Unbroken (14 page)

"Mrs. Slater, with all due respect, this fight is a lot different than with... than the fights you've seen Joel in."

"All the same," she said, turning her head to look out at the empty ring.  "If Joel is going to be fighting tonight, I'm going to be here for him when it's done, win or lose.  That's not something I've always been able to do for him, but I can do it this time."

Amber sighed, closing her eyes and terrified at what Joel was going to do when he saw his mother. 
This isn't going to end well for any of us.

Joel

"You ready for this?" Shawn Rock was standing in front of Joel, his eyes gleaming. 

"I am," he replied.  "I have been for a long time."

"
Cool, cool.  Listen, I just heard something interesting.  Apparently there are a couple of scouts out there in the audience tonight.  Carlos has a TV deal with Titan and they sent some execs out to watch his fight." 

"So what does that mean?"

Shawn got a sly little smile.  "Well, look, I'm just saying that if Carlos was to get his ass handed to him out there, I wonder how eager they would be to put him on television."  He laughed.  "Then again, you never know.  Every fight has to have a loser.  But it would still take some of the smug look off of that fucker's face, anyway."

The announcer called Joel's name and Shawn patted him on the back.  "Anyway, go out there and do your best.  We both know you're good enough for this fight.  Time to show Carlos."

Joel nodded and parted the curtains as he strode through, ready and as confident as he thought possible.  He felt strong and ready to put on a good show, anxious to finally be getting into the ring against his nemesis.  He quickly scanned the crowd for Amber, hoping to give her a confident smile that would reassure her that everything was going to be okay.

He spotted her, but instead of looking at him she was talking to a woman sitting next to her.  He couldn't see the woman's face as she was turned toward Amber, but something seemed vaguely familiar about her.  Then Amber caught his eye and she turned to him, giving him a little wave but with a weird expression. 

As he was about to wave back, the other woman turned to face him as well and he almost tripped over his own feet.  He stumbled, but then regained his balance by grabbing onto the ring just as he got to it. 

What the fuck is my mother doing here?

The blood sped through his veins causing his face and body to get hot as his heart rate sped up.  He was clenching his fists and staring into the crowd, barely aware that the referee was calling his name.  He shook his head, snapping himself back to attention and hoisted himself up and under the rope. 

He was barely aware of Carlos being introduced next, his eyes never leaving the two women sitting side by side, watching him not 20 feet away. 
What the fuck is she doing here, and how did she know to find Amber?
  As he gazed at his girlfriend with a raised eyebrow, she mouthed an apology and he could feel his blood boiling even more. 
Sorry?  That means she had a hand in this somehow.

The announcer was giving the crowd the details of the match, though they hadn't changed for any of the fights that night.  Three rounds of five minutes each with one minute of rest in between.  He was taken by the arm and he walked duly along to the center of the ring, only then realizing that Carlos was there and ready to fight.   They touched gloves and the bell sounded, snapping him to attention.

Carlos wore his full Golden Dragon gi, and Joel was fighting shirtless and in loose pants, as usual.  The big man's hair was slicked back in his standard pony tail and he was glaring at Joel with eyes the color of midnight.  Before he'd even had time to raise his hands after touching gloves, Carlos' fist shot forward, catching Joel on the chin.  He had side stepped just a little too late to avoid the blow, but it was enough that the attack hadn't hit him full force, although it did snap his head to the side quickly and daze him.  His hands went up in defense instinctively, blocking the follow up blows that Carlos tried to deliver.

The men circled each other, Joel struggling to remain focused on the fight instead of what was going on in the crowd. 
Why would Amber invite his mother to this fight?  What the hell was she thinking?

He threw a few quick jabs at Carlos but he easily blocked them, returning a punch and then a spinning round house kick that Joel ducked.  Normally he would have seized the opening Carlos had provided with the kick and attacked before he dropped his leg, but his mind was too unfocused and he thought of it a split second too late.

The men again resumed their defensive postures.  So far, there had been very little action, and the crowd was starting to yell.  Joel saw the big match clock counting down with only a couple of minutes left in the round.  As soon as it was over, he would get to the bottom of why the hell his mother was here and get Amber away from the bitch, even though he knew that Amber had to be the reason she was here in the first place. 
How else would she have tracked me down?

Carlos threw another roundhouse kick and it caught Joel in the ribs before he'd had a chance to block it, again letting his thoughts slow his reaction.  However, as his arm was already on its way down for the block, he ended up grabbing the other man by the calf even as he winced in pain from the kick.

With his leg trapped, Carlos threw a punch toward Joel's head but he was ready, blocking it with his free hand.  He took a step forward, pushing Carlos and causing him to hop backward on his one grounded leg and bend forward for balance.  As he did so, Joel lifted his knee and grabbed Carlos by the head with his hand at the same time, driving his leg up and crashing it into Carlos' nose.

He felt the heat of fresh blood explode against his pants as Carlos let out a roar, pushing back with a burst of adrenaline and freeing himself from Joel.  But the damage was done, and his nose was a steady stream of blood that left crimson raindrops and streaks across the top of his white uniform.

Joel went to advance again, but Carlos held him off until the bell rang, signalling the end of the first round.

Chris was waiting in Joel's corner as agreed, giving him a quick drink and talking quickly.  "Good ending, Joel, that one rocked the fuck out of him.  I think his nose is broken."  His friend's missing tooth was the only dark spot in his smile.

