by Xander Hades
She backed up to the door and unhooked the pack with her things in it. She popped the seat and pulled out a large tarp and brought that into the room with her. She spread the tarp over the thin compacted carpeting and went back to the bike. She popped it in neutral and looked on both sides of the long building with its open doors and windows. She then leaned back, the bike rolling along beside her.
Getting the rear wheel over the crumbling lip of the sidewalk was a trick, but the bike eventually lifted a little and she was able to wheel it through the door and over the tarp. She took a small block of wood to put under the kickstand and closed and locked the door.
Now, at last, she could relax.
Making sure the curtains were securely shut, she checked her bike for wear and tear and double-checked the fluids. Her hands paused to caress the seat, and in that instant she saw herself in the wavy mirror over the desk, a biker chick shacking up with her ride in a torrid motel on the wrong end of town. It was a scene worthy of a cover of one of those trashy romance novels she read on her phone when no one was looking. She laughed at herself, blew a kiss to the image in the mirror and then, still smiling, headed to the bathroom to scrape a few layers of the Mojave off her skin. This involved stripping, taking a shower with water hot enough to boil an egg and staying under the spray until the last thousand miles washed off. It took a while before the water quit running in gray streaks down the drain.
There were still a few hours until Rocky was scheduled to fight. She thought about calling him up and getting her things in his house and not have to worry about the hotel, but she wasn’t entirely sure what the arrangements were going to be. They’d slept together, and he knew she was coming out to stay, but still…
Don’t be stupid. He invited me. We talked about this. I’m just…early. It’s not like this is some kind of blind date…
On the other hand, getting clean and having a safe place to stash her things was something she couldn’t regret. It was better to meet him after she’d showered and maybe grabbed a bite to eat. That way she wasn’t going to go in there acting like he owed her anything. He needed to know up front, she was a girl who took care of herself.
Quit stalling! Call the man!
Val pulled the phone from her bag and hit Rocky’s number on the speed dial. Or nearly did. Her finger hovered over the little icon of his face, taken from a publicity still she’d pulled up on him after Sturgis.
But that was Sturgis. He’s home now, in LA. He could very well change his mind, decide that I’m not the kind of girl to bring home to mother, or ex-gang members or something. What do I really know about his family life here other than he has a million siblings?
She fell onto the bed and stared at her bike. “Really?” she said to the Valkyrie painted on the tank. “Now you get cold feet? After saying goodbye to the Gilas and driving a thousand miles, NOW you get nervous?”
She took a deep breath and blew out through her bangs. She punched the little icon before she could think about all the reasons not to and heard it ring.
“Murray, damn it, you can’t keep calling like this, my boy has to prep!”
Val started and looked at the phone as though it had turned into a joke machine or a small television tuned to a bizarre station. She tried again to put it to her ear. “Hello?”
The voice on the other end went silent. “Hello?”
“Hi,” Val said, cautious now and somewhat rattled. She hadn’t expected someone else to pick up. This was his cell phone right? “Is Rocky there?”
“Ah, who’s this?”
“This is Val, he’s expecting me… I think…”
“Yeah, well, Rocky’s prepping now, he has a fight this afternoon at Pistole’s. He can’t talk right now.”
“Ok… uh, just tell him that Val called and I got a room and….” She swore silently. “No, don’t tell him that part, just… just tell him that Val will be at the fight and I’ll see him after, ok?”
“Sure, you got it.” The line went dead.
“Hello?” Val looked at the phone again, trying to determine if it was the phone that shut off, the connection or the man who’d answered it. Well, either way, she wasn’t going to get through to him before the fight. She stood and put the phone in her back pocket and… exhaled.
Ok, this is stupid.
The original plan was to get the room and get clean and rest a little so that she could be fresh and awake when she watched him that night in the cage. There was no way sleep was going to happen, her mind was whirling along at a thousand miles an hour. Still, she had a few hours to kill.
She pulled the phone back out and began to explore the area. It wasn’t a horrible part of town, but not exactly Beverly Hills either. She found Pistole’s, though on the map it didn’t really look like much. Next to it was a small diner and next to that was a candle and herb shop.
Yep, this is California all right…
Val didn’t really indulge in the girly-girl things around the Gilas. They wouldn’t have minded, but there’s nothing out of bounds for a good light teasing. Besides, running with a lot of bikers… you tend to want be seen as tough, especially as a physically small woman. Pretty candles and potpourri was not the way to achieve an air of toughness.
She splurged on a taxi, figuring that it was only a few miles away, how bad could it be? Fifteen minutes and four miles later, she learned. She paid the man, no tip, he was an irritating ass, and decided that she was walking back to the motel. A part of her mind whispered that Rocky would have a car, he’d probably bring her back, she could get her bike and follow him to her new home for the next two weeks.
I am fucking insane! Sure, just up and leave everyone and everything and run off with a prize-fighter at the drop of a hat I’ve known for THREE DAYS! Hoodoo! How could you let me do this?
