Rocky's Choice

by Xander Hades

  “Are you kidding?” He waved his arm at the room. “Look at these guys, any one of them would love to have a piece of him!” He held up a finger and with a flair used it to punch the POWER button on the receiver.

  The music fell silent and the few stray words that were spoken at high volume faded quickly. Including the phrase “But it turned out he was a monkey…”

  “LISTEN UP! BE AWARE,” Jonny yelled, “THERE IS A TALL THIN GUY WITH A MUSTACHE WHO THINKS WE CAN SCARE EASY! HE JUST TRIED TO SHAKE ME DOWN IN THE ALLEY WHILE I WAS SHAKING IT OFF!”

  There was a mix of laughter and growls.

  “He was after money?” someone called.

  “NO!” Jonny called over the crowd. “HE DIDN’T LIKE MY NEW WAITRESS!”

  The roar that time was deafening.

  “JUST WATCH FOR THIS LOSER!” Jonny called. “DON’T LET HIM DO SOMETHING HE’LL REGRET!” he punched the button and Lynyrd Skynyrd resumed at volume where they had left off. “See?” Jonny shrugged, “easy!”

  Val laughed and got a round for table eight. The rest of the night was busy, but between the threat and the defiance on the part of her and the management both to not let it get to her, it certainly helped her tips.

  Chapter 17

  Rocky was asleep when she got back. It was 2 AM and he had to be up by 6 AM to get to the job Diaz had found for him. Diaz had made connections with a gym a few weeks past, ostensibly setting up Rocky to be a spokesman for them once Rocky got his MMA career off the ground. Now that was on the back burner, the owner was willing to try Rocky on as a personal trainer, provided he could work well with the clients.

  When Val slipped into the blankets beside him he barely stirred, but one very thick and heavy arm curled around her and held her. He was barely awake enough to remember that. When the alarm went off, he shut it off and padded over to the shower. He was out the door before she was awake and he wondered if this was to be the new routine.

  It wasn’t supposed to be this way. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. He slammed a fist into his open hand and growled and groused as the coffee finished brewing. He set a travel cup and headed out to the bus.

  He was supposed to be on his way. The MMA was an open door and he’d earned it. He’d trained every day, over and over, preparing for every fight, learning the rules and regulations until he could repeat them in his sleep.

  The bus was surprisingly crowded, but it was the beginning of rush hour. Rocky ended up standing, mostly due to the fact that he tended to take two seats when he sat.

  He jumped off the bus and headed to the gym. He waited at the front desk and asked to speak to the manager, a connection of Diaz.

  The man came up, shook his hand and handed him an envelope. He explained that they really didn’t have an opening at the time, but he included a day’s wages for his trouble.

  “Wait,” Rocky said, “I’m a little confused. I thought that Diaz had…”

  “Listen,” the man said, lowering his voice, “I spoke with Diaz about having an MMA fighter do some advertising, but I don’t want any trouble here.”

  “Trouble? I’m not going to cause any trouble,” Rocky blinked and looked around for something that might explain what was happening to him. He didn’t see anything that could account for any of this.

  “No, but that doesn’t mean trouble won’t come of it,” the manager said. “Here, you have that,” he pushed the envelope at Rocky. “Just… take it and go.”

  Rocky rode the bus home again in a daze.

  “Hey,” Val said an hour later, walking into the kitchen and perching on his lap. “I thought you’d be at work by now, telling rich people to pick up their feet when they shuffle.”

  “I was fired,” Rocky said, staring into the coffee cup he’d been ignoring steadfastly since he’d poured it.

  “What? How long did you work there?”

  “About 3 seconds.”

  “That must be a new record!” Val whistled appreciatively. “What happened?”

  “I don’t know!” Rocky spat. “I showed up! I guess that was all they needed. One look and poof, not thank you, thanks, anyway.”

  “Ok, that makes no sense.” Val said and placed her hand on his chest. “Listen, you know that guy? That guy who came by here and asked to go fight in Mexico?” Rocky nodded. “Well, a guy matching that description came by Jonny’s and tried to convince my boss that he shouldn’t hire me, threatened him and everything.”

  Rocky blinked. “I hadn’t thought…” he said and stared off in the distance seeing something past the far wall.

  “What is it?”

  “When I was at lunch at the warehouse,” he said, deep in thought. “I saw a car pull out of the parking lot. It was a black Mercedes with grayed out windows.”

  “That’s the car that creep was driving!” Val got up and paced. “But that makes no sense.”

  “It might have belonged to someone else…”

  “Oh please, how many of those could there be? It screams ‘pimpmobile’!”

  “So what the hell?”

  The soft hum of the refrigerator shut off. Rocky shot to his feet. “DAMN IT!” Rocky said, flipping the switch on and off. The bulb overhead did nothing.

  “That’s it.” Val whispered. Rocky looked at her. “That’s why he’s doing this. Don’t you see? He’s trying to starve us out, make you have to take the fight because you don’t have a choice. You already told him no, didn’t you?”

  Rocky frowned. “I told him I’d think about it,” he answered honestly and waited for the explosion.

  “You’d think about it?” Val swore and paced the floor. “You think he’s maybe trying to force your decision?”

