I saw posters and banners out of the corner of my eyes dotted to the left and right and high up into the stands, but kept my eyes straight and set on the ring. I kept moving, the high pitched shrieks of girls penetrating the deep overall rumble of the crowd.
When I reached the ring I could see Agulla standing there, staring straight down on me. He was known to try to intimidate his opponents by staring at them throughout the buildup to the fight. It didn't phase me at all. Nothing could divert me from my goal.
I climbed slowly into the ring as coach held down the ropes for me to slide through. Agulla looked in prime condition, his body shorn of fat, his muscles so wiry they hung off the bone. His skin was tanned and dark, his head shaved. There were tattoos covering the left side of his body, all the way down his shoulder and arm. Again, if they were intended to intimidate, they'd chosen the wrong target.
His eyes kept on at me as the announcer stepped through the ropes and into the middle.
“And now,” came his booming voice down the microphone, “the moment you've all been waiting for, tonight's main event! In the blue corner, weighing in at 199 pounds, Carlos 'The Killer' Agulla!”
Agulla stepped forward as the ring announcer lingered on his name, raising up his arms to a smattering of applause from the crowd.
“And in the red corner,” continued the ring announcer, “weighing in at 195 pounds, your local hero, the Pride of Branton, Cade 'The Crusher' Logan!”
I stepped forward now as the crowd erupted in applause, the ring announcer finishing his bit with the customary “lets get ready to rumble!”
“OK lads, come together,” said the referee, looking at both of us. I could hardly hear him over the roar of the crowd.
We both walked in and stood face to face. Agulla stood at the same height as me, his eyes still burning with hatred. I stared straight back, my eyes equally intense.
“When I say "break", I want a clean break,” the referee continued. “In the event of a knock-down, you will be directed to go to a neutral corner. Are there any questions?” We both shook our heads lightly, our eyes set on each other.
“You're both professionals so I expect a good, clean fight. Protect yourself at all times. Okay, touch gloves and come out at the bell.”
We raised our gloves and touched them together before turning and walking back to our corners. I could see coach nodding and squeezing his fists together by the corner post, this gritty, passionate look in his eye.
I glanced down towards the front row of the crowd, searching for my support. I caught eyes with Crash, standing tall and nodding intensely. Next to him was Kyle, then Jude., both of them shouting their support at me.
My focus was lost for a moment as my eyes searched to the left and fight of my three brothers, but they were alone. Next to Crash were two empty seats, spaces where I'd expect to see Zack...and Gemma.
I looked quickly further to the right and left of where they were seated, searching several rows back, but I couldn't see them.
No, Zack wasn't there.
Gemma, my lucky charm, wasn't there.
Chapter 19 - Zack, Cade
Present Day
Zack
“Fuck it, why is there never a cab when you need one.” I shouted, looking frantically to the left and right up the road outside the bar.
It was 8.01 PM and Cade was probably just stepping in to trade his first blows with Agulla. It was the biggest fight of his life and I wasn't there, Gemma wasn't there. That needed to change, and fast.
“Right,” I said, “we're going to have to run.”
“In these shoes!”
“There's nothing else we can do. It's not far, come on.”
I grabbed her hand and started jogging down the street, pulling her along. I could see the arena looming in the background a few streets away. It wouldn't take long, only a few minutes. It's OK, we won't miss much of the fight.
The night air was cool against my skin as I jogged, Gemma struggling along behind me. “Here,” I said, grabbing her handbag, “I'll carry this. You'll run quicker without the burden.”
We jogged without speaking, the urgency of the situation preventing us from mentioning what had just happened, or almost happened. Had the clock not started chiming I was sure we'd kiss. It was something I wanted so much, but something that would be so wrong.
I had no idea how Gemma felt, whether she felt the same or was just caught up in the moment. We'd been there together for two hours and it had gone by like it was two minutes. We just clicked, it was all so natural. It was what I wanted all those years ago.
