Chapter 41: Chapter 41

The night seemed to stretch longer and I found myself wishing I could fast forward it all to get it all over with. I was exhausted from the day’s events what with Sonia almost finding out and having my parents call me 10 minutes ago, saying that they’ll be back home soon. Don’t get me wrong, I’m ecstatic that they would be around. We would have movie marathons, eat some sushi, grab a few ice creams and pig out together but it would undoubtedly get harder for me to sneak out into the night for these fights and God knows how much I couldn’t afford missing out on these fights.

One missed encounter and you’re out.

It was a huge tournament and although I wasn’t aiming to win the whole thing for pride and fame, I did aim to collect enough money to fund Carla’s medications and ‘enough money’ wasn’t just two grand. Two grand can probably get her two treatments at the most but to actually give her an operation, a kidney transplant and all the medications she needs would mean way more than two grand. The only way that I could afford that much was by winning this thing. So that’s what I’m going to do.

I couldn’t save up any money to give her an operation so the only way was to win this thing since she needed ten grand for the operation and before I could give her that, she needed a treatment twice a week which costs a grand each.

The crowd was loud tonight and there seemed to be a bit more people than the other nights. I fidgeted whilst looking around for Levy. I swear if this guy turned up late because of some hookup, I’m going to ‘eradicate’ the shit out of him.

My mind wandered off to this evening when I was patching Adam up and my cheeks immediately flamed with embarrassment at where my thoughts were drifting.

What the hell was I thinking?

I shouldn’t kiss him. I shouldn’t even like him. He was a friend.

He kissed you back. My conscience reminded in a sing song voice and I felt my cheeks heat up even more, thinking about how our lips molded together. I could still feel the tingle that settled on my lips. I unconsciously touched it gingerly with my fingers.

Dammit Adam, why do you have to be so attractive?

This is making it so much harder for me to control my feelings. Argh, damn you hormones. I need to buy a leash.

“Yo Pix!” I sighed in relief when I finally heard the familiar greeting.

“What the hell took you so long?” I stomped up to him, grabbed him by the arm and practically dragged him all the way inside.

“I brought a special supporter tonight,” I made a face at that.

“Lev, a slut won’t support you. In any case, her racks that are probably hanging out of her three-sizes-too-small shirt are going to get your ass kicked in the ring,” I chided him. He should’ve known better than to bring some slutty ass chic into this place.

“Oh, come on Pix, you know it’s going to be fun,” he wiggles his eyebrows as if he was sure I was going to see it from his man raging hormones point of view. I mentally gagged at the thought and stopped briefly to deliver a whack upside his head, continuing to drag his heavy ass all the way to the back door.

“I may fight like a guy, act like a guy, talk like a guy, swear like a guy or hell, even take a bath as quick as a guy but beneath all this shit, I still have racks; no matter how tiny they are, and a vajayjay and let me tell you, this bitch is as straight as it can get so chuck it, you pig!” I ranted and he immediately shut up. Good boy.

We were greeted by the now-all-too-familiar hard exterior facade of the guard asking for passes and after taking a brief glimpse of the passes shoved to his face, he opened the door for us, not even sparing us another glance.

I rolled my eyes at the typical gesture. Why do they give us passes that they won’t even inspect? I mean, dude, I could’ve easily faked one and the big dude wouldn’t even notice. I huffed out a breath once we were inside. When we reached the changing room, I immediately started getting ready. Levy warned me that my opponent from today onwards wouldn’t be as lenient or idiotic as the last.

I snorted at the thought of that pussy ass sexist bitch. Anyone could’ve beaten his ass in twenty seconds flat with a blow to his temple. Nevertheless, the basic rules of fighting was to never underestimate your opponent. I should know, the first time my brother finally paired me up with Monic after training us separately, she threw me off so bad, I didn’t even have time to soak anything in and next thing I knew, I was on my back with her pinning me down by my neck. Let’s just say my ego was severely bruised by how that fight ended.

