Purple Knuckles

ACT THREE, SCENE ONE

Sam is sitting in the locker room, same setting as the previous scene, forehead leaning against his palms, sweating hard as if he were the one in the ring. Since his heart is racing, he is trying to breathe slowly.

SAM (desperately): I can't calm down --

Anna enters the locker room. She approaches Sam with despondence ingrained in her expression, her hair a wild disorder. The way she carries herself, she seems shellshocked: her facial features are paralyzed in a state of confusion, and her entire body is stiff. A plastic crown is in her hand, hanging off her immobilized finger like a stone sculpture.

SAM (standing up): What happened? Are we good?

Anna sits beside Sam, placing the crown on the bench beside her before slouching her posture to put her elbows on her knees.

ANNA (wistfully): I've never seen Kingston look so determined to win before he stepped foot in that ring. The looks he'd give me, the silence, the tightness in his fists...I could tell, even with his gloves on. Once you get to know someone so well for so long, the slightest clues lead you on to final conclusions. This is on me. I should've been more resistant with my plan.

Her posture caves. Her head swings to her feet as her body hiccups.

SAM: Anna, did he win?

He patiently waits for her to answer. When Anna is ready, she sits back up, exhaling a deep breath of air.

ANNA: Your brother's an idiot, you know that? A real idiot! You should've seen how he walked in...thinking he was McGregor or Fury, the way he made an entrance. Completely shirtless, but of course had this plastic crown sitting on top of his ears. Where he got it, I had no idea. He's a real entertainer, the focus of the moment. The spotlight followed him everywhere he went, and there was not even a single whoop or clap for him. Just a sea of paid supporters for the other team. If Kingston was training for this specific moment for months, then the Bodyguard must've spent his entire life preparing for Kingston. He stood there, three heads taller than Kingston, baring his teeth and smashing his gloves together. His gloves had to be custom-made, because I've never seen paws as large as his before. But once the bell rang and they engaged in their organized brawl, the man moved like a leopard, Sam...he moved like a leopard. You should've seen Malcolm's expression in the distance. He was in the far corner of the room, sitting on a chair far removed from the spotlight, but his grin was so bright it was visible from the other side of town.

SAM: Answer the question! My heart is climbing up my throat, it's going to choke me. Did he win?He aggressively eliminates any space between them and stands up, eager to get an answer from her. Despite Sam's antics, Anna maintains her composure as if he wasn't a hair's breadth away from her. Anna closes her eyes before opening them again with a deep sigh and continuing her tragedy.

ANNA: Malcolm's bodyguard was fighting on two-times speed, just throwing effortless yet inspiring jabs and crosses. I'm no expert, but they were all a blur to me, I could hardly even see what combos he was throwing at my husband...and Kingston didn't even seem to register what was going on either. But like the pitbull he intended to be, he stood his ground for as long as he could, taking body shot after body shot. For every drop of sweat that rolled down his body, he gnashed his teeth and kept on moving forward. If it was a battle of wills, Kingston was victorious; but it wasn't, and it was only a matter of time before Kingston was grimacing in pain. Eventually, his knees were drawn to the floor and he collapsed...I tried to rush into the ring, but they wouldn't let me. My voice box is still sore, you hear it...? Now I understand why you didn't want to be in his corner as I was. The emotions would've overpowered you and worsened the situation by tenfold. They held me back and even threw me back into the chair I was once sitting in. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Malcolm continue to grin. Everything had gone according to his plan. Though he remained still, all his troops were always somewhere doing something...he really had anticipated a victory on his part and a loss on ours. But what he hadn't understood as well as he should've was what fuelled Kingston --