The Heart of Tony Winters

by P. S. Power

  What had taken Tony a while was understanding that they’d all thought he was just there to make fun of them at first. A real high level BJJ player who had been brought in to make them look bad by putting on a lower level belt. Which could be funny, but wasn’t the case.

  Rick had to make some calls, but didn’t kick Tony out of the office at all. Anthony turned the sound all the way down as soon as the phone was picked up. After all, he didn’t need the noise to be able to see the techniques being used. What was being spoken about was blocked out, until he heard his own name.

  Rick was looking at him as he turned around.

  “Right. You’re staying the night? Coming in on Wednesday? That works. Thanks dad. I know that Tony is looking forward to meeting you. Talk to you soon.”

  He blinked, since that wasn’t about work, unless his grandfather had given up being an insurance executive in order to take up fighting. Which was possible, but not likely since the man was probably in his sixties or so. It took him a moment to realize that there was that holiday coming.

  Thanksgiving.

  He nodded as the phone was hung up.

  “I need to look up that one. Thanksgiving. I’ve never done it before. I don’t know the songs or anything.” Really, he barely knew any of the Christmas ones either. Those had been learned in school, so were the non-religious tunes. That reminded him to get with Reverend Keene from the church down the street, since they might be doing something with that. What, he honestly didn’t know.

  His uncle smiled at him, his eyes going wide.

  “There are none. Not really. Songs for Thanksgiving. We mainly just get together and eat. Watch football. It would make sense to learn the rules for that first. That way it will seem a bit less like we’ve been keeping you prisoner and forcing you to fight without end. You’re cooking, right?” For some reason it was playful, but he kind of could now, he thought.

  “Sure? I’ll, let me look that up? Maybe practice first.” That would be needed if the food was complicated at all. Thankfully they had the internet, there at the gym.

  Rick nodded though, not telling him it was all a joke.

  “I need to go now. We have a call in a few minutes.” Rick stood, with the taller man looking surprised when Tony followed him.

  He nodded as they walked down the hallway, explaining.

  “Ashley asked me to sit in. I don’t know why. I presume it’s about holding your hand so you don’t feel too scared?” Or, just possibly, hers. Not that they were that close. It was likely that she had something else in mind.

  It was, it seemed, that one. The whole thing was run like an actual court case. They weren’t the only people involved either. The Rends team was there, along with Fox. She, apparently, was there in person.

  The woman running the whole thing sounded like she was ready to hit someone the whole time.

  “All right, everyone is here then. So, we have the tape here, which means that this is pretty straight forward. This kind of thing needs to be prevented in the future. Ms. Rends, can you explain why you showed such poor sportsmanship?”

  It was kind of a hard thing for her to answer. From the whispering she was talking to her lawyer before speaking. Instead of blaming the steroids, she just spoke after about half a minute.

  “I was upset. At the loss. It was my fault. The whole thing was really. I want to apologize to all of you. Everyone that was there. Especially Ashley Lancaster. I… Kind of ruined her win. That was awful of me. No one else should be in trouble for this. Just me.”

  That was a bit different than what Anthony would have expected her to say that day. Not that it would really get anyone else off the hook. He didn’t think it would anyway.

  The mean woman softened a bit then.

  “So, you’re taking full responsibility for the fight?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I lost it. I shouldn’t have… It sparked things into motion, so everyone kind of had to react then. Thankfully people mainly kept their heads.”

  There was some discussion then, with the hard woman that was running thing and what sounded like two men near her. It was difficult to understand all of it.

  Then the upset lady went again.

  “Fine. Jennifer Bard… You were the main combatant. Most of the rest of this we can set aside as minor, but you physically attacked people. Past the first rush, that doesn’t seem needed…”

  That was probably true. Jen winced, but nodded.

  “I know. At the time, I was a bit overwhelmed. It wasn’t an expected thing, so I reacted, instead of taking time to think. I really didn’t feel like I had that kind of space. In hindsight I can see that I should have done better.”

