Arena: Part One

by D. Michael Withrow

  “What’s up Colston?”

  Colston felt exposed in the brightly lit corridor. “Can we come in,” he said.

  “Of course. I’m sorry, come in.”

  The boy and girl scurried into the apartment and waited for Cole to shut the door.

  “Have you seen my father,” Colston asked.

  “No. Why would I?”

  “Long story.”

  “Well,” Cole said. “I’ve got nothing but time. Why don’t you two come in and sit down and tell me all about it?”

  Colston was surprised when he heard Anna ask “Would you mind locking the door?”

  “Not at all,” Cole said. “Though I’d wager his father has a key to every door in this building.”

  “It would still make me feel better,” she said.

  “Sure. Not a problem.”

  After Cole had locked the door, and even placed a chair from the bar at an angle against the handle, they all went and sat down. It was the first time Cole had looked almost a normal size to Colston as he sat on the couch that had been made to fit him.

  “So tell me what’s going on,” Cole said.

  Colston relayed what had transpired. And while Cole did not speak the entire time, the boy did notice Cole’s fists clench when he spoke of the argument that he had had with his father. When he was finished he waited for Cole to speak.

  “Why don’t you just tell him to put her back to work? I mean, it’s not ideal. You won’t see her nearly as much. But if it keeps her here, then at least you’ll still get to see her some. And that’s a whole lot better than never at all.”

  “Seems so simple,” Colston said. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

  “Because you were angry,” Cole said. “Hard to think clearly when you want to murder the guy in front of you.”

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  They all turned as they heard the beep of the electronic lock of the door. The handle turned but the door would not move due to the chair. That was when the shouting started on the other side of the door. He was drunk. Colston could tell right away. He had heard his father mutter and curse enough times while sitting at the kitchen table to fill a year’s worth of life. Cole got up and went to the door. The apartment had no view screen to monitor who was on the other side of the door. Fighters were not afforded such luxuries. They were lucky just to have their own apartments. Colston stepped forward and produced a roll screen from the cargo pocket of his pants. He placed it against the door and pressed a button. He saw his father standing on the other side of the door with a bottle of bourbon in one hand and a pulse pistol in the other.

  “Go in the bedroom,” Cole said quietly. “I’ll take care of this.”

  “But he’s got a gun,” Colston said.

  “It’ll be alright. Just go.”

  Colston and Anna ran into the bedroom and hid under the bed. Colston could still see most of Cole as he kicked the legs out from under the chair, yanked the door open and grabbed Colston’s father by the wrist that held the pulse pistol. He then grabbed him by the throat with his other hand and lifted him up against the wall. Both the bourbon and the pistol fell to the floor as Mr. Carlson used his free hand to grab at the fingers Cole had wrapped around his throat.

  “What is it you want here,” Cole said.

  “Take your fucking hands off me or I’ll have you executed.”

  “I’ll ask you one last time,” Cole said as he pulled Mr. Carlson away from the wall then slammed him back against it. It obviously hurt him. Colston could see it on his face all the way from his hiding spot in the bedroom. His face was beginning to turn very red and the veins in his head were popping out. “What is it you want here?”

  “I’m looking for my son.”

  “Does it look like he’s here to you?”

  Colston’s father was gasping for breath by now.

  “Can’t breathe,” Mr. Carlson croaked.

  “You can breathe once you tell me why you came here with a pistol. And don’t say you’re just looking for your son. Why would you need a pistol if you’re just looking for your son?”

  “Afraid of you.”

  “As well you should be. But don’t ever come here again looking for trouble because you will find it every time. Is that understood?”

  A noise came out of Colston’s father that sounded like a cross between a grunt and a cough. His eyes began to roll back in his head and his eyelids fluttered. His head sagged and his hand dropped to his side. Cole let go of him and he dropped to the floor with a loud thud. Colston came running out from the bedroom. “Is he dead?”

  “No,” Cole said. “He’s just unconscious. But you might want to check to make sure he’s breathing just the same.”

  Colston put his ear to his father’s mouth and watched his chest. He was still breathing. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He let it go. He could think about that later. “So what do we do with him,” he asked.

  “If you can get me out of the ludus, I can carry him back to the house and put him in his bed. With any luck he won’t remember any of this tomorrow.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Colston said. “The last time you choked him like that he couldn’t speak for a week.”

  “I was squeezing harder then,” Cole said then winked at Colston.

  “Well, the next time he comes back here he won’t be alone. You can be sure of that.”

  “I was kind of hoping I had just deterred such activity.”

  “You don’t know my father.”

  “No, perhaps not,” Cole said. “But, I’ve known men like him.”

  “We should get moving,” Anna said from the bedroom doorway. “It would really suck if he woke up on the trip home.”

  With that Cole lifted him effortlessly and threw him over his shoulder. “She’s right,” he said. “Let’s go.”

