The Heart of Tony Winters

by P. S. Power

  Tony nodded then.

  “See how you are? Setting me up like that. Not that I’ll say no, or would have anyway, but talk about pressure to do a good job.” It was probably mean to say it that way.

  Sandy smiled.

  “Well, I deserve the best you can do. So, fruit you say? I like fruit.”

  That had to wait for the rest of the food to be done, then prepared, but they chattered for a while, the topic changing to things that were a bit less personal for both of them. Mainly the Fox Rends issue.

  After a bit, the cut up pear slices fanned out on two small white plates in front of them, Tony nodded.

  “Missy Holms is coming in tomorrow because of Fox. Being… You know about that?” She worked for a sports network, for the time being, but that didn’t mean she was a big fight fan or anything.

  Still, she nodded.

  “Where she was beaten so badly? I’d heard about that at the time. Earlier today, too. A lot of people are wondering if this thing now is related to that? A steroid thing. Why would she be coming here though? Training with your uncle? Or… Um… Raul Sousa? He did the training for Ashley Lancaster, right? Jennifer Bard, too, I think? I’ve been reading up on things, so…” She stopped, then gave him a charming look. “Really it was so I’d seem like I wasn’t an idiot in front of you. I was made much fun of for not knowing how old you were earlier. Apparently half the country knows that off the top of their heads right now.”

  Her smile was incredible to look at in the dim light. Enough to get him to do it back for a bit, getting lost in her eyes.

  “Oh, right… I’m supposed to talk out loud, aren’t I? Anyway, Missy is coming to work with me. I do this thing… Steve talked about it earlier? Where I dress up like Rends and do that little dance? I can sort of fake fighting in her style, too. You should come and watch. If Missy is good with that, I mean. After all, she’s pretty much coming to kick my behind until she feels good about life again. I guess it’s been a bit hard for her? Hopefully this will help.”

  The girl nodded then, knowingly.

  “So you like to cross-dress? Kinky.”

  Tony just laughed, then nodded. It wasn’t really his thing, but you either played back or looked guilty in situations like that.

  “Yep. I’m at least two-times as sexy as Fox in my girl clothes. I have a wig, too. Not that it will stay on the whole time. Really, if it will help her out, then I’ll do it. You know?”

  The funny thing there was that he was nearly certain that Sandy, out of everyone he knew, really did get the idea. The organ donor thing wasn’t too dissimilar. Of course, she’d have to die in order to do that one, where all he had to do was sacrifice a few bruises and some dignity to help out. That part wasn’t really the same thing at all.

  When the food was done, he cleared the table, then put the candles out. It left her in the dark for a few seconds, but she spoke then.

  “Leave the lights off? We can… Move to the living room? Is that…” She didn’t go on. Silence filled the room then.

  “All right. That could be fun.”

  It was. Not that they did a lot. There was more talking, some kissing and a bit of adventurous touching on her part that she assured him probably wouldn’t kill her. He was careful to go slowly and make sure that she was comfortable the whole time in what he did. After all, she was the important one there that night.

  Then, at about nine, she kissed him gently.

  “Thanks for the dinner. The other things, too. So, I just kind of show up tomorrow to see the show? Then stalk you for two days until we go back home? I’m not sure how I’m supposed to do all of this.”

  Tony smiled at her, then kissed her back.

  “I’ll call you? Before we do the thing tomorrow. Leave dinner open. Six again? Dressy though, since we’re going someplace nice.”

  That got her to laugh and gesture at what she was wearing.

  “Not too nice. I have this and jeans. I wore this already, so I’m thinking something like Burger World, if you hear what I’m saying?”

  He nodded, never having heard of that place at all, if it was real.

  “Okay. But the good Burger World. The one with the colorful slides and video games?”

  It got a laugh, but also a nod.

  “All right. Sounds like a plan then. Really anything will do. I’m easy, food wise.” She stood up walking to the door, which meant he followed her outside, getting another kiss before she got in her car, a large, blocky gold colored sedan and drove away.

  The whole thing was a bit sad, really. Not that he was getting a date, just that Sandy deserved more of a life than she was getting. Then, she’d lasted for two years so far. She’d had the condition her whole life, so she could possibly live for another twenty years, if all went well. That had been in what she was saying, he thought. It could also happen the next day on their date. Which wasn’t going to happen, but could.

  That was kind of her point, he guessed. Not that she was really going to die at any particular moment or anything like that. Just that she felt like she needed to live right then. All the time, doing what she loved, or at least trying new things. There was a lesson in that, he knew.

  Working quickly, he cleaned the kitchen and the dining room, then got himself ready for bed before Rick and Jen walked back through the door. Both of them smiled at him questioningly, without stopping to ask how things had gone. Finally, Jen broke down.

  “So? Hmmm? Tell us!” She seemed half crazed, which was an act. It wasn’t like she wanted all the gory details for real.

  He played it cool enough for the room.

  “She’s really nice. Not going to be in town for long, so we’re going out for dinner tomorrow. Oh, also, I invited her to come and watch Missy beat the crud out of me. If Missy is good with that, I mean. I’m planning the whole show though, so she might as well know that I’m a goofball, don’t you think?”

