Fight(3)

I wasn’t in the business of fighting for entertainment. I fought to hurt. I fought to kill. I fought to win. I fought to survive.

When I punched the guy - announced as Killer Kidd - smack in the nose, he stumbled back. He grabbed his face and let out a scream. That was my cue to f*cking attack. I lunged forward and started to unleash on him.

Left, right, right, left. I hit him in the ribs and Killer Kidd put his hands down. That opened his face for me. When I smacked him in the face a few times, he lifted his hands. Up and down, up and down, no matter what he did I always found an open spot to hit him. It was hard to fight against your body’s instinctive need to protect itself. It was always smarter to keep your face covered and train your mind and body to accept rib punches.

I had Killer Kidd back against the cinderblocks. The crowd backed up a little. They were so loud and f*cking annoying. Screaming in my ear and in my face.

“Kill the f*cker!”

“Fucking do it, Tripp! Get him! Get him!”

“Rip his f*cking throat out!”

“Fuck you, Kidd! You’re costing me a f*cking fortune!”

Sometimes I could block all the comments out, sometimes I couldn’t.

I grabbed Killer Kidd by the collar of his shirt and pulled. The shirt ripped as he stumbled forward. I yelled as I threw him, the shirt tearing from his body. He landed on the ground with a bloody thud. I went after him, putting my knee to the middle of his back. He was smart enough to cover his head, so I went to town on his ribs.

Then a buzzer screeched and I had a fist cocked back.

I saw Aldo at the end of the circle, his tall bodyguards next to him. There was another guy - Mr. Matty - who was an accountant for the city, but loved to organize all the bets and rules for the fights. He had a buzzer in his hand.

“Time!” he called out.

My fist shook.

If I swung after the buzzer, the fight would be called in favor of Killer Kidd.

Aldo shook his head and like the good rabid beast I was for him, I stood and walked away.

The crowd was cheering and screaming.

This was the bullshit part of the fights. The rounds. Some fights were just get in and go until it was done. The bigger fights were done in rounds. That was because Aldo and Mr. Matty could collect more money. People could bet on the winner and bet on the round. They could bet on how the fight would end, too.

It was all about money.

Even for me.

Sometimes Aldo could give me a bonus to satisfy his needs. It was completely against the rules to conspire, but nobody was going to stop Aldo from doing it. Christ, the f*cking fights were already illegal.

Aldo walked up behind me as I took a drink of piss warm tap water. I spit it out to the floor. My own blood tasted better than the f*cking water they gave me to drink.

“We need to end it,” Aldo said, his voice thick and accented. “Right now. This round. Any longer and we’re going to have a problem. I need to get out of here, Tripp. With you.”

I nodded.

I didn’t look at Aldo because I didn’t need to.

I stared at Killer Kidd. His guys were wiping the blood off his face. His left eye was swollen mostly shut. His right shoulder looked fat and purple.

I had him.

A couple more punches and he’d be done.

“Warning!” Mr. Matty cried out.

I stepped forward two steps. Killer Kidd did the same.

Then the buzzer went off.

“Fight!”

I hurried forward and punched Killer Kidd in the stomach. He hunched over. I grabbed him by the hair and looked down at him. His eyes were weak. He was tired. He looked ready to cry. At that point he just wanted me to knock him out.

I brought my fist back and gritted my teeth.

From the corner of my eye I saw someone step onto the cinderblocks. Then the entire crowd started to move and scream. They weren’t cheering now. They were screaming with fear.

A man all in black took out a gun. He turned his head and I saw some kind of tattoo on his neck. My eyes picked up on it and then picked up on the gun. It was pointed at the back of Aldo’s son, Endo.

“Fuck!” I screamed. “Endo!”

I let Killer Kidd go and started to move.

But the gun went off.

The explosion had everyone in a panic.

Endo disappeared, falling to the ground.

The guy in black turned and made a dash for it. He masterfully made his way into the crowd. My eyes followed him. I stepped forward ready to track the f*cker down and get him.

That’s when a fist hit me right in the nose.

I felt a crunching explosion from inside my face. I gasped and had no air. Blood sprayed everywhere as my head snapped back so hard I swore the back of my head hit the middle of my back.

I fell back and tried to set my feet, but another fist hit me. Then another, and another. Each one harder than the previous.

Killer Kidd attacked me with right after f*cking right.

All I could think about was the gunman. About Endo getting shot. About what it meant for Aldo.

My eyes were watery and I blinked fast. I turned my head, needing to get this fight back in my favor. That’s when I saw Killer Kidd in the air. Jumping with his fist flying at me. He cracked me in the jaw and I spun around.

I saw Aldo and that was it.

I didn’t even see the ground before I hit it.

And when I hit the ground, I was out. Done. Finished.