A Dominant Anthology

by Ethan Radcliff

  She remembered her father telling her about Max Baer, a boxer during the twenties and thirties. He’d told her, “He was big, a good looking son of a bitch, and one deadly fighter. Killed a man in the ring. I never seen this guy fight, but my father said he was an animal in the ring.”

  She’d been brought up around the sport and as she matured, she developed her own love of boxing. She was also drawn to the type of man a boxer was physically. The night she found Joe drunk at the Coliseum, she came to his aid. She could have easily pushed him away. She didn’t. She was curious to see how far he’d go. What happened next, she was helpless to stop. It had been so long since she’s had sex and a man’s face had been between her legs.

  She shivered at the thought and smiled at her image in the large ensuite mirror. She was a woman in love, in love with Joe Murphy. Darlene never figured on love in her life, and she was fine with that thought. Now, after finding him, she couldn’t imagine life without him.

  Her thoughts went back to Mack, and a sudden coldness swept over her chest. Why did he need to speak with her? She slipped on her underwear, jeans, and a sweatshirt then tied her hair back in a ponytail. The front doorbell rang. That had to be Mack.

  She opened the door, and a short, pudgy, unattractive man stood before her. Mack was almost her height as he leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “Hey, Darlene, how are you?” he asked.

  He smelled of cigar smoke. She wanted to gag. “I’m fine, Mack. Please, come in.”

  She led him to a chair in the living room. “Nice digs. Since he’s been with you, things have really turned around.”

  “Why, thank you. That’s nice to hear. Mack, what’s going on? Why did you feel the need to come and see me?”

  “Darlene, like I said, since he met you, he’s been a changed man−until the other night.”

  She sat on the couch and bit her lip. What was Mack trying to tell her? “What about the other night?” she asked, afraid to hear his answer.

  “Did he tell you we went to a party at Tres’ house? Interesting little get-together. I was worried when I saw the white dust that was scattered all over the tables.”

  She grabbed the arm of the couch. She felt as if a lead balloon dropped on her. “And …?” she asked.

  “Well, at first I didn’t see him do anything wrong. He stuck to cold beer until an amazing blonde came into the room.”

  “I see. There are always amazing blondes around Joe. He’s very handsome and a great boxer. He’s a celebrity. I know this and understand this.”

  “Do you?” he asked.

  “Yes, Mack, I do.”

  “So having a blonde suck his cock in front of a crowd doesn’t bother you?”

  Her hand slipped from the arm of the couch, into her lap and she wrung her hands in front of her. What Mack was telling her was impossible. That wasn’t like Joe, and he wouldn’t betray her like that. “Are you sure you weren’t drunk, Mack, and that it wasn’t Joe?”

  “Wishful thinking, Darlene,” Mack said.

  “Why are you telling me this?” Tears began to run down her cheeks.

  “Because I’m worried about him. This display in front of everyone is the old Joe. What’s next? Back on the coke?”

  She crossed and uncrossed her legs. She wiped away the first few tears. “How could he do this?” she whispered.

  “Maybe it’s because that’s Joe, Darlene. Some people never change. He did really good for a while then. Damn, I’m sorry. We have a huge fight in two weeks. I need him at one hundred percent. There will be events, like the big parties afterward, and he’s gotta go. It’s part of the hype.”

  “What are you asking me?” She felt as though she’d been kicked in the stomach.

  “Do you really want a man like Joe? Do you want a man like that around your son? He’s a fighter. He’s not the kind of man that can be with one woman at a time. I want you to throw him out. Don’t worry about the house here.” He looked around the living room. “I’ll take care of all the bills and expenses. I owe you that much for getting him to this point.”

  Darlene thought that maybe Mack had lost his mind. He was pulling her leg. “You’re kidding, right? This is all a big joke. Joe wouldn’t do this. He loves Devon and me. He’d never jeopardize that. No, this can’t be true.”

  “I’m sorry, Darlene. I really am,” Mack said.

  Her entire world crashed down around her. The man she thought she knew better than herself, had betrayed her. How could she tell Devon? How could she explain all of this to him? Forget Devon, how was she ever going to recover from all this. Her heart felt as if it had been torn from her chest. No physical pain had ever hurt this much. “I can’t do that. I love him,” she cried.

  “I know you do, honey, but he’s on a road to self-destruction. I can help keep him focus. I’ve done it before. I can get him ready for this big fight. Maybe after this fight, you two can work all this out. For now, though, I need to watch over him.”

