Firecracker (On Hold)

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

When I arrive at the field, there's a group of trucks parked in a circle, headlights on. There's about 15 people there to watch and I see the guy I guess I'm supposed to be fighting. He's taller and more built than me, but that's never stopped me before. Besides, the anger that's in me is just begging to burst forth. I'm so ready for this fight and then maybe I can actually get a decent few hours of sleep.

A guy approaches me and holds his hand out for me to shake. I shake it and he says, “Hey, you must be Ariya. I'm Brett. The guy you're fighting is Rob. You sure you're up for this? He's quite a fighter.”

“Did you speak to D?”

“Yeah. He seemed quite certain you'd be up for this.”

“I am. I'd like to get started, if that's ok.”

“Sure. Let me introduce you to Rob.”

This Brett guy introduces me to Rob and we shake hands and share a smile.

“Don't hold it against me when I beat you...”

“Sure about that? Just coz I'm a girl, doesn't mean you're gonna beat me. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve.”

“I can see you at least train; you've got the figure for it...”

“If you keep checking me out, you're gonna lose for sure. You think you can see past my womanly figure?”

“What a figure it is, but sure, I think I can see passed that. My momma always told me not to beat on girls...”

“Do you always do what your momma says?”

He scoffs at that. “Hardly. But this is quite an important rule.”

“How about if a girl throws the first punch? Then you're just defending yourself. I'll throw the first punch and then your conscience can be clear, yeah?”

He chuckles, obviously not taking me seriously. “Sure, you can throw the first punch. After that, I'm not making any promises.”

“Good stuff. Now that the girlie chat is over, you think we can just get to it?”

“Not one for small talk, huh?”

“Nope. I prefer to get down to the dirty straight away.”

His eyes go wide for a few seconds and then he laughs, “You're something else...”

“That's what he said...”

I see the amusement in his eyes, which is going to make this win that much sweeter. He thinks I'm a sweet little girl and he will be taken completely off guard.

Rob and I go head to head in front of the crowd and Brett stands by our sides. He says, “No rules, except you don't kill each other. First one to throw in the towel or to be knocked out loses. Clear?”

We both nod and Rob smirks at me, so I just wink at him.

“Good luck both of you. Fight!”

I see Rob throw up his arms in a defense move, so I fake a right jab and when he moves to block it I land him with a strong left. He's not expecting it and he stumbles back from the blow. This is my opening, so I come at him with a combination of left and right jabs and some uppercuts. The blows are quick and powerful and they leave him reeling. I need to slow myself down or I'm going to knock the guy out too quickly. I need him to think I've tired myself out to at least make this journey, (and my coming punishment from Justin), worth it.