No longer than fifteen minutes later, we were called out and escorted to the stairs where the spiky hair dude stood with the uniformed posture. These guys looked so stiff that I was afraid their limb might fall off if they moved it but I couldn’t blame them for looking so guarded.

With these kinds of business, you can never be too cautious.

I climbed up the stairs with my shoulders squared and my head held high, going for an intimidating approach. Tonight’s when the real danger starts.

Throwing Levy my duffel bag, I bent over and slipped through the ropes to enter the ring and faced my opponent.

My hair was already tied into a high ponytail and my whole body was driven with a new kind of tremor; determination. I was wearing my usual black tight fitted shirt with black shorts. I would never admit it but there was a small part of me that felt vulnerable under the stares of many people.

I may act like I bask in their yells and shouts of encouragements to keep on beating the shit out of people but with my hair having to be kept away from my eyes so that it wouldn’t get in the way, my features were completely exposed and if someone from my other life were to enter this place right now, they would undoubtedly figure out who Pixie was and call me out on it.

Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I pushed the thoughts away and emptied my mind, trying to give the fight my undivided attention. You have to win. No distractions. There shouldn’t be any kind of distractions.

I stepped forward and met my opponent, sizing him up in advance. My eyes flew to the timer and saw that it was still. I took my time in assessing the guy in detail. His nose was crooked but most fighters have their nose damaged once or twice in a fight, it was inescapable so I disregarded it without a second thought.

Looking closer, his left eye looks more glazed than the other under the light and I narrowed my eyes slightly, trying to drink up the new information. My eyes then trailed lower, discarding the antsy feeling I got from looking at a naked torso and continued observing every cut and scar on his body.

Finally, after scanning for quite a while, I saw something worth looking at. The way he was standing was unbalanced. He kept on shifting his feet, like he was trying to keep his weight on one foot. He seemed to do so mindlessly, like a man riding a bike. I knew then that I hit a jackpot. It was a quick win, I knew I could swipe at his foot easily but I wasn’t heartless. I promised myself that unless it was a pressing moment, I wouldn’t stoop that low. If I saw it right, then it appeared to be his knee cap, probably kicked from previous fights.

The bell signaled the start of the fight and we circled each other. I saw how his eyes were calculating and how his feet were shuffling quicker, giving off the fact that he was trying to hide his weakness. I feigned obliviousness to the way he discreetly semi- hobbled. Though I had to admit, even with an injured leg, he seemed to be holding up just fine. I knew I was proven right when he landed a jab to the side of my face, catching me off guard and causing me to stumble.

I held my cheek, stunned for a while and when he started to advance towards me, reflexes kicked in and I veered myself away before he could land a kick on my ribs.

Dammit, Case! Focus.

Breathing deeply, I remembered a saying from an old friend, “In life, there are only two choices. Move forward or die. It’s either you keep moving forward or you stay still and build a fort.” But building a fort would resolve with death sooner or later, it was equivalent to death.

So with that thought, I trained my eyes on the guy and charged forward. I threw a fatal hit to his temple, throwing him off for a second and didn’t give him a chance to regain his composure before kicking him on the ribs.

I tried throwing a straight punch but he surprisingly caught my arm and managed to maneuver himself behind me, my arm still in his grasp. He caught my other arm and locked them behind my body, his hold sliding down to grab me tightly by my wrists.

I can hear his ragged breathing and his hot breath fanning the back of my neck lightly and I gritted my teeth. Let’s improvise, shall we?

In one fluid motion, I flicked my wrists, effectively wrenching them out of the tight hold and grabbed his wrists instead. I turned my body in a quick ninety degrees while keeping my hold on his wrists as tight as possible and brought him to his knees.

With one look, I could tell that he was in shock, letting me think I had the upper hand before I tried to knee his face but instead, he bent backwards and my knee hit the air instead.

I didn’t even had time to register what was happening, he swiped my feet beneath me, causing my legs to give out under me. I fell with a surprised gasp, my eyes wide with astonishment. I mentally appraised him for his quick reflexes, rolling quickly to the side, trying to create a safe distance between us before getting back onto my feet.