  “They’re threatening this place,” Rocky said. “These kids. For what? I’m not anyone! What the hell difference would one little match with an unknown make?”

  “I don’t know.” Val threw up her hands. “But if anything you think maybe you have your answer finally? Guys that do stuff like this, you don’t want to be working for them.” She dropped into the chair, the light from the windows casting a dim light across her face, which seemed pale and wan. “Look, I made out last night, I have a couple of hundred in tips.” She dug into her pockets and pulled out wads of cash, dropping them on the table. “We can get the power back on at least.”

  “Then what?” Rocky said, waving his arms. “We can’t fund this place on your tips!”

  “No, but at least we can have electricity!”

  Maria opened the door. “Hey, Rock, did you know that the power is…”

  “YES! YES! I CAN SEE THAT IT’S OUT! I KNOW IT’S OUT!” Rocky exploded and slammed down into a chair.

  Maria’s eyes widened and she stepped backward out of the room.

  “What the hell?” Val said. “You had no call to treat her like…”

  “That is MY sister!” Rocky said, “I’ve yelled at her and she at me. Just stay out of it!”

  Val stared at him a long moment. Finally, she shrugged, “Sure, I’ll stay out of it. No problem. I think I’ll just head to work, my shift starts in …oh, I don’t know. Four hours!”

  Rocky hit the wall with the side of his fist. “Damn it! Why the HELL am I so important? Huh? Why would they waste time on me? I’m not famous, not yet!”

  “Alright, look,” Val took a breath and thought for a moment. “All we know is that this is a shit day, alright? We don’t know that maybe the gym owner was confused, or he thought you were a girl and he only needed female trainers.”

  Rocky cocked an eyebrow.

  “Well, I suppose ‘Rocky’ could be a unisex name… don’t you?”

  “This isn’t funny,” Rocky growled. “I am losing kids back to the gangs.”

  “No, it’s not,” Val said, crossing her arms and facing him square. “But it has to tie into that fight the other day. The one where the man died. Have you heard from Murray on that?”

  “No.”

  “I thought he was going to look into it, why some
one like that was scheduled to fight you in the first place.”

  “I guess he just was. I don’t know.”

  “Well, he didn’t contact you yet?”

  “No!” Rocky shot back, “I just said that!”

  “Well, call him!”

  “What the hell good will that do?”

  “It’ll get you talking to someone who’d listen to your shit!” Val spat back at him. “Because that isn’t me! You want me, you come by Jonny’s. He’ll spot you a beer.” Val spun angry on her heel and paused at the door. “And just leave that there!” She yelled, pointing to her hard-won tips from last night. “I will have Maria take it to the power company and get the power back on! You’re too busy fighting at shadows to be useful!”

  Val slammed the door behind her hard enough to rattle the windows.

  Chapter 18

  When the drunk had claimed the lives of her parents, Val had cried. It had been the first time she’d cried since she was eight. Today, she very nearly cried again, she was so mad at Rocky. She took her bike to Jonny’s, the thrumming of the engine was soothing, and even in heavy LA traffic, she could think the better for it.

  She’d been little more than a week. In ten days, she’d gone from a love-struck woman joining her man in LA to an angry waitress who was fighting the bozo she’d come to visit. Plus, her vacation from the waitressing job now included getting a waitressing job.

  The motel was worthy enterprise, the kids were wonderful, and keeping them off of the streets was important. But this was NOT the way she’d wanted to spend her two-week vacation. She’d sacrifice the second job happily, but in the time at home, with Rocky, she wanted to be with Rocky. He didn’t even need to acknowledge her efforts, her getting a job on her vacation. All she’d asked was there he be there with her.

  There were times since she’d arrived where she’d thought she might actually stay. Quit the job in Phoenix, go back long enough for a proper send off from the Gilas, then come back and set up housekeeping with Rocky. That was just a dream, a fantasy that wasn’t able to hold up under the cruel light of morning.

  She parked the bike and shut it down, slipping the lock on the forks. It didn’t help if someone really wanted it, they could conceivably lift the bike into a truck, but it kept people from walking away with it. She found a place to park across from Jonny’s so she could keep an eye on it through her shift.

  She climbed off the bike and trotted across the street to Jonny’s and froze after getting on the sidewalk. Jonny’s had rolling steel shutters to lock the bar during the day. It would be very hard to break the glass and impossible to get inside with the shutters down. Jonny had put them in with riots in mind. They were still down. It was late enough that he should have been there, opening up, getting ready for the night time crowd.

  And the bright yellow ribbon that ran across the length of the building declaring POLICE DO NOT ENTER flapped in the breeze. It wasn’t until she reached the door that the tears caught in her chest and her world shifted under her.

  The inside of the bar was black ash. The proud expanse of gleaming wood where Jonny would stand and polish glasses was small pile of kindling, the tables and chairs were falling in little flakes of ash as the breeze filtered through the destroyed window and patiently tore bits off of them, releasing them all to the wind.

  Even the receiver, the music that never ended in Jonny’s was a melted pile of slag. As she stood there, trying to wrap her mind around what her eyes were telling her, the door opened and a trash bag fell at her feet.