But not her. She was happier as friends back then, and didn't want to ruin our friendship by becoming boyfriend and girlfriend. I guess, maybe, she still felt like that. Maybe, even if Cade wasn't in the picture, she'd still want to stay as we were: just good friends.
The arena grew larger in view as we ran, people shouting “you're late” to us and laughing. Yeah, you don't know the half of it. This is Cade Logan's twin brother and girlfriend right here.
After about ten minutes we were there, rushing straight towards the main entrance. There was a ticket gate at the front, a couple of other late stragglers still rushing through.
I ran straight up towards one of the checkpoints and pulled my ticket out of the back of my jeans. It was crumpled and slightly worn but still intact. Gemma came up behind me, panting, and grabbed her handbag off me, quickly searching around inside and pulling out her own ticket, neatly folded and in pristine condition.
The man looked at me quizzically as I handed him the tickets. “You're Cade Logan's twin brother, right? And you're his girlfriend,” he said, turning to Gemma.
I nodded. “Yeah, and we're fucking late, so could you hurry it up.”
“Of course, of course,” he said, glancing his eyes over the tickets. “Tell your brother well done,” he shouted after us as we ran for the main doors, “if he win's that is! The town's behind him!”
His voice faded into the gathering noise as we got closer to the main doors. I could hear the gasps and roars of the crowd, the oohs and aahs that accompanied the connection of glove to jaw.
We ran straight through, emerging into the main arena. The noise was deafening as the ring came into focus in front of me, Cade and Agulla trading blows inside. Cade looked to be in a bit of trouble, caught in the corner, defending from a barrage of heavy punches from Agulla's pounding fists.
We ran quickly forward towards the front row. People were all standing and roaring, shaking their fists in the direction of the ring. I could see posters and banners everywhere, most of them clasped between the fingers of young women, all shrieking praise for their new hero. I tinge of envy struck at me again, but I quickly dismissed it. I'd had enough of that.
I searched on, my eyes tracing along the front row. There they were – Crash and Kyle and Jude – all standing and roaring at the front.
I turned to Gemma, who's face was screwed up slightly at the sight of Cade getting pummelled in the corner. I grabbed her arm, dragging her attention back to me, and shouted: “they're over there.”
She nodded and I kept moving forward, up through the aisle and out ahead of the front row. As we went the noise of the crowd began to increase and I looked up to see Cade turning the tables on his opponent, rampaging into him with a flurry of fists that would have downed a lesser fighter.
I felt a surge of energy rush through me as I saw him and joined the roaring throng. “COME ON CADE, COME ON,” I shouted as I kept on moving towards the spare seats to the side of Crash.
Cade's fists kept flying like lightning, striking hard and fast at Agulla's body and jaw, sending him rocking this way and that as he tried to lift his fists and protect himself.
The noise was becoming deafening now, thousands upon thousands of people all joining in a single voice, a voice willing for the victory of their hero. Cade kept punching and Agulla kept defending, only to be saved by the loud ringing that signaled the end of the round.
Saved by the fucking bell.
….
Cade
Agulla came out at me like a raging bull as soon as the bell for the first round went. It was a ferocity that I hadn't yet come up against in my young career, forcing me onto the back foot.
As soon as I'd seen that Gemma wasn't in the crowd I'd lost my cool for a moment, my thoughts rushing through reasons why she wasn't there. But it wasn't the reasons I cared about, it wasn't the reasons that mattered. All that mattered was that without her my focus, my total inner confidence, had begun to wane.
In boxing, even a tiny lapse in concentration could spell your doom. All it took was one punch, one good hit, and you could be knocked out. There was no room for error, no second chances, no opportunity for a time-out to regather my thoughts.
All of the focus I'd had pre-fight had now been scattered. I'd had Agulla in my sights and nothing more, but now my hands were shaky, my aim off. He was bearing down on me, pushing me around the ring, my game-plan gone to shit.
