“How would you know? You broke up with me, remember? You’re never around. So maybe you’re the reason why I’m ‘stressing,’ as you call it. Maybe if you come back, then I wouldn’t be so stressed.”
I was afraid of this, and I looked to Train for help. But he just sat there looking at me, like he was just a spectator.
I took a deep breath then said, “Trip, let’s be honest. You’ve been acting different even before we broke up. Why do you think we broke up in the first place, besides you cheating on me?”
“Well, I wouldn’t have been cheating if you weren’t acting different towards me. Don’t just blame our breakup on me, Max. You’ve had a big part in it.”
“Me!” I exclaimed. “How is that? Did I push that one girl’s mouth on your dick and the other one in your arms?”
Trip leaned forward to get closer to me.
“You might as well have.”
I scoffed, “Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me. You damn well know I was nothing but supportive to you in everything you did. I didn’t do anything to make you cheat on me.”
Trip stood.
“You think I’m stupid, don’t you?”
I stood.
“It’s time for you two to leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere. You wanted to have this little intervention, so let’s have it. You claim you were there for me, being all supportive. Well, that’s kind of hard to believe when you’re flirting with every fighter in the gym.”
“Oh, you’re out of you mind. I didn’t flirt with anyone,” I replied, but he just continued as if I never said a word.
“You think I didn’t notice the way you looked at the other fighters? Or how they looked at you? No man is going to look at a woman as hard as they looked at you if nothing was going on. I trusted you, Maxine. And you were going behind my back. Were you helping them during the fights? Were you betting against me?”
I made a face and was about to say something, but the look in his eyes caused me to stop. His normally blue eyes were manic and dark. I started to worry, and I looked over at Train for help.
“Bro, come on. Max would never.” Train started, but Trip turned on him.
“Are you fucking her too? Is that why you’re here? Are you two teaming up against me?”
“Fuck, bro. Are you serious?”
Train jumped to his feet. Yeah, this was a huge mistake. Trip turned to face me, pointing his finger at me.
“Who else did you fuck behind my back? Is it that Reap fucker? Have you two been laughing behind my back? You know I’m going to fucking kill him in that cage right in front of you. I’m going to rip his fucking head off.”
I put my hands up and looked at Train.
“Train, get your brother and get out of my apartment. I knew this was a bad idea.” I looked at Trip. “You really need some help; you’re out of your mind.”
Train went to his brother.
“Come on, bro. Man, let’s go.”
“You think this is over, Max? It’s far from it,” Trip spit out.
“Get out before I call the cops,” I told them both.
Then I went to the kitchen to get my phone. I heard the door open and close, and I took a deep breath. My heart was going a mile a minute, wondering what the hell just happened. I shook my head. I didn’t want to be alone with Trip, knowing the state he was in.
I walked back out of my kitchen and was met with the most frightening sight of my life. Trip was standing in front of me, with this murderous look etched on his face. I started to say something, but it was at that moment that I felt the worst blow hit me on the side of my face. I saw darkness and then stars. I wanted to scream. I tried to I think, but the next blow to my ribs knocked the wind right out of me. ‘Oh God, no!!!!!’
I shivered and tried to fight back the bile that was starting to climb in my throat. God, I felt awful and more scared than I have ever been. Could he really see the bruise on my face? I removed the scarf and looked at the makeup on my neck. Could he see that too? I shivered.
I can’t believe I was stupid enough to let what happened to me go down. I feel so stupid for trusting him. I should have known where his loyalty was. I should have listened to that inner voice telling me being around Trip was a bad idea, no matter who was with me. I mean, what happened to Train? Did he just leave me? I shook my head, knowing it really didn’t matter where Train was. It was clear that Trip could never be stopped.
I wasn’t sure how long I’d been in here, but I needed to get out there before things got worse. I wasn’t sure if Trip would do what he said he would, and I was fearful for Mason. I heard the crowd screaming and cheering, which told me the fight probably had already started. I walked quickly toward the main gym. When my eyes fell on the spectacle in the center of the cage, my mouth dropped. Mason was on top of Travis, pounding his face. Travis desperately tried to cover up. What the hell?