Knockout Games (10 page)

I nodded, a bit woozy.

He was naked except for the towel around his waist. “Let me look at you.”

He turned me around to face him. I had to rest my hand on his shoulder to steady myself, but it stung like hell and I pulled it back. It looked swollen.

He held my hand gently, looking at both sides like he was a doctor. When he touched my knuckles, I flinched. He pulled on each finger, one by one. That didn't hurt so bad.

Turning my hand over, he pressed on the top of my palm.

“I don't know what happened back there,” I said.

He smiled. “What happened was you finished the job when little Ty couldn't.”

K curled my hand into a fist. I winced from the pain. “I had to do something. The guy was gonna smash him with his metal detector.”

“All I know is you finished that dude off.” He soothed my hand by blowing on it.

“Someone had to,” I said. But now I was worried. “What if . . . he goes to the police?”

“Oh, he's definitely going to the police,” said Kalvin. “Thing is, when you get knocked out, you don't remember a thing. Last thing he probably remembers is looking for some old coins or something.”

“Or some strange girl with red hair coming up to him trying to bum a cigarette.”

He shrugged. “Hey, no one's ID'd us yet. I don't think it'll start with you. Can you imagine him saying he was knocked out by some
girl
?”

That still didn't make me feel any better. “Do you think he went to the hospital?”

“What do you care what happens to him? You don't know him. He could be a child abuser for all you know.”

“Or he could've been a war veteran or something . . .”

Kalvin made a dour face. “Just stop talking. You're still probably in shock. Come here.” He led me to his bed and sat me down. “Don't worry so much about it.” He shuffled through his nightstand until he found a prescription bottle of something. “Percodan,” he said. “Take this; it'll help.” He handed me two pills and a bottle of water. I did what he said.

He had an ice pack in a mini fridge by his bed and put it on my hand. “Bruised, but not broken. It'll hurt for a while. But you'll get used to it.”

“I hope not,” I said.

We sat there awkwardly on his bed. I'd never been on a halfnaked guy's bed before. I didn't know what to do with myself.

“Hey, you wanna see it?”

My jaw dropped. “Um . . .”

He smiled. “The video, fool.” He dug around in his pants pocket and pulled out his phone.

“I don't think so.”

“Come on, you were amazing.” He pressed play and there I was talking to the metal detector guy. The camera was behind Tyreese. When he froze up, I saw Kalvin's hand come in and give him a push.

“Who said you could record this?”

“What? You can record us, but I can't shoot you? Besides, this is a moment to remember. The moment where the queen rose up! I knew you had it in you.”

My face felt hot. It was weird being on the other side of the camera for once—all I could think of was how fat I looked.

In the video, Tyreese ran at the guy, popped him in the face and then howled like he'd hit a wall. I could hear Kalvin and them laughing as Tyreese rolled around holding his hand.

Then Prince said, “Oh, shit, check it out. That old fucker's fighting back!”

I saw him grab his metal detector and raise it over his head to smack Tyreese. That's when I lost it. The guy's head just snapped back when I popped him from the side, just like Kalvin showed me. I put my whole body into it—
Pow!
He fell to his knees.

“Holy shit!” K shouted. The crew was hopped up excited, snorting hysterically at the sight of me smacking this old guy.

I kept going at him until he hit the ground. Everyone rushed in. The camera came straight at me and it was like watching a different person. My eyes were all wide-eyed and wild, and then suddenly, I was buried in a pile of boys. The camera went crazy for a few seconds, pointing at the sky and the ground until after I emerged from the pile, pulled out by Kalvin. I kept hitting at the air and stumbling around. Kalvin was chasing me around, “Hold up, hold up. I got ya!” The camera went all wonky and the next image was of him holding me up to the camera. “The new heavyweight champ!”

Kalvin put the phone down on the bed. “Looks like I taught you something.”

“I never hit anyone before,” I mumbled. He took my hand and stroked it softly.

“There's nothing like it, right? The energy . . . surges through your body and you feel like you can do . . . anything,” he whispered, almost to himself. “That's the lightning. That's what you felt back there.”

“Adrenaline,” I said.

“No.” He traced his finger up my arm. “My pops used to say there's a warrior spirit trapped in all of us. Some use it; most don't. But when you whup someone good, that spirit gets knocked out of them and the warrior who hit 'em takes on that power. That's the surge you felt. You took that dude's power.”

I knew that was bullshit, but I couldn't deny this crazy feeling I had: I
did
take that guy's power. I could almost feel it coursing through my blood—I was somebody to be reckoned with.

Next thing I knew, his lips were on mine. Just like that. My mind kinda went blank but I found myself kissing back. I didn't really know what to do. I wondered if I was kissing him right, but he was like a dancer, leading me, showing me what to do and I just sank into those lips of his. His arms held me close, his body on mine—but he didn't try to force anything.

I couldn't tell him I was a virgin, but he probably sensed I was uptight. I kissed him a little too hard and our teeth hit. I pulled back embarrassed, but he didn't seem to care. He was all clean and smelled good, and I was still sweaty from the park but he seemed to like that. I let him guide me. His hand drifted down, and I found myself grabbing his wrist when it got to my waist. He eased up. That surprised me, him taking it slow and easy. I liked that.

As soon as it felt like we were just going to make out, I relaxed. I mean, he was naked except for his towel. And I could
feel
his . . . you know . . . on my leg, but even that didn't freak me out too much. His kissing put me back at ease.

The only thought in my head, besides how nice this felt, was to flash back to a couple of months ago, when I was so alone floating at the bottom of that pool.

For once, I felt like I belonged.