But… it was Rocky. The way he looked at her, the way he touched her. The nights they’d spent together were filled with… ok, sex, but more than that, there was laughter and warmth and he’d told her all about his life both now and as a child. He’d played with her, like children, rolling on the bed and splashing in the tub. Whatever else he was, he was still that man who let go a laugh with abandon, who snuck up behind her and goosed her, who rode the back of her bike with pride and no loss of his self-esteem.
That’s how she knew – KNEW – that it would work out between them, because it was that man she came to see, it was that man that she came to live with…maybe. Two weeks. That’s what she’d agreed to, with things kind of open-ended if she wanted to stay. As in STAY stay. Move in permanently stay. Though that depended in part on her ability to find a job.
One thing at a time. You’re getting too worked up over things. You had amazing chemistry at Sturgis, this is…an experiment of sorts to see if you want to make things more permanent. You’re not committing to anything just yet.
Even if you did tell the Wonder Twins that they could sublet your apartment. They were probably already moved in. OK that wasn’t exactly accurate. She might have instructed them to box up her stuff. Maybe. But not to send it yet. They were more apartment sitting.
Right?
She shuddered to think what they were doing to the place.
Shoving aside unpleasant thoughts, she walked into the store and for a moment, the smells of wax and fruits and flowers assaulted her. She stopped just inside the door and inhaled deeply. Maybe… maybe it was ok to be a girly-girl again, for just a little bit. If Rocky could take the back of a bike and still be an alpha male, she could buy a little candle or a little sachet and still be a member of the Gilas… honorary, perhaps, but she wouldn’t let that take away anything from her.
Enough already. You need to let all this go. You’re on vacation, you’re going to see the man you love in a couple of hours. You’re second-guessing every single thing you do. Just…stop already.
Feeling foolish she entered the shop a little sheepishly. She really was acting idiotic. This was vacation. This was supposed to be fun. With that in min
d she smiled broadly at the shopkeeper and dove into the experience with enthusiasm, and for the first time in days actually started to feel more like herself again.
She ate a light dinner with a bag beside her plate for the two candles and a little glass dragon wrapped in thick layers of bubble wrap. Hoodoo loved dragons. He’d become a near father to her, despite them being near enough the same age. He would probably laugh when she sent it to him. She kind of wished she would be there to see his expression.
From there, she went to the bar and was still there early enough to get a seat next to the cage. One of the bartenders tried to get her to move, saying, “It was going to be loud and violent.” She politely told him that if he wanted a tip, he’d find somewhere else to breathe.
So it was that when the crowds started to filter in, she was able to keep the best seat in the house, despite several attempts at getting picked up. Rocky wasn’t the first fight, but he did seem to be the main attraction. By the time he took his place, crowd was pumped up and ready for blood.
Truth be told so was she. She raised her beer to him in a sort of toast, cheering wildly when he appeared. He didn’t notice. She hadn’t really expected him to. He looked pretty focused, his attention on the cage, on the opponent just now coming into it. He probably wouldn’t see a thing outside of that space until it was over.
She absolutely loved that hyper-focus of his. Especially when it was directed to her.
Hugging herself a little in her excitement, Val cheered again when Rocky dropped his robe and jumped a little in place, trying to keep up his energy. The crowd grew silent for a moment as they witnessed the vast bulk of him. Val knew those biceps intimately and even she was not unaffected. The crowd started going wild, hooting and hollering and screaming for Rocky. Val led the cheers. People were screaming for more, and Val joined in on that, too. By contrast, his opponent looked like a shriveled pole. For him was laughter, by sheer volume, he was well outmatched and Rocky couldn’t lose.
The fight started and the other guy… Val checked her tablet again, “TONY METRUCO” lashed out immediately with a kick. Rocky blocked it like it was nothing. He feinted left and took a swing with his right, but Tony was able to step back away from the connection.
They circled a bit and then Tony stepped in and began hitting Rocky left, right, left, right. Rocky hid behind his forearms and absorbed the beating like an old fashioned boxer, blocking some, but letting the others land where they will. He took the blows for a few moments and then brought both arms forward onto Tony’s shoulders. It wasn’t a hit so much as a shove, but it pushed them away from each other and bought Rocky a little breathing space. The crowd roared, not exactly its approval. They wanted blood and so far they weren’t getting any.
Tony stepped in for the grapple, which was ludicrous. The sheer weight difference should have made him too afraid to get close enough to wrestle. Tony started with trying to pin him from behind, wrapping his arms around Rocky, but he couldn’t quite manage it. Rocky’s bulk and the way he was standing was too much to grab on to. Rocky jumped and landed on his back, taking Tony with him and using the thinner man to break his fall. Rocky leapt to his feet, while Tony got up slowly, as though he’d just woken up from a bender.
Val was trying to determine if that was from the blow or if the man was just that slow. He looked aware enough that the fall hadn’t rattled him, but the way he moved was closer to an old man with creaking joints.
Rocky danced around a little again, drawing in his opponent. Tony took the bait and Rocky brought a powerful right around in a haymaker and slammed Tony’s chest.
Tony dropped like a bag of potatoes.
The crowd stopped. The suddenness of the fall was so quick, so comical that people started screaming their protests almost immediately.
“RIGGED!”
