Dark Horse

by Wilde, Rhea

  “So you’re ordering for me now?” I asked.

  “Hey, I know what’s best for you, baby. You know what I’m saying? I gotta look out for my number one fighter.”

  “You have other fighters?”

  “Well… not exactly. But you’re still number one. And I’m still looking out for you.”

  “One, you don’t have to pretend that you’re looking out for me. You’re in this for the money. That’s fine. And two, I’m not your fighter. I’m not anybody’s fighter. That was just a one-time deal.”

  “One-time deal? You just kicked six dudes’ asses last night and you’re saying it’s only a one-time thing.”

  The rest of the people in the diner turned and looked at Maxwell after he raised his voice. He sheepishly looked down at the cup of coffee that the waitress had brought to him and started pouring packets of sugar into it.

  “I’m not into this,” I said to him. “I’m not interested in fighting any more. I just needed the money to pay my rent.”

  “You needed money to pay the rent? For that little place? Man, you’re struggling worse than I thought.”

  “Look, I don’t care what you think about my place. I’m not a fighter.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “Yes, I’m sure. I just needed the money until I find a real job.”

  “And what if you don’t get a real job?”

  I sighed because I knew that it was a real possibility. But I didn’t want to give Maxwell the satisfaction of knowing that I was hard up for cash.

  “You sure you live by yourself? Who’s that little girl in the picture?”

  “None of your business.”

  “Okay, okay… I’m just trying to be friendly.”

  “I don’t care how friendly you are. I’m not interested in any more fights.”

  The waitress returned with our food. I looked down at the breakfast Maxwell ordered for me as he ravenously wolfed down his hamburger.

  “What are you doing, man?” he said to me. “Go ahead and eat it. You’re gonna need your energy and strength. I’m sure you’re kind of tired after those beatings you handed out last night.”

  “It was that bad, huh?”

  “What? You don’t remember? Man… I don’t remember the last time I’d seen someone fight like that. I don’t think I ever had. Everybody was surprised. I kind of like it though. People are shocked as shit when they’re handing me their money. I don’t know why you don’t want to fight when you’re so good at it.”

  “I get no joy from beating another man. I’m not some thug on the street. I’d prefer not to get my hands dirty. What I did last night, I did because I had to. I didn’t get any excitement from it and I’m not going to cheer for it like all of those people were when they were surrounding me. It’s all pointless violence.”

  “Pointless? Do you know how much money you made last night? If making big dollars doesn’t have a point, then nothing in this world does.”

  “I think you’ve got everything backwards, Maxwell.”

  “No, I don’t, Homicide. I just know how the world works.”

  I sighed as he smiled back at me, his mouth full of food. I silently ate my breakfast with Maxwell. The two of us didn’t say anything to one another. Despite his obvious intentions, I didn’t mind his company. He was completely harmless and there wasn’t any problem in having him around. He was just like Bruno said he was. There wasn’t a drop of alcohol in my blood to influence my thoughts and I could focus solely on the knowledge that I would have a few more days to find a job.

  I was hungrier than I thought. I finished my food quickly. The waitress returned and placed the check down on the table. I reached out for it when suddenly Maxwell pulled it from me.

  “It’s okay,” he said. “I take care of my fighters.”

  “I said I’m not your fighter.”

  He took his hand away from the check. I reached over for it when he held his hand out and stopped me.

  “All right, listen,” he said. “I know that you’ve made up your mind. You’re not cool with getting into this business. All I’m saying is this. You did it before. You can do it again. It ain’t the greatest thing in the world. I’ve knocked a guy out before. Hell, I’ve been knocked out myself. It’s the worst feeling in the world if you can remember it. But sometimes you’ve got to make a few sacrifices. You’ve got to get your hands dirty.