  It wasn’t taking full responsibility for it like Fox had just done, but did fit with what Tony would have expected from the woman, if he’d thought about it. After a few moments, there was some discussion from the panel, which didn’t take long at all.

  Brittle lady went again, her voice a bit more sharp this time. Like she kind of hated what she was doing.

  “I’ll short hand this. Fox Rends, you have one hundred hours of community service. You have three months to finish that. It must meet our board standards. Do you understand this?”

  “Yes, I do. Ma’am.”

  “All right. Jennifer Bard, you have sixty hours of community service. That must be done inside three months of this ruling. Everyone else involved has an official warning. Let’s not see this kind of thing again? It makes us all look bad. If there are no further questions, then this case is adjourned.” There was a long pause, then a thump, which was probably a gavel hitting a block of wood. Like on a television program.

  When the phone was safely hung up, Jen sighed.

  “Well, that’s less than I figured would happen. By a good bit, to be honest. I’m surprised there were no suspensions.” She looked at the rest of the room, but for some reason settled on Anthony.

  As if he were the one that had the information as to why it was all going on.

  He shrugged.

  “They know that Fox is going to be kicked out totally. Possibly that some of them will be under investigation, too. So punishing Fox too much would be useless and going after anyone else would seem like they were trying to punish you all for them being in trouble. They probably aren’t, that much, since these people aren’t the ones that control the drug tests directly, I bet. That’s the USADA, right? So a different group totally. It was probably that they didn’t want to look like jerks.” It was still sixty hours for Jen.

  She just stood up, nodding.

  “That works in our favor, this time. It was still stupid of me. I should have just protected my fighter and gotten us out of there. I’m lucky I didn’t break my hands up.”

  It took him a bit to understand that she wasn’t just taking responsibility because it was the right thing to do. That too, but she kept looking at him directly, as if sending a message along to him. About how fighting like that was a bad plan. He didn’t go over how he’d avoided it at the time. That wasn’t what her point was. She was, more or less, trying to make sure that he was raised correctly. It was probably too late for that, but he gave her a quick hug anyway.

  Then he thought for a moment.

  “We need to find you someplace to do that community service. You should get it done as soon as possible. Maybe a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving?” That would probably mean he’d have to make the whole meal himself, but that wasn’t impossible, he didn’t think.

  Jenny just rolled her eyes at him.

  “I already have something lined up. And no, it won’t get me out of the holidays. You’ll just have to suffer through that part with me. My family is coming, which will be a treat for us all, I’m sure.”

  Turning on a dime, if only conversationally, he nodded and pointed at Raul.

  “Okay. Um, favorite colors? We need to start on Nick and Raul’s wedding. We’re streaming that, if I can work out how to do it. Maybe getting it on television, so we need to do it well. I also ne
ed to look up the holiday stuff. We’re holding a planning session on the trip up to Lexi’s fight. Can we get the bus for that?” It might cost too much. In that case they’d all be crammed into the van. It could work as well, but would be tighter.

  Rick just nodded.

  “We can. I’ll set that part up. Who’s all going?”

  They seemed shocked when he added in Steve to the mix. Jenny just seeming puzzled.

  “So that he can… Work on the television side of things?”

  Denny, who hadn’t said much, except his name when it was his turn during the trial thing, snorted.

  “Um, Lex is his girlfriend? They’ve been dating for over a month now. You seriously missed that? I guess I can see it. They’re both pretty serious at the gym. That makes sense. I don’t think he’ll be a distraction to her. It isn’t like the guy doesn’t know what’s needed.”

  Which was just true.

  Rick wrote down the names, nodded a bit, then wrote down a few more.

  “Got it. Let me see if I can get Patrick for that. Anything else?” He glanced at the rest of them, but went on when no one said anything, looking at Raul. “You have those colors? I don’t know anything about planning this kind of thing, but even I can see that’s going to be pretty basic. For the flowers and decorations, right? Black suits. Anything else will look kind of gay.” He stopped for a bit, fighting a smile.