“HE WAS PAID OFF!”
“BULLSHIT!”
Val half rose to see better. From where she was sitting, she could see Rocky’s face. Something was dreadfully wrong.
Chapter 5
The fight was minutes away from starting and Rocky was already getting a pretty clear idea of just how far he had fallen.
There was a certain amount of drama that went into a production like this. You needed to come into the cage with a certain…well, at the least aggressive domination. Something confident. Maybe a little over the top. Cocky. A swagger. Something. Rocky always felt a little the fool with some of the play-acting involved, but the crowd paid to see a show, and a guy who just showed up wasn’t half so much fun as the snarling beast ready to be let loose against another of his kind.
So Rocky came into the cage, pulling out all the stops. Tonight was about redeeming himself, and redemption started in the basics. He worked up a good snarly, and even lunged a little at the ref, all in good fun, of course. Playing it up. Playing the game. The fight would be serious, but this part was window dressing. By the time he’d gotten into position he’d worked up a fair bit of adrenaline and was ready to throw himself into the fight. He hoped that whomever they put him up against would be a decent match, someone that might give him a little bit of a challenge.
Then he saw his opponent.
Rocky watched this Tony… whatever his name was...heading on up to the cage. He’d been a couple beats behind Rocky on the approach, but while Rocky had half-jogged into position just to show his eagerness to get in there and fight, this guy had lagged behind and was showing up to the party late. What the HELL was his name? You can’t get a good rep with some stupid name no one can remember. It didn’t work that way. He tried and failed to come up with the man’s last name and shrugged mentally when he couldn’t come up with it. Instead he watched the man climb into the cage. He didn’t seem particularly coordinated. Where was the panache? Where was the bloodthirsty snarls and angry posturing? Rocky had a tight feeling in the pit of his stomach. None of this felt right.
Shit. Are you serious? If this guy’s ever fought anyone I’ll eat Val’s bike. This is strictly amateur. He moves like a plow horse and the look in his eyes… that’s fear! What the hell’s he got to be afraid of? A bloody nose? What the hell is he doing in a cage? He turned to Diaz to take the mouth guard and yelled over the noise of the crowd, “Murray is a dead man!”
Diaz nodded and winked, obviously not understanding a word he had said.
I wonder what he heard.
The cage cleared out. Only the ref and the guys doing the fighting were left. The ref motioned for them to come out. To tap gloves. Rocky leaped to his feet and bounced up, getting his adrenaline pumping. Tony walked… WALKED toward him like he was coming to take his order. His fists were up like a boxer. Tony knew less about the cage match rules than Murray and Diaz combined.
Ok, that didn’t sound right. But LOOK at this guy.
They tapped gloves. Tony looked like he was going to faint. The fight was on.
Tony took the initiative.
Rocky blocked that first kick automatically. He barely felt it. He suddenly realized that the kick had been brushed off automatically and hadn’t hurt – at all. He looked at his opponent in surprise.
Tony must not have understood the nature of his surprise. He went wild. He jumped into Rocky’s space and began pelting him with jabs, left and right, over and over. His eyes were still filled with fear and there was spittle flying from his mouth guard. He’d gone nuts, whatever was scaring him was driving him reflexively, but the man wasn’t using his head.
Rocky tensed and held up his forearms to protect his face. He flexed his muscles to absorb the blows and let Tony pound on him for a while. He was getting a feel for how the man threw a punch. What the hell is this… wannabe… doing in a cage with me? I’m supposed to be a good boy, play nice… sure. This is their way of telling me I’m starting in the kindergarten leagues again, right? This is telling me that I have fallen so far, I’m starting over from scratch.
Angry and frustrated that he’d been reduced to this shit-shaming contest, he slammed down his
hands on the man’s shoulders and Tony took a step backward. Rocky skipped a little, trying to keep the circulation going; Tony walked flat-footed, backwards three steps.
Play nice, stick to the rules.
But apparently, Tony didn’t get that memo. There was blood in his eye and he was breathing fire. With the mouthguard, no one could say anything clearly. But the second word was most definitely “—you.”
All of a sudden, the man jumped in for a grapple. Rocky almost lost his mouth guard for the laugh that broke through his mouth. Seriously? This had gone from an insult to a joke. Rocky could break the man in half barehanded, and the fool wanted to wrestle? He felt Tony climb on his back and wrap his arms around Rocky’s chest. The fact was, Rocky could have walked out of the cage, dressed and walked home with this fool hanging off of him and barely notice. This Tony was way smaller and lighter than Rocky was. He should never have been on this ticket by the sheer fact of weight class alone.
He tried to pull him off, but the thin arms were like getting hugged by an arthritic anaconda and he didn’t have an angel to break the grip. Rocky was getting pissed. He wasn’t so sure about what he was feeling behind him, either. Tony seemed to be enjoying himself a little too much.
Well, if this was a joke, it had gone too far and if Tony was a wannabe fighter, he needed to learn what that meant. Rocky jumped and fell on his back hard. His thick bulk crashed Tony between him and the mat. He heard Tony’s breath leave in a wuff and jumped to his feet.