The Fight Within (75 page)

“No you’re not, not tonight. We’re celebrating now. This is a special occasion. Why’d you think I asked Sean to bring the chicken to the dining room, Kevin? Sit down!” The woman frowned at her husband and stared him up and down.

“The chickens have come home to roost!” Sean instigated, laughing with his mouth still full. “…And they have good dental insurance. Do chickens even have teeth?” This caused a roar of laughter and other silly conversations.

Treasure sat back in her chair, and took it all in…loving every moment of it.

This is MY family, now. These are MY people.

No more sadness. No more wonder. The endless search for good, healthy love with a fair dose of fun was over. She’d found it and then some.

The fight within her had been won, and now inside her heart lived this guy’s undying, devoted love and within her womb was this same man’s baby… growing by the second.

And that little child had a heck of a welcome wagon waiting whenever they made their grand debut… one that sapphire dreams were made of…

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One year later…

“N
o, you’re hitting
way too high.” Sean slowed down and grabbed the Puerto Rican kid’s arm, escorting him to the other side of the ring. He’d been working with Alejandro for two weeks. The boy had natural, raw talent. His parents acknowledged this and wanted to foster the kid’s ability.

“Now, stand over here, and watch me do it.”

Sean had another student from the small crowd in the gym come in the ring and stand there.

“Yamil, raise your arms up.” The boy did as instructed. Sean administered light blows to the boy, more for demonstration than to gain any impact. “You see how I’m moving? You see my arms are higher? Look at my elbows, man.” He kept on moving around, raising his leg a time or two as he sped up his maneuvers.

“Yeah, I see what I did now.”

“Good. Okay, Yamil, go on and step back out. You too, Alejandro. Alright!” he yelled out and clapped his hands, getting all the students’ attention. “I want you guys to take a fifty minute lunch.” He looked up at the clock on the wall. “Be back at here at 12:50 on the damn dot. Not 12:51 or 12:52, capisce?”

“Yes Sean!” they all said in unison as they gathered their belongings.

“I’m serious! Two of you have fights next weekend and all of you have fights in the next month or so. Every minute of practice counts, can make a difference.” He watched the guys disperse then picked up his water and took a generous swig from the bottle. Placing his hoodie over his sweat covered body, he walked out of the gym into the blazing sunlight. He made his way down the busy street, filled with Saturday afternoon Manhattan shoppers and kids goofing off. Ninth Street smelled like burnt oil and bagels, and he loved every damn inch of it. He made his way into Bali Nusa Indah, navigating the small crowd until he’d reached a small table in the far back.

“Sir?” one of the waiters called out. The Indonesian place was filling up fast as the lunch crowd spilled within.

“Nah, I’m good! My wife is sitting right there.”

The man smiled and nodded in understanding, grabbed a few menus and walked to the other side of the restaurant.

“Hi, sweetie.” Treasure rose from her seat, cradling their three-month-old son. “Everything going well today?”

“Yeah, real good. The boys are actually listening today.” He seized Maxwell from her and cuddled him close as he took a seat across from her. “Hey little buddy,” he whispered, pushing down the child’s brown and green swaddle, exposing his small face with the fat cheeks a wee bit more. “What have you been doing all day, huh? Giving your mother the blues, right?” He tenderly kissed the baby on the lips, and rocked him with one arm while he looked at the menu with the other.

“He slept better today.” Treasure opened her menu and perused the selection.

“That’s good. You had us up all night, dude!” Sean grinned, tired as hell, but happy to hold his son and break bread with his gorgeous wife. He placed the baby over his shoulder and gently patted his back. “You got his burp cloth in there?” he asked, pointing to the diaper bag.

“Yeah.” She fished it out and handed it to him. Sliding it gently under the baby’s chin, he began to pat his back, his eyes glued to his wife, unable to turn away.

The woman smiled, but refused to make eye contact.

“You see me lookin’ at cha.”

“I do…what do you want?” She grinned, still reading the menu.

“I want a kiss. That’s what the hell I want. Come here and give it to me.”

The woman looked up at him, leaned across the table and landed a sweet one right onto his lips.

“That’s better. So, what gives? What’s the 411?”

“Well, I had a client make arrangements to stop by. I am going to draft her up a few designs for her study. Brian’s college acceptance letters arrived.” She smiled. “He can now transfer from Brookdale.”

“I don’t know why he moved to New Jersey in the first place. He hadn’t showed any interest until the last second.”

