Dark Heart

by Eve L Mitchell

   “You good?” he asked me quietly.

   “Will be,” I admitted grudgingly.

   “Yeah.” He held my stare and with a dip of his head he turned, walking back over to Matt and Theo. I noted Matt was fully dressed again and all three of them looked at me. Then, with a mix of nods and half waves, they left.

  I couldn’t help consider them all as they left. Were they just two guys looking for a boxing gym or was it something else?

   “Brave boy.” I turned to Frank as he came to stand beside me.

   “Why?” I took the bottle of water he offered.

   “Because whoever you were thinking of when you were training there – he knew you would work better and more effectively if the bag was steadied. He just came over – I knew it would help and I wasn’t coming anywhere near you.” Frank let out a bitter laugh. “I’m the trainer and I was scared you would knock me out if I approached you. He just went over and took position.” Frank glanced at me. “They all say that boy could have gone pro.” He shook his head. “You’re the fighter. If I had an ounce of your talent...” Letting out a loud sigh, he walked away.

  I glanced quickly around the gym, a few sets of eyes were still watching me. I headed to the office, flung my hoody and jacket on over my soaking t-shirt and pulled on sweats over my shorts. Then I jogged down the stairs to go home.

  I parked in the street and then – prolonging the inevitable – I got the shovel out from the garage and started to clear the driveway. It was hard work and I relished the mind-numbing routine; I did resent my damp clothing though. When I was done, I parked in the driveway. I trudged over to Walter’s and did the same for his drive. He was sitting at the window, perched like a hawk, watching. Always watching. When I was done, I headed up the path and knocked on his door. He didn’t answer and, for the first time that afternoon I smiled.

   I walked in. “Why can’t you just answer the door like a normal person?” I asked as I went in and sat down. He glanced at me and gave me the finger.

   “Old bastard.” I laughed. I tipped forward and checked his cup. I got up and made us two cups of tea. Walter didn’t have coffee. I didn’t particularly like tea, but it was warm.

   “Three sugars?” he said.

   “Yes, you’re welcome,” I tacked on sarcastically.

   He grunted as he took a sip. He nodded in satisfaction. “That young mom with the heathen children came by earlier, had groceries, she keeps giving me fruit.”

   I hid my grin in my cup. “It’s supposed to be good for you,” I murmured.

   “I’m old and half dead. I don’t want stuff that’s good for me.” Walter complaining made me feel normal. “She always sits and goes through every single thing she bought so I can repay her. Why can’t she just give me a ballpark figure? She takes it to the last cent.”

   “I think she’s trying to make sure you don’t think she’s stealing from you,” I suggested carefully.

  “Twenty seven dollars, thirty-one cents today. She gave me change.” He eyed me. His outrage was real. I started to laugh, then I was full on laughing. I had to put my tea down. Tears formed in my eyes and I was holding onto my sides. Walter started to chuckle beside me and soon we were just two grumpy men full out laughing at the tenacity of a single mom who refused to let a crotchety old man beat her down.

   “You don’t deserve her Walter,” I commented as I got myself back under control.

   He grunted as he wiped his eyes. “Probably not. Definitely don’t deserve them ankle biter children she has.” His tone was slightly warmer when he mentioned the kids though I noticed. He eyed me again. “You fallen out with her?” he asked, jerking his head in the direction of my house.

   It was my turn to look at him sullenly. “What do you mean?” Smooth Aaron.

   His beady black eyes lit up. “You mess up? Saw them legs last night and could have died of happiness right then.” He smiled in remembrance.

   “You’re a dirty old bastard.” I swore at him. He winked at me. I snorted and took another drink of tea.

   “So, Legs is in there…you’re in here with me…what did you do?” He took a sip of his tea and waited.

   “I didn’t do anything.” It was a mistake – his eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning.

   “She fool around on you boy?”

  “She can do whatever she wants.” I forced a smile. My earlier merriment was fading fast.

  “Well screw that. Get in there, throw her on her back and take care of your woman.” I flinched at his terminology.

