The Fight Within (53 page)

Before she knew it, the two giants were glaring at each other, with only ten or so inches between their bodies as the referee went over the rules. Her nightmare sundae, sprinkled with worries galore, topped with a tear-filled cherry, caused her to miss crucial lapses in time. Reclaiming her seat, she clasped her hands together, feeling the sweat collecting on her palms in a matter of seconds as her knees bucked against each other.

“Ahhhhhh!” the crowd exclaimed, while she drowned in confusion.

“What? What’s going on?” She jumped back up and before she knew it, Sean’s long, muscular leg—with thighs that could crush walnuts, pecans and fucking concrete—rose in the air, and his knee caught the gelatinous bastard beast on the side, making the man moan deep and madly, as if the damn air had been knocked clean out of him. It happened so fast, that she must’ve missed it in a blink of her eye.

He didn’t waste any time…

“Ahhhhhh!!!!” the crowd exclaimed once again when Vernon the Venom got his bearings and gave her baby a knee in the chin and a punch in the gut in swift succession. Seemingly unfazed, Sean moved about the man, and a series of mutual punches and kicks ensued, an even exchange of pounds of flesh.

Oh my God, how long is this going to continue?

“No!” she screamed out through destroyed nerves, losing her semblance of sanity when she witnessed bright red blood pooling from his right nostril, gushing out with no indication of stopping.

“You okay?” A man popped up beside her after navigating the crowd. He held onto a red and cream-colored bag of popcorn, then wedged himself in between her hip and another person’s thigh without a sliver of care as he made himself at home.

“Uh…yeah.” She looked at him inquisitively, realizing his eyes were so damn familiar… Only difference was, his were blue…

“I’m Colin, Sean’s brother.” He smiled wide and extended his hand as he sat beside her.

“Oh! Yes! He said you’d be here. Nice to finally meet you.” She made to shake his hand, but their exchanged greetings simply weren’t meant to be.

“Ahhhhhh!!!!” the crowd roared once again, forcing her to crane her neck back in the direction of the ring.

“Dat’s my booooy!!!” Colin rose from his seat, screaming and yelling, causing his popcorn to fly wildly about like confetti, some of it landing in her hair.

Sean had stepped back and landed a vicious kick to the side of the big, burly man’s stomach. The crowd groaned on the man’s behalf, but there was no chance to fully take in what had taken place, for Sean wasted no time in delivering another blow, this one much worse—for he foot-delivered a vicious right hook to the middle of the bastard’s upper chest, Federal Express. The big fucker literally buckled to his damn, meaty ham-hock-like knees, losing his breath, and he clawed at the air, his mouth hanging agape. Now almost everyone in the stadium was up and about, roaring, chanting and clapping! Amped up in a vehement way, declaring profanity-laced accolades.

“Nice body kick, Sean! Fuckin’ A!” someone screamed out.

How barbaric…and she hated that she loved it all at once. He was a damn animal…

Her mouth twisted in warped pleasure at the notion.

Ecstatic and turned on at the same time, her knees must have gotten weaker than those of Sean’s felled opponent. The popcorn started to roll off the top of her head, her snack crown landing on her lap. She felt careful fingertips in her tresses, as if she were being pruned, treated with the utmost tender care.

“Sorry.” Colin smiled as he sat back down beside her, removing his buttery grub from her person, one tiny fragment at a time.

“That’s okay. You got a little excited is all.” She grinned.

“So, you’re Treasure!” He nodded in her direction, then looked back at the ring for a second or two. They witnessed the giant getting back on his feet while Sean danced about, waiting to get back into the rhythm of the thing.

“Yes,” she said, smiling up at him. “I’m Treasure. It’s nice to meet you, Colin. Sean has told me so much about you.” She threw on her professional voice as a simple default, but wasn’t sure how much longer that could last in such an atmosphere.

“Yeah…he talks about cha all the time. He told me you’d be sitting over here, in this row and seat, so I tried to make sure to get next to ya.” The guy nodded after his own declaration, then casually glanced down at her cleavage. He hung around there in boob-land for a second or two too long, then made a leisurely retreat to shift his attention back to the ring.

I see they are more similar than I’d like
… She smirked.

