THE STRAGGLERS Book 2 OWN

by Misha Anderson

  “Ah! That woman will kill me...”

  I answer the housekeeper and she puts the complete breakfast on the table, worthy of a king, as Maggie leaves the shower, drying her hair, wearing a robe, I pull her to sit on my lap and I start to serve us.

  A little scramble eggs, sausages, pancakes with maple syrup, fruits, cereal and a glass of warm milk, Maggie and I devoured all food.

  Maggie was going to meet some friends and I’m going to do some cardio exercises and weights, tonight is my fight with Travis, El loco, the guy is good, he’s undefeated, I can’t lie around, I have to be in shape and focused, otherwise, I’m gone... It’s the canvas.

  I get to the gym and find Gary excited, he barely says hello to me and is already pushing a series on rope to fuck anyone’s breath.

  Calvin gets there and gives me the fantastic news that the organizers of UFC are willing to reinstate me to the official circuit, Gary and I hug and I’m not embarrassed to shed a few tears. FUCK! At last, I’m back to UFC, now I can get out of clandestine fights and get back doing what I love, which is to fight. In the end, Calvin said Senator Hanks asked my phone number and he gave it to him.

  “I didn’t know you were in touch with Senator Hanks, maybe he wants to talk to propose some kind of sponsorship?”

  Gary hears the name and looks me curiously, I shake my head so he’ll keep his mouth shut in front of Calvin, I don’t want this leach to know my girl is Hanks’ daughter, Calvin is that kind of efficient businessman, mas with so critical sense, if he knew about Maggie’s connection with Mr. Hanks he would soon be asking her favors and I don’t want that in anyway.

  Calvin leaves me with that question on my mind, after all, what Maggie’s father wants with me?

  I leave practice and walk to Central Park, I get a call, unknown number and my suspicions are confirmed when I hear the steady voice on the other side of the line asking:

  “Hunter Vaugh?”

  “Yes, who’s speaking?”

  “Geffrey Hanks, I would really like to talk to you in person, I’m staying over the Hilton Hotel, could you meet me there?”

  My instincts tell me I won’t like this meeting, but I accept it.

  “Okay, when?”

  “Today, eleven fifteen, please, don’t say anything to Maggie, it’s a private subject I want to discuss with you.”

  I confirm my presence and go to the hotel, is still half an hour to my meeting with Senator Hanks, will Maggie get upset when she finds out I meet with her father without saying anything to her?”

  Maggie still hasn’t returned from her date with her friends and maybe is even better this way, I don’t like hiding anything from her, I look into my luggage for something that’s not shorts and training sweaters, at last, I get a presentable pair of jeans, shirt and black leather jacket.

  I get there ten minutes before our meeting and I enter Hilton Hotel restaurant. I recognize the man I saw in Maggie’s house, tall, white, gray hair, I get near and the man stretches out a hand.

  “Geffrey Hanks, Maggie’s father.”

  I shake his hand harder that I would have liked it and also introduce myself.

  “Hunter Vaugh, Maggie’s boyfriend.”

  The man frown at my daring and I sit in front of him, waiting for him to spit it out the reason of this meeting.

  A laughing waitress gets near me looking with admiration and asks what I want, obviously wanting to offer me much more than what’s in the menu. I pretend not to notice and ask for cranberry juice.

  “One cranberry juice, can I bring you something, sir?”

  The man’s lips curl in a ironic smile and tells the waitress:

  “Double whiskey, no ice, don’t you drink, Hunter?”

  He’s wanting to test me, son of a bitch!!! He certainly knows of my problems with alcohol and wants to see me uncomfortable, I decide to sincere, it’s the best to do.

  “No, since I intended to become sober, I don’t drink anymore.”

  “But you used to drink, and a lot, am I right?”

  I sat up straight on the chair, I’m uncomfortable of how this conversation is going.

  “Yes, more than I would like to, but what you wanted to talk to me?”

