Dark Heart

by Eve L Mitchell

I leaned back in my seat and looked out over the gym. There were a few guys in, two were up for Thursday night fighting next week and I absentmindedly watched them spar. I was twenty-four years old, co-owned two businesses, had my own home and no financial worries. I had fuck all to worry about in the grand scheme of things, until my little brother shit all over my life. He put my sister in jeopardy and by default my mom, with no thought of the consequences. He had brought attention to my fights, attention I didn’t need from players who were far more dangerous than me, players I didn’t want or need attention from. If I had him in front of me, I would have liked to have asked him why he had done it, but I knew. He wanted the attention, he wanted bigger, better. He was a fool.

  I leaned forward as I wondered again, what the fuck was I going to do with Lela? I swore under my breath, reminiscing and thinking about how ‘what if’ never got anyone anywhere. I checked my watch. I needed to call my mom.

  “Aaron.” Her voice was warm and welcoming, a sharp contrast to Clara’s and I smiled when I heard her.

  “Hey mom, I got the house. I took it fully furnished, you move in Tuesday,” I told her.

  “Oh my goodness, I didn’t think it would be so soon! I don’t think I have enough boxes.” I could picture her worrying her bottom lip as she thought things through.

  “You just need your clothes and essentials – if he has someone watching I don’t want them noticing you leaving, they may follow you.” It was hard to tell her this but she needed to know the truth. “I’m sorry mom, I need you to leave a lot of stuff behind.” I sighed loudly.

  “What’s wrong Aaron?” Her voice was low and concerned.

  “Nothing mom.” I sighed again. “I just came from a run-in with Clara Simmons.” I admitted tiredly. I heard her chuckle. Mom had always struggled with Clara also – the woman was naturally abrasive.

  “Well there was that incident when you were younger and of course before that, I suppose smashing all her windows didn’t help.” Mom chuckled in memory.

  “I didn’t smash her windows.” I don’t know why I lied now, however, denial was automatic on my lips. It was ten years ago and I honestly didn’t care if she knew it was me.

  “Oh Aaron, I knew it was you the minute she called and told me what happened and accused you. I know you better than you think son.” I smiled softly as I looked out over the gym.

  “That’s worrying,” I joked with her. “So, is Uncle Paul coming with you?”

  “He is.” I felt a weight lift off my shoulders, although I wouldn’t admit it. “He isn’t happy but he won’t leave us. I told him he didn’t have to come.” I could hear her worry that she was making him do something he didn’t want to do.

  “If he didn’t want to go with you mom, he would stay in Seattle,” I argued softly. I had wondered for a long time if my uncle was more interested in my mom than he let on. I had never raised it with either of them. It wasn’t my business.

  “I know, but you know what your uncle is like. He’s almost as stubborn as you,” Mom joked softly. I snorted.

  “I’ll leave here Sunday evening and be there for you getting there. Remember, I need you to be careful with what you take. Make sure Paul knows there may be people watching,” I directed her and I knew she was listening. “If the little shit calls you, do not tell him, mom. I can’t have this shit swing sideways.”

  There was a long silence. A silence I didn’t like. I closed my eyes. “Mom?”

  Silence.

  “Aw mom, you better tell me you haven’t told him.”

  “I didn’t tell him,” she answered defensively.

  “He’s phoned though, hasn’t he?” I demanded.

  She sighed. “Yes. Your brother phoned.”

  “Fuck it mom!” I gripped the phone tighter. “What the fuck did he want?” I demanded again.

  “Aaron! I’m not one of your employees, watch your tone,” she snapped back at me. I pinched the bridge of my nose as I fought for control.

  “Mom. Please.” I tried to control my temper.

  “He was upset.” She defended him. She always defended him. Every single fucking time. “Jay said you had a falling out and that you recommended he take a break from Boulder.”

  “Did you tell him you know he ratted Alicia out to Skinner?”

  I heard her pause. My temper was steadily building.

  “No. I remembered you told me not to.” Her voice wavered and I felt like a complete bastard and relieved at the same time. “He’s still my son, Aaron.”

