“Not if we want to stay as a family they aren’t anyway.”
“When did you grow up? Normally you’re the one fighting me on all this.”
“When I realised that you’re giving up Evie like I’m giving up Hugo. Sometimes, love is sacrifice.”
Leaning over, she presses a chaste kiss to my cheek. “We’ll get through this, big brother. With all the money you’re bringing in, life is getting better and better. Those kids won’t even remember what life was like before.”
Then she walks inside, leaving me on my own feeling like an even bigger arsehole than I felt when this started. I’ve made so many promises and I don’t know if I can keep any of them.
Fourteen
Evie
“Waiting on an important call?” Sisley asks as we sit in the café at the gym that Saturday, drinking superfood smoothies that are green and taste a little like sweet grass.
“No. Why?” I ask, looking up at her where she sits across from me. We’re waiting for Lucas to finish a plyometric class in one of the group exercise studios after already taking our regular weekend Aikido class that focuses on protecting yourself in a street setting, so it’s the one class we come to dressed in civilian clothes instead of the standard Gi.
“You just haven’t stopped checking your phone since class ended.”
“Oh,” I say, flipping it so it’s face down then changing my mind and putting it face up again.
What if he calls? What if he texts? The two questions have been running through my mind, over and over again since I saw Zac at the primary school this week. I haven’t heard from him at all, and while I know I told him that I’d wait for him to have a moment, I still keep checking. And checking. And checking.
“What’s going on?”
“I…” I don’t want to tell her because I know how ridiculous it all sounds. I know that as my friend, she’ll tell me not to waste my time on a guy who isn’t promising me anything. But she doesn’t know how much I just want to be near him. How can I explain something like that without sounding crazy or like a doormat?
“Spit it out!” she laughs.
“I ran into Zac Rivers the other day. It’s no big deal.”
“Of course it’s a big deal. So he has your digits? Do you have his?” she asks, snatching my phone away from me and scrolling through my contacts.
Before I answer, I feel my cheeks heat then I snatch my phone back from her hand. “No. I don’t, OK? I don’t even think he’s going to call. I’m being stupid. I told him to call me when he had a fight so I could watch. But there’s been no word. I don’t know what I was expecting.”
She reaches over the table and places her hand on mine. “Hey. Don’t beat yourself up. If a guy grabbed me and kissed me the way Zac Rivers did you, looking as fine as he does, I’d be checking my phone and hoping for another panty melting moment too.”
“Well, I feel stupid, especially after he didn’t call last time.”
“After the van incident?” She fans herself with her hand. “That was…I love that a man like that has restraint.”
“You sound like you want to date him,” I laugh.
“No. I’m happy with Luc. But I do enjoy living vicariously though you,” she giggles.
“I just feel all weird and nervous and shit, and I hate it.”
She lifts her juice and takes a sip while managing a smile at the same time as her lips wrap around her red straw. “You just really like him. It’s normal, Evie, I promise.”
Placing my hands over my face, I groan. “This isn’t me!”
“Welcome to life as a girl, Evie. We get crushes on boys and sit around waiting for them to call.”
“What do you do if they don’t?”
“I don’t know. I’ve only ever waited for Lucas to call.”
“You’re no help, at all.”
“I’m plenty of help. I’m your best friend, I’m the vault of lady knowledge, the keeper of all best buddy secrets.”
“OK, OK, I get it,” I laugh, using my straw to stir the green concoction around in my glass. “Is it normal that I don’t want to eat, like, ever?”
“Yeah,” she sympathises. “It is.”
“Hey girls,” Lucas says, slightly out of breath as he wanders over after his class finishes and presses a kiss to Sisley’s lips.
“You’re so sweaty,” she giggles, pointing up at his damp blond hair.
“I know. I’m going to hit the showers. You girls made any plans tonight?” He takes Sisley’s glass out of her hand and takes a sip, scrunching up his nose then putting it back on the table in front of her.
Looking at me, Sisley grins. “Well, Evie has actually heard something about a fight going on this weekend.”
“Want to go and watch Edward Cullen fight again, do we?” he teases with a cheeky grin.
“Zac might be there,” I reply nodding.
“Can you ask him to give you the details?”
“I don’t have his number.”
“He lives just off Richmond Road near the reserve. We can drop by to ask him if you like.”
I shake my head, suddenly feeling a little nervous about this. “No. I’d prefer we didn’t do that.”
“So, we’re officially stalking him now?”
“No,” I laugh, feeling my face flush with embarrassment. “I’d want to see the fights whether he’s fighting or not.”
“Sure,” he deadpans.
“Just do us a favour and ask around,” Sisley asks sweetly. “She really wants to go and there’s no harm in watching.”
He lets out a resigned sigh. “OK, I’ll ask around.” Then, dropping a kiss on top of Sisley’s head, he excuses himself and heads for the change rooms.
“Happy?” Sisley grins, looking pleased with herself.
“I don’t know. Maybe. I kind of feel like my heart is beating in my stomach.”
She looks at me like I’m an adorable puppy or something. “Awww, honey. You’re growing up.”