  “You’re really straight forward, I like this kind of people, then, in respect of your lost time and mine, I’ll be straight forward too. I know of your relationship with Maggie and it doesn’t please me to know my daughter is putting aside a wedding with a genius politician, a promising man, to spend her time with a man like you. What are your intentions, my boy? Support Maggie with the money you get from you cock fights and say that’s a sport, or making her your waitress, sticking my daughter behind the greasy counter of that bar of yours? Forget my daughter, do what’s best for her and for you, let her be happy, don’t you see that Maggie is living with you just out of sexual curiosity with an exotic fellow, my daughter is a winner, Hunter Vaugh, you don’t deserve her.”

  I hold tight my juice glass and it cracks in my hand, I lock my jaw searching for strength that only God knows where not to jump on Maggie’s father’s neck and only let go when I saw him dead. The audacity of him to call me here to humiliate and ask me to stop going out with his daughter? It’s time for me to say a few truths to this arrogant son of a bitch.

  “As you admires objectivity, I’ll be the same way with you, you’re not worried if your daughter is happy or not, you only wants her to get back to that trash that is Fred because of your dirty politics, your disgusting business. I have enough money to not let Maggie lack in anything, and my cock fight, like you said it yourself, gave me enough profit, I just don’t live in ostentation with what I have or don’t have. If Maggie is with me just out of curiosity or out of love, it only matters to us. You should know that what is up to me, I’ll make her Mrs Vaugh, my wife and will have as much children as my Maggie wants, it’s better for you to give up humiliating me, I won’t get out of Maggie’s life like you want.”

  I get up and he grabs my arms, stopping me from leaving.

  “Not even if she finds out the disgusting being you are? The killer animal you become? I was in touch with the Cherokee in your area, Alaska, you’re from there, aren’t you? I never believed those things, to me it’s all foolish native American legends. Until I saw one of you hunting, that repulsive beast transformed in front of me, even if I wanted to think it was a lie, a trick, I know what my eyes saw. You don’t know anything about me, boy, but I know a lot about you, enough to know that my daughter will run miles away from you when she finds out the loathsome and bizarre monster you are. You should be working in a circus, abomination, you’d certainly would get more money than fighting, think about what I said, you’re going to distance yourself from my daughter in the easy to the hard way.”

  I lean on the table and he looks away, probably scared.

  “I don’t know anything about what you’re talking about, but let’s pretend that what you said is true. If you really know these beasts, more than anyone else, Mr Hanks, you should be afraid of me. Because you know what I’m really capable of, specially when I’m threatening you. I think it’s best for you to distance yourself from Maggie, she’s mine and I became really violent to defend what’s mine, good day, Mr Hanks.”

  I leave the restaurant feeling my legs weak, fuck, he knows about the wolves, but how? How does he know? If he’s not one of us, there’s only one way that he could have found out, he must be a hunter... As soon as I get back to Portland, I’m going to look for answers, maybe uncle Quinn knows something about Geffrey Hanks, I get to the hotel and cold sweat covers my body, when I get to the bedroom, Maggie’s waiting for me.

  “Hi, Big Guy, good thing you’re back, I thought we could take a stroll, do you want to walk around a little?”

  I nod quiet and she looks me worried.

  “Is everything alright, did something happen?”

  “No, I’m just a bit tired.”

  She puts her purse down and I shake my head, taking her by the hand.
>
  “Let’s go, we still haven’t had some time just for the two of us, where do you want to go?”

  Maggie is excited, without knowing my reaction.

  “I thought of going to the zoo, there’s been such a long time since I’ve been to one, then we can have a hot dog and a popsicle, I love popsicles.”

  I smile because of my girl’s happiness, I get to the door and signal her to accompany me.

  “Then it will be the way you want, zoo, hot dog, popsicle and we can walk in the park and eat a bag of popcorn, how old are you again, Maggie?”

  She lightly slaps my shoulder and goes to the elevator.

  “It’s indiscreet to ask the age of a lady, but I’ll tell you, I’m five, five little years, there, I said it!!!”

