Alice

Jack

I duck under his right hook and immediately come up with mine, catching him smack on the jaw, he stumbles backward and I smell blood. I'm exhausted but I know this is it, if I place a punch in the right spot I can end this fight now.

The referee moves in close and keeps his eyes fixed on us as I lunge to deliver the final blow, I drop my guard right as I'm about to throw it and out of nowhere I catch a fist straight on my right eye. Pain shoots through my head. For a second I don't feel my legs. I stumble sideways and feel another fist dig in to my stomach, knocking the air from my body. This isn't looking good. I open my eyes. Just in time to see his right hook coming, I duck again, this time I grab on to him and take him down to the mat.

The crowd erupts as his back slams into the padded flooring of the cage. I'm completely exhausted and gasping for breath, but I'm on top, I feel him struggling to get out from under me. I'm not sure I can hold him there. I feel the anger, the hopelessness rising, I won't let it, I won't feel like that again.

A surge of strength rises from my core. I hold him down with one hand and begin pounding my fist in to his face, at first he tries to block but eventually I feel him start to go limp, blood flies from his mouth but I don't want to stop.

I feel someone catch my hand from the back, he then pushes me off, it's the referee, he motions me away, the crowd is no longer cheering. Medics rush in and the man's coaches as well, everything sounds muffled, like I'm listening with water in my ears. I see my trainer come up to me as I sit, he flashes a light in my eyes and shakes me.

"Jack snap out of it!" everything rushes back into me. "Are you okay? You looked like you were gonna knock his head off."

I nod as I swallow " Y-yes, I'm good."

"Alright, that was a good fight, keep it up and soon you'll be the main event." He slaps me on the back and hands me a bottle of water. I open it as I look at the man being taken off on a stretcher.

***

I'm walking out to my car with my bag slung across my shoulder, my eye is swollen and blue black. I feel a sharp flash of pain in my ribs with every step I take. The memory of my opponent slamming his fist in to my ribs repeatedly flickers in my head as I pass through the parking lot.

From the corner of my eye I catch someone approaching, immediately I recognize who it is. He strokes his long, grey beard as he waddles up. Its Fat Jimmy, He belts out,
"What a multimillionaire C.E.O is doing in a dingy, cage fighting rink in this side a' town escapes me every time I see you."

I look him in the eyes, then I smile, and Jimmy erupts with laughter. "Jack, it's good to see you man." He embraces me and pats me on the back.

"Jimmy, how are you?"

"I'm holdin' up, how's the wife?"

"She's been alright" My thoughts shift to Karen. She had to pick her daughter up earlier. They should be home by now, I'm late.

"Jack." The air becomes tense when my name leaves his mouth. He looks me straight in the eyes and I feel his mood drop.

"What are you doing, I mean, seriously, what are you doing in this place kid." It's strange to me hearing him call me kid, I'm thirty seven. I'd known Jim since I was half that and he is probably a little shy of twice it. He coughs, "Jack, you're going to get yourself seriously hurt, or maybe even worse..." I see the concern glaring at me through his eyes.

"You don't even need the damn money, you own a damn million dollar company for Christ sake...Don't you realize that every time you step in that cage, you're risking everything you worked your ass off to get?"

"All for what? A damn thrill?"

I look away from him, because I know what he's saying is true. Jimmy had been there for me since the start, he'd been... he is, one of the few people I trust and respect more than anything, but he'll never understand why I get in that cage every night I'm called.

"Jimmy...I, have to go, it was nice seeing you." I walk past him. He shouts as I walk away "Jack, don't forget where you came from, don't forget the hard work you put in to get here and above all, don't forget the people who care for you." The last part echoes through me as I open the car door and get in.

I sit in the car and I hear tapping sounds on the roof, the tapping sounds multiply until the rain starts beating on my car. I sigh, a sigh that's part relief and part frustration. I look at the raindrops smashing against the windshield. I slide the key in to the ignition and turn it, the car growls at me as it wakes up. I raise up my t-shirt and look at my ribs before I pull off. They're blue black.