Sparta ~Tommy Conlon

Chapter 26: Beethoven

Tommy's POV:

It was going on 7, I was running to Colt's to get in a strong workout today. I walked in and took my hood off, I ran my hand over my mouth and kept walking towards the stairs. I was walking past the ring when Colt Boyd spoke, "Tommy, I got some news for you. I got you into Sparta. It took some doing, but I made it happen." I tapped the metal bar twice and walked away. "You know thank you and 10% is customary?"

I rolled my eyes and skipped up the steps. It was the only place in the gym that had privacy, I took my phone out of my pocket and called the home phone at Pilar and Manny's. It rang for a few moments, "Bueno,"

"Pilar? Hey, it's Tommy."

"Tommy? Hey, one moment." I heard her speaking in Spanish and knew she was talking to Danny and Maria. "Okay. Sorry. How are you?"

"Good. I'm good. How are you doing?"

"We're good, you know us, Tommy. I was getting really worried about you."

"How's things? How are the kids? The kids good?" I asked with a faint smile.

"Yeah, they're good. Maria's getting so big even in just the time you've been gone."

"Yeah?"

"She looks more and more like Manny every day."

I laughed lightly. "How's little man?"

She laughed, "He's good. He's doing good, Tommy. He's been taking care of his sister. Everyone's good. We're good. Manny's getting better and is able to walk small distances now."

"Good,"

"Any word on Malia?"

I let out a sigh, "No, I haven't heard from her since the day she was taken. But I got into the tournament she told me about."

"That's good news," She seemed incredibly chocked up.

"I miss you guys, I can't wait to see you all in July."

"Bring her back, Tommy."

"I will," The line went dead and I sucked in a deep breath and let it out shakily. I had to find her, even if it killed me...

~~~

Over the course of the next 2 and a half months, I would wake up at 4:30 every day and leave for a run. My father would follow in his car and tell me what I needed to do and when. We would be the only ones out at that time, but I didn't mind. It was fewer people for me to worry about.

While I worked out, I never removed my wedding band, and I kept both sets of dog tags around my neck with Malia's ring. The tags would bounce up and down on my chest as I ran, the runs would lead me to the train yard where I'd run the tracks till I found the giant tires. Pop was there waiting, he had a sledgehammer in his hands and told me to bring it down on the tires. To work on both sides, bring it across the left and bring it across the right. He counted out loud and I usually did about 50 reps in total, yeah it was tiring, yeah it hurt, but if I was going to get Malia back, it needed to be done. There were a few times that a train would go by in the train yard and Pop made me chase after it. I'd run the tracks behind the train and I'd keep it in sight for a good 10 minutes. I would then go back and flip a shit ton of tires, they got heavier each day and I got stronger from it.

After the workouts in the train yard, I would run to Colts and Pop met me there. He would have a medicine ball in the center of the ring. I would do one arm, elevated pushups. On the way up, I'd touch my hands and switch to the other side. I always hated these but I knew it would be worth it. I'd jump rope for 10 minutes at a time then Pop had me go for a 30-minute run. I'd end up back at Colt's where I would then work with other people, my hands would get taped up and I would work my lower body and kicks. I had a guy hold a pad under his arms and I would kick it and then bring my knees up to it. Then he'd have me start punching, I spent a lot of time punching the air and blocking fake hits. I would go back to jump roping and Grimes would stare me down while he did the same, he had an interview with the people running Sparta and was talking shit about me, I really didn't care, if I got put back in the ring with him, I would kick his ass just like I did last time.

After the first month of the pushups, I got a lot better at them, I could do more of them in a shorter time period. I began running faster, and when my legs got stronger, Pop would hold a punching bag while I climbed onto it and wrapped my legs around it tightly. I would fall back and do a sit-up, then punch the bag. I did a lot of those and I enjoyed them, I always pictured Grimes or Jerry on the bag and just went to town. I got so much faster when it came to running that a normal persons sprint was my running speed, I felt like I was flying. I would run to my old house in the dark, followed by Pop. It was long days but it was so worth it. At night, I would dream about Malia, I'd pray to God that she was ok and safe. I missed her so much and would do anything possible to just see her for 5 minutes.

~~~

June 30, 2011

It was finally time, Pop and I were in the car as he drove 6 hours to get us to Atlantic City. We had a 'photoshoot' tomorrow which I wasn't looking forward to. Then the weekend began, 15 other men here all for the same reasons, money, glory, or publicity. I mean, yeah, I was here for the money but not so I could be a millionaire. I was here to get my wife back, end of story. The car ride was filled with my father's stupid ass tapes, I zoned them out and played with the dog tags around my neck, Malia's in specific.

~~~

When we got to the hotel, we just had to tell the lady who I was and she gave us the prepaid room key. I was staying in the same hotel as the other 15 guys, I was a bit uneasy about it but ignored it. This was all for Malia...

Malia's POV:

Every day for the past 3 months, I went down to the beach for 3-4 hours a day. I enjoyed the warmth of the sand and the cool water. I would always lay on the beach in a chair and take in the warm sun. I was 4 months in and my stomach hadn't grown at all, I have had really strange cravings though, I would go to the buffet with my brother and his henchmen every day, three times a day and get whatever Baby Conlon wanted. Some of them sounded horrible together but when I ate them it tasted amazing to me.

It was June 30th and all the fighters were arriving today for a press conference they had tomorrow. I was being shown tonight... I was scared, I didn't want to be taken away from Tommy again. As the cars started showing up, I was forced to leave the beach and go back to my room. I was commanded to take a shower and get dressed into a tight dark grey long-sleeved shirt that showed the small amount of cleavage I had. I also had to wear a pair of light wash denim booty shorts, they were really tight on me but I tucked my shirt in. I wore white, lacy flats for shoes and my hair had grown out to my lower back again, the natural blonde curls fell gracefully on my back as I dried my hair. My brother had one of his hoes put makeup on me, it was darker than I hoped but it really made my eyes pop. This whole plan was going to take place on the boardwalk, I was lead out there and held my wrist with the tattoo I had for Tommy on it. I kept my head down, it was about 6:30 and my brothers were opening the place at 7. I leaned on the railing and looked at the water and the sun. I had the picture of Baby Conlon in my pocket still but knew I probably shouldn't have brought it. I wasn't the only girl that was being 'showed' tonight, just the other girls were more escorts than I would ever be.

~~~

The hours dragged, there were probably 7 fighters here which made me ill. I knew them from tv though, Diego Santana, Francisco Barbosa, Midnight Lee, there were 3 low levels that would get knocked within the first two rounds, and last but of course, not least, Mad Dog Grimes. I remembered him, he screwed up my childhood, I hated him. He walked over to me and smiled down at me, "Well, hello gorgeous."

I rolled my eyes, "What do you want?" He put his hands on my butt and squeezed harshly making me jump and I slapped him. "Get off of me!"

One of the guards came over and pulled Grimes off of me. I shrunk into myself, "You better get used to that! You're going to be mine!" I felt sick to my stomach. Never going to happen... I'd rather jump off this boardwalk and drowned than be anywhere near him, but I had to think about the baby at the same time which made my life so much more difficult, but the baby would be worth it in the end...