  I enter the elevator with her and pull her for a kiss, all that I wanted was to have some peace with my girl, will this be asking to much? Now this thing with her father, I need to think what I’m going to do, Maggie takes me out of my reverie and says it, seriously:

  “Something happens, why you don’t want to tell me?”

  “It’s nothing, do you know the good news? The UFC organizers invited me to get back to the official fight circle.”

  Maggie gets to the tip of her toes and kisses me ardently, then she smiles really happy, so happy she that I get happy too.

  “That’s perfect, Hunt, everything you wanted.”

  We went to the zoo, passed by the felines, the primates, a huge diversity of bird, the hippos, and Maggie last wanted to see some wolves from Alaska and the arctic. I got near the screen and sadly watched those animals in captivity, Maggie held my arm and looked them sadly.

  “It’s a pity to see a beautiful animal incarcerated, isn’t it? Have I told you I found an Alaskan wolf once? He was wounded by the clinic door and I quickly operated on him, otherwise he would have died. It was beautiful, with its soft fur and black as the night, he ran away from the clinic, it never showed up again, I even got help to look for it with forest rangers, but they said it probably got back to its pack.”

  I don’t answer anything, absolutely nothing... What to say next? My mind whirlpool after my meeting with Maggie’s father, I see it in her eyes her admiration for those animals, but I’m sure that all this is beautiful to her because it’s something distant of her reality, if she knew she dates, sleeps, and makes loves to a hybrid of man and wolf, certainly her romantic air would become disgust. I hug Maggie tight and I hold her face so she’s facing me.

  “Maggie, if I had an ugly side, dark, different from the Hunter you know, would you still love me?”

  Maggie looks me suspiciously and asks with an laughing air:

  “What do you mean, Hunt, why are you asking me that, did you do something wrong, like serial killer, do you eat little children for dinner? What a crazy question?”

  I answer serious, fuck! I’m trying to open up and she’s joking, now is not the time.

  “No, Maggie, I would never do something like that, but I’m saying, if I was different from what I am, would you still love me?”

  “Of course, Hunter, you don’t believe I love you, do you, Big Guy?”

  I nod and she smiles, grabbing my hand and raising it to her chest.

  “You only have to keep taking care of it that I’ll keep loving you, my insecure ogre.”

  We walked embraced and the rest of our stroll we did what my girl wanted, we ate hot dog, popsicle, popcorn, I read a Megan Maxwell novel and Maggie read a suspense book, when we got back to the hotel, all that I wanted was to sleep and forget the horrible conversation I had with Geffrey Hanks.

  Mad Gary adjusts my bandages and my gloves while I listen his orientations, Garcia massages my tense muscles and Frankie spreads vaseline on my face.

  Eagle Central gymnasium is packed, there are no empty spaces, Calvin arrives and lets me know that Maggie is sitting on the first row and that all tickets were sold.

  “We are going to get good money, Sickle. I saw two famous fighters in the audience, that actor from action movies, fuck, I don’t remember the guy’s name now, and two distinguished politician, Senator Hanks and the other guy I have his name on the tip of my tongue, what a shit head of mine.”

  I say the name of the miserable man, knowing that it’s almost impossible for me to be wrong.

  “Frederic Owen.”

  “That’s it, that’s the name of the guy.”

  Fuck!!! It was everything that I needed, it’s not enough having to deal with Maggie’s father, I still have to deal with this Fred, what that son of a bitch came to do here in my fight, is surely to poison Maggie, that made me pissed, really pissed.

  I walk the long corridor to the octagon and I hear the crowd screaming my name, women saying all kind of dirty things and a huge choir of boos, for what I hear we have a huge number of Travis fans here.

  I enter the octagon and minutes later Travis walks towards me, locked jaw and a killer look, but I’m not shaken, what shakes me is the sight of Maggie’s father sitting on the first row and on her other side is miserable Fred.

  I stare at Travis and won’t look away, all that I need now is focus and to put in use everything I’ve practice. Travis’ look is furious and mine too, I had very few things I could really call mine, my parents were taken by death, my sister, some years of sobriety, my honor when I hit bottom rock. But if there’s something I took as mine and I won’t let go, is this sacred place, the octagon, this little shitty space that’s my home and I’m the boss here.

