Vampire Love Story (7 page)

“I don’t understand. They told you this was only going to be a tune-up fight. They know I’ve knocked out everyone in the first two minutes of each of my fights. I’m anything but a tune-up.”

“It’s not your performance
in
the ring, Josiah. It’s who you are
out
of the ring. ”

“What does that mean?”

Tommy was getting himself worked up. “It means you don’t take being a fighter seriously, man. It means you get fat every time you’re done training. Don’t you think the trainers see that? They see you come in late to train and you’re always the first to leave. You’re looked at as soft.”

“That’s bullshit and you know—”

“Josiah, they apologized to me that they couldn’t give me a better fighter.”

My mouth dropped open. “You’re being serious?”

He nodded. I knew this wasn’t easy for him.

“They really apologized for not getting you a better fighter?”

He nodded again. “Look, Josiah, I know you’re tough and I know what you can do. So I’m telling you right now that you better train seriously. If I kick your ass easily, they will think you threw the fight and that would be worse than me losing.”

“I can’t believe you think you’re just going to kick my ass. Do you have any idea what I’m capable of?”

“It doesn’t matter how tough you are, Josiah. You and I both know that. When two fighters are as good we are, the winner is always the person who trains the hardest and the smartest. You and I both know I have you on both points.”

This was the first time in my life I ever wanted to punch Tommy in the face. How could he say these things to me? He was in my corner in each of my knock outs. He saw how easily I manhandled all of my opponents. The nerve of him thinking he could just roll me over.

“Look,” I said, raising my voice, feeling that familiar surge of adrenalin. It was all I could do to control myself. “Do what you have to do, and say what you have to say to try to get in my head. But I’m telling you right here and now that this is the worst thing that could have happened to you. You better train Rocky Balboa-style. I will not be easy on you. In fact, I will be the exact opposite. I’m going to kick the living shit out of you.”

Tommy had a cocky smirk on his face. “Good, that’s what I want to hear. Our fight is in 24 days. I think it would be best if I stayed with my Grandma. You know how I get. It will be just too weird running into you each day.”

“Do what you have to do,” I said, and brushed past him into the house. I went straight to my room, where I stripped off my shirt and jeans. Now just in my boxers, I dropped to the floor and cranked out 4 sets of 50 pushups. If Tommy wanted me at the top of my game, then that’s where he was going to get me.

* * *

I spent the next two weeks training three times a day.

My days started with a five-mile run and then a four-hour gym session. Each evening I did a six-mile run just because I could. One thing I knew I could count on was that my legs were going to feel heavy, and little Daphne was always there to greet me before each run with a loud squawk.

Each night before bed, I would visually play out my game plan against Tommy. My strategy was simple: I was going to strike. I was going to throw a storm of punches and kicks until I knocked him out. Tommy’s strategy would be to get me to the ground. Tommy loved to do submission moves, but there was no way I’d ever give him that chance.

At the gym, I practiced my ground game with Mike Flores. Mike Flores was an ex-MMA fighter who had to quit cause he blew out his ACL in his knee. Mike had been in my corner in each of my fights, along with Tommy. Mike thought it was naive of me to think that I was just going to knock Tommy out in the first two minutes and that I had better figure out some ground defense.

So I did. Working hard with Mike Flores. And as the first week came and went, I had forgotten all about Lena and her crazy friends. On a Saturday night, with seven days to go before the big match, I decided to take the night off. I was craving some hot wings from Hotlanta, a barbecue joint that served up some incredible good old-fashioned soul food. It was in Riverside which was about a half hour away. I could really use a nice drive. I showered up and put on my only black T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. I was in the bathroom fixing up my hair when I heard a knock on the front door.

I finished the last bit of my beautiful locks and went to answer it. I opened the door and found Yari standing there. She looked incredible. She was wearing a long white dress that looked like something out of a romance novel. Her hair was fixed up and her bright red lipstick made the color in her hair stand out.

“Hey there,” I said, surprised as hell.

“Hey, yourself,” she said in a sultry voice.

