Dusk & Dawn

8- lord, in the ring

Convincing Mom didn't take as long as I had imagined. The ride back to school wasn't lengthy as Mom had to take Gianna to the hospital for her checkup. She found Gianna limping when she tried to walk and immediately called in sick for her at school.

"Remember the agreement?" Mom asked me as she leaned on the car, to face me.

"Yes, if anything happens, I'll call you myself." I nodded in agreement.

"And if you don't?" She asked, as if to remind me.

"I'll have to stay with you till surgery," I repeated exactly as she had worded it last night.

"Okay, take care of yourself." She smiled and pulled me into her embrace. I patted her back and smiled too before watching them leave. Gianna waved from inside the car as Mom drove away, and I let myself decide that even though I had given up on myself, I didn't have to give up on both of them.

Our apartment was empty by the time I got back in. Lane came running towards me the moment I opened the door.

"You poor little thing," I cooed with delight, dropping my bags and grabbing Lane in my arms. "Would you like to go for a walk with me?"

By the time I returned from walking Lane, I could already hear voices in the apartment, indicating they were back. I breathed in, unsure yet of how to navigate the entire situation.

I opened the door to find Harper eating from a pizza box; Cleo was working on something on the laptop, and Naomi was sitting in front of the TV. They all turned to the door the moment it clicked open. Lane jumped down from my arms, wagging its tail as it ran towards Harper to lick her face.

"You're back, Raine. Are you alright?" Harper immediately stood up as she approached me. I nodded in response as I tried to smile before closing the door behind me.

"Mims bought pizza; come have a bite," she urged me, and I turned to Naomi, who had snatched her gaze away from me and back to the TV.

"Actually, Naomi, can I talk to you?" I asked her, and she nodded before I started to walk inside the room. Naomi sat down on the bed with her arms crossed as she stared at the blank wall.

I sighed before I started, "I've been doing some thinking, Naomi. I realize I haven't been the greatest friend lately, and I owe you an apology for the things that I said."

"You don't have to apologize; I panicked and overstepped, actually," she tried to smile.

"Thank you for being on the lookout for me; I feel at ease knowing that you care that much for me," I nodded.

"I understand that you're dealing with a lot right now, but you can get through this; the girls are here for you if you need anything."

I nodded my head again and pulled into Naomi's embrace. As we pulled apart, she raised her eyebrows in what seemed like realization.

"Ezra stopped by the apartment to ask how you were doing."

"Okay thanks."

By the time dusk fell, I didn't find Ezra around the apartment like Naomi had reported, and I grew exhausted waiting. A part of me wondered why I waited for so long, why I decided to wait in the first place. I wondered what it meant.

Harper was about to take Lane for a walk, so I decided to join her for a dose of fresh air. As I took in the surroundings and scanned the people around, Harper hit me suddenly with a snicker on her face.

"So, your man didn't show up today?" She asked me.

"My man? That is far-fetched!" I hit her back lightly as we started to walk on the pavement, passing by random people who had another life to live.

"I was wondering if you knew about Underground Bash?" She questioned as she raised her head from her phone screen.

"No, what's that?" My brows furrowed in confusion as I asked.

"An illegal fighting ring in that bar parlor just opposite Marts." She pointed out a distance ahead as she replied to me.

"Why are you interested in something like that?" I shook my head at her as we continued walking.

"There's something you should see," she mentioned. The look on her face made me realize that it wasn't one of Harper's jokes, and if anything, it looked like I had to be curious for my own sake.

Walking to Marts wasn't much of a hassle considering the sense of anticipation that grew in me. We could already hear loud cheering from the building. The bouncer at the doorstep eyed me and Harper suspiciously.

"Kids aren't allowed in here," he said in a monotone as he crossed his arms together to strike us as stern.

"That's an offense taken right there," Harper mentioned as she held out something on her phone. The bouncer seemed to identify her immediately before he proceeded to let us in.

"Welcome to the ring," he casually mentioned as we strolled in.

The room was filled with people, loud and old. The lighting was focused on the four-walled setting of a gymnasium where two opponents were digging fists into each other's faces.

"This is nothing to take back home, Harper." I shook my head in disbelief as I scanned the whole room. A waiter serving shots on a tray passed by me, and I honestly couldn't resist, so I grabbed one of the cups and downed it immediately.

"Chill out first," she asked me as she led me to a corner where we could see the people in the ring better. There was blood smeared on both of their faces, one looked more bashed up than the other.

As I looked closely, squinting my eyes beyond clear doubt, I turned back to Harper who shook her head with a knowing smile. Inside the ring, I could see two opponents, both with a great build, as they chased each other around the ring, my eyes widened at the sight of a huge tattoo drawing on the back of one of them.

"Isn't that Ezra?" I asked her before turning back to the people in the ring.

"You're welcome." She bowed dramatically as she placed her hand on her chest. I turned back to the fight, the opponent digging series of punches into Ezra's abdomen, Ezra seemed distracted for a while and by the time the opponent was tired of lodging punches without a retaliation, Ezra took that opportunity and lodged his balled fist into the abdomen of the other, having him fall down with one swing.

"Well, folks, in the wild world of underground brawls, where the rules are as scarce as my understanding of quantum physics, we've got a winner! Thunderbolt strikes with his legendary power stroke becoming a four-time winning champion. Somebody get this man a medal or a band-aid or both!"

The crowd yelled in support as the referee held out Ezra's hands in victory while he only heaved greatly as he did a 360 looking at the crowd.

In that moment I wondered if this was Ezra's secret to protect. Like a part of him he didn't want the outer world to see or know about.

Nov 11th