by Brian Cotton
Chapter .06
There laid a helpless man on the ground. The two Agents’s sticks flew in quick furies over top him. The man tried to cover himself with his arms, but each attempt came up in vain. Kaspar looked through the fogged glass door, his frozen blue eyes underneath his shades were glued to one of the Agents. The Agent lifted up his night stick for another shot. A droplet of blood rolled down the handle then fell to the pavement.
A third Agent, who stood watch at the front door, made eye contact through the clear Plexiglas shield over his eyes. Kaspar maintained the eye contact until the Agent looked down at his watch. The clock above Kaspar read six twenty-eight. He looked back out in contempt: the poor, anxious bastard was outside merely two minutes before the mandatory curfew was lifted.
The Agents picked up their dangerous offender and dragged him away from the scene. The man’s face a bloodied mess, he cried out for help. Help that would not come his way. No one dared cross a USR Agent. Kaspar sure as hell wasn’t going to.
Both clock hands reached the six, signaling the end of the mandated USR curfew. The agent posted at the front door motioned with his right hand for Kaspar to come out. He opened the door and looked to the Agent. The Agent just looked back, no expression on his face, unfazed by the beating that just occurred seconds ago.
“Busy day already, huh?” Kaspar asked.
“Might get busier if you don’t move along, citizen.” the monotone Agent replied.
A simple nod of the head and Kaspar moved away from the Agent. The chill of the morning air forced him to grab the skull cap from out of his jacket pocket. Once it fit snug overtop his forehead, he was ready to go. Straight ahead, the downtown skyline could be seen, behind the fog and underneath the morning gray sky.
Once he arrived deep in the heart of downtown, he caught his first glimpse at them: the slaves. He watched as they scurried around with their morning decaf coffee and briefcases. They weren’t all bad, though, as the woman with the soft auburn hair proved. The light breeze of the morning caused her hair to blow ever so slightly. Through his sunglasses, he caught a glimpse of her eyes.
She stood five foot nine, maybe five foot ten. Her athletic legs were interrupted by a skirt just below the knee. She wore a matching blazer and, even in the chill of the morning, her light colored blouse was buttoned down just enough to give him a hint, but left much more the imagination. And, she smiled at him.
Kaspar felt a rush of positive energy and self-doubt. He opened his mouth, breathed in, and tried to think of the perfect thing to say. In an instantaneous bout of schizophrenia, her smile turned into a scowl. She stared into Kaspar’s covered eyes and gave him a look that said “stop eye fucking me.”
Kaspar had a look of shock right back at her, but he didn’t say anything. The hell was her problem anyway? Oh well, maybe it’s for the best. She would just leave him once she found out about the illicit activities he was involved in. The activities which forced him to sneak out of the apartment early this morning, to make it out before Mother saw him. He was unable to keep his promise. Even if that woman would overlook it and stay, Kaspar knew in his heart that he would have just left her at the first sign of trouble.
He continued his morning jog. Over to the left, the reason for the woman’s rudeness reared his ugly head. A USR Agent, who stood well over six foot tall, peered through the clear Plexiglas shield. If any more of a hint was needed, it was found upon passing the free “Pregnancy and Family Planning Clinic”. The USR had begun to get more aggressive in their population control tactics. The clinic was basically a way of saying, “get a free abortion or get arrested.” If the woman had been polite and continued to smile, maybe even talk, to Kaspar, the Agent was well within his rights to break it up. It was simply not worth the trouble.
He took a right turn at the corner. His destination came into view. Kaspar crossed the street and approached the alleyway where Danny would be waiting for him. An unfamiliar sight met his eyes. It was another woman. She stood no taller than five foot six. Her black leather jacket matched her hair, cut just below the shoulder, and the black lenses over her eyes. Her leather covered arms were folded across her chest. She looked away as if she didn’t see the man who approached her. It struck Kaspar as odd. This wasn’t a place for a woman to just be hanging about all alone. Though, she did look like she could handle herself well enough if it came to blows.
But, what the hell was she doing here? There was only one way to find out. He began his approach. The mysterious woman tenses up as he got closer. She kept her bronzed face turned away and only looked towards him when he was just outside her personal space.
“Hey,” Kaspar said. “I’ve never seen you here before.”
“I’m meeting someone here.” the woman said before she turned her head away once more. “Go on about your business.”
Kaspar persisted. “Have you seen a cranky old man walk by here? I think my friend is running late.”
“No. And, I better get going.”