“Ohhhhhhh!!!!” The crowd gasped as Sean lost his balance, ducking away from what she presumed was a back kick. He’d given her a crash course in the sport over the past few days, and though she still felt rather clueless, it definitely helped to explain some of the maneuvers she was currently witnessing.

Maneuvers…what a nice and tidy way to phrase that, Sean. It’s more like death blows!

“Sean has only lost one fight.” Colin leaned in close to her, a smile on his face as he bragged on his little brother, pumping him up, though inflation was definitely not needed. “Did you know that?”

“No.” Grinning wide, she shook her head. Sean had kept hush-hush about his impressive track record. “He never told me that. He’s been real modest about it, actually.”

Colin nodded and went back to staring at her. The man had the type of look as if he could see through people, dissect them on the spot, pull their card, have their number and be onto them in a second flat. He regarded her with such intensity, she clutched the fabric of her shirt, wound it around her hand like one of her baby’s bandages… feeling vulnerable, just like with the psychic.

“Am I making ya uncomfortable?” he asked, seemingly taking notice of her stiffened body language.

She laughed nervously, turned back toward Sean and Quadruped Man, then looked back toward the guy, still mulling over whether to be honest about his query or not.

“A little…”

They both loudly chuckled together.

“I’m sorry, it’s just, damn…he was right. You’re
really
beautiful.”

“Awww, thank you, Colin.”

“Yeah, you’re welcome, and he thinks the world of ya, okay? He’s crazy about you. Anyone that makes my brother happy makes
me
happy.” He pointed to himself. “He’s been through a lotta shit, ya know…”

She could see the concern in the man’s baby blues, dotted with a small warning, enfolded in brotherly love, and gift-wrapped in sparkling sincerity. After taking a second or two to contain herself, she lightly patted the man’s hand, then calmly gripped it.

“Colin, I love Sean with all my heart.” They stared at one another for a while, ignoring the wild crowd, and drifting into a tiny world that only the two of them existed in. “He is the first man I’ve dated in a very long time that allowed me to be myself, and didn’t want anything except the
best
for me… I won’t do anything to cause him harm, I promise.”

The guy immediately softened at her words. “Thanks, that’s all I needed to hear.” He brandished a half-grin and stroked her hand before slipping his fingers from her gentle grip.

“Ahhhhhh!!!!” The crowd got to their feet again, and Treasure followed suit.

“I can’t see a damn thing!” she complained as she teeter-tottered on her tippy toes, biting into her lip. Her frustration mounted with each torturous second that passed. Colin pointed at a screen off to the side that showcased the bloody scene below. It was hard to completely see, but it surely helped. And then, she almost wished she hadn’t seen a damn thing!

She gasped when she caught sight of what played out before her. Sean had grabbed the fiend in a headlock and tossed him to the ground as if he weighed nothing. The audience screamed with pleasure at the sadistic scene. The bell chimed and both men went to their respective corners, bloodied, bruised, looking damn near half dead.

The vultures should be spiraling overhead soon…

Her heart thumped in her chest; she had no idea how someone so loving and fun could enjoy getting the pulp beaten out of him, then return the damn favor… She was in love with a stranger, and yet, in her heart, she knew every detail of the man. He kept nothing back from her, even shit she’d prefer to not hear…like how he used to masturbate four times a day religiously as a teenager—hell, even as a grown man. He didn’t mind sharing shit like that. No, Sean was no stranger…but he sure was strange.

“Sean won the first round,” Colin whispered in her ear, stealing her from her thoughts. “He trained hard for this guy. Vernon doesn’t lose easy.”

Treasure offered a nervous smile and nodded in understanding.

This Vernon person needs to lose all that hair clustered all over his back. Looks like a lacefront wig hanging from his damn shoulders… disgusting.

Sean slumped against the ropes while two men surrounded him. One spoke close to his face, his long nose almost bumping into Sean’s cheek. The other took care of pouring water from a bottle into his gaping mouth in rapid speed. A few moments later, both men had resumed their stances in the center of the ring, ready to go head to head once again. Treasure’s chest swelled with renewed worry, yet, she couldn’t turn away. Muscular legs and arms began to move in swift motion every damn where as if attached to some invisible Ferris wheel. Her gut sank when she watched Sean take a brutal beating, this one longer than the last and then, he gave one, too…just as ferocious.