I peeked out the door and saw that she seemed to be alone. There wasn’t even a vehicle in sight. “Do you want to come in?”

“Sure.”

“What were you looking for outside?” she asked.

“I don’t know...I thought maybe you had your friends with you.”

“Nope. Just little ol’ me. Sorry if you’re disappointed.”

I grinned. Girls and their games. “I’m anything but disappointed. I was just surprised to see you, that’s all.” I sat on my couch. Yari walked over and sat next to me with about a foot separating us.

“I hope it was a good surprise,” she said.

“Very good. You look incredible.”

“Thanks.” She spoke with an air of confidence that only the most beautiful women have, women who receive a steady stream of compliments. “You’re looking good, too. Were you going somewhere?”

“I was just going to get a bite to eat.”

Her eyebrows lifted. “By yourself?”

“Yeah, I do most things by myself these days.”

“That’s too bad.”

“So where are you headed? You look like you’re dressed up for a party.”

“That’s why I’m here. I’m heading over to a party in Victorville. I was thinking you might want to come.”

“You drove all the way out here to see if I wanted to come to a party?”

“Well, I didn’t have your number, did I?”

“How did you get here? There are no cars outside.”

“Some friends dropped me off.”

“And what if I wasn’t home?”

“Then I would had called my friends to come get me. Your light was on so I told them they could take off. What’s up with the third degree?”

“There is no third degree. I’m just flattered, I guess.”

“You should be. If you haven’t noticed, I look smoking hot right now. I don’t know how often a hot woman comes to your door and asks you to escort her to a party.”

“That happens like...never,” I said.

“Then do you want to scratch your pathetic dinner plans and come with me?”

I grinned. “Sure; let me grab a jacket.”

I went to the closet and did just that. When I returned, Yari was looking at me with a big smile.

“What?” I asked.

“You look good, Josiah. Real good. I just might want a taste before we go.” Yari leaned into me and kissed my lips. I kissed her back. I had a lot of pent-up energy considering I subscribe to the no-jacking-off rule before a fight. Her lips felt soft and tender. She was such an amazing kisser. I pressed her up against my wall in my hallway and turned her body around. Her dress felt amazing. It was silky and soft. I placed my hands around her body and onto her thighs. Her perfectly-shaped buttocks pressed against my groin. I kissed her neck and slid my hands up the front of her body until both my hands were cupping her breasts. She turned her head and kissed me. Her tongue was soft and wet. Her pheromones were flying off the chart. She smelled incredible, and even her saliva smelled refreshing.

“In my entire life,” I said, “no one has ever turned me on the way you do.”

Yari stopped and looked at me with a tenderness I had not seen from her before. “That’s good,” she said. “Now we should get going.”

Then she walked to my door and outside my house. I was left there turned on, but at least I did have a place to go.

I drove us to Victorville in about a half an hour. Victorville is one of those little desert cities along Highway 15 that people pass on their way to Las Vegas. It’s in the high desert and still has a sort of old-time feel to it, the kind of place where a young Clint Eastwood might squint and settle a score, in exactly that order.

Anyway, the party was another thirty minutes off the highway, and when we finally arrived at the house, I pulled into a long, narrow driveway. I noticed there weren’t that many cars out front. I also noticed a lot of black birds flying around outside. They appeared to be the same type of birds that were hovering around Flatlands. I looked up through the windshield at the house in front us. It was, as Tommy would say, ginormous. It had a stately feel to it, and seemed better suited for a Governor or Senator, not a place you would expect deep in the heart of Victorville.

“Am I going to know anyone at this party?” I asked Yari.

“Atticai and Lena should be here, along with Wyatt and the others.” Yari looked down at my wrist. “Your wrist seems to be healing.”

“Yeah, the teeth marks look more like I got branded than bitten.”

“You know that Wyatt feels bad about that.”

“I bet he does. I still have no clue why a grown man would want to bite me.”

“You can ask him yourself.” Yari motioned to my rear view mirror. Sure enough the infamous black van pulled up behind me.

I opened my door and got out.

