“Well, well, well, he showed up,” Michael said loudly. The crowd suddenly broke into loud cheers, a roar of passion. The excitement level in the room jumped tenfold.
Once the noise died down, Rex stepped into the center of the circle. He pulled off his tight dark blue shirt, and was wearing only loose, short gym shorts and light black sneakers. The muscles and tattoos rippled up his arms, and the bruises stood out clearly. He was moving slowly and sluggishly, although I knew that a day earlier he was moving fine. I wasn’t sure what was happening, and thought that maybe Michael’s men had attacked him again to soften him up for the fight.
Michael’s man stepped up in front of Rex in the center of the circle, and Michael joined them.
“Well, lads, this is it, for all the marbles so to speak. Rex, meet Gunther, your opponent.” The crowd went wild with chants and cheering. I assumed everyone knew who Gunther was, and based on the reaction, he was no joke.
“You both know the rules. You fight until one of you can’t fight any longer. Rex, if you win, you have your freedom.”
“The girl, too,” Rex replied. Michael grinned and looked back at me.
“She’s a pretty one, isn’t she?”
“If you touched her, I’ll rip off your head.”
Michael looked back at Rex, his face twisted into mock horror. “Me, touch her? I’d never.”
“Fuck you, Michael. Say the girl goes free too.” The crowd began to murmur.
“Of course, the girl goes free. She’s always free. I have no reason to hold on to her.”
“Let’s get this over with,” Rex said. Michael laughed.
“Alright, lads, to your sides. On the bell, you start.” Michael and Gunther moved off and joined Spud, Clutch, and me. Gunther stood in toward the center, rolling his shoulders. Rex retreated to other side of the circle.
They stood like that, eyeing each other, both ripped and dangerous. Gunther had a small smile on his face and Rex moved slowly, wincing with pain. I was terrified and my heart began to smash through my chest. Adrenaline spiked through me mixed with fear and anticipation. The crowd began to cheer again and chant, and the energy level skyrocketed.
As it began to peak, the bell rang.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Rex moved first, a blur of dangerous speed. All pretensions at limping were gone as his muscles flexed and he flew across the ring. Gunther hesitated for half a second too long, surprised at Rex’s movement, and caught a fast series of jabs to his face and body. Gunther quickly gathered himself and pushed Rex back, and they began to circle each other like animals on the prowl.
My whole body was tense as the crowd shouted in cheers in waves. I couldn’t tell who they were rooting for; I thought it might be more for the general violence between the two men than for either man specifically. They wanted blood and didn’t care whose blood they got. For a second, I understood Michael’s dilemma. How did you control people like this? Michael had his hands full constantly juggling one crisis after another among people who wanted nothing more than to hurt everyone around them.
More than that, I understood why Rex wanted to get away from it all. As exciting as it was, there wasn’t a single decent person in that room. Being surrounded by all that violence, anger, and death can change a person. Rex was probably trying to get out before he was stuck forever. It made sense that he was so desperate to escape. He probably didn’t know any other life, or at least hadn’t for a long time. He must have realized that his chances to truly change himself were becoming fewer and fewer.
Gunther faked a lunge forward, and Rex took a step back. Gunther then twisted and kicked at Rex’s face. Rex managed to duck at the last second, but he was off balance. Gunther used his momentum to launch himself at Rex. His fists caught Rex on the chin before Rex got his hands up to defend himself. They circled closely and traded blows like boxers, and I couldn’t tell who was winning. Their speed was incredible, and I had no idea how either man could possibly still stand after taking even a single punch, and yet they exchanged multiple. Their fists were blurs and they moved with incredible precision. I had never seen such amazing reflexes before in my life. During that exchange, Gunther probably took more hits, but Rex was already injured before the fight started, and each blow took more out of him. Soon, Rex lunged forward and they fell into a grapple, their strong arms locked around each other, struggling for control.
The sweat on their bodies rolled down toward the cold concrete floor as the din of the crowd built and fell in waves. For a second, I pretended I was in an amusement park riding a rollercoaster of sound. Blood rolled slowly from Rex’s nose and dripped onto his body. I had never seen a man force another man to bleed before with his bare hands. My rollercoaster fantasy was shattered by the violence happening in front of me. The man I loved, the man I was so deeply shattered by was being physically mauled, possibly to death. I felt a scream building in my stomach, but I stifled it. I wouldn’t give Michael the pleasure of hearing my pain.