  24

  His eyes opened slowly, blinking back the harsh light of morning. He grabbed for his throat and tried to clear it. The pain on his face made it clear that it was not easy or even the best idea to do so. Colston watched him struggling. It did not make him happy necessarily but he felt as though maybe some form of justice had been done. He certainly did not feel sorry for him. After all, he had brought it upon himself. The boy continued to watch him until his father noticed him sitting in a chair at the foot of the bed.

  “How are you,” Colston asked.

  “Hurts,” was all his father could get out.

  “I wanted to be here when you woke up. I was hoping we could talk about Anna and her mother. I think I’ve found a solution that satisfies both of us.”

  His father scowled. He tried to get up but only managed to prop himself up on his elbows before collapsing back into bed. Colston had intentionally not called Doc over to treat his father. He wanted him to pay for his actions with pain. But he also wanted him in a weakened state while he spoke to him. “So, I was thinking,” Colston said. “What if Anna just started working again? I wouldn’t get to see her as much, but at least I’d get to see her.”

  “No,” his father said.

  “But it satisfies your requirements of having two workers.”

  “No.”

  Colston waited a moment before speaking. He was getting angry and he didn’t want to speak out of anger again. He wanted to convince his father to keep them on, not anger him further. “You’ve always taught me to look at things from a business perspective. What made the most sense financially? Well it makes sense financially to keep them on. If you sell them you surely won’t make back what you paid for them. And two new debtors will cost you full price.”

  His father managed to sit up, then proceeded to stare at him coldly. His voice came out as a thin raspy sound that was barely recognizable. “You and your giant may have won this round, but there’s no way you can stop me from selling those two.”

  “This doesn’t make any sense. You’re going to sell them just to spite me now? There’s something more going on here and I’m going to find out w
hat it is.”

  His statement had an unexpected effect on his father. There was something on his face that Colston had only ever seen in the presence of Cole. His father was actually frightened. It did not make sense to the boy. What had he said that could have possibly frightened his father? Unless there really was something more going on and his father was deathly afraid of him finding out.

  “So now you have to let me talk to him,” Anna said. “That was our deal.”

  “Yeah,” Colston said. “I guess it was.”

  “Don’t get so down, babe. I’ll convince him.”

  “I doubt it. He’s determined to sell you just to spite me.”

  “Why? I mean, why does he want to spite you?”

  “I’m not sure. There’s something else going on though. I get that he’s angry with me and Cole, but it feels as though there’s something else going on. Another reason he feels as though he wants to, no needs to, sell you and your mother.”

  “Really?”

  “Did anything happen between him and your mother?”

  “Not that I know of.”

  “What about you?”

  “What about me,” Anna said.

  “Anything happen between you and him?”

  “No.”

  The two of them were silent for a moment. She had answered a little too quickly for Colston’s liking. He was not sure what that meant, if anything. Perhaps he was just reading too much into her response. It was easy to overreact at times like these. He was upset with the entire situation. First he had lost his mother and now he was in danger of losing Anna. “I suppose now is as good a time as any to talk to him,” he said. I don’t see him changing his mind no matter how long we wait. And the longer we wait, the closer it gets to him actually selling you.”

  “Where’s he at?”

  “I left him in his bedroom. He’s probably still there. He wasn’t looking so hot after the fifth of bourbon and the choke out by Cole.”

  “I’ll go talk to him now then.”

  “Okay, let’s go.”

  “Not you,” she said. “I want to talk with him alone.”

  “Why?”

  “I think I can be more effective without you there. You said yourself that he just wants to spite you.”

  “True. I just don’t like the idea of you having to be alone with him.”

  “Believe me,” she said, “neither do I. But I think it’s for the best.”

  She was gone for almost an hour. Of course it took time to walk to and from the house and time to hunt down his father. But it seemed an awful long time to have to spend with his father. But, then again, maybe that meant things were at least being negotiated. His father had simply told him no and done so in a matter of seconds.

  When she returned to him in their room she seemed terribly shaken. He knew immediately that she had had no better luck then he had, it just took longer to reach the same conclusion. She walked to him and embraced him. Colston held her and felt her trembling. “I’m sorry,” he said.

  She didn’t say anything at first. She just let him hold her until she stopped trembling. “He’s a horrible man,” she said.

  “I know and I’m sorry. I should have never agreed to let you speak with him. I knew it wouldn’t work.”

  “Oh it worked,” she said and looked up and smiled at him.

  “What? Then why were you so upset?”

  “I told you. He’s a horrible man. I would rather be covered in roaches then have to deal with that man.”

  “But how?”

  “I just used my girlish charm. No matter how nasty he got I just stayed positive and friendly.”

  “I just don’t get it,” he said. “It doesn’t sound like my father to give in like that.”

  “Well, he did. You can go ask him yourself if you like.”

  “So you actually get to stay?”

  “Yep. Me and my mom both. And the best part is that I can spend afternoons with you. I’ll have to work through lunch and then the rest of the day is mine.”

  “And he actually said you could spend it with me?”