“But, I thought you were…”
She didn’t give Kaspar the courtesy of a goodbye or even to let him finish his sentence. After he admired her back side as she walked away, he reached for the old rusted door. The door was locked. Kaspar let out a curse.
“By god,” Danny said from off in the distance. He reached into his jacket pocket for his keys once he arrived at the door. “You are only on time when the shit doesn’t matter.”
“Did you see a woman in black walk past you just now?” Kaspar asked.
“Yeah, she looked like a butch, but I’d still take her.”
“Have you ever seen her here before?”
“No, I haven’t. Why? This is a public street, you know?”
Kaspar sighed. “I don’t know, she just felt out of place, I guess.”
“You’re just being paranoid.” Danny replied.
“Let’s hope so. You think she might be one of Razor’s girls or something.”
“What?” Danny demanded. He fought with the lock on the door. “Razor doesn’t have girls, okay. Just calm down, we’ve got a lot to talk about this morning.”
It took several half turns, but Danny managed to get the door unlocked. He turned the door handle and, with a shove from his skinny shoulder, pushed the sticky door open. Kaspar had to catch the door with his right forearm before it slammed in his face. Ornery old man couldn’t even hold the door open for him.
Kaspar walked inside the ancient garage that was abandoned years ago. The stale air attacked at his nostrils. The loud sneezed echoed off the old walls. Danny had taken over this old shithole when he decided to train. He used what little credits he had on him to buy it. The garage made for a makeshift boxing gym. Kaspar used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe at his nose. The light, which hung from a long metal wire, took two flashes in quick succession before it illuminated the room. Danny let loose of the chain then headed for his desk.
“When are you going to clean this shithole up?” Kaspar asked, he continued to rub at his red nose.
“You are this close to eating your own tongue.” Danny replied, inching his thumb and index finger together.
The old chair creaked when Danny’s old ass sat on it. Kaspar took a seat in front of him. The trainer reached down and pulled out a small legal pad from the breast pocket of his stained white shirt. He started to jot some things onto the yellow paper. There was a long moment of silence.
“What are you doing?” Kaspar asked.
Danny didn’t look up from the pad. “Trying to figure out what we’re going to say to Walker today. Figure out some sorta compromise to get us back in the ring.”
“Did you hear anything about Razor?”
“Yeah, they rushed his ass to the hospital last night. They say he’s going to make it, though, and word is he’s going to want a rematch. That might be our ticket back in.”
“How so?”
“Haven’t you wised up, yet? Razor ru
ns this show, son. Now take off those glasses and let me look at that eye.”
The eye was a dark red, swollen mess, but saw improvement after a long night’s sleep. After obeying Danny’s order to get ice out of the freezer, Kaspar returned to his chair. He arched his head back and let the frozen bag rest on the injured mess.
“The swelling has gone down a little bit,” Danny said. “But that bruise is going to be pretty nasty for a few days. You’re lucky he didn’t break your eye socket.”
“When are you going to have some faith in me?”
“When you stop getting DQ’d. Don’t be a smartass.”
The comment went ignored. Doubts clouded the mind instead. Could this really be worth it? How many more fights would he survive before luck finally ran out? How many more busted up eyes, broken ribs, and soreness everywhere would have to be endured? How many more broken promises to Mother?
“Danny,” Kaspar said.
“What?” Danny looked up from his note pad.
“What if I wanted to quit fighting? Right here, right now, I decide to give it up.”
“What about your mother?”
“That’s why I’m considering this.”
“You got any job offers or anything you haven’t told me about?” Danny asked.
“No, I actually haven’t even started looking, yet.”
“Well, you know that if we can’t convince Walker to give you a little something…”
“I know.”
“Well, you’ll find something. Jobs are scarce, but I know a guy who could put your lazy ass to work.”
“What about you?” Kaspar asked.
“Don’t worry about me. It’s your life, I’ll find something.”
Kaspar thought about it for a moment. Leave now. Surviving against Razor once was one thing, but twice? It was time to leave. To start a new life, one that Mother would appreciate. To not have to sit around on fight night, wondering if her son would come home alive, not empaled. It would be rough at first, but something would be found. Maybe his old trainer’s friend could be the start to a new life.
“Okay,” Kaspar said, he leaned his body forward and removed the ice pack from his eye. “Who is this guy you know?”
“I can set you up an appointment tonight.” Danny replied. He looked down at his watch. “Oh, shit!”
“What’s wrong?” Kaspar wondered as he watched Danny scramble around for his things.
“Believe it or not, I do other things than babysit your ass all day. Got something I have to do. Be seeing you.”