  After all, it was a gay wedding. Still, Raul nodded.

  “Dark blue and deep green? Accented with cream? So it will not be too dark. Tony insisted on that part.”

  It was spoken like a joke, as if he wasn’t going to actually make certain that was included. It would be too somber otherwise. Ashley started nodding, her face finally in a smile again. Like she was honestly happy.

  “I can get some color swatches for that? I can bring them on the bus… Or, am I not going?” There was no real reason for her to, but Rick tapped the paper in front of him twice.

  Then looked at the rest of them.

  “You’re on the planning crew, as far as I know. Unless Nick or Raul don’t want you? In that case they’re insane. If I’m part of this, then we should get all the help we can. Right?”

  Raul actually teared up for some reason. He didn’t cry, since that wouldn’t be manly enough.

  “Thank you, all of you. I had not thought that anyone would care, to be truthful. Not enough to help with this. It will be a marvelous event, if we have our friends with us.”

  That was the sign for everyone to get out of the side room. Tony had more research to get to, especially on grappling. That, Thanksgiving traditions and foods as well as wedding planning. It was a lot, but he had until lunch, which gave him whole hours. Then he needed to get with Missy, who was probably working out just then. She had a fight coming up after all. Thinking of that he jogged down to the MMA Gym area only to not find her. Then he checked the other sections, in case she was lifting, or working on her boxing already. He would have been, if lightly. That was Tony though. He was kind of a nut that way.

  She wasn’t even up in the dining room. No, when he found her, she was all the way back at the house, still sleeping the day away. That was fine, of course. She wasn’t really there for hard labor and she’d get some exercise that afternoon. Still, he tapped on the door.

  After a minute a voice came back, sounding sleepy.

  “Yeah?” Grumpy was worked in there as well.

  “Hey. I didn’t know when you wanted to be up. Remember that we’re meeting at one at the gym? Second floor.”

  “Right. Thanks. I’ll get up now. It was a long night.” She opened the door then, to show that she’d been sleeping in a very light cotton shirt. It was long, but was hitched up over her left hip, showing that she had rather small blue and white vertical striped panties on. Tony didn’t stare, just waving at it so she could fix it if she wanted.

  After she did, her face not even bothering to turn red, she yawned.

  “Fighting with my boyfriend. He apparently figures that I came here to cheat on him.”

  Tony made a face then.

  “Um, didn’t you say you had a husband? When you were talking to Sandy the other day?”

  She nodded, smothering a yawn.

  “That too. Anyway, see you at one?” There was a look then, which was both muzzy and somewhat sly seeming. As if she expected him to either yell at her for being a horrible person, or try to use the information to get her into bed.

  The truth was, he wasn’t all that interested in her. She was all right to work with, but not that great looking. Fine for a female fighter, but not exactly someone that he was going to try and work that hard for. The thoughts hit him harder than he’d expected, since they weren’t very kind. As he walked away, waving, his brain tried to scramble into place.

  What Tony would have done in that position was the first thing that occurred to him. The act he had didn’t really have room for that kind of thing in his world view. Real people sometimes made mistakes, sure, but it was so far from good that he couldn’t find a way of dealing with it. Anthony would have stayed away from her, at least sexually, since having two guys coming for you in anger was way too much hassle just to have a bit of company that was going to leave the next day.

  Which, after a moment, he realized was also what Tony would be doing. Maybe with a bit more kindness in his heart about it. Some worry for the other people involved seemed like a healthy enough thing, but the end result would have been the same. Not sticking his nose into places where it was nearly certain to be bitten off. At the stairs, he called out.

  “See you then. Warm up first!”

  After all, his job wasn’t to make her into a good person. Not even into a good fighter. Just to get her past the worst of her psychological issues as far as fighting went.