  I rolled my eyes. It wasn’t like I had forgotten. “Yeah, he’s still your son and he is still my shithead brother, but he sold your daughter out in a moment of stupidity and we can no longer trust him.” My voice was hard. Unrelenting.

  “I know.” I could hear the unshed tears she was struggling to hide.

  “Ok. Look, pack your clothes. Leave all the other stuff. We’ll get new stuff on Tuesday.” I wanted to change the subject.

  “Ok, we’ll leave here Sunday then?”

  “Yeah, you’ll take longer to get there than me. Take your time, maybe better for you to leave Saturday?” I rolled my head back on my shoulders. “No one needs to be a hero driving. Rest if you need it. I’ll be there early morning Tuesday.”

  “Alright, I’ll talk to Alicia and your uncle. I guess we’ll see you Tuesday.” The warmth was back in her voice. “It’ll be so good to see you Aaron.”

  I smiled, it really would be good to see them – I just had a shitload of stuff to do before then. “It really will mom. Stay alert, I’ll phone before you leave.”

  We said our goodbyes and I hung up. I sat for a few minutes as I reran the conversation with my mom over in my head. Of course Jay had called her already. He would be snivelling somewhere feeling sorry for himself. I should have asked her where the fuckhead was. Maybe I was better off not knowing. I briefly considered him heading to Seattle. No, he would have been there by now, plus he would know that if I was given the chance, I would actually be the one to put him in the hospital this time, if not a grave.

  I stood up from the desk as I saw Shadow enter the training room. I went to greet him as I thought about how in the hell I was going to get rid of Lela.

  Shadow walked over to me as I came out of the office. “Surprised to see you here,” I admitted as he grinned at me. He raised his hand in greeting to the two guys who were in the training room.

  “Mama didn’t like me defending you, so since it’s her first day here and she is going to be living with me for two months, I thought it best to give her space.” He grinned at me as he walked past me into the office.

  I followed him, “You know better than to get involved with her when she’s going crazy about me.” I retook my seat. Shadow shrugged as he took off his jacket.

  “Never understood why she has such an issue with you.” He shrugged apologetically.

  I barked out a laugh. “Don’t worry about it man, I sure as hell don’t.” He nodded and the topic was dropped.

  “Hey, I found these three names earlier.” I dug out the names of the trainers I had searched for this morning. Shadow considered them and then handed me back my phone.

  “I got this, I called the guy who trained me when I was younger, before Clara found out he liked to keep things interesting with steroids.”

  “I forgot about him,” I admitted as I rocked back on my chair. “What was his name again?”

  “Frank Smith.” Shadow grinned at me. “He was good, he wanted to build muscle faster, I know why she took me off him, but I think he would be perfect for us here. I called him on the way over.”

  “Excellent, if the guys want to take the ‘roids let them, I say.” I shrugged and Shadow nodded in agreement. “We got two new members.” Shadow came around to the computer and I talked him through what little he had missed.

  It was sometime later that the trainer walked in. I recognised him from my youth. Time hadn’t been kind to him, but he still looked sharp. Shadow went to greet him as I hung b
ack and watched.

  I noted as he took in the gym – his eyes ran over the members and their stances. I watched him consider, analyse and assess. He had a shifty look about him as he then ran his eyes over the equipment. However, I didn’t get a totally bad feeling about him. Shadow walked him around the room and then they disappeared briefly into the changing rooms.

  A few minutes later they were both walking towards me. Frank’s eyes ran over me quickly and he met my unflinching gaze easily.

  Shadow indicated he go into the office and followed behind. He sat down and looked at me.

  “You put the muscle on.” I looked at him and he shrugged as he looked away. “I remember you, hanging around Ronnie here when you were younger. Couldn’t get lessons but I knew he was teaching you what I was teaching him.” He looked back at me. “Couldn’t stop it then – from the looks of you both, you continued to train what he got taught?”