“You know why! Shanice got accepted there, so he went,” she said, shaking her head. “After they broke up, he wanted to leave right away but I told him to stick out that freshman year there as you know. But now that’s over, he’s ready to go somewhere else.”

“Did you open them?”

“I wanted to so bad!” She laughed and clasped her hands together. “But then I’d steal his thunder. I’m sure he got in though. One came from Colombia University but he keeps telling me he is certain he didn’t get in there. I told him not to be so sure. He has straight A’s and did extremely well on his SAT and ACT exams. Binghamton arrived, that’s the one he
really
wants anyway, and since he’d like to stay in the city, I think it would suit him just fine. Plus, they offer a good set of classes for what he has in mind.”

“Investment broker…that shocked the hell out of me!” Sean laughed. “But I think he’d be good at that, actually.”

“I think so, too.” She winked.

The waiter arrived, dropping off glasses of water.

“You know what you want, baby?” Treasure asked as he bounced Maxwell a bit, trying to soothe him the boy who’d become suddenly fussy.

“Yeah, you go first though.”

Treasure nodded and began to speak to the waiter, asking about steak skewers. He watched her lips, the way they curved as she carefully and articulately enunciated her words.

Everything she says sounds proper, yet sexy…

As he caressed his now dozing son’s back, he fell into a daydream. Every morning he woke up lying next to her, in disbelief that she was all his. He’d have to touch her, let his fingertips push ever so gently into her flesh, to believe what he saw was real…

Every afternoon when he’d call her from work and hear his son cooing in the background, he believed he may be trapped in some magical dream—for he now not only had a smart, hilarious and wonderful wife, he had a daughter and two sons…

Every evening as they’d all sit down to eat as a family, he had to pause, close his eyes and take in the fact that the house he was sitting in, he’d helped pay for. The people around that table, he loved more than his own life. Asia grown so much in the past year, becoming even more lovely, responsible, and much to his amazement, outgoing. Asia took on her new role as big sister quite seriously, and she excelled in the art, showing herself to be one of the most thoughtful, kind souls he’d ever encountered.

He never thought in a million years he’d have a life like this! The beautiful house on Lyons Place was filled with love, respect and understanding. He’d had some pain, experienced some hurt along the way, but it was a small sacrifice for all that he’d gained. His woman, his one and only, showed him what
true
love was all about. It wasn’t about what you can’t do, but about what you
could
—and it all began from the inside.

He’d been torn to pieces, but thought he was whole. He’d been choking on pessimism, breathing it in like air, but had convinced himself he was inspirational and benevolent. Funny the bill of goods one can sell themselves, all in an effort to sleep at night and not feel the pain festering from a heart that had grown callous over the course of many years.

Treasure had been looking for love, unashamed of the fact that she was on the search. Yet, he’d run away from it, unaware he was hunting for it in the darkness, when he closed his eyes to sleep. He was the biggest seeker of all, for denial had wrapped itself snugly around him, kept him warm and secure from the truth and self-awareness he so needed in his life.

It no longer mattered now. He’d learned his lesson. So now, here he sat in the present, enjoying his gifts. No one could tell him right then that he wasn’t the wealthiest man in the world. No one could tell him that he didn’t have it all. At that moment, the woman’s sweet perfume drifted past him, sending his groin into a series of fits… He lusted after her just as strongly as he had the first day he laid eyes on her… with her crimson robe blowing in the wind, showing her delectable wares.

The garbage had to be removed—and he did the grunt work so he could be complete, his broken self glued together, shining as if brand new. In some ways, he
was
brand new. For he’d done the construction, the reconstruction, and the repairs himself, while Treasure gave him the courage to look at the gunk, the filthy shit, take inventory, and make it right! He’d been so busy looking at the outside, window shopping for his own soul, that he forgot to first start his spiritual chores indoors…

Today, he deemed himself a titleholder. He’d won, mastered, and defeated his old self. Yes…he was the champ.

Sean had confronted Sean. He’d placed on his boxing gloves, turned on his battle music, and gone toe to toe with the man in the mirror. Sean was victorious! And the shimmery belt, the shiny gold trophy, and continuous accolades would always be his. He fought a good fight, but his best rewards were a true Treasure and three additional people who made their house a home. He was done with playing on the sidelines, not inviting himself to his own party. He was healed.

He’d mastered his demons, and won the fight within…

The End

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