  That got a funny look from Rick and a big nod from Jenny.

  “Yeah, that could work. You already have the tough guy creds. Letting her see you as a good helpful person too should about seal the deal.” She stopped then, realizing what she’d just said. “Um… For dating? Not…”

  Rick made a face, which was him fighting a smile, Tony thought, rather than being disgusted with his nephew’s choice in companions. Then he left the room, at a quick walk. From the smothered laughter he wanted to get away before doing that. Really, it was nice of him to try. The situation was probably hilarious to him. It should have been to Jen as well, at a guess.

  Tony smiled at his uncle’s girlfriend.

  “I know what you mean. She’s nice. We probably won’t get that involved. She’s leaving in a few days… There’s some other stuff, too. Reasons not to get involved. The main one is the distance thing. That never works out in the end.”

  At least he’d never seen it work. Then, Rick and Jen were the only couple that he’d ever known to stay together longer than a few months. Deidre normally lasted about three weeks or so in her relationships. Then she’d sleep with another guy or six, ruining what she’d started to build. Probably on purpose. In the main, that hadn’t been a bad thing for her. After all, getting involved long term with drug dealers and gang members wasn’t the best of ideas. For some reason she tended to kind of like her men a little rough around the edges.

  It had meant that Anthony had never had a stable situation before moving there, however. Almost as if to prove that, he said his goodnights, then moved off to bed. Thinking about Sandy for a bit, then going over everything he knew about fighting. Drilling on it in his head, over and over again. That was just what he did every night. If it helped, he didn’t know. Probably. He was kind of certain that when he blacked out during fights he was replaying the skills that he was practicing each day like that. Not that it was really going dark or anything. He didn’t recall it later, like when he got too involved in a book, sort of. People could talk to him then and he wouldn’t really hear them doing it. Not until they start
ed yelling at him for ignoring them. It was really just that his mind was someplace else while he worked.

  The thing with Sandy did come back to him as he drifted off, several times. He’d known people that had died, a few times even. Mainly at a remove from him. People met in passing that didn’t make it. Once he’d found his mother’s boyfriend dead in the bathroom even. Death wasn’t exactly a stranger in his life, so he was ready for parts of that. The big difference in this case was that he actually liked Sandy. It wasn’t love, thank goodness. He was smart enough not to let himself feel that, given everything. It would be hard enough to lose her as it was.

  Still, being there for her was the right thing to do. Even Anthony knew that one. It was a bit odd, since that part of him wanted to protect himself by pulling back. After all, when people died it hurt. Even if you didn’t really like them it could.

  Tony though, thinking about what was best all the time, knew something different. That each moment was precious. That being there for her wasn’t just the right thing to do for her, but for him as well. It would lead to sadness. Almost certainly. That was just a thing. Making sure that she had a chance to live, if he could do that part of things, well, it was important.

  Everyone deserved a life after all.

  No matter how short it was.

  Thinking about that, he went to sleep. There were dreams, of course. Just about kissing Sandy, not anything bad. She didn’t even die in them. It probably meant he was a bit starved for physical attention. It let him get up early though, so he was ready to run at seven, bundled up in the cool morning air, dressed all in gray. Two pairs of gym sweats and doubled socks. He also had a stocking cap on that Jen had lent him. It was bright blue. Not girly at all, either.

  At seven sharp Mark showed up, with Riley no more than a minute behind him. Both had driven in, but that was fine. They were there to work. No one else came that early, probably due to the cold.

  He nodded.

  “Let’s go fast? It’s a bit chilly out today.”

  For once neither man complained at him for wanting to do that. It was a hard run, the cold sapping their will to go on, even as they all pushed until they were pouring sweat off of them. He led then through it, but the other guys kept up, more or less. There was no singing about how evil he was from them. That had happened a few times before from these two in particular. Now they just did the work, being serious about it the whole time. At nearly nine they were finally done. It had been a decently long run after all. More than they really needed for fight training. Traditionally at least.

  Then both men had to get inside to train. Tony did a bit that way, working the heavy bag, jumping rope and doing core work on his middle and back. It took until it was nearly time for him to go make lunch. Which wasn’t needed at all, since Denny was already doing it when he got there.

  “Fine. I’ll go shower then.” Tony was happy enough about that, but Denny rolled his eyes.

  “You don’t really get what taking a break means, do you, Tony? Take tomorrow off. No running. No exercise. Except for sparring, I mean. Clearly because I’m a bad influence. I hear that Missy Holms is coming in? That’s different. Do you need the fog machine for that?”

  “I do. Some cute Fox Rends clothes, too. Plus, a crowd, so we can simulate the fight… Which I need to run and set up, I think.” He’d seen the original fight on vid, but that didn’t mean he shouldn’t go over it again first.

  After he showered. It meant invading Rick’s office, but interestingly, when they went to lunch there was an extra body sitting at the table. She wasn’t exactly pretty, being a bit hard looking through the face. Glaring at the world around her, including Ashley, who clearly thought it was funny. Then, they were in the same weight class, so that kind of made sense. Plus, Ash had kicked Fox’s, butt twice.