  “We trained together from when I was fourteen,” I answered. I’d been making money then from Skinner and doing some runs for others in Boulder. Clara had insisted Shadow continue with his training, even when she was no longer here. She made his dad pay her alimony and with it she paid Shadow’s training. Paid it right up until he finally told her he didn’t want to be a professional boxer. It hadn’t gone down well. The money stopped coming and he stopped training. By then, we both had the bug and wanted a gym of our own. One on one personal training was good but having somewhere for us and as a group, was what we wanted.

  Frank nodded and looked around again. “You the one behind the fights in the Warehouse?” he asked me quietly, even though the door was closed.

  “What do you know about them?” I asked.

  His eyes flicked to mine and then Shadow and away again. “Know if you aren’t careful, bigger fish are going to come in and take over.”

  “What makes you think that?” I watched him and he shifted. It wasn’t nerves at me I realised, he was just a jumpy kind of guy.

  “Get too much attention, someone always wants to come in and see if they can do it better. Your boys from here, they’re small time. Your crowd needs more. Heard there was a guy who could go pro. Checked him out myself. Boy was exceptional.” He took a breath. “But I also hear he’s gone.”

  I nodded. Fucking Colton Dawson. Bringing me too much attention.

  “Pity,” Frank commented. “With him you had a chance of keeping control.”

  I scowled at the old timer. “I haven’t lost control old man.”

  He shrugged. “You’re close to it then. You need a big player.”

  Shadow was frowning too. “When you came in you just said we were close to getting bigger fish coming in and taking over. We had too much attention.”

  Frank was nodding. “Yeah, but you had the attention because you had the player. The boy was dynamite. Bigger fish would have come in and brought competitors to beat him. He was the ticket. You had him, you kept control. Now you have lost him.” He shrugged. “He brought you more money in, right?”

  Shadow nodded.

  “Yeah – without him your bigger crowd are looking for that same attraction, that thrill. Your other boy’s as good as him?” Shadow shook his head. Frank huffed. “Need him then.”

  I watched this guy. So, what was he saying? The attention that we needed to avoid was a result of having Colton Dawson fighting. But without Colton fighting, the crowd would go elsewhere to look for the same thrill? Looking for the same thrill and the same potential winnings that Colton brought in?

  Frank met my stare. “It’s like everything else boys, it’s supply and demand. The demand is there but if you can’t supply – then the demand goes to the next supplier. Money goes where the demand is.”

  “I can’t get him back,” I admitted. “Plus, I don’t want him back.” Frank frowned. “He draws too much attention. We have fighters, guys who can be trained.” I looked him over, his thin, bony body, his obviously dyed black hair, his withered face. More importantly I saw his hunger. His hunger to be back in the game. I felt a smile begin to hover. “You can bring my guys up to the level that keeps the demand in my ring.”

  He smiled the first natural smile I had seen since he came in, his eyes sharp, assessing. “You’re damn right I can. I need a month, and I want ten percent of each fight.”

  I threw my head back and laughed. Shadow rumbled with laughter beside me.

  “You get five percent of the whole night’s win. Win only. My guys don’t win, you don’t get paid. You start now, you have one week.”

  I nodded at Shadow to get the deal sorted then I walked out of the office. I wasn’t interested in negotiating or ironing out details. This was my business and shit was run the way I ran things, no one else. Shadow knew what to do and I trusted him to get it done.

  I headed to my truck. The snow was falling again. I was kinda pissed off. I knew where the trainer had been heading with his pitch about Colton. The boy had been damn good. I rubbed my jaw, remembering the punch he had swung at me. However, Frank was wrong on one thing. You didn’t bet all your income on one guy. I had guys who could fight. I had guys who wanted to be better. There were more Colton Dawsons out there. I just needed to find them.

  I started the engine. I could worry about this later. I had too much to sort out, but I was getting there. I drove home. With Lela at the garage, I could look around my place better. Without her there, I could be as open as I wanted to without freaking her out. It wasn’t that I cared about upsetting her as such, I just didn’t want to listen to her.