Joel smiled back, knowing how Carlos felt right now.  His own nose had fully healed since his fight with the Executioner, but it would never be as straight as it once was.  He used that as a reminder not to ever let himself get caught unprepared again.  As he thought about it now, he decided to use it as a reminder to not let himself get distracted, either.  Both problems could be equally dangerous. 
I'll deal with my mother and Amber when this is done.  Now it's time to focus.

The bell rang and he headed back toward Carlos.  His corner had stopped the bleeding in his nose for the moment, but Joel knew it would be tender and ready to open up again at the slightest touch.  Which meant he had a target.

This time, the two men came out swinging.  Joel threw punches aimed at hitting Carlos in the face again, and Carlos blocked and continued to deliver an assault of his own.  Both men were caught multiple times, and half way through the round there was blood drawn on both fighters and the crowd was going wild.  Joel had a cut over his eye that was dripping down his face, blurring his vision, while Carlos' nose had opened up again and his own eye was swollen. 

Despite the conditioning Joel had been doing to build his stamina, he was starting to feel the heaviness in his arms and legs as he continued to exert so much energy in his attacks.  Carlos was breathing heavily as well, and with less than two minutes left in the round the men found themselves in a clinch, holding each other around the shoulders and using the time to rest while also making slight adjustments to their stance in an effort to find some advantage against the other fighter.

With less than a minute to go, Carlos made a quick move, grabbing Joel around the neck and pulling him as he stepped outside his legs, yanking him down and landing on top in a side mount.   He began to drive his elbow down onto Joel but only got a few hits in before the bell sounded to end round two.

"Okay, let's look at that eye."  Rock House had a cut man for Joel to use in his corner, and he applied pressure and a quick acting coagulate to stop the bleeding while Chris spoke to Joel.

"The way I figure it, you had round one and round two was a toss-up, but may go his way because of that last throw.  I think you had it until then, though, so it's hard to say.  But assume you need to win this last one.  Of course, a knock out or submission would be better..."

Joel nodded, figuring the match the same way and he stood up just as the bell sounded to start their final round.  He doubted he'd be able to knock Carlos out, but a submission wasn't out of the question.  But a win was a win, and he'd take a decision from the judges if it came down to that.  He just needed to give them a reason to vote his way.

As soon as they met in the center, Carlos threw a punch that Joel caught with his wrist; he then leapt in the air, spinning his legs up over his head as he pulled on the limb in an attempt at a flying arm bar.  Carlos came crashing down with him and Joel almost had him locked in, but the Hispanic was able to wrench his arm free at the last moment before he could apply pressure.

As Carlos tried to roll off, Joel grabbed his leg, locking it within his own and grabbing the ankle as he worked on a knee bar submission.  Carlos rolled to get out, Joel rolling with him and continuing to apply pressure.  Carlos' leg was bent at what Joel knew was a painful angle, but the fighter refused to give up, continuing to work on freeing his leg.  He was able to turn enough to reduce the pressure, so Joel switched tactics again, grabbing the other man's foot in a heel hook, toe hold combo.

Carlos grabbed Joel's own leg, trying to apply an ankle hold of his own and forcing Joel to release his own hold to defend against his own foot snapping under the intense pressure of Carlos' submission attempt.

He was able to pull himself free, managing to continue his assault on Carlos.  His submissions weren't finishing his opponent off, but at least they were keeping his opponent on the defense instead of the offense, which meant that points should be flowing mostly in Joel's direction.  He attempted an arm bar, and even a rear naked choke, both of which were defended by Carlos.  Carlos, in turn, was only able to hit Joel a couple more times with elbows to his face as the two men struggled on the ground.  The hits weren't hard, but he did manage to open up the cut above Joel's eye again. 

It wasn't long before new stains were appearing on Carlos' gi, adding fresh patterns to the stained fabric.  Joel wouldn't let the injury stop him, though, as he continued his relentless ground assault on his opponent.  By the time the bell rang to end their match, he knew he had done enough to win the round.

Amber

As soon as the bell sounded, Amber leapt to her feet along with the roaring crowd. The finish had been an exciting mix of grappling and wrestling which gave the round an exciting contrast to the pounding of the previous one, but that wasn't why she had stood up.  Joel was bleeding, and she wanted to get over to see if he was okay. 

The match had been a close one, but from the murmuring of the crowd around her, Joel sounded like he'd actually pulled it off.  In the ring, he was surrounded by fighters from Rock House, some of them lifting his arm victoriously, all of them with smiles on their faces and patting each other on the back.  Shawn Rock was right in the middle of it, his smile biggest of all.  She couldn't even see Joel's face as everyone crowded him.

On the other side of the ring, Carlos looked in even worse shape than Joel, but his friends were also holding his arm up.  To Amber's eye, they didn't look quite as confident.  She pushed her way past
the cheering audience, making her way to the ring.  It would be a couple of minutes before the official decision was read, and she just wanted to see Joel's face and tell him how proud she was of him.

Grabbing the bottom rope, she hoisted herself up so that she was on the outside of the mat, looking over the top.  Through the crowd, she saw Joel.  His face had been wiped clean of fresh blood and someone had taped up the cut over his eye so that it was no longer dripping down into him.  He saw her and immediately started to make his way over, his face a mask compared to the joy around him.