  “Ok Don Juan, that’s enough, I’m going home.” I stood.

  “You get rid of them thugs from the other night for good?” he asked me quietly, seriously. I nodded. “Was worried for you, almost called the cops.”

  “I’m always fine Walter,” I assured him as I placed my hand on his bony shoulder and squeezed gently. “Thank you.”

  “Yeah, yeah, don’t go getting soft. Go sort that woman out. Get them legs wrapped around you, live a little.” I snorted at his candour, as I headed back out.

  I was still chuckling when I entered the house. The living space was empty. I headed to my room and saw that her door was closed. I went into my room and headed for a shower. My gym clothes were still damp from the extra workout of shovelling the snow.

  I took a long hot shower and stayed under the spray for a long time. I had a quick shave and then pulling on a pair of sweats, I lay down on my bed. I set my alarm – the house was quiet. So, we were playing that game? Fair enough. I closed my eyes.

  When my alarm went off, I went through the motions and got dressed for the night. I put on similar clothes to last time – ripped jeans, sleeveless t-shirt. I was tightening my belt when I heard her in the hall. She was heading to her room; she must have heard me moving about.

  I opened the door and Lela turned in the hall. She was in jeans and a form-fitting sweater, with a low v neck. Her hair was in a messy bun. I ran my eyes over her, regarding her silently. She met my gaze unflinchingly.

  “Just remember to keep it out of my house.” I turned and headed to the kitchen. “Meet him somewhere else. I don’t want him here.”

  “Aaron!” Lela called, I half turned. “That’s it?” I fully turned and looked at her. I shrugged. Lela shook her head and walked into the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

  Making my coffee, I texted Shadow and asked if Clara had been making too much food; she liked her boy to eat, and I had always liked to eat her leftovers.

  Without bothering to tell her I was leaving, I put on my jacket. She came into the kitchen as I was halfway to the door. I left without a word. My mind was in a dark place by the time I got to the Warehouse. Parking in my usual spot, I walked around to open up. As before, Trey and his cousin were waiting.

  “Hey,” I greeted as I unlocked. I helped them carry stuff in. Trey had bought more than normal but we were expecting a bigger crowd tonight. I swore under my breath. I had forgotten to check with Shadow to see if his cousin was on patrol tonight. I needed the cops away from the industrial estate. Shaking my head in disgust at how much she was affecting me, I pushed her to the back of my mind.

  My guys started trickling in and soon we were almost set up. Shadow came in, met my gaze and nodded towards the back area before striding off in that direction. I followed. He handed me a Tupperware box and I grinned at him as I felt it was still warm.

  “She know it was for me?” Call me twisted, it gave me a perverse pleasure knowing I was eating food Clara thought was for her boy.

  “No.” Shadow laughed. “Mama would have poisoned it, if she thought it was for you.”

  I peeled off the lid and my mouth watered at the roast chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy. “Damn your mama loves her boy.” He silently handed me a fork and I dug in. As I ate, I watched him take out stacks of bills. We would need a bigger cash float tonight – two of our fights were going to attract a lot of attention. We didn’t advertise our
fights, they were illegal after all, so word of mouth was key. I knew tonight was going to be one of our bigger nights.

  “How’d it go with you and Lela last night? Surprised she isn’t here.” Shadow smirked at me.

  “She’s on a date with Kyle Marshall.” I kept eating.

  “Fuck. Seriously?” Shadow stopped making up the money boxes and looked at me.

  “Jesus, you need to stop being such a woman. Have you always been such a goddamn girl?” I asked around a mouthful of food. He flipped me off.

  “Heard you went all dark and intense at the gym today?” Shadow was pretending to be relaxed. He forgot I knew him so well - his shoulders were tense, his breathing was shallow.

  “Jesus, they’re all fucking women too,” I muttered. I scooped up the last of the potatoes and put the lid back on. “Tell Clara it was divine, but she needs more seasoning in her gravy.”

  Shadow laughed out loud. “Never gonna be that brave my man.” I grinned back at him, the tension eased.