  The fight begins and he gets me with a series of hard punches and a kick on my right flank. I get back up and get him with a left hook, a jab and a blow on his ribs. Travis El Loco bends over in pain, but he gets up again and we keep going like this till the third round.

  The fight is almost in the end, with my peripheral vision I see the exact moment Maggie starts to argue with her father, he grabs her arm and she pulls furiously. Travis take advantage of my distraction and hits me a killer series of blows on my ribs and my eyebrow is open, bleeding.

  I fall on the canvas and look towards Maggie who gets up troubled, desperate, screaming so loud I can hear her even though there are so many people around me.

  “Hunt, get up, you can win, get up for me, FUCKING get up, FUCK, FIGHT BACK!!!”

  A film goes through my head, the first time I made love to Maggie, the day she gave me the heart necklace, the taste of her soft flesh, the mark of her shoulder showing to every unattended male that that female is mine.

  I get up slowly and a beastly rage takes over me, I go to Travis El Loco and without giving him time to breathe I hit him with a series of punches on his flank, one, two, three, hook and his head goes back.

  Travis rest on the canvas, passed out, and when he wakes up, he moans in pain and anger for having lost. I see without believing the referee raising his hand and the announcer declaring me winner by knock out.

  The crowd yells my name, but I only pay attention to one voice, Maggie gets up from her seat again and yells annoyed at her father, I get out of the ropes and go to her, ignoring Gary calling me.

  Maggie looks at Fred and Geffrey and holds her purse, yelling with her finger stretched.

  “Enough, Senator Hanks, you will not tell me who I date or don’t, and you Fred, should have thought about all of that before fucking half of California, what were you thinking, to include me after we got married in your swing parties, share me while you’re fucking your Senators friends, you think I don’t know about your fetiches, you pervert son of a bitch.”

  Irritated Fred responds:

  “Those are all lies from those bitches, see the craziness that you are doing by being with this loser, this guy is only with you because of your inheritance, your land, you idiot.”

  I get near Maggie and put myself in front of her, making fists.

  “I’m not like your sort, you bastard, you’re the one who wants to go back to Maggie because of her assets, but I’ll give you a last warning, stay away from her, or I’ll break bo
th your legs, like they were dry twigs, I’ll make you feel so much, but so much pain, you’re going to beg to die.”

  Geffrey gets in the discussion and threatens me.

  “See what this thug is talking, Maggie, you don’t know this guy, you don’t know what he is capable of doing, get out of my daughter’s life, listen here, boy, I’m going to put you in jail, Geffrey Hanks words.”

  I stared him and Maggie pulled me by my arm, afraid of me attacking her father.

  “Let’s go, Hunt, let these two say what they want.”

  “Did you hear it, freak, I’m going to put you in jail, Hunter.”

  I free myself from Maggie and I go to Hanks, some people get me away from him and I point my finger at him, seeing red in hate.

  “And if you get near Maggie one more time, I’m putting you in a coffin, Senator Hanks.”

  I leave with Maggie holding me my the waist, both of us at the edge of our control, as soon as we leave the arena and go to the locker room, Maggie wraps herself around my neck and climbs my body, devastated and scared.

  I hold her by the waist and she wraps herself on my hips, grasping me, crying with her head on my neck.

  “Forgive me, I know you heard the discussion between my father and me, you almost lost the fight because of me.”

  I caress her back and lower my hand to her ass, slapping her.

  “Shhh, don’t say a think like that, I’m the one asking for forgiveness for having threatened your father.”

  “You don’t have to feel sorry, he needed to hear that.”

  I dry her tears and kiss her soft lips because of the crying, whispering:

  “Let’s get out of here, what matters is that I won and we are together.”

  “Always together, even with the horrible father I have, you promise to never leave me?”

  I bite my lower lip and smile at her, making her smile at me.

  “Hey, pretty girl, don’t cry, you’re my baby, there’s no father or miserable ex-fiancé that will make me stay away from you, I love you, Maggie.”