“Stop it,” I retort. “Besides, we don’t even know if we’re going to get any information yet. Maybe my assumptions are all wrong.”
“Lucas might not have been the most popular guy at school, but he knows a lot of fighters. He’ll find out. I’m sure of it. Just come to my place, you can stay over and then we can go whenever.”
***
I don’t think I will ever get used to telling my parents what I’m doing for the weekend instead of asking them if I can go. When we left the gym and went home to pack an overnight bag for me, both mum and dad were home, sitting on the back porch swing together.
“I’m just going to grab a bag. I’m going to go to Sisley’s tonight. OK?”
“Sure,” mum says immediately, smiling at me from where she’s leaning up against dad’s chest, his right arm is stretched across the back of the loveseat and his strong legs swing them back and forth.
“Where else are you going?” he asks, and I stop in my tracks, turning back to face them.
“Honestly, we don’t know yet.”
He goes to say something but mum jumps in. “Have fun and stay safe, OK? And always remember your training.”
“I will. I promise.” Leaning down, I kiss them both on the cheek and make my way into the house. And I hear my dad’s rumbling voice say something to my mother.
“Stop it. She’s eighteen now. Remember what we were like then?”
“That’s my problem,” he replies and mum laughs. They say something I can’t hear and her laugh turns into this girlish giggle. Listening to them makes me smile and gives me hope that maybe I could find the happiness they have in what’s between Zac and me.
“Where are you going this time?” Rose asks, as I pull some clothes out of the cupboard and put them in my bag.
“Over to Sisley’s. What are you doing this weekend?”
“Nothing. No one talks to me, remember?”
“There must be someone,” I respond, wondering how I missed how miserable my little sister was.
/> “There isn’t. I used to be friends with Stacey but she moved and now there’s no one.”
“I’m sorry, Rose. But you’ll find someone else.”
“No, I won’t. Not with Rhodes as my surname. People are scared of us or they think…I don’t want to tell you what they think about you.”
I sit down on my bed across from her and peer into her face. “I already know what they think about me.”
“They think dad beat that guy up.”
“I know. And they think I’m a major whore. But I’m not. I need you to understand that. I just trusted the wrong people.”
“Well it sucks, Evie. Why can’t we just be normal like everyone else?
Pressing my lips together, I offer her a sympathetic smile, understanding more than anyone that high school isn’t the easiest place to be. “Maybe you could look at it differently. Do you think that the other kids have parents who are as in love as ours are? Do you think they all have mums and dads who are there when they need them and care as much as ours do? I don’t think they do. Being a Rhodes, it’s special. And those jerks at school, they’re just jealous and they don’t understand. And I promise you, if you look, you’ll find someone. What about the girls in your self-defence class? Don’t you talk to them?”
“I don’t do that class anymore.”
“Well, you should. It’s where I made my best friends.”
“I’d really rather just read.”
I nod slowly. “OK, well, suit yourself. But don’t get yourself down, Rose, there’s this whole world of people out there who don’t give a shit about the stories our school told about us.”
“That’s fine for you. You’re finished school.”
“Yeah. I am. But I went through it all, and now that it’s over, I don’t think it was that bad. You just can’t let them get to you.”
“OK.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Do you think one day you could take me with you?”
“Maybe one day,” I smile, rising from the bed and picking up my bag before heading out, calling out goodbye to everyone as I get in my car and drive over to Sisley’s, hoping the entire way that the fight is tonight and they already know where it is. I need to see him. Even if it’s only from a distance.
Fifteen
Zac
“Focus,” Jason says as he applies some coagulant on the cut above my eye. “You’re a fucking mess and Nelson is pissed.”
I nod, clenching my jaw as I look over at the other fighter who barely has a mark on him. As this tournament is going on, I’m losing it. I’m struggling to keep my head in the fight and as a result, I’m unable to assess my opponent well enough to evade his move. My mind is elsewhere. I scan the crowd again, my eyes now doing it automatically whether I want them to or not. Always looking for the same face and never finding it.
Jason grabs a hold of my face, squishing my cheeks together as he turns my head toward him and forces me to meet his eyes. “Focus,” he repeats, in a growl this time. “You have a fight to win or it’s over, Zac. No more money. You’ll be back working as a delivery driver and struggling to pay the fucking bills. FOCUS.”
He applies some Vaseline on my forehead around the cut so another hit will slide off then slaps me on my back and sends me back in. One more round. This is the fight for tonight’s third place. It only pays out a grand and half of that has to go to Nelson. On top of that, if I don’t win this fight, I’m done. Out of the Rumble Circuit. And I need to win. I don’t have enough money yet. I haven’t even covered my entry fee and Nelson isn’t even speaking to me.
I glance over at where he’s watching, his goons either side of him and he just shakes his head. His disappointment slams me in my chest. I feel defeated already, resigned to a life of working off my debt with that scumbag.
Swallowing hard, I take one last scan of the crowd, knowing she isn’t there because I didn’t call her like I promised I would. But I check anyway. I can’t help it. The referee moves between us, about to call a beginning to the final round. I need a knockout. It’s my only chance.