  “Gonna get Mike to take a twenty-dollar cover for coming in tonight. We need to take their cells too.” I stood; Shadow nodded. “It may keep the usual crowd away, I know, but I want the bigger gamblers in tonight. This MMA guy is going make us money.”

  “True that.”

  “You good for staying nearer Eddie tonight? Feel like we’re going to have be clever with the cash runs.”

  Shadow produced two small black bags. “Hoping they are discreet enough to not draw attention but compact enough to transport the cash.” I took one from him and examined it.

  “So…what are you saying…I’m the brawn in this partnership? Damn, you’re the brain? When did that happen?” He cuffed me on the shoulder in reply.

  Laughing, we both walked through to the main area. Mike and his brother had just finished taping the ring. The other guys were setting up the posts and I checked we had enough disinfectant and towels. Mike’s girl washed all the towels and rags we used, bringing them back for the next night.

  “We all sorted?” Shadow muttered. I nodded, looking around as we headed over to Eddie.

  “What you giving me tonight?” I asked as he scowled at the money box and the bag Shadow placed beside his feet.

  Eddie handed me his odds for the night. I raised my eyebrow in question at the MMA fighter. “Three to two? Really? I’m here to make money Eddie, not pay mortgages. Change it, make it four to five.” He glared at me. I held the glare and he eventually looked away. “Shadow will be near most of the night ok?” He nodded sullenly. I exchanged a quick look with Shadow who acknowledged that he would be on it. Three to two weren’t the best odds – if you put two dollars on a fight and you won, you got five dollars back. So your win was three dollars. If you only put down two dollars, you stood to double your money and pocket an extra dollar. Two thousand dollars down and suddenly you stood to make three thousand. Four to five odds were better for me, the ‘house’ as it were. The customer would give me two dollars; if they won, I’d only have to give them their two dollars back and an extra one dollar sixty.

  I told Mike and his brother we were charging a cover fee and I needed them to take all cell phones and give them a ticket. They didn’t question. We’d done this once before. I noted Mike’s brother went and got a tyre iron from his car. Smart guy.

  I indicated that the DJ should start the music when the first few cars started arriving and then remembered I hadn’t checked who was on patrol tonight. I hurried over to Shadow and he sent a quick text to his cousin. People were trickling through. I heard some protests about the cover but then they either paid it or went away. I got the thumbs up from Shadow – his cousin was on duty, we were clear for the next few hours.

  When the first two fighters arrived, I led them to the back and the night really got started. I chatted with them both. They weighed up evenly against each other. During the match, I had a slight moment of panic when I thought I may have bet on the wrong one. However, in round six, the favourite went down and wasn’t getting back up unless carried. I smiled inwardly. I had seen the hunger in the winner’s eyes a few weeks previous when he had been here for a match against Colton. Colton had taken him easily, but I had seen the guy’s fire and thirst for it as he had limped off that night and I had told him to come back. Shadow passed me on the way to the back, as the guys cleaned the ring. His smirk let me know how well we had done on the first fight.

  Fight two went much the way as I expected. Unfortunately, the less aggressive fighter was knocked out and two of my guys had to carry him to the back area. I was chatting with some of the regulars when I heard my name.

  I turned and stared at Malcolm Litton. “Malcolm,” I greeted, I shook his hand and flicked my eyes over his companions – two guys who were obviously his muscle, and some young girl on his arm who smiled at me in an overly familiar way. I had a vague recollection I knew her but I couldn’t place her.

  “Quite the set up you have here,” Malcolm said as he looked around.

  “It’s ok, not usually this busy.” I played it down. I didn’t want him poking his nose too far into my business.

  “I hear it is.” He assessed me. I waited patiently until whatever he was trying to do – whether it was intimidate me or what – was over. A small smile appeared. He chuckled softly as he looked away. “I want to talk more about this with you.” He cast a hand over the crowd.

  “I don’t have anything to say.” I was being truthful – I had absolutely nothing I wanted to say to Malcolm.