As her Love’s limbs moved like a tornado, she could almost feel his rage through each heated blow. Though he seemed miles away from her, he seemed so close, too. She could smell his anxiety, the purge, the continuous overdosing on large, sticky vials filled to the brim with liquefied self-protection, poured out as sweat down his handsome, strong-featured face. How could one man be so simple, yet so complicated? As the fight continued, her heart seized up with fresh revelations and understanding, an epiphany of sorts…

I know why he does this now… I know!

She looked at Colin, but the man paid her no attention as he shouted and bounced about. She grinned wide at her discovery, wanting nothing more than to declare it to someone…but she’d simply have to settle for her own self, and that was truly good enough.

…I know why you do this now, Sean. It’s a stress reliever on so many levels…

He was good at it,
damn
good at it, and it allowed her baby to pour some of his pent up energy and frustration into
something
else, not keep it all bottled within. The man was a beast that wore a smile, but inside he wanted to tear the fucking world apart…and worst as well as best of all, he damn well knew it.

I’m so proud of you, baby…

She smiled inwardly as she continued to watch, made herself stand straight and not flinch. She moved around the crowd, desperate for live shots of the man, occasionally checking the television for perspective views, too. She refused to hide, to flinch, to close her eyes. He loved this, and she wanted to see it, not miss a thing. She didn’t care if he lost, though he’d pout all night if he did. She smiled at the image in her mind, envisioning how he’d act like a big baby, and she’d have to comfort him…fuck him to sleep, make it all better.

“Yeeeessss!” Colin jumped again from his seat, furiously clapping after Sean administered another limber high kick. From the instant replay, she saw how Sean’s damn foot practically wrapped around the back of the fucker’s head! Her baby was incredible…

“Another back kick! And another!” Colin screamed and cheered. After another minute or two, Sean’s biggest cheerleader changed his damn tune. “Awwwww man! Goddamn it! He’s not blocking well! What are ya doing, target practice?! Elbow?! You let him get that in?! What the hell is wrong with you?!…Ahhhh! Sean!” The man chastised his brother with abandon and little care, tough loving the guy into a world of shame. And then, she heard a sound no woman in love with a fighter wants to hear… The crowd bowed down, hissing and gasping.

“What’s going on?!” she yelled. Her heart grew wings and took flight, flapping like a butterfly trapped in an empty jam jar on a schoolhouse windowsill.

“Damn…” She barely heard the man speak. She looked at the monitors, feeling a pain in her chest, and braced to watch the replay.

Colin seemed taken aback by a brutal low kick his little brother endured. The crowd continued to boo and gasp. Standing on tiptoes, she saw her man go down, sucking in air, before stammering back to his feet. The crowd lit up with applause at his recovery, while he gritted through the pain, the torment, the sweet relief of it all…

Oh yes, that had to have hurt! Why does he do this?!

Fueled by fresh anxiety, she suddenly forgot she’d solved that puzzle moments ago. The damn monster in that ring seemed hell bent on rearranging Sean’s face and placing him in a body cast.

“Shit! Sean!” Colin chastised. “Get it together!” he roared over the large, amped up crowd. With her vision slightly impaired from the bouncing mob, she could hardly tell what was happening anymore. The monitor offered no live feed. Was someone playing some cruel joke on her? Whatever happened, it elicited an all out frenzy for the announcer was yelling something about, ‘roundhouse kick’ and ‘superman punch.’

“Fuuuck yeeeaah!!! Woo hoooo!” Colin cheered, his big body swaying from side to side like a cluster of tree branches in a wicked storm. He glanced quickly at Treasure, suddenly realizing she couldn’t see a damn thing. Without notice, he picked her up and put her on his shoulders, drawing out a shriek from her. She laughed so loudly and uncontrollably, she almost fell into the lunging, cursing crowd.

“You see ’im?!” Colin yelled.

“Yeah! Sean is standing, and the other guy is just kinda lying there.”

“Yeah, that’s ’cause
my
brother beat his motherfucking ass!!! That damn bastard is knocked out
cold
!” he yelled proudly as the referee grabbed Sean’s arm and placed it high in the air.