  Missy had been sent to the hospital. It was kind of telling, as to who had the upper hand fighting wise at the moment.

  When she saw Tony, Missy lit up.

  “There he is! I was told that you were going to help me get my mojo back? Not how though…” She seemed to be ready for anything.

  So he nodded.

  “You know, hypnotherapy. Reenactment, that kind of thing? Mainly by dressing up as Fox and forcing you to fight her until you feel nothing inside about it anymore. You brought work out clothing?” Otherwise they were going to have to buy her some.

  She grinned then.

  “Yeah? I… Sure? Nothing else has really been working. If I can’t pull this out now, I pretty much have to give up my career. So I’ll do anything you want.”

  No one even laughed at the words, except for her. She got that a teen boy might want interesting bedroom stuff and that it was funny to claim that for herself.

  That no one else was doing it was about something else. Ashley caught Missy’s eye about then, looking serious.

  “This will work. Trust in the system. In Tony, too.”

  For some odd reason, the dark haired female fighter, the new one, just nodded back. Once.

  “I already do. If not, I wouldn’t be here.”

  That made sense, even if it added a bit of pressure to the whole thing.

  Chapter six

  Missy might have been new there, but she knew gyms well enough to not need her hand held the whole time. That meant Tony had several hours to get himself ready for the event at three. Dani agreed to help him with the makeup for it. Fox didn’t fight that way, of course. It was just that he needed to do some work to sell the whole thing really well.

  It meant getting dark eyeliner, foundation, lip color and other things. As well as a wig and a stuffed sports bra. Not that he over did it. In fact they worked really hard to make it match what Fox had looked like the night of the big fight with Missy. Jen even went out and bought him a new outfit for it without being asked. They were girl style fighting clothes. The colors matched what Fox had on however. Bright blue trunks with a matching top.

  The music and fog machine were important, as well. The crowd too. The room was packed, including a camera set up on a small stage. One with Sandy right next to it. They used the MMA cage for it, so it was a decent approximation of that fight night.

  Rick was working with Missy, since that was kind of needed. His job was to give her a pep talk and get her head into the game. Like it was a real fight. He knew what to do, so it should work, even if he wasn’t her normal corner person. Denny was second for that one.

  On the Rends side, they had Raul, dressed up as a heavyset man, a pillow under his white shirt, his brown hair streaked with gray. It wasn’t done as a joke even, but rather with clear intent to mimic the actual man who had been there that night. Nick was behind him, looking like himself, but also in a white polo shirt.

  Missy got to go in first, since that was what had happened. She got applause and some hooting, which had her playing to the crowd, her gloves going over her head, mouth distorted by her black mouth guard. She froze a bit, when Tony came out.

  The lights dimmed, the music thundered and fog rolled into the room. Fox jogged out, stopping halfway to the cage, doing a little dance. It was, he hoped, exactly like what she really had done. Perfectly. Right down to the facial expression. The makeup was wrong, since even Fox didn’t decorate her face for the matches. Just everything else. Every television appearance, interview and probably even her dates, if she did that kind of thing.

  Which would mean that Tony would seem more like Fox by doing that than if he’d gone out looking like himself. He even ducked through the door into the cage the same way that Fox had done, bouncing a few times, then punching the air. Exactly five times.

  Across from him, a wide eyed Missy Holms seemed about ready to freak out. Which was fine. As long as she did it by pummeling him. Not that he wasn’t going to fight back. It was just designed to happen in a way that she could beat. If she really wanted it.

  When the match was started, it went well. Robert, one of the fighters there who worked in the afternoons most days, was dressed
up as the actual official from the fight. It required purple latex gloves, a black and white shirt and black slacks. Tony hadn’t set it up, but he really did look almost like the same person. Rob was in much better shape, but other than that, it was nearly like he actually was the man from the match.

  “Let’s get it on!”

  A purple hand was waved between then, allowing things to begin. Tony wasn’t nice after that. Moving in on Missy just like Fox had. Aggressively, if not with vast amounts of skill. That part was hard, since when Missy responded, he had to keep things down to what Rends would actually do. He was better than that now. Enough so that it was tempting to cheat a bit, in order to win. That wasn’t allowed of course. Not being the point of the day. Hopefully he’d be losing, if at all possible.

  Through the first round he went after her hard, if not actually hitting her full out. They were sparring after all. That didn’t mean he wasn’t intense however. The blows matched the fight as exactly as he could force into being. It meant that Missy fell into reenacting it pretty exactly. Not perfectly, which was fine, since the goal wasn’t to redo the thing that way. Missy was supposed to win, after all.

  In the third round, when Fox had gotten on top of Missy and battered her into a broken jaw, knocking her out, he did the first bit as well. The woman under him started to panic, struggling hard as he tapped her in the face. Right until Rick yelled at her.

  “Sweep her! Do it, she’s off balance!”

  That was true. Fox had been, so Tony made sure that he’d done that part as well. It still took a bit and he had to hit her several more times, but it happened, with her ending up on top. Not that Tony let her have the win then. No, she wasn’t going to leave with a broken jaw, but she needed to go over the whole thing. All the way to the win.