Atticai stepped out of the van’s side door with his held high as if he was royalty. He turned and saw me but gave no indication of recognizing me. His face looked paler than before. Lena came out after him. She saw me and ran over to me.

“Hey, you!” she said to me.

“Hey yourself,” I replied.

“What? Are you too good for me?” she asked, putting both hands on her curvy hips.

“Why you say that?”

“Ever hear of returning a call?”

I looked at Atticai to see if he was annoyed that his girlfriend was calling me. Again he had zero expression on his face. He just continued walking up to the house.

“Oh, sorry. I’ve been training hard for my next fight and turned my phone off. You know, to cut down on the distractions.” I winced the moment that last sentence left my mouth. Yari whistled next to me.

“Well, it’s good to know that I’m only a distraction.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I’m just bustin’ your balls. I know you’re busy. I was just wondering what happened to you. I guess I know now—and look, you’ve lost some weight. Damn, boy, you look skinny!” Lena leaned in to pinch my stomach, but Yari promptly blocked her hand with her own hand.

“You don’t have to touch,” Yari snapped at Lena.

“Wow, Yari. Down, girl. I was just playing around.”

“Nobody has time for your games,” Yari responded.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you had already marked him.”

“I haven’t marked anybody. Why don’t you go find Atticai and you can play your games with him?”

“Fine. I’m going to go inside.” Lena looked at me sadly and walked off.

“You really didn’t have to do that,” I said to Yari. “She was just fooling around.”

“Look, you two can play grab ass all you want. I’m going inside, too.” Yari stormed off and I was left alone with the guy that enjoyed my arm as snack a couple weeks earlier.

“Chicks, dude.” Wyatt laughed. “I have no clue what any of that was about.”

“You’re telling me,” I said.

We shook our heads some more in one of the strangest moments of male bonding I’ve ever had, and then he showed me inside the house. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but I know I wasn’t expecting
this
. Except for a few dozen flickering votive candles, the whole house was completely dark. I stopped in the foyer, but Wyatt urged me along. Deeper in the house I saw that there were candles placed just about everywhere; in every room and on every table. The candles provided just enough light so that I didn’t run into furniture, but not enough to make me feel anywhere near comfortable.

What the hell was going on?

As I walked through the small party, I noticed a lot of couples making out. I had been to a lot of parties in my life but never one like this. It reminded me of a junior high make-out party. Well, everything but the insane candles.

Anyway, I made my way to the kitchen since I was starving. There was no food anywhere. Just tons of alcohol. I needed to eat something asap, so I opened the refrigerator and I hit the jackpot. Chicken wings. A whole plate of them. I looked around to make sure I wasn’t snagging someone else’s food. Well I was, but whoever this food was for didn’t have to know about it. I grabbed eight of them and sat at the table, near a stack of napkins and cups. I put the sticky wings on a napkin and poured myself some of what appeared to be straight tequila.

I took my time with the wings, enjoying each bite. When I polished off the last knobby bite, I quickly downed the two or three shots of tequila I had poured and blew out of my mouth. I learned that trick a couple years back. Somehow, blowing out of your mouth and not inhaling through your nose helps with the harsh aftertaste.

Almost immediately, the tequila seemed to be doing its job. Feeling buzzed and a little more relaxed in this house of spooks, I decided to look for Yari and see if she was in a better mood. I first looked around downstairs, ignoring the folks sucking each others’ faces, but she wasn’t in the house. I peeked in the backyard but no luck. I went back inside and, still feeling buzzed, headed upstairs. The second floor was almost completely dark, and all the doors were shut. All of them except one. I had just decided to check it out when a drunk, pale-skinned, bald guy walked out of it and straight over to me. Amazingly, he leaned over me and sniffed me. Yeah, sniffed me. As he did so, he made noises that sounded disturbingly like lip-smacking. The same noises I had made just five minutes earlier when I had come across the wings. He continued on, stumbling his way downstairs. I half expected to hear him pitch forward and tumble all the way down. Somehow, amazingly, he made it.