Envision

Below The Belt (Original Draft)

In honor of BtB making it onto the Wattys shortlist, here's the original draft of the first two chapters of it as it was originally written, in third person

For those who ever noticed any inconsistencies in the point of view in the first few chapters of below the belt, it's because it was originally written and published in third person, and then I decided to switch things up and went back and edited them, doing my best to switch it to first person instead

This is what the book originally looked like

....

Round 1

The volume of the people around him was almost enough to make his ears bleed as he pushed his way through a crowd of sweaty, irrationally angry bodies. Most of them were shouting at the two people attempting to tear each other's heads off in the center of the caged boxing ring. Most of them had bet a large sum of money on one of the fighters or the other, some of them were only yelling because everyone else was.

DeAndre wasn't here for the fighting though. He liked to consider himself more of a concession stand... Except of course he sold weed and pills instead of hot dogs and beverages. He was known enough in his city by now for the people to recognize him. Most people walked up to him, money in hand and buying one of two products. Those who were less familiar with him asked him questions before nervously making a decision.

Overall, he wasn't here to watch the fight. He looked up from counting the money he'd collected so far as a loud bell rang, announcing the winner of the previous fight. He could barely make out the crumpled heap of a man on the ground as the winner was escorted out of the ring. Soon enough the loser was carried out, and excited chatter filled the underground club once again.

As he continued selling his product to any who asked, he couldn't help but notice that the conversation's seemed to have more excitement than before. Underground boxing was almost always cause for excitement, the betting, gambling, and high stakes made it fun for anyone who could stand to lose a few hundred dollars. But this- the buzz of excitement in the air was something he hadn't felt before in an event like this.

Curiosity got the better of him eventually, and he pushed his way through the crowd until he reached the fence around the ring. No one aside from the announcer was there for now, but even he seemed excited for the next match. DeAndre crossed his arms over his chest, waving away a few potential customers as he waited to see what all of the commotion was about. He only had to wait a few minutes before the announcer nodded at seemingly no one before raising the microphone to his mouth.

"Ladies annnnnd gentlemen!" The man began, causing the crowd to turn their excited gaze toward him. "I know we've all been plenty entertained by the small fish tonight, but now it's time for the big fish." His words were met by thunderous cheers. He waited a moment for the cheers to die down before continuing. "In the red corner, coming in at 6'5 and 235 pounds, it's the Titanium Fist himself, give it up for Eddy "The Fist" Miller!"

A burst of cheers echoed around the room once more, but there was still a sense of anticipation in the air. They were waiting for someone else. As the large behemoth of a man entered the cage and made his way into the ring, DeAndre couldn't help but wait with bated breath for the next announcement/

As the cheers died down, the announcer continued. "And in the white corner, coming in at 5'10 and 210 pounds, give it up for the Notorious heavyweight champion of Club Onyx... Tyreek "Pretty Boy" Nixon!"

And just as DeAndre had been anticipating, the room suddenly erupted into loud cheers and screams. His own gaze remained locked onto the ring as a hooded figure entered the cage and pulled himself up into the ring. The man pulled the hoodie from his head once he was up and turned to face the crowd, sending them all into another uproar as he grinned.