He’s good, alright.

I barely dodged another blow he delivered, twisting my body slightly to the right. I turned back to see him catching his breath and raised an eyebrow at him, my own chest heaving at the effort of trying to avoid his hits.

“What? Tired?” I asked daringly. He was good and I was probably asking for an early death by taunting him but I just need to get a kick out of this whole thing.

“Not even the slightest,” he forced out between pants, going in for another hit and this time, I saw it coming. I felt the adrenaline pumping and driving me forward.

‘Finally!’ I thought exasperatedly while I countered his attacks with my own. I finally figured out his tactics. I successfully sent him sprawling onto the floor with one kick and stalked at him only to have myself land on my hind a second later.

I shook my head a bit, trying to get a grip of myself at the sudden attack. When I looked back at my opponent, I saw him on his feet, already walking my way I feigned a dazed look, running through my options. Two can play this game.

Seeing that I was in no shape in another game of tag, I finally went for the death blow. I silently gave out a prayer to the man above to forgive me one day for what I was about to do. I held my breath and when he was just a couple of steps away, my leg shot out and kicked his foot resulting in him crying out in pain.

I approached his writhing form in a semi-rushed, semi- wary state as my eyes went over his injuries while he held onto his foot tightly with his face scrunched up in complete agony. His body was twisting and bending over. My heart hurt at the sight and my conscience was screaming at me to do something. My feet, though, betrayed my brain and stayed rooted. I couldn’t seem to do anything. A bell rang in the distance; however, it was muted a low buzz once people in uniform ran into the ring with a stretcher and brought the guy out.

I felt my arm being grabbed and my body being pulled along. My mind remained silent and my heart was as heavy as it had ever been, mashing my emotions in conflicting wave.

Two fingers snapped themselves in front of me and I was quickly brought back to reality. Everything went back to its norm and my senses heightened once again, my eyes scanning the place for a threat.

Once I saw Levy in front of me, I tensed up. I’m Pixie right now. No remorse, no emotions, no weaknesses. I shouldn’t show them anything. I looked into Levy’s eyes only to find him grinning in triumph and pride.

This guy was sick, I concluded mentally, staring at his victorious expression. We walked away, collecting the prize on our way out. Levy was unable to shut up and I was forced to endure his sickening rant.

“You did it, Pix. Not that I had ever doubted you but the first few minutes were intense, you were flying all over the place and just like that,” he snapped his fingers again, “you finished him off and sent him crying for his mama. God, you’re one of a kind,” he said in brotherly pride, his eyes were glinting. Meanwhile, I felt sick to my stomach at the words he used. I gave that guy a fatal injury, used his weakness against him. That wasn’t fighting, that was cowardice.

No, it’ wasn’t. You needed the money.

Oh so now you’re on my side? Wow, good for you. A second ago, you were screaming at me like I murdered a newborn in cold blood.

Oi, I’m trying here.

Yeah, sure; of course you are.

I mentally rolled my eyes, forgetting the situation at hand until Levy escorted me out of the building but instead of accompanying me to my bike, he led me straight to the doors where spectators went through.

I gave him a questioning look and he shrugged.

“I told you I brought a special guest. Why don’t I introduce you guys?” I groaned in annoyance.

“Lev, I love you but I am honestly in no mood to meet some slu-” I was cut off by a terrifyingly familiar voice and I felt my heart skip a beat.

Scratch that, my heart skipped 5 beats.

“Some what?” A high pitched voice asked loudly nearby. I cringed, squeezing my eyes shut and counted to ten.

Please don’t be who I think you are. Please. God, if you’re listening in right now, I know I owed you a lot of favors by now but please just do this one thing for me, I promise I’ll donate as much as I can to the orphanage nearby. Just please don’t let it be her; anyone but her.

I heaved out a breath.

“Pix, I want you to meet-” Levy begun but I cut him off, already knowing who it was even though I mentally prayed it was someone else.

“Sonia,” I finished for him, finally turning around to meet the gaping girl.

Yep, definitely screwed.