Page 44 of Bruised Hearts

“Where to, Boss man?”

“Miccosukee,” was my only response. Titan laughed as he put the car in drive. As we were pulling off, I heard somebody screaming.

“Breaker, what the fuck? Wait! Breaker.” I didn’t even bother to look her way. Titan drove towards the casino, but he wasn’t moving fast enough for me.

“She better be still fighting when I get there.” He understood exactly what I meant and took off.

26- Ariyah “Nova” Stevens

I had no idea what round we were in, and I’m sure that was a bad sign. All I knew was Tricky’s gloves seemed to keep finding my face, and mine barely found hers at all. Just as I had the thought, she threw a jab that slipped through my arms before following up with a right that knocked my head back, causing me to stumble. The crowd exploded; again. They had been doing that shit all night. Every time she hit me, they asses screamed. If I lucked up and got a hit in on her, it sounded as if somebody was politely clapping in the back.

Seeing Tricky coming forward, I could see it in her eyes she was about to throw everything at me. I dropped low to avoid the hit, but it was too low, and she caught me. Her gloves crashed against my temple, causing my legs to give out. Before I could register what was happening, the mat caught me. Looking up, everything was spinning. Blinking a few times, I tried to get my vision clear.

“Five!” I blinked at the ref, confused. When the hell did he get to five? “Six.” I wished his ass would shut the fuck up. Rolling onto my knees, I commanded myself to get up. My body felt like it was buried in cement, but I didn’t stop trying. Using every piece of strength I had, I pulled up. Hopefully in time. I looked around for the ref trying to see if I lived to fight another day. He grabbed my gloves, stared into my eyes, and I nodded.

“I’m good.” Whatever he saw must have let him know I was good, so he motioned for us to continue. Tricky walked her bean head ass over to me smiling, and I wanted to knock that shit off her face. At this point, I would have settled for a hit that made her blink. Going back into my stance, I winced from the pain. Not wasting any time, she began swinging away. Body, body, jab to the face.

I dropped low like they had been drilling in my head the past month, but when I came back up, the bitch caught me again. Wobbling back, I fell against the ropes. When she charged me, I turned my wrist and threw a power punch that should have rocked her back a few steps at least. Instead, a pain shot up my arm causing me to wince. Fuck! She was beating my ass, and now, I’m helping her. I pulled back, but not fast enough. She saw it. Before she could do anything, the bell rang. I wanted to yell out thank you Jesus as I made my way to the corner the best way I could. Pippy immediately began working on my face.

“Nova, what is happening out there? This bitch is having her way with you and you’re not doing shit to stop it.” Fixer was pissed, but I didn’t blame him.

“I’m trying.”

“Block, duck, slap her. Hell, do something besides letting her beat on you for the whole round.” He shoved a straw in my mouth, so I rinsed before spitting it back in the bucket. “When she goes upstairs, you go low. Stop being scared to get down there.” I looked at him like he was crazy.

“Do you not see me doing that? I’ve been-…”

“No excuses. Show me something or I’m ending this shit.” I looked over at the crowd, and Danger was sitting there looking at me disappointed. I wondered if he hated he attached his name to mine. “Do you hear what I’m saying to you?” Fixer yelled forcing me to look back at him.

“Yeah.” I stood and they removed the stool. I couldn’t be mad at him because he wasn’t wrong. This was my first professional fight. Hell, a fight I’ve been begging for. They all said I wasn’t ready, and now the whole world gets to see that they were right. Mouthpiece back in, I tried to psych myself up like I was ready by shaking my arms and rolling my neck. That shit hurt like a mufucka, but the bell had sounded and I didn’t have time to try and work it out. As soon as we got in the middle, she swung. Tricky didn’t give me time to breathe, let alone strategize. I ducked, she missed, but when I came back up, she caught me again. It’s like I had nothing to counter against this move.

Even when she didn’t connect, by the time I moved, she got me with the next hit. Nothing was fucking working. It wasn’t like I wasn’t listening, or had thrown all my training out the window. I did everything they taught me the last month, and this hoe was still beating my ass like I owed her money. She backed me into the ropes, and all I could do to limit the assault was throw my hands up. There was no way Fixer was going to let me come back out here next round. I had nothing to give in this fight. Tricky was having her way with me. “Get off the ropes.” I heard someone screaming, so I tried my best to move toward the center.

The crowd erupted as if someone had gotten knocked out, and unless my ass was in delulu land not realizing I was on the ground, I had no idea what had happened. Tricky was circling me, and I knew she was trying to set me up for a stoppage. My corner more than likely was going to end this fight, but I didn’t want to go out on the mat. Keeping my eyes on her, I moved trying to anticipate her move. The crowd screamed again, but this time, it seemed closer. Glancing over, I saw him. Landon. What the fuck was he doing here? I tried to focus, but now my mind had gone into dangerous territory. I was thinking about something outside the ring, and I couldn’t afford that kind of mistake. Turning to face Tricky, I realized I was too late when her glove collided with my jaw. The bell rang, and I walked towards my corner. He climbed in the ring with Fixer and Pippy, shocking everyone.

“What the fuck you think you doing?” Fixer tried to stop him, but Landon snatched away.

“You better check with registration. My name is listed.”

“How?” Fixer was confused.

“Because I put it there.” I forgot he set the fight up. They knew it had to be true because if it wasn’t, they would’ve disqualified me. Knowing we didn’t have time to argue about it, Pippy went to work. “Ariyah, what the fuck are you doing?”

“Losing, what it look like?” Landon looked at me annoyed.

“I can see that, but I’m talking about your training. You’re leaving yourself wide open.”

“They said-…”

“And why are you going so low? You’re playing right to her strengths.”

“They-…” His ass kept cutting me off.

“Listen, stop throwing your power punches like that. If you get a good hit, you’re going to fracture your wrist.”

“Hey, we know what the fuck we’re doing.”

“We don’t have time for your fucking ego.” He crouched in front of me while putting the straw in my mouth. “Ariyah, look at me.” I looked him in the eyes. “Your arms are too far out. You’re not covering your face. Throw everything you just learned out the window. The shit ain’t working.”