When the bell for the end of the first round went I retreated to my corner, that usual intensity I had in my eyes completely lost. Coach was shouting words at me that didn't register. I looked down into the crowd once more, but still saw only my three brothers. Why the fuck wasn't she there.
I turned my sights back on Agulla and stared at him from across the ring. He sat in his corner, staring me down, this deep intensity just simmering below the surface, waiting to explode out of him again at the sound of the next bell.
When it went he came forward again, once more dominating the round. I could hear the crowd beginning to quieten as Agulla bullied me, pushing me around the ring, connecting with my mid-section, jabbing straight through my defences.
During the break at the end of round two, coach was still trying to stir something in me. “That's two rounds you've lost Cade! What the hell are you doing out there?! This isn't you. You're Cade Logan, no one bullies you in the ring.”
His words were beginning to get through to me now, my focus starting to return. He was right. I was Cade fucking Logan, and this is my town, my time! I've waited for this chance my whole life, and I'm not gonna miss it!
I stepped out for the third round and moved into the center of the ring to meet Agulla with a new confidence. Why the fuck did it matter if Gemma wasn't watching me? That was fucking stupid. I was CADE FUCKING LOGAN! No one was doing this shit for me, it was all down to me. She had nothing to do with it.
But Agulla kept coming, kept dominating. I caught him with a few punches, but he had me on the ropes, jabbing and connecting with my mid-section, building a strong points lead. Coach told me that was three rounds in a row I'd lost at the break, that I needed to turn things around, and fast. The fight was drifting away from me, my dreams, my chance, slipping from my grasp.
I stood from my stool and stepped up for the fourth round, a cut above my eye beginning to dribble blood down the side of my nose. I felt rocked, a feeling I'd never experienced in the ring. I was the dominator, not the dominated. This guy was on another level to what I was used to. But that's where I needed to be if I wanted a shot at the belt.
Agulla still seemed full of energy, his face showing no scars of battle. I'd barely connected with it, barely had a chance to. His ferocity, his intensity, was difficult to live with. He continued to skip around the ring, jabbing at my defences and probing for a weak spot. When he found it it sent me rocking, my brain spinning inside my skull.
He caught me with a hook from the side, so quick I didn't see it coming. I stumbled over to the corner and grabbed the ropes, the crowd gasping at what looked to be my impending knockout. I could feel the world blurring slightly, my vision beginning to cloud.
His shape came at me again, the crowd living every blow with me, reacting to the fists connecting relentlessly with my body. I managed to get my gloves up under roars of “DEFEND, DEFEND,” from coach, Agulla's flying fists clattering into them.
My vision slowly cleared as the adrenaline pumped through me, and I managed to escape the corner, ducking under a heavy blow and stumbling out towards the middle of the ring.
That was when I saw them, rushing up through the aisle between the stands. Zack, with Gemma by his side. I felt a fury grow inside me at the sight of them. Why the fuck were they so late? Why were they together?
My anger was mingled with a renewed focus at the sight of Gemma, a grimace across her face at the sight of me, battered and bruised, blood spilling down my face. I turned quickly to see Agulla fly at me, his defences lowered as he moved in for the knockout blow.
I shaped to defend as his right fist came in from the side, desperate to connect, desperate to finish me off. But no, I wasn't done. Not by a long shot.
I ducked to the side, quick as a cat, and flung my glove into his mid-section. I could feel the burst of air rush from his lungs as he ducked over me, gasping. I saw the opening and stepped out away from him, throwing my fist with all my speed and power towards his right temple.
It connected heavily, sending him stumbling over onto the ropes. I could hear the crowd come alive at my revival, their roars and cheers sending this enormous surge of energy through me. I pounced, rushing forward after him and clattering him on both sides of the body with my fists, burying them into his abdomen as he desperately tried to cower and defend.