  That and get his other research done. He’d lost some time, so ran through the rest of the day, including making lunch for everyone. They ate together, which was nice. He also made up an extra two chicken breasts, a decently large salad and some rice. Then put it away in Tupperware, so that he could eat it later. Jen noticed him doing it, after the meal.

  “Made too much?”

  He could see her thinking that, but shook his head.

  “Nope. I’m eating here tonight, so I can move into working with Lexi at five sharp. Then at six I need to get with the people training for their grappling matches in two months. So…” He hefted the container, to show that he wasn’t neglecting the food part of things.

  Jenny seemed pleased to hear about it, for some reason.

  “Neat. It’s great that you’re always helping people like that. Inspirational, really. Take a bit of time for yourself on occasion. You… You went on those dates? She seems like a nice girl. Sandy? A bit, um, distant, for real dating. Do you have your eye on anyone else?” It was so obvious that she was trying to guide him away from Sandy that he nearly sighed at her.

  Instead he shrugged.

  “Sandy… She’s dying. At least a bit more than we all are. Some kind of brain thing, aneurisms? So, we aren’t really going to be dating like that. No, though. I haven’t met anyone else while working at the gym or training for that professional fight. Well, except Lander. He’s fairly cute, but totally not my type.” Anthony preferred women after all. It was just the way he was wired.

  Jen, being playful by nature, snickered at him.

  “Oh? Too old for you?”

  He nodded.

  “Right. Exactly that. It isn’t the guy thing at all. Just the age one. Which you have to know I barely care about. I’m only being good that way because you mentioned not getting any of the female fighters in trouble. There aren’t a lot of age appropriate ladies here… So I figured that I’d wait until I go to school?” That would increase the females in his world by a few hundred fold, he didn’t doubt.

  His uncle’s girlfriend nodded at him, her expression pretty serious. That would be about the fact that they’d both kind of glossed over the idea that Sandy wasn’t
going to be around long.

  “Steve… her Uncle Bill told him about that part. He told me and Rick, so that we’d be ready. No one knew if she’d mentioned it to you. I could see her not doing that, honestly. I mean, wanting to just have fun while she could.”

  He could see that too, but didn’t say anything about it. After all, it wasn’t really Jen’s business. He got that she wanted him to be safe and all that. It would hurt, if a girl he knew died. Not being her friend wasn’t an option. Not now.

  “That reminds me, I should call her later. I get so freaking busy. We’re friends, you know? I’m not abandoning a buddy, even a new one, just because they might die. She also might live ten more years or even longer. So, yeah, I get what death means. I’ve seen it before, more than once. We can’t let that stop us from living.” Or to not be there for others, who might want them around.

  Hopefully that was the case and he wasn’t just being annoying about it all.

  Instead of taking him to task, or giving him dating advice, which he half expected, Jen just looked at him for a bit.

  “You’re a great guy, you know that Tony Winters? Anyway, I’ll make sure Rick knows that you’ll be out late. Partying and carrying on like you do, here at the gym.”

  He nodded, then snapped his fingers as something occurred to him.

  “Oh, right… Um, how many people are we having for Thanksgiving? I was looking at some recipes for that. I have some tables and things to fill in. How big of a turkey we need, how many mashed potatoes…”

  That got him looked at funny. Then Jen counted to herself, on her fingers.

  “Twelve? Make sure to get enough for at least fifteen, since people will probably be added at the last minute. There’s always someone around here that forgets that we’re family too and won’t let them just sit at home all day alone.”

  “Got it. So fifteen. Okay. We should go over what you want for that, later? Right now, I need to go and get things set up for Missy. This is her last day here, I think. She seems to be doing better. Today… Well, Fox physically beat her pretty well in the ring. Punching her. I’m acting like this is just about improving her hand skills and standing game, but it will probably be a bit hard for her really. If she has a weak point, this is where it will be, I bet. So we’re going over things until it just isn’t an issue any longer. Then I’ll work with Lexi and the evening crew. Easy.”