  “Oh, I’m sorry… oh, hey Val!” Jonny said, a sad smile crossing his face. “How are you?”

  “I...” Val blinked. How are you? Like isn’t it a nice day, aren’t the clouds lovely and oh my business is torched? She spread her arms to encompass the bar and looked at him, a thousand questions flashing in her eyes.

  “Yeah,” he said. “Got a call from the fire department early this morning. They told me that the bar was engulfed in flames. I got here just in time to see them soaking everything down.” He reached over and pulled out a stack of fliers for the bar. There was a rivulet of water cascading down from them, running black with the ink that had been washed off.

  “I gotta get another bag,” he said to himself. And waved her inside. “Come on in. The fire department and the police have finished doing whatever it was they needed to do, so you can’t hurt anything.” He looked at the ceiling where the fire had burned holes into the attic. “Not anymore, anyway, there’s nothing left to hurt.”

  Val followed him in and the feeling of despair grew as the wet ash and smoke smell filled her nose and mouth. “What… what happened?”

  “Well, according to the fire department, they think it was arson.”

  “Arson?”

  “Yeah, so officially, I am a suspect.”

  “You? That’s stupid.”

  “Yeah, the cops told me that it was a matter of form, just officially. Unofficially, they didn’t think I did it, but…” He shrugged.

  She already had a pretty good idea who had done it. “Can you… rebuild?”

  “Yeah.” Jonny sighed. “Once I get the insurance settlement. That might take some time though. I called the insurance company and they are going to wait to determine the cause and then there’s paperwork and processing and…” Jonny picked up an empty beer bottle and tossed it aside.

  “Tell the truth,” he said, looking around again, “not sure I want to. I might just take that money and get myself a little place somewhere off the grid.” He shrugged. “Have to see how much it is, I guess.”

  “Jonny,” Val said, laying a hand on his arm, “I am so sorry. I had no idea that anyone would do…” she waved to the ruin of the bar. “I can’t believe it…”

  “Not your fault,” Jonny said. “You’re a great waitress and the boys all love you. If I do reopen, I hope you’ll come back and work here again.”

  “After all this?”

  “Hey, like I said, it’s not your fault. I get my hands on the mustache that torched my place, I’ll carve him a new butt hole, but it isn’t because of you. I’m the one that suggested his car might be safer if it was parked in his ass.”

  “Oh, Jonny…” Val said, and the tears that had threatened all morning came now, mixed with what threatened to become hysterical laughter. “Did you tell them about him? About his threat?”

  “I did.” He looked at her. “They want to ask you some questions. But I didn’t tell them your last name, because I ‘forgot’ it, and your tax records were burned up in the fire, so if you want to avoid them, just keep a low profile for a while.”

  “No, I don’t mind.” Val said thoughtfully. “Should have gone sooner, I think, maybe this…”

  “Nah.” Jonny said, “Can’t second-guess yourself. I should have said something, you should have, your boyfriend, the customers, hell, we all could have done something different from what we did. But we did what we could with what we knew.”

  “I’m not sure I followed all of that.” Val smiled. “But thank you.” She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek.

  “What for?”

  “For not hating me.”

  “Naw,” Jonny said and smiled. “Listen, there’s a bar five blocks from here, Emilio’s. The boys are going there until I rebuild or close up, whatever. Emilio’s isn’t hiring, but you could stop and say hello to the boys. You charmed them, you know.”

  “I’ll do that,” Val said. She turned to go, but something made her stop in her tracks. “It’s none of my business, Jonny, but you always looked so happy here, behind the bar, dealing with crowds, playing ZZ Top till our ears all bled. You’d miss the place.”

  “I already do,” Jonny said and pulled a chunk of molding off of the remains of the cash register and shoved it into the bag.

  Chapter 19

  Diego ran around the pole that still advertised the motel. He whipped past the end of the dumpster and crouched down as low as he could. Three of the other children ran scr
eaming in a version of hide and go seek Rocky didn’t recognize.

  What happens to them? These people are forcing me to fight for them, but they’ll pay. They’ll pay very well. $20 grand would solve so many problems. Really, the only reason I’m holding out is the MMA. I could lose my shot, but… what if I don’t make it? I’m throwing away $20 thousand dollars for the off-chance that I am good enough to make it? And if I’m not?

  At least the power was back on, though Maria hadn’t started talking to him again. Not yet.

  I let her down, too. And this was no way to spend Val’s time out here. I don’t seem to be able to get it right no matter what I do. This is my family, these kids, the adults who help watch them… maybe Val, but not after the way she stormed out of here.

  I’ve been chasing after this dream long enough. It’s one thing when it’s just me, but now… there are all these kids who depend on me. I have to do whatever I have to do for their sake.

  He leaned back against the wall and watched the kids run around the dumpster and Diego jumped out to scream behind them. Angelica shrieked and ran three feet before she realized it was her friend chasing her and she came back swinging.

  Rocky smiled. That a girl. Take no prisoners. He shoved himself upright and walked slowly back to the office and picked up the card. He was still staring at it when he heard the bike. Rocky checked his watch and peered out through the window. Val was back. WAY too early.