  “I think you may like my proposal. I know you don’t run with certain aspects of my business, but we can work around that. Get Skinner to call me when he’s back with his wife on Saturday, he can set up a meeting.” He turned to go mingle.

  “Wait, Saturday?” I asked.

  “Yes, they have another week yet of vacation.” His eyes narrowed. “Is there an issue?”

  “Absolutely not. See you around.” I walked away from him. Saturday? I really needed to start listening when Skinner spoke. The answer was simple. I needed to offload Lela, and fast.

  Fight three was halfway through and I had been watching it closely – there was an awful lot of support for the favourite and I was waiting for something to go bad. It happened in round four, one of his friends tossed something into the ring and he dived for the knife. I was in the ring before he had fully risen – Shadow was shielding the opponent. The crowd voiced their objections and my guys on the edge of the ring straightened up, just in case anything was about to kick off. The music was lowered, still playing but it meant I could hear and – more importantly – be heard.

  All of this happened so fluidly that the fighter with the knife looked confused when he saw me in front of him. I gave him a cheeky grin and a wink. His friend tried to come in the ring but suddenly Mike was there, holding him back. The fighter was all alone. All eyes were on him, he wasn’t so smart I was guessing.

  “Whatcha doing?” I asked him casually. I couldn’t for the life of me remember this one’s name, I just remembered he had good odds and was predicted to win. “No weapons at my fights.”

  “He fucked my sister,” he shouted at me. I nodded, I did not roll my eyes which was what I really wanted to do. Actually, what I really wanted to do was punch him for being a pussy, for not handling this on another night in another way.

  “Ok, well I don’t give a fuck. Obviously, your sister does, so now you’ve told everyone, we can make sure to circulate her number.” The crowd laughed. Keeping the crowd light was key; I did not want this to get ugly. “Give me the knife. You just lost.” The murmurs from the crowd got louder.

  The opponent popped around from Shadow. “Hey, I want to fight him!” he protested.

  “Yeah, good for you. Not here, not tonight.” I turned back to knife boy. “Knife.” I was deadly serious. He went to open his mouth and – pissed off entirely now – I moved forward and swung low, dodging his clumsy fist and knocking him out with a swift upper cut. The knife fell out of his hand. As the crowd
cheered, I swooped down and picked up the knife. Mike let his friend go to come help collect him. The friend came storming up to me and then thought better of it.

  Shaking my head in disgust at both of them, I turned to leave the ring and came face to face with Lela. Her mouth was hanging open in surprise or astonishment, I wasn’t sure which. Kyle was beside her talking to Malcolm. He had an arm loosely around her waist – they were both glancing at me as they spoke. Lela’s eyes were glued to mine; she was oblivious to Kyle.

  I walked out of the ring and straight to the back of the unit to get rid of the knife and check on the final fight for the night.

  I couldn’t believe I had been fortunate enough to get this match up, it needed all of my attention. Bruce was good – he had been working the underground circuit for a while and come through the Warehouse once or twice before, always undefeated. The crowd loved him. However, tonight I wasn’t sure who was going to win. Jael Jackson was an up and coming MMA fighter, hovering on the outskirts, waiting on his big break. Apparently, some friend of a friend of a goat’s goldfish or some loose connection had seen Colton and his friends fight. He liked the way I ran the fights clean. He wanted to take part, help him sharpen his skills out of sight of the limelight where the points, media and fans wouldn’t go against him.

  I walked over to him now. He was easily six five, and big enough to make me look scrawny and nerdy beside him. He was huge, but I knew he was fast; I had caught a few of his matches on ESPN. He was standing simply, eyeing up Bruce and grinning. Mind games I appreciated, but I didn’t need the action happening back here.

  “You both ok?” I decided if they were making moon eyes at each other, I would just address both of them.

  “That was interesting,” Bruce commented, jerking his head to the ring.

  “Fucking idiots. Both of them,” I bit out.

  Jael chuckled in amusement.

  “You don’t go in the ring making it personal,” I added.