The head boy

Part 49 - Red knuckles

(Tom's POV)

He lifts his right fist, predictable, I dodge it easily before retaliating with a punch of my right hand. Time slows down, I watch the way his cheek undulates because of the shock, I see a mix of saliva and blood escape his mouth, I even notice the way his eyelids flutter because of the violence of my punch.

The impact makes him take a few steps back. I'm waiting for him, his eyes are fixated on me and I can tell by the little wrinkle on his forehead that he's starting to get angry. Good, I'm not here to pretend, I want a real men's fight.

It's been a month since my little escapade in Australia. I came here because I was bored and tasted the sweet feeling of violence, now I'm addicted.

It's so easy, it helps you forget, it keeps you busy, it makes you feel like a man, I don't know if it helps evacuate though, because the more I hit people the more I want to hit people, on the ring obviously. We wear gloves but that's it, the rest is up to us, our defence, our security, it's so exhilarating that I sometimes forget about the crazy crowd cheering at every punch.

The man I'm fighting is way taller than me, honestly he's taller than everyone, but I use his morphology against him, he's so tall but he's not fast, he's even pretty slow, dodge than hit, that's my strategy. He charges me again, it's like fighting against a bull, he doesn't look much smarter than a bull anyways. I dodge his punch, he surprises me by kicking me in the stomach, the impact is painful but I punch him in the stomach too, he winces as the pain rushes through his body and I use this little moment of vulnerability to throw an uppercut that makes him fall on his ass.

He lies there on the ground, "3...2...1...out!"

The crowd goes crazy, people win money, others lose, it's really more of a business than a sport. Maybe I should invest in some place like this in the future, it looks flourishing. I would have to deal with the law though, no matter if there are policemen in the crowd, I think this place is still illegal.

I exit the ring and finish my bottle of water bottoms up, my whole body is on fire even though I'm shirtless, the drops of sweat rolling down my chest feel like boiling water and I have this weird buzzing going from my toes to my ears, it's like I'm a machine, an unstoppable machine.

Euphoria...

"Nice uppercut," I turn around at the sound of somebody's voice and sigh when I see Lipplepouth staring down at me.

"Aren't you tired of coming here every night?"

He chuckles lightly, "do you know why this place is called Gentlemen's way out?" I clean the blood that's drying on the corners of my lips, "it was created during the victorian era, men would come here to enjoy a good fight and escape their wives, that's also a way to notice the sign of the times, look around, every night there are almost as many women as there is men here, why do you think these people come back every night to watch you fight? This violence, it's part of who we are and even if we don't enjoy fighting we still enjoy watching. Isn't it fucked up in a way?"

"Very," I agree as I scan the crowd. I had never noticed how many women there were, I guess this isn't only a gentlemen's way out anymore.

"It's been a month already, are you planning on spending the whole summer down here?" Lipplepouth asks.

I take off the gloves and pass my hand through my sweaty hair, "should I be out there burning my skin under the sun?" In here at least the air is fresh, "I'm using my body, I'm exercising and I make money, isn't this what boys are supposed to do during summer?"

"Boys usually use their body differently during summer."

"Are you asking me to have sex?"

"I'm asking you to live normally for once."