As he raises his hand and places the whistle in his mouth, I drag my eyes from the crowd, swallowing hard as I will myself to give this everything I’ve got.
“Use his momentum against him, Zac!”
The voice rises up over the noise of the crowd and reaches my ears, clear as a bell. And I know it’s her. I turn my head, my eyes immediately finding hers and I know it’s really her this time. Her friends are here too.
She stands in front of everyone. The guy she hangs out with keeps people from pushing in front as she looks at me and demonstrates a move with her palm up and a twist of her body as if someone is running at her and she dodges their charge but pushes them past her. The sound clears away, and it’s as if she’s showing me in slow motion because it takes forever for the sound of the ref’s whistle to meet my ears and when I look to my opponent, confidently charging me, it’s like he’s moving slowly too.
It’s like that first night all over again, and I see everything so clearly, like I’m watching it before it happens. And as he throws his punch, I do exactly what she showed me. I twist my body, palming my hand against his upper arm to force his punch across his body. It causes him to turn away from me and seeing the opening, I pull my fist back and land a hit on the side of his head. He drops to the ground in a thud, and I stand over him, breathing like I just ran a marathon, and elated that I did it.
“Winner! The Haaaammmmerrrr!” the ref calls, holding my arm up as medics check over the other fighter, groaning and struggling on the ground.
The crowd roars, some even chanting my name, and I feel about ten feet tall. I fucking did it. I’m still in the Circuit. And it’s all because of her. She’s like an anchor or a muse or something. I don’t know what she is. But she’s unlike anyone or anything in this world and when I catch her eye, I see her grinning, genuinely happy, sharing in the joy I’m feeling. It makes me realise that I can’t do this without her. I need her with me. No matter what the cost.
But then I see her turn away, and instead of standing with her friends, she’s talking to Nelson’s goons. Panic rises up in my chest as I see her snatch her arm away and shake her head, and I can’t get out of the cage fast enough.
“Let me out. Let me the fuck out,” I yell, pulling at the fencing until I’ve dragged the concrete block far enough that I can slide out. But freedom isn’t mine, there are too many people to push through. Various faces float into my vision - Jason, Nelson, others. They’re smiling, yelling, looking at me quizzically. I push them, I pull them, I move them out of my way, as my heart pounds in my ears, desperate to get to her and hating myself for being the reason she’s here. Hating that I was just stupid enough to think that she should be here for me when this is obviously too dangerous a place.
This is now the complete opposite to the first time I saw her. Then I was desperate to kiss her, now I’m desperate to save her.
“Get out of my face,” I growl, losing sight of where she’s standing and unable to even see the goons. What the fuck are those guys doing with her?
The crowd seems to thicken in front of me, and I force my way through person after person, finally coming to what is the edge of the circle. I burst through; ready to beat the fuck out of those guys if I have to but what I find instead is a completely different situation.
“What the fuck?” I say, surveying the scene before me.
Evie looks up at me, her eyes wide. “They wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
Sixteen
Evie
The moment we got here, Sisley had taken one look around the old drive-in movie lot and said, “I don’t know about this place.”
Cars were parked one on top of the other and there were people everywhere. It was obvious we were in the right place.
“What’s wrong with it?” I’d replied. “It’s obviously here.” I swept my arm around in an arc, indicating the crowd before us.
“I
can see that. But I’m just not sure we fit in here. It’s nothing like Londonderry.”
“We can go if you’re worried,” Lucas told her and being as stubborn as I am, I rolled my eyes and pressed forward, knowing that they’re each too good a friend to leave without me.
I kept going. Just like I did when we were out at Londonderry, forcing my way to the front of the crowd. But it was so unlike Londonderry because the fight I saw was going the wrong way. Zac was losing.
Pushing harder, I ignored the pleas of my friends to slow down until I got the front of the crowd and watched with concern as Zac took hit after hit, the fight getting called to a stop when blood had begun to pour down his face.
“What are you doing?” Lucas growled at me, pulling me back through a few rows of people so I was standing with them again. “This isn’t the kind of place you can go running off on your own.”
“He’s losing.”
“What are you going to do to stop that?”
“I just…he needs to know I’m here.” Pulling away, I pushed through the crowd again, getting as close to the cage as I could so I had a chance of being heard. I called his name once, twice, three times and the noise around me drowned me out. But then the ref held up his hand and for a moment, the crowd went quiet. That’s when I took my chance.
“Use his momentum against him, Zac!” I yelled.
I could hear my own breathing. I could hear my heart. But everything else went quiet the moment our eyes locked and I saw his fill with relief. I moved my arms, acting as though I was pushing an attacker to the ground, hoping that somehow it would help. Then I held my breath and watched as he did just that, knocked out his opponent and won the fight.
The ref lifted up his arm, calling out his victory. “Winner! The Haaaammmmerrrr!” and I had never felt happier in my entire life. Not until I was tapped on the shoulder by two overly large men.
“We need you to come with us, miss.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
The noise of the crowd around me was so loud, and the men said something that I couldn’t hear. But still, I repeated “No.”
The one on the left reached for my arm. “Don’t touch me,” I warned.
Drawn to Fight: Zac & Evie Page 10