  “That money on your table. That’s chump change. I know that it isn’t going to last you for very long. So what? You find some job and you live paycheck to paycheck, paying bills and hoping that nothing goes wrong. I can get you the big fights. I can get you the big dollars. I can change your life. All you have to do is let me work with you. You don’t have to trust me but you do have to listen to me. What do you say?”

  I listened to Maxwell’s spiel in silence. For the first time since I’d first fought for him, he wasn’t smiling at me. It almost sounded like he was being completely honest with me. The allure of money was always there. But I couldn’t in good conscience accept it because of what I was doing.

  “This isn’t just for you,” he said. “This is for everybody else, too. Anybody you want.”

  I didn’t appreciate him bringing up Elsa. But he was right. This wasn’t about me. This was never about me. If I could somehow get enough money to clean myself up so that Nina would let me see her, then this would be all worth it. It made the choice that much easier.

  “Okay,” I said. “I’m not doing this for chump change. I get in and get enough money to live comfortably and leave when I want.”

  “Hey, baby! That’s all I wanted. When we’re through, you’re going to wonder why you didn’t start doing this in the first place.”

  He held his hand out for me to shake it.

  “We got a deal? Yeah? Yeah?”

  I sighed and rolled my eyes as I shook his hand. The smile returned to his face. He then took out a wad of bills and placed it on top of the check.

  “Maxwell takes care of his fighters,” he said. “Just you wait and see, Homicide. I’m taking you places you’ve never even dreamed of.”

  I sighed again as Maxwell continued to amused by himself. I was beginning to wonder if I’d made the right decision.

  Chapter 7 - Henry

  “Ooh, man! If you keep going like this, you’re gonna be a rich man, Homicide! Real rich!”

  I sat in the cab next to Maxwell as he counted our money. We had traveled all over the city looking for fights. Maxwell had a reputation with every booker in town. True to his word, he managed to find more people to bet against me. Maxwell was now enjoying the fruits of my labor. I, on the other hand, wasn’t doing too well.

  I balled my fist and looked down at my knuckles. They were bruised and swollen. I inhaled sharply as I flexed my hand to try and make the pain go away. Maxwell turned his attention away from the money for a moment and looked down at my hand.

  “You all right, Homicide?”

  “Yeah… I’m fine. It’s just a little sore.”

  “Yeah, I’ll bet. That last dude caught a bad one. Right on the jaw. That’s a dangerous right hand you got there.”

  “Maybe I should start throwing my left more often.”

  “If your hands hurt, maybe you should throw some elbows. How about more of those kicks? Some of that ninja shit you were doing last time.”

  “I take what opportunities are there.”

  “Hey, you’re the one kicking these dudes’ asses. Fight how you want, man.”

  Maxwell started to cackle then went back to counting his money. I looked out of the window of the cab and watched the city slowly start to become dark. We traveled up and down the city for hours. Night had arrived. I had made a good amount of money but we weren’t done yet.

  “Where are we going now?” I asked.

  “I think you got what it takes, Homicide. No, I really do. So I’m going to take you to an old friend of mine.”

  “Who is this old friend?”

 
; “You’ll see. But it’s time we made some real money, don’t you think?”

  “Yeah…”

  I watched as the cab rolled deeper into the city. We moved out of the slums. The dilapidated buildings were replaced with massive skyscrapers. The architecture was the only thing that looked different. Despite the extravagant facade, there were still people walking and living in the streets. Anybody who had any money was obviously living inside of one these luxurious buildings.

  “You have friends in high places,” I said.

  “I wouldn’t call them friends. They only give me the time of day when they know that I’ve got a capable fighter.”

  “So that’s it, huh? I’m your ticket into high society?”

  “No. You’re our ticket into high society.”

  Maxwell wrapped his arm around me and started to laugh. I rolled my eyes and sighed as the cab came to a stop at one of the tallest buildings in the city. I stepped out of the taxi and looked up at the tower in front of me.

  “Zara,” I said as I read the sign that cascaded down the side of the building.