  I had covered the footprints up overnight, which was fine, as the falling snow would have covered them by now. I wasn’t interested in the footprints, however – I was interested in what my neighbours had seen. I lived on a quiet street, people kept to themselves, but people who kept to themselves were still nosey fuckers and I knew a certain neighbour who would have noticed activity.

  I parked on the street. I checked the house and walked around the house again in daylight. There was nothing that I hadn’t noticed the night before. I made my way over to Walter’s place. He was a crabby old guy who liked to shout at the younger neighbours in the street for noise, or laughter, or any kind of living. He didn’t curtain twitch, he sat in full view and just openly stared.

  I knocked on the door. I knew he had seen me coming up the path, I had seen him after all. I knocked again. Nothing. Crotchety old bastard. I turned the handle. The door opened. I took a step in.

  “Walter, you miserable old bastard, you know I’m at the door,” I called in. “I’m coming in! Don’t fucking shoot me.”

  I peered round the wall and he was still sitting in his rocking chair, ignoring me. “You all right?” I enquired as I made my way towards him. Walter was bald, small and old. His family didn’t come around so much anymore, I knew from observation that the younger family two doors down visited him every few days in winter to make sure he was ok. They were nice, neighbourly.

  “I’m alright, considering you just broke into my home,” he grouched at me.

  “You should have answered the door then,” I retaliated as I took a seat so he could see me. He snorted in response and continued to stare out the window. I grinned at him. “Plus, the door was open, I hardly broke in. So, old man,” his eyes flicked to me in irritation, “you see anyone hanging around that shouldn’t be, the last few days?”

  Some people you needed to be coy with, others you needed to get straight to the point. Walter snorted again.

  “You mean the dame you been sneaking in and out of your house?” He looked at me slyly.

  “I haven’t been sneaking her, it’s my house.” I laughed as I shook my head. “No not her. Anyone else?”

  “Might cost you,” he answered. I snorted.

  “What the fuck would you want old man? You don’t drink, you got enough money, you’re ancient, a woman or sex would probably kill you – what else could you need?” I waited in anticipation, I was curious.

  He shrugged and finally looked at
me. “Yeah, sex probably would kill me, but what a way to go!” He grinned wickedly and I laughed outright.

  “I don’t have enough money to talk a woman into coming in here with you Walter,” I admitted while I grinned at the thought as I watched him. He shrugged again in acceptance.

  “What about a stripper? That girl of yours strip? She got real long legs.” He watched me shrewdly. I shook my head as I leaned forward.

  “Not a stripper and she’s not my girl.” I grinned at him ruefully. “Now old man, what you been seeing?”

  He turned back to the window. “Didn’t think she was yours, the way you threw her out yesterday morning, but you came back with her.” He looked at me. I said nothing. He sighed. “White truck, not real subtle either. Turned up last night about twenty minutes after you and your lady did.” His eyes flicked back to me. “Two guys, all in black. Sat for a few hours.” He glanced at me again. “One got out after a while, crept up to your place. Real shifty. Was gonna call the cops but I knew you wouldn’t like that.” I was nodding. I most definitely would not have liked that. “Something spooked them because he was halfway around the property when he came darting back and they drove off.” He rolled his shoulders. “Haven’t come back so far.”

  I nodded. I was frowning in concentration. “You get a plate?”

  He nodded. “Partial. Ford transit. Wrote it down over there.” He nodded and I got up and took the piece of paper.

  “Thanks Walter.” I put my hand on his shoulder, he nodded without taking his eyes off the window.

  “That Mrs Greenway in number 42 is doing the post man.” Walter told me. I snorted out my laugh. I picked up his empty cup and headed to his kitchen. “Three sugars!” he bellowed after me. I smiled as I made the old man a cup of tea. Yeah, I could be a bastard, but I wasn’t fucking heartless.

  I headed back to the gym after I left Walter. I had checked his fridge and his cupboard, he had enough to keep him going. He told me he would let me know if the van came back, I had thanked him and left.

  Shadow was still there, Frank had gone. I relayed what I got from Walter. Shadow frowned. “So definitely connected to Lela then?” he mumbled as he stared down at his phone, typing out a text message.