My fists had never moved so fast as I let everything out of the bag, unleashing my full power onto his weakening body. But then, just when he was about to drop, I heard the bing of the bell as the referee came rushing in between us.
I turned back to my corner, a medic jumping up onto the ring and tending to my cut as I sat down on the stool.
“That's it Cade, that's it, you've got him!” coach was shouting in my ear, kneeling down in front of me as I stared over his shoulder at my opponent in the opposite corner. Agulla was still wheezing and breathing heavily, the intensity in his eyes starting to fade under my growing confidence.
I was willing for the bell to ring again, to step back into Agulla and finish him off. He was battered and broken, but every second he'd regain his energy, regain his form. When the bell finally sounded it was me, this time, who launched straight forward into him.
It had grown deafening in there, an hysteria beginning to engulf the crowd. They sensed, as I did, that the fight was now mine for the taking.
Agulla was watchful, his ferocity in the first few rounds now beginning to settle. I jabbed at him, my reach slightly longer, connecting mainly with his gloves. I was waiting now, baiting him into making a move, to lower his defences so I could strike.
It was my original game plan all along: to move and tire him out, jab relentlessly and use my superior speed when an opening came up. He stayed closed up, the crowd growing impatient as he grew more defensive.
Then, suddenly, he struck out, thinking he'd seen his chance. For my eyes it was desperation that forced his hand, the momentum now truly with me. He wanted to change the tide, but I was ready, my reaction like lightning as I swayed out of the way of his oncoming fist.
Now I had my chance. His sudden charge had opened himself up fully. He needed to connect with me or I was in. He didn't, and I took my opportunity to finish him.
I swerved out of the way of his fist as it brushed across my cheek, his arm fully extended and his entire body open. I once more thrust my fist into his gut, his ripped abs offering no protection from my power. My gut-punch was followed quickly by an uppercut as his body slumped forward.
I connected perfectly with his jaw, seeing his eyes roll in his head and blood spill from his mouth. The reaction from his body was instantaneous, dropping like a stone to the canvas in the center of the ring.
A momentary hush in the crowd was followed by the build-up of rapturous cheering and roaring as the referee began counting Agulla out.
I stepped back casually as I looked down on him, the referee shouting 3, 4, 5. There was no point in the count. I knew he wasn't getting up. The noise in the arena made it almo
st impossible to hear, impossible to think, as the ref finally swooshed his hands over each and exclaimed “YOU'RE OUT!”
He rushed straight over to me and lifted my arms up as coach jumped into the ring, his face lit like I'd never seen it. I held my arms aloft and twisted slowly, finally acknowledging the crowd.
My eyes drifted over towards my brothers, all hugging and cheering down below. I could see Gemma beaming, Zack next to her, roaring and shaking his fists. I didn't smile, though, I just kept my expression blank.
This time, I didn't point at her and say “for you”. No, this was all for me.
Chapter 20 - Gemma
Present Day
Gemma
I felt strangely nervous standing outside the changing room in the belly of the arena. I'd just watched on as Cade had won the fight, and won in some style. The uppercut he delivered to knock Agulla out sent the crowd wild. They loved him, and almost every single person in that arena were cheering his name.
“LOGAN, LOGAN, LOGAN,” they were chanting as he held his hands aloft, turning around slowly to acknowledge everyone in there. He didn't celebrate or jump around the ring in a show of happiness at winning the biggest fight of his life. No, he stayed calm and composed, as he always did in the ring, this intense stare still etched on his face.
Yet when he locked eyes with me, I saw something other than his usual intensity. I saw anger. I saw disappointment. It lasted only a moment or two, but it was unmistakable. He'd clearly noticed that I wasn't there, that Zack wasn't there, and he wasn't happy about it.
I knocked diffidently on the door. I could hear cheering inside, no doubt from Cade's team, popping the champagne and celebrating his victory.
I waited a moment and knocked slightly louder. They probably couldn't hear me.
A few seconds later the door opened and Cade's coach stood there.
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