  “That’s right. This is Zara Tower. The most prominent building in the city. Only the finest do business here.”

  “If you say so…”

  I followed Maxwell into the building. As soon as we stepped inside, security started to harass us. We walked through several metal detectors and were patted down over and over. Security didn’t have any reason to question us other than the fact that we were dressed like two men who didn’t belong in a building like this. Maxwell was wearing his cheap imitation-leather jacket while I was in nothing but a t-shirt and jeans. Everybody else I could see in the lobby of the building was dressed in nothing less than a suit and tie. The women were parading around in expensive dresses. All of them had an air about them that made them seem like they were better than an ordinary person.

  “Are you sure we’re in the right place?” I whispered to Maxwell.

  “Yeah, yeah. Just relax, baby. I’ll take care of it.”

  When we finally got past security, I walked behind Maxwell as he made his way through the people like he didn’t care. Even though he stuck out like a sore thumb, he didn’t mind that everybody was looking at him. He grabbed a glass of champagne from one of the waiters and walked over to the elevator, which was guarded by two security guards.

  “I’m here to see Ms. Zara,” he said.

  “And do you have an appointment?” one of the imposing security guards asked him.

  “Appointment? Just tell her it’s Maxwell.”

  “You can’t see her without an appointment. She’s busy at the moment—”

  “Listen, I know she’s busy. Probably watching two dudes beat the shit of each other. But see this guy right here? He’s gonna whip both of their asses.”

  Maxwell took a step back and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. He patted me on the chest. The two security guards stared at him for a moment before one of them pressed on his earpiece.

  “Octavio, there’s some guy named Maxwell here to see Ms. Zara. Do you want me to get rid of him?”

  There was a brief pause before the security guard responded.

  “Okay, sir,” he said as he turned to Maxwell. “Octavio, will be here to see you shortly. If you’ll just wait…”

  Maxwell eyeballed the guard as he took a few steps away from him. We stood there and waited a few feet away from the elevator.

  “Who’s Octavio?” I whispered to him.

  “Octavio’s Ms. Zara’s personal man servant,” he said. “Poor guy is a slave to the woman. But she’s got a lot of money, so you can’t really blame him. Better than living out on the streets. Who wouldn’t want to live in this kind of luxury? I would. Even if it meant being on my hands and knees and letting the girl sit on top of you.”

  “Zara… She owns this building?”

  “And a whole lot more. Lanea Zara’s got more money than you can count, my man. And now that we’re here, we’re going to start making some big bucks. Just make sure you follow my lead. We’ll get you a fight and all of this stuff we’ve been making will look like scraps.”

  “Why didn’t you just take me here in the first place?”

  “I had to see if you were the real deal.”

  He chuckled at me then slapped me playfully across the chest. I sighed then looked around at all of the fancy people staring back at us. As we waited, Maxwell continued to take advantage of all of the food and alcohol that was being served by the waiters.

  “What is this?” I asked. “Is this some sort of party?”

  “Party. Get-together. People hanging out in the lobby. Ms. Zara’s got more money than she knows what to do with. And besides, she makes money off of all of these people.”

  “What exactly does Ms. Zara do?”

  “You’ll see when you meet her.”

  The elevator opened up and a man stepped through the door. He was an oafish-looking man who seemed out of place in a suit and tie. His hair seemed unkempt and when he took a step closer to me, I could see the scars on his face.

  “What is this about, Maxwell?” he asked.

  “I’m here to see Lanea,” Maxwell replied. “I’ve got a new fighter for her.”

  Octavio turned and looked me up and down.

  “He doesn’t look like much,” he said to Maxwell. “Are you sure you’re not wasting your time?”

  “Look, Homicide over here has been fighting for the past few days. There isn’t a single scratch on him. He’ll beat whatever fighter you’ve got in the pit right now.”

  Octavio looked me up and down and sighed.

  “Follow me,” he said.

  “Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about,” Maxwell said excitedly.

