Everything with you

Part 40

Justin

I was almost sober by the time we reached Nate's place. I crashed in one of his spare bedrooms, of which his house had plenty. The room was decorated like a motel from the 90's.I laid on the bed, not bothering to remove my jacket or jeans. The sheets smelled too clean and were perfectly made. I grab my phone from my pocket to check the time, and the paper that Henry had folded and kept in my pocket fell out along with my phone. I reached for it and opened it.

"Tomorrow Pier's ground, 11 PM. No entry fees, no rules" was written on it.

I thought of crushing the paper and throwing it away, but I remembered how it felt to hit that guy today. It had been a long time since I fought. I trained for almost my entire childhood, but when I had to make the call between boxing and soccer, I chose soccer. It felt like the right choice, but today, during that brief time, I forgot about all the shitty things happening in my life. I had to admit, I did feel better after punching that asshole. I held on to the piece of paper.

I asked Ash to ride along with me to Pier's ground the next day. He agreed with the minimum questions asked. We followed the map's navigation and parked in an almost full parking lot.

"Looks like this is how most people spend their Friday night," Ash said as we got out of the car.

I shrugged my shoulders in response; he was right. The parking lot looked like it had been abandoned a long time ago, but it was packed now with all kinds of people. Some were older, eyeing all the younger guys who were gearing up for the fight, probably to pick the best horse to bet on. Some were younger trying to fit in by placing bets. There were girls who immediately swarmed us, asking the most ridiculous questions.

The path was leading to the ground, where they actually had a ring with people fighting in it.

"Kid! You made it!" Henry walks to me, spotting me in the crowd holding a cigarette.

"Yeah," I gave him a short reply.

"You brought a friend! Does he fight too?" he questions, looking at Ash.

"No, I'm not even sure I am," I say out flatly.

He lets out a puff of smoke, laughing, "Well, you wouldn't be here if you were not!"

"Mo! Enter the kid's name in the second bout," he yells to the guy who's holding a pad and jotting down names. He's short and bald wearing a white t-shirt and gym shorts.

"You've just missed the cut; the slots are full," he yells back, still looking at his pad.

"I don't give a fuck! Put him down and place $500 on him from me," he grunts out. Ash and I quickly exchange shocked looks. Shit! $500 is a lot of money. Mo changes his posture quickly once he lifts his head to meet Henry's eyes.

"You got it, boss!" he says quickly and turns around.

"You shouldn't be betting on me," I say to Henry.

"Well, if you win, you get to keep it. If you lose, you'll have to fight again for me the next time. See, kid, either way works for me!" he says in an amused tone, which created an unease in me.

"Good luck!" he says and moves past me to sit at the chair in the middle of the stands.

"Dude, what the hell are you doing? I thought we were just here to watch," Ash asks me in confusion.

"I..." I start to say something when Mo comes to us and starts speaking.

"The entry fee is $50, but Boss is sponsoring you, so you don't have to pay that.You'll be fighting in the next bout. You're up against Cobe. He's right there," he says, pointing to a guy who was fairly well built with brown hair. He was sitting in a chair, looking at the ongoing fight, focused. He looked like he wanted to win.