A Fight Club

  I woke up, the sun beaming on my face, well I shouldn't say woke up because that implies I slept in the first place, i just kinda laid there in a fog all night staring at the ceiling of my dorm room waiting as the hours passed by til the all too familiar feeling of a failed nights sleep washed over me.

When i finally shook off my blanket, i lazily started my daily routine, one that i knew so well i could do it even in the haze between my conscious and unconscious mind. I walked over to my closet sniffing my armpit, there was a musk but i refused to get in the shower and be shocked awake by the cold water that felt like razor blades on my skin, so i walked over to the mini fridge and sloppily grabbed a slice of bread from the inner door making sure to swipe the butter in the same motion as to not waste any unnecessary energy... after I enjoyed my buttered bread and no I didn't toast it, I grabbed my headphones for class, they were the only things I prepped beforehand, making sure they were charged so I didn't have to listen to the teachers boring lectures that I'm pretty sure took years off my life. the worst part was I already knew I was going to fail, weeks of skipping class and not turning in work saw to that. I don't even think my parents even cared if i passed or failed, they paid thousands for me to have a "good future" but the truth is they probably wanted me gone so they could go on cruises around the world, blowing their immense fortune they only gained from the oil my great grandfather found, but whatever... I couldn't care less. After putting on my slippers i reluctantly left my dorm room.

still wearing my pj bottoms I got out of bed with and a loose-fitting tank top that barely covered my sports bra. I hated walking past the stuffy rich pigs with their noses in the air; like the characters from the old cartoons when they smelled at pie on the window seal, oh and did I forget to add my dorm is in a 5 star apartment building? I probably forgot cause that kind of thing is normal for me, anyway when I got on the elevator the woman that was already heading down to the lobby crammed herself in the corner and eyeballed me like I was an escaped convict, her tiny dog whinging in her purse, she was one of those lady's you were almost sure had a trophy husband and a pension that was probably equal or greater than the size of her enormous stomach.

  When the elevator reached the bottom the woman scurried off like she'd just been assaulted, honestly that was probably a good thing because the smell of her perfume almost gave me a nose bleed; so i walked the other way out of the lobby, the long way... the way that bell boys and entourages of rich ceo and filthy rich entrepreneurs with their buy one get one free groupies walked through, the fact that 90% of them were old white men made me gag. When I finally got to my bus stop I leaned against the pole, the searing heat of the metal almost scorching my shoulder, i jumped away practically fully awake and irritated; so i began to put my wild brown hair into a messy bun when a business man looked over at me and scoffed "this generation" which didn't piss me off but i retaliated anyway, spitting at the ground and flipping him off "what was that? huh? fuck face, you say somethin" i replied my thick eyebrows lowered with a ice cold scowl, the man quickly walked away looking back nervously heading to the bus stop down the street "That's what i thought perra".

while i was still cooling off i noticed out the corner of my eye a girl staring at me, a soft smile creeping across her bright red lips, the look in her eye was like she knew me or wanted to know me, her face was covered in bruises and cuts, while i stood there staring back almost trying to figure her out i noticed she began to approach me the closer she got the more of her face I could make out, she had a cut on her lip and a bandaid on her eyebrow, her fiery red hair almost glowed in the sunlight, her face was so beat up she looked like she had been in a car accident, her outfit was a familiar one for me; it was a flight attendent's uniform. When she was no further than three feet from me she grabbed my hand and began to walk me away from the bus stop, "Hey what the fuck! stop!" I said with doubt in my voice, she must've heard it cause she continued on, the truth was I didn't want her to stop, the excitement of a new adventure intrigued me anything to get away from the boring slump that is my life, with the sweat running down my nape I gripped her hand tighter as a small smirk grew across her face.

  We walked for a while, had it been hours? or just minutes? feeling like an eternity as i grew anxious to see what this fiery valkyrie was so eager to show me. after so long we approached an old run down building that smelled like old newspapers and gasoline; my feet ached and my curiosity turned to confusion, the street was dead silent and uncomfortably empty; the street lights shattered for a few blocks in either direction.