  We followed Octavio into the elevator. It descended down past the bottom floor. I wanted to question where exactly we were going but decided better of it. When the elevator opened up, I felt an uneasiness I hadn’t felt in a long time.

  We were greeted by more security guards. There was nothing but darkness. I could hear the sound of cheering and shouting coming through the walls. I stepped out of the elevator and there were paths lit up by lights sitting upon the walls. I walked forward and followed Octavio through the darkness until I finally saw where the sound was coming from.

  Just like the people I had seen in the lobby, there were dozens of men and women dressed in fancy outfits. They were all leaning against a railing and looking down into a pit. When I got closer, I could see two men fighting with one another. One of them was a clean-cut man dressed in nothing but a pair of slacks and jeans. The other was big and burly, hair covering his entire body. While they danced around with each other in a ballet of violence, the audience cheered and chanted along with one another. I had been among crowds before but nothing had prepared me for this spectacle.

  “Welcome to The Pit,” Maxwell whispered into my ear.

  The elaborate structure of the arena was distracting. The men down below us didn’t even look human anymore. They were like dogs fighting for the amusement of their masters. I noticed the trail of stairs at the side that led straight up toward a woman sitting in her chair. It wasn’t really a chair though. It was more like a throne. From across the room, I could see the intense stare in her eyes as she observed the fight. She sat there with her legs crossed and her arms resting at her sides. She was focused with an almost lustful gaze.

  I followed Octavio and Maxwell toward her as the crowd cheered with every punch being thrown. The large man went crashing to the floor and the crowd erupted. The other man celebrated his victory by holding both of his hands into the air in triumph. We ended up standing right next to the woman and I finally got a better look at her.

  Her blonde hair was up over her head like a crown. The eyeliner on her face almost made it look like she was wearing a mask. She wore a red dress that was tight against her figure, so short that you could see most of her thighs.

  She stood up and clapped politely for the fighter that stood vict
orious before her. Then she turned her attention to Octavio as he walked up to her.

  “Ms. Zara, Maxwell is here to see you,” Octavio said to her.

  “Maxwell,” she said. “It’s been a long time.”

  “Yeah, it’s been awhile, Lanea.”

  The two of them stood awkwardly in front of one another. It was clear that they were familiar with each other but I couldn’t infer what it was exactly. Maxwell finally broke the awkward silence.

  “Check this out, Lanea,” he said. “I got a new fighter for you. Come here, man.”

  He turned toward me and grabbed my arm. I stumbled forward and suddenly found myself standing in front of her. She looked me up and down with her green eyes. There was a smile beginning to creep onto her face from the corner of her mouth.

  “Well,” she said to Maxwell, her eyes still locked upon me. “This is certainly interesting. He doesn’t exactly look like a fighter. He’s too attractive for that.”

  She put her gloved hand up to my face and tried to touch it. I pulled my head away from her and I saw the look of shock on her face.

  “What’s your name, sweetheart?” she asked me.

  I didn’t say anything. I just looked back at her, waiting for the moment to end. I didn’t know what it was exactly. I just didn’t feel comfortable standing next to her. There was something about her. Her demeanor belied a nature that was much more sinister. Despite her attractiveness, I knew that she didn’t have the best of intentions for me or Maxwell.

  “His name’s Homicide,” Maxwell said to her.

  “Homicide?” she exclaimed. “That’s ill-fitting for a man such as yourself. You can do better than that.”

  “Henry,” I said finally. “My name’s Henry.”

  “Henry,” she muttered. “Simple. Plain. But it’s better than Homicide.”

  She looked over at Maxwell and winked at him. He shrugged his shoulders and took a step back. Lanea turned her attention back to me and tilted her head back just a bit so she was looking down her nose at me.

  “So you’re a fighter, Henry?” she asked me. “You think you have what it takes to compete here.”

  I didn’t say anything. Maxwell was doing all of the talking for me.