「𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞」𝘤. 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳

𝐞𝐩. 𝟏

𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐄
✩ 𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐭, 𝐞𝐩 𝟏

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳ 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐇 𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐋, 𝐋𝐀
     sᴀᴛᴜʀᴅᴀʏ, ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ 𝟹𝟶ᴛʜ
𝟺:𝟺𝟻 ᴘᴍ

𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟖

✰... ❝ 𝑪'𝑴𝑶𝑵 𝑴𝑨𝑵, 𝑯𝑼𝑺𝑻𝑳𝑬 𝑼𝑷! ❞ the dominating shout rung in connie's ears causing a drastic feeling of strength flowing through his veins. connie felt so much more overpowered, the next punch he threw nearly made his trainer stumble back, it was a sharp jab against the boxing mitts.

connie hopped his body from side to side with a lopsided grin on his face, his tongue poking his inner cheek as he continued to move around a bit to take some time to breathe, "shit," he let out a gruff, breathy chuckle.

"that's what i'm talkin' 'bout springer," connie's trainer, jerome, raised his fist that was covered with his boxing mitts to bump it against connie's boxing gloves. jerome 'jerry' richards, former boxer professional for 12 years in his late 20s. not too long after his early retirement, he opened his own boxing gym to train those of all ages.

driving through the neighborhoods in south central, he ended up seeing connie in his open garage, practicing his punches. this was back when connie was only 15 years old with no equipment besides his wrapped bandages. deciding to take him in to train him, 3 years passed and connie's been better than ever.

jerry wiped the sweat that was trickling down his forehead of his dark skin before patting connie's back to walk the both of them to the center of the ring, "listen though, it ain't always about how many punches you can throw. you gotta be quick with your movements. gotta be able to slip around to avoid your opponents punches so then, you're able to hit em with a 'pow pow'," jerry demonstrated to connie, making fake punches and pretending to dodge them.

"pow pow," connie whispered under his breath as he copied what jerry did with his movement, later nodding excessively that he understood now. jerry laughed and patted connie's back before pulling off his mitts, "go ahead and jump rope after this while i grab the other equipment. yo ricardo! come take these gloves off for con'," jerry called out to connie's other trainer before leaving the ring.

"you just keep getting better and better el amigo," ricardo chuckled, looking down at connie while untying his gloves. ricardo was a tall man with a skin complexion of olive. he was only 20, 2 years older than connie. ricardo was quiet, he barely talked around here so it still sends connie off guard hearing ricardo's voice.

ricardo doesn't talk frequently due to people all his life teasing him about his voice not matching how he looks, his voice being so disembodied. he was lengthy and really fit, his voice on the other was so cracky and dry, people teased him for sounding like he smoked cigarettes.

"gracias ricky," a corner of connie's mouth lifted, a light chuckle of confidence coming from the back of his throat. after ricardo got done pulling off connie's boxing gloves, connie jumped down from the ring after slipping through the ropes and walked heavily, feeling his body ache a little bit to where he left his jump rope.

connie's goal when jump roping is to never stop, no matter how tired his legs or hands got. counting under his breath as he jump roped, his ears perked at the sound of the gym door opening and closing.