I woke up in pain
. My jaw was hurting like someone hit me with an iron rod. For a moment, I couldn't remember why it was hurting, but then I remembered last night. Fucking Peter. I remembered the match I was scheduled to have with him.
Shit, this is going to be hardcore now. That fuck is already a pro, and I am not on his level.
I didn't have any choice other than facing him. I cursed myself for getting into all this trouble.
Then I remembered about my meeting with Mr. Shui tonight.
This is going to be a real pain in the ass,
I thoughts as I rolled out of bed.
***
A few hours later, I was sitting in a jacket and shorts in front of my computer, waiting for Mr. Shui to sign in to Skype. At last, he signed in and I initiated the conference call.
"Hello
, Mr. Shui. How are you today?" I bowed my head.
"I am fine
, Mr. Brown. I hope you are doing good, as well." He bowed in response.
“I am well, thank you.”
I tried to hide the bruise on my left cheek. "I sent you the proposal yesterday. I hope you liked it.”
"The budget concerns me
, Mr. Brown"
My stomach started to twitch. The way he answered didn't indicate that the meeting was going smoothly. "If you liked the proposal, maybe we can negotiate on the budget later.”
I had no choice but to ask for some time. I was
soon sitting on my computer and climbing the budget ladder, cursing the Japanese.
The thought of
my upcoming fight was invading my head again and again so I got up from my computer and put on my boxing gloves.
***
I exhaled as I punched the bag, hard. Sweat was dripping from all over my body. My shorts were already wet. I wiped my forehead with the wrist band. I looked back at the clock. It was already past three. I couldn’t afford to lose the match. If only that bitch mentioned that she was Peter’s fiancé, I wouldn’t have put my hands on her. But the past was the past. I was concentrating on the task in hand.
Another half
-hour, and I landed my last kick on the bag. I had practiced double my usual time.
I woke up to the song
I Walk A Lonely Road
by Green Day. The moment I woke up, I wanted to practice so I finished my breakfast, did some stretching, and started practicing. I had no time to waste.
After
almost three hours of practice, I decided to meet James in the grocery store. I had to pick up some vegetables for dinner. On match days, I always kept myself away from the meat and alcohol. It helped me focus.
"Hey, dude, how's practice going?” James met me in front of Spenser’s.
"It's shit
, man. I feel guilty for picking up his girl. I wouldn't have liked it if the roles were reversed.” I thought about that night. I wasn't a saint. I picked up many girls, but there was a line that you didn’t cross. I never picked up the girl of somebody I knew.
"It's
okay. You will do good in the match. You didn't know who she was. I heard she is still with him. I think that she’s a bitch, anyway.” He smiled.
"Thanks
, James." I smiled, but guilt tickled inside me.
***
I was standing next to Peter in the ring. When the referee asked us to shake hands, Peter refused. When he finally did, he crushed my hand with all his might. A smile came crossed my face. The battle was heating up.
I looked at his face, his jaws
visible in his head gear. In practice matches, they asked the contenders to wear the head protection. The judges didn't want anyone to get hurt in practice. He stretched out his neck and came forward. I looked in his dark gray eyes, and saw my death. He was 6’3”, two inches taller than me.
He came closer to my face
. "I am going to fuck you up, dickhead,” he spat.
"C'mon
, guys! Get back to your corners!” the referee yelled.
When I was sitting in my corner, my coach
said, "Look, Nathan, I don't know why, but he has been telling people that he is going to kick you hard today. I don't want you to get hurt. This is not the match that you want to end badly. If you think he is being too offensive, just call it a day and get out of there. A lost match is better than losing your ribs or, worse, your career.”
I nodded to him, but I knew
that I wouldn't give up.
Hell, it’s okay if he breaks my bones. I am going to fight like an animal and kick his butt.
I looked around. The ring was surrounded by all the members of the gym. They knew that the match was going to be brutal and they didn’t want to miss it, especially Mason. He must be intrigued by the possibility of seeing me lose. A dark line of hatred consumed my mind when I saw him, but now wasn’t the time.
The bell rang for the first round. We stood
and the referee signaled us to fight. Peter moved back a bit, throwing his right hand up into the jab position. I was quick to counter with my left hand but, to my surprise, he was in the air. In quick succession, he hit my oblique with his left leg in a semi-circular kick. I was forced to my right. I didn't have time to think because he was on me in a fraction of seconds. He threw a cross to my face, and I landed on the ground. All this happened within a half-minute.
The referee stopped the fight and walked over to me.
I pushed up onto my hands and jumped to my feet, but the damage was done. The crowd was cheering for that bastard.
I took
my stance. The rage overpowered my mind, and it was a now or never situation for me. I threw a punch. He went on the defensive and saved it with both hands. I hit him with a front kick, targeting his chest, but he blocked it. I was about to hit him with a cross, but the bell rang, signaling the end of the round.
Damn, he must have won this round because he put me on the ground.
My
coach gave me a bottle of water. I spit out the mouth guard and drank. “Nathan, he is too fast for you. He competes for the country, and you have to think smart and back out, if needed. Just go easy on yourself." I nodded, but there was no way that I would have backed out from the fight.
The next round, the second of the six planned, started and
went well. I defended his attacks and countered a few so I would say that it was a tie. He was aggressive and hitting me with various kicks, but I kept defending myself.
The third
round started and, for the first time, I felt my chest throbbing. His punches were doing the job. That was a wakeup call for me.
No more open exploited areas; otherwise, he will break my bones.
He
danced around me, like he was trying to amuse the audience. He kept throwing punches, hooks, jabs, sometimes a cross, kicks. However, at the end of the round, he became a bit careless. He thought that I would go on the defensive for the complete match. He came at me and I ducked, letting him go behind me. I moved my leg to do a hook kick and, in a split second, I turned on my other leg and hit him with an upper cut from my left hand.
He was caught off guard and I scored my first point in that round. His eyes widened when he recovered
. He was definitely surprised, and so was the crowd. They gave a big cheer as the bell indicated the end of round three.
My coach came
over to me when I sat down. "That was a good trick you did there." He tightened my head gear, but it didn’t fit right. The clip was giving me some issues. I decided to ignore it because, in a practice match, the opponent wouldn't directly hit your face.
The next round started
. This time, Peter was looking calm, and his punches were accurate. He was using the experience that he gained in his career, and that was trouble for me. He was targeting my face with cross and upper cuts. After a minute, he hit me hard on my cheek. The next punch landed on the same spot and my head gear flew off. I was shocked and waved my hand to signal the referee, but my attention on Peter was averted. His next punch hit me on my left cheekbone, and I landed hard.