As we approached the door of the building walking up the cement steps that were chipped and cracked so bad i almost lost my footing and tripped when a large woman opened the front door that was badly water damaged, her face careless and unimpressed as she eyeballed the woman holding my hand, then her eyes glanced over at me one was almost milky white and the other a chocolate brown, after she finished checking me out she nodded and smiled "this way" she said in a raspy voice that sounded like she'd been smoking a pack of cigarettes everyday since her birth, as i slowly look her up and down I could see the miles her body had endured by the limp she seemed to proudly display. after stepping inside we approached a door that was hardly even a door anymore the hinges screeched like a dying animal with stairs on the other side made of old concrete and iron that descended for what seemed like forever. when we took our first step down my confusion quickly turned to fear.

as we were heading down a lump grew in my throat, my heart began to race as we passed windows that were painted black, as we began to get close to the bottom I could hear women yelling like they were passing judgement on a sinner or watching a hockey game, when we reached the bottom I saw a large group of women; some topless, some just in sports bras, there were teachers, cops, chefs, lawyers, and even small business owners, there had to be at least 20 or maybe even 30 women in that basement the size of a parking garage, they were gathered shoulder to shoulder like soldiers from an unknown army, the energy from the women heated the room like a furnace. they gathered around a small patch of cement covered in blood and sweat; the smell mixing with the gasoline stench. Two women stood in the small circle battling like modern day gladiators the sound of bone striking flesh echoed in my eardrum it seemed like no matter how loud the crowd got I could still hear every punch, elbow, slam, knee strike, headbutt and kick.

  One of the women in the circle was topless her hair flying in every direction; her face like a feral animal wearing only boy shorts with bare feet, everytime she struck her opponent it was without mercy, almost like this other woman had wronged her or she was sentenced to death by the roaring crowd. after some time of the feral woman putting all she had into each blow the woman on the bottom finally tapped, her face covered in blood from the monstrous strikes the feral woman had furiously unleashed, but it was somehow beautiful to me, like a renaissance painting.

When the feral woman's opponent tapped the crowd exploded in roars of celebration while the victor helped her opponent up raising both their arms in respect, as the celebration calmed a woman with sweats and a sports bra stepped into the middle of the circle her head was shaved in a buzzcut, Her silver eyes scanned the crowd of tough hardened women who all looked eager to prove themselves but rested on me; she stretching her arm out and pointed directly at me, my heart raced as the girl holding my hand shoved me into the circle.

the crowd erupted in celebration as the short haired woman circled me and raised her arms fueling the flames of anticipation, as she approached me she took an offensive stance inching closer and closer... but I couldn't move, my body was frozen in fear as my mind muted the crowds roars only hearing the sound of the short haired womans feet sliding on the cement closer to me.

  When I finally realized what was happening the women struck me across the face with a right cross that nearly took my head off my shoulders, I stumbled back falling to one knee i could taste that warm irony flavor of blood in my mouth like nickels; as the ringing slowly left my ear I could hear the crowd cheering again, the adrenaline in my vains turned to fire as I flung myself at her flailing wildly, ducking under my wide swings she caught me with a blow to the ribs like a bullet that knocked the wind out of me; I stumbled back again hunched over in pain trying to regain my footing as the crowd cheered on; blood dripping from my busted lip. When I finally composed myself I leapt forward, the woman swiftly moved in for a counter blow but i wasn't planning on swinging my arms wildly again and possibly being knocked cold so i slammed my left foot down right before i reached her and lifted my right foot up as her right arm curved for another right cross i planted my right foot in the middle of the woman's chest the sound of her body flying back and hitting the hard cement in a sick thud was like a victory bell to me, i panted and caught my breath while the short hair woman got to her feet laughing with a surprised look on her face that was quickly snuffed out by a sick smile; as if she wanted me to hit her; the crowd roared and before I knew it I was smiling back.