15

When me and the Knockout King emerged from the door that led out to the roof, the boys all looked at us with a funny expression. They were huddled around a metal trash can, their eyes lit up by the fire. Boner came panting up to Kalvin, relieved to see his master.

“What are they staring at?” I said.

Kalvin picked up Boner and whispered into my ear. “You.”

When they lowered their eyes, I felt like royalty.

Kalvin broke the spell. “Who wants some Kool-Aid?” Hands shot up. They may be tough Tokers, but inside, they were still kids.

We sat around the fire drinking Kool-Aid and eating Doritos. Me and the King sat on a utility box and Prince squatted with the minions looking none too pleased.

“What's his deal?” I asked.

“Oh, he's just bein' Prince is all. He get jealous easily. It's that hot Latino blood, I guess.”

“About what?”

“Not what. Who. Just ignore him; he'll get over it.”

He surveyed the scene, me by his side. His eyes connected with Tyreese and he nodded his approval. “I was twelve when I started training out here, just like these guys. Pops taught me to fight right where they are now. It was either fight or get thrown off.”

“I don't think so,” I said.

“For real. He used to whup my butt, but one day I got better of him and he stopped training me. I started going to the gym and Teacher Man turned me into a boxer. But hitting a bag gets boring pretty quick.”

He watched two of the Tokers going at it over the last of the Doritos. That made him grin. “Back in the day, me and this other dude named Tuffy . . . we were hanging out with nothing to do. We joked around, talking about all the people that passed us on the street. Then one guy gave us a look like he didn't like us and I said something like, ‘Man, I'd like to pop that dude.'”

“And did you?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I didn't have a good reason, but I was bragging about how I could take that guy down in one blow, and ol' Tuffy said, ‘So what're you waiting for?' I had no choice then, so I walked up behind the guy as he's waiting at a crosswalk. I just whacked him in the side of the head. Only problem was, being thirteen, I wasn't so buffed out like now and it just pissed him off. He chased us for a whole block before we jumped some fences and lost him.”

He laughed at the memory, raising his cup for a toast. “Here's to ol' Tuff,” he said. “My former right hand, my ex-CEO, and brother of badass!”

Prince overheard him. That didn't help his mood any.

Kalvin ignored him. “I didn't hit someone again till after—you know, after my pops was gone.”

“Your dad died?” I asked.

He didn't say anything, but a darkness passed through his face. He was staring at Prince and then his eyes lit up again. “When word got out, young Prince here showed up looking to prove himself. Little wetback kid trying to sling it like us. Now normally, blacks and Latinos hate each other's guts. But you know what? He proved his worth. I'm a equal opportunity guy when it comes to people willing to prove themselves.”

He raised his cup to Prince, who toasted back. “He knows I love him like a brother,” said K. “And man, did we have us some times. But by the time I got to Truman High, I kinda outgrew it. I liked getting these Tokers going and training them and whatnot. It's like raising little pit bulls.”

It was nice hearing him talk. Part of me wished I was shooting this, but the other part was just glad to be sitting here with him. “Sounds . . . nice?”

He gave me a sour look. “Nice? I don't know about that. But most of these Tokers don't got dads, so I feel I'm giving ‘em something I didn't have. You know . . . direction. Something to feel part of.”

I found myself staring at his lips while he talked. There was something odd about his teeth. The front four were whiter than the rest.

He caught me staring at his mouth. “What?”

“Are those . . . fake teeth?”

He was a little embarrassed, but just shook his head and kissed me, his mouth opened wide. Someone dropped their Kool-Aid. I felt Kalvin's tongue pushing and then—

“Jesus!” I pulled away and spit something on the ground. His four front teeth.

Kalvin fell on the ground cackling. The others caught on and C-Jay ran over and picked up the teeth and held them up to me. “These yours?”

“That's . . . disgusting.”

“You asked!” Kalvin said, his face red from laughing so hard.

I flipped them both off. “I'm going.”

“Come on!” I heard him say. “I thought you liked my smile!”

“Not in my mouth.”

“Let her go,” said Prince.

Kalvin waved him off and caught me at the door with his hand on my shoulder. “Come on,” he said softly. “Are you really mad or just showing off?”

I turned and stared into his green eyes. “That
was
disgusting.”

“Yeah, I guess it was. I'm sorry.”

I softened.

“But you gotta admit, it was funny, right?”

I shrugged. It was. “Only for sick minds.”

“Sick minds think alike.” He nudged me. “So we good?”

“Maybe.”

Then before he kissed me, I slipped out of his hold and walked down the stairs. He watched me walk away. “Hard to get. Good move.”

He was grinning, his four front teeth missing.

16

I woke up the next morning, the sun falling on my face. As I stretched out on my bed, I actually felt different. When I glanced in the mirror, I even looked a little different. My skin kind of glowed. Or maybe it was just because I couldn't stop smiling.

All day at school, I kept thinking of Kalvin. Destiny had heard rumors and tried interrogating me, but it got her nowhere.

I interrogated her back about her mystery call at the park, but she just said it was a family thing. She'd heard about the Metal Detector Man. “I guess you one of us now.” She didn't seem too pleased about it, though.

After school, I had some errands I had to run for Mom, but I knew I'd make a pit stop at a certain person's apartment.

Kalvin lived across from an old brick church. The neighborhood was not bad, all lawns and charming houses. K lived in a small yellow-bricked apartment complex on the corner. When I spotted him, he was standing on the stoop of his building. Prince and some of the crew were standing on the steps talking to some older white guy wearing a bright red shirt. The man was in his fifties, with sad but intense eyes. He was also pointing a bulky old video camera at K.