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“It looks good on you,” I replied. When I saw the caterers putting food out on the table, I pulled him into a hug, stood up with him in my arms, and took a few steps toward the table.
“Chase, down, sweetie. You don’t want to hurt Hollis on his fight day,” Mom said.
“If I can hurt him, I think you and Dad totally wasted money on his training,” Chase joked.
I set him down but kept him close. Patrick was pretending to box Chase, and I playfully pulled him out of the way by lifting him to the left or right of me. I knew that Chase meant nothing by his comment, but it made me think of what Ginny told me back in May about me being selfish. My parents did put a lot of money into my martial arts classes and top-notch training. But they never short-changed Morgan or Chase. And I would see to it that once I received my first check from my fight, I’d do something for my family.
Chase tapped me on the arm.
“What’s up, bub?” I asked and leaned down as he gestured for me to do so.
He turned his back to the table and quietly asked, “Do you know if there’s going to be weird food?”
Chase was still outgrowing his picky eater ways. Slowly but surely. Mom said we were all like that, but Chase was the most stubborn.
“I’m not sure what’s over there exactly, but I know for a fact there’s some cereal for you.”
“Are you sure?”
He turned around and gazed at the table nervously. I scanned the table and the carts the caterers had brought into the suite. Patrick and I told Corey last night to make sure there was some cereal for Chase. Just as I was about to ask Patrick to check on the cereal, Morgan calmed Chase’s near panic. From the far side of the table, Morgan held up a wicker basket that was lined with a cloth napkin. He pulled back the napkin and turned the basket around for Chase to see. The basket held several small boxes of cereal, and when I spotted the Rice Krispies, I knew Chase would be happy.
“See? I wasn’t going to let you go hungry, surrounded by weird food.” I winked at him.
Chase let out an ecstatic, “Yes.” He hugged me and raced over to Morgan to claim the Rice Krispies.
“Mr. Ward, sir.” One of the caterers grabbed my attention as she set down a bowl with a silver dome over it. “This is your warm oatmeal, sir.”
“Perfect, thank you.”
After the caterers left, everyone sat down to eat. Corey and Steve filled their plates with food and sat outside on the balcony. I’d invited them to eat with us, but I thought they wanted me to have breakfast with my family today.
I looked at my watch and started to plot out my day of food. I needed to eat carbs and protein about every two hours or so leading up to the fight. As we ate, everyone’s focus was on me and the fight tonight.
“I’m so excited for tonight, but I just don’t know if I can stand watching some other man hit my grandson,” Grandma announced.
“Hollis is really fast, Grandma,” Morgan said.
“Yeah, he’s got this super punch that he can do to his opponent’s head. It’ll jam their nose into their skull, or he can break their jaw. He’s also got this kick that is lights out to the opponent.” Chase made noises to go along with the movements he made with his arms and hands to simulate my moves.
“Don’t forget your mouth guard, Hollis. You have such perfect teeth,” Grandma reminded me.
“Don’t worry. He won’t be allowed to enter the cage before he’s checked for safety equipment,” Patrick offered up to relax my grandma.
Then Chase terrified her again.
“He could still get hit so hard his teeth snap out of his jaw. But don’t worry, Grandma, the mouth guard will keep all his teeth from flying out of his mouth and getting kicked or lost in the cage.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at him.
“Chase, man, what if my mouth guard pops out and all my teeth spill onto the floor? Will you help me collect them?”
Chase sighed dramatically and then put his hand on Morgan’s shoulder.
“Sorry, Hollis. I think that task is better suited for Morgan and Patrick.”
“Least he was honest with you,” Morgan said. “Looks like we’re on teeth detail, Patrick.”
“Sounds like it.” Patrick laughed.