  “Yep. Said he felt guilty about you not having any friends. It’s cute that he thinks we’re just friends.”

  “Yeah, I kind of put that idea in his head when I first guilted him into letting you spend time with me.”

  They went to the bed and sat down. Anna laid her head on Colston’s shoulder as he put his arm around her.

  “Janice is going to be thrilled that she gets to put her hooks back into me. Even if it is only for half the day.”

  “It could have been so much worse.”

  “True,” she said.

  “I still can’t believe you convinced my father to let you stay. It just blows my mind.”

  “Well, believe it mister. You are now officially stuck with me. So you can forget about any plans you might have had of ditching me for another girl.”

  “Oh Anna,” Colston said. “You’re the only girl for me.”

  “That’s what a girl likes to hear.”

  25

  Every day Colston trained Cole in the art of fighting in the arena. And every day was the same. Up at dawn to run, then breakfast, strength training, shower, lunch, then classroom before being released to the pit. Afternoons Anna and Colston spent in their hideaway talking and dreaming about their future. Nights were the same too with Anna watching as Colston took Cole through fights with Marcus in the virtual training room. On nights when there was time Cole would teach Colston how to fight with his hands. The strength training was paying off for both of them. Colston had put on ten pounds of lean muscle and had transformed from a tall, scrawny 14 year old to an even taller, muscular 15 year old. Half the day had passed and she had not said a word about his birthday. It was as if she had forgotten it entirely.

  “So, anything special you want to do today,” he asked.

  “No,” she said. “Just be with you and talk. I just enjoy being with you.”

  He was disappointed. She had forgotten. He went to stand by the window and gaze out at the lands that would one day be his. It was beautiful country. He had always loved the woods. But he was not seeing anything beyond the window. He merely stared into the distance and wondered if she loved him. Suddenly a small, wrapped package came into his view from the corner of his vision.

  “Happy birthday,” Anna said.

  He took the present and they both sat down on the bed for him to open it. Inside was a thick, silver torc with each side ending in the shape of a miniature gladius. He smiled at this for nothing encompassed his life quite as well as the sword which he had used, and seen used, since he was barely old enough to lift one. Colston looked into Anna’s eyes. His hand went to her cheek and stroked her warm, soft skin. “Thank you Anna. I couldn’t think of a better gift.”

  “Try it on.”

  Colston placed the thick metal band around his neck.

  “I got it big on purpose,” she said. “I figure at the rate you’re growing it won’t take long before it’s snug.”

  “It’s perfect.”

  “I’m so glad you like it.”

  “I have something for you too,” Colston said. “I was going to give it to you sooner, but with this business of my father trying to sell you off it slipped my mind.”

  Colston walked to the bookshelf and reached behind a row of books to pull out something loosely wrapped in cloth.

  “Sorry,” he said. “But, I didn’t get a chance to wrap it.”

  Anna’s face lit up as he handed her the gift. “You know I don’t care about that,” she said.

  The pounding at the door was startling. Who could know they were here? The pounding came again as Colston looked at Anna, unsure of what to do. No sound came from the other side of the door so Colston took the roll screen from the table and unrolled it onto the door. His father stood on the other side, looking out of place as he stood there impatiently waiting for his son to open the door.

  “Come on Colston, I know you’re in
there. Open the door.”

  Colston hesitated inside the room. If he dared let his father into the sanctity of their private place it would spoil it. On the other hand, he was not drunk. He was fairly certain that he was not there to beat him. So what could he want? Why was he there and how did he know he was there? Finally, with great reservation, Colston opened the door a crack.

  “What do you want?” Colston asked.

  “I…” his father started. He took a deep breath then let it out slowly. He seemed to regain his composure. “I’d like to speak with you privately for a moment. I know that girl is in there with you.”

  “Her name is Anna.”

  “Yes, of course,” his father said. “Can we speak privately please?”

  “Sure.”

  Colston stepped outside and closed the door behind him.

  “Perhaps we could walk,” his father suggested.

  “Sure.”

  They walked down the winding staircase to the parapet walk then went halfway down and stopped. His father was silent for a while as he leaned against the stone wall and looked out across the countryside.

  “You know, your mother was something else,” he said. “She was always doing something for others whether it be me, you or one of the debtors.”

  Colston stayed quiet. He was not used to his father talking to him like a real person, especially about his mother. He waited for him to continue.

  “She was crazy about you,” he said. “She would spend her entire day with you laughing and playing and doing things for you. I told her to let the debtors do more for you. That she didn’t have to do it herself. But her answer was always the same. ‘But I want to’ she’d say. ‘He’s my son.’”

  His father was quiet again for a while. Colston waited as he had before. He knew he was going somewhere with this. He just wasn’t sure where.

  “I know how much you miss her son. I miss her too.”

  Colston thought he saw tears pooling in his father’s eyes but he could not be sure.

  “And,” his father continued. “I’m sorry things have been so rough between us lately. I know she would not have wanted this between us.”