  Darlene felt her coping mechanisms kicking in. Her anger began to rise. She wasn’t sure if she was angrier with Joe or Mack. “Watch over him?” she lashed out. She wanted to rip someone’s head off, and Mack was the closest one. “You need to watch over a grown man? I wasn’t watching over him, I loved him, tried to make a life with him. You can have him. I doubt there is anything left to salvage. And that’s if he becomes heavyweight champion.” Her tears came hard. She was devastated. The door opened, and Devon came running in.

  “Mommy, I learned to jump rope like Joe.”

  “Yes, he did, and,” Joe stopped. “Mack?”

  Darlene watched Mack’s face turn as red as a beat.

  “What are you doing here?” Joe asked.

  “Hey, Mack,” Devon said, running over to him.

  “Hi, Devon,” said Mack.

  Darlene turned slowly to face Joe. She hadn’t bothered to wipe the tears from her eyes or cheeks. “Mack came to talk to me. Devon, would you go to your room, please?” she asked.

  “But, Mommy, I …”

  “Don’t talk back, and don’t give me a hard time, just do as you’re told, young man,” she said, her anger reflected in the volume of her voice.

  Devon turned around to Joe. “But Joe!” he pleaded.

  “Do as your mother ask,” Joe said, pointing to Devon’s room.

  The little boy stomped off to his room, slamming the door.

  Joe walked over to Darlene and tried to wipe the tears from her eyes. She pushed his hand away. “You’ve been crying. What’s going on?” he asked, looking puzzled.

  Darlene took a deep breath. “Mack is worried about you.”

  “Is he?” Joe said, looking to Mack.

  “Yes, Joe, I am,” Mack replied.

  “You don’t have to be. I’m just fine. Now what the fuck did you do or say to upset Darlene?”

  “Well …” Mack began.

  Darlene interrupted. “He told me about the party at Tres’.”

  “Did he?” Joe growled.

  “Yes, and he’s worried. He said your behavior left a lot to be desired,” she said, taking a deep breath. “Perhaps I don’t suck your cock good enough, is that it? You had to have some damn blonde do it!” she screamed at him, losing all her resolve.

  “Fuck,” he mumbled.

  “Not fuck, Joe, a blow job. I guess you don’t get enough of them from me, or maybe I’m not that good. And you did this in front of a crowd?”

  “Darlene, it was a fucking stupid move on my part. It was happening before I had a chance to stop it.”

  “Stop it!” she screamed. “You could have pulled your cock out of her mouth. That would have stopped it!”

  He turned to Mack. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Why come here and tell her this shit? What’s your gain, Mack? Jesus Christ, you’re supposed to be my manager and my goddamn friend.” He pulled him out of his chair by the collar of his shirt. “I ought to bash your fucking head in. Why would you do something like this? And before the fight of my life?”
>
  Mack’s face was still red. “Because, Joe, you need to train. You need to be free of all this. That’s a million dollar bout. I need you focused.”

  Joe let him drop to the floor. He turned to Darlene. “I fucked up. What more can I say? I love you. It will never happen again.”

  She looked at him. She loved him, but at the moment, she hated the sight of him. “You need to leave. What I really mean is, get the fuck out of my life!” She went to walk out of the room, but Joe grabbed her by the arm.

  .

  Chapter Seven

  Joe’s world upended. He wanted to beat Mack to a bloody pulp. “Baby, please, let me make this up to you,” Joe begged.

  “Right now, Joe, I can’t even look at you. Mack wants you with him. Leave, go fight your fight, go make that million, and be happy.” She turned to Mack. “Give me thirty days, and I’ll be out of here. You don’t need to support me with Joe’s money. I can take care of Devon. I’ve been doing it for eight years. I don’t need anybody.”

  Joe went to touch her face, but she cringed and moved from his hand. “Please, no … just go. Pack what you need, and I’ll be out of here in a few weeks. This is your house.”

  “It’s our house, Darlene. I’m not letting you do this.”

  “You can’t stop me.”

  He walked over to her and grabbed her body to his. “I can, and I will stop you. I love you. I fucked up, and this asshole has some kind of agenda that I know nothing about. Don’t do this, please.”

  The tears that ran down her face, stabbed at his heart. He let her go and turned to Mack. “What did you think you’d accomplish by coming here and telling Darlene about my stupidity? What the fuck, Mack?”

  “She took you away from me,” Mack said, standing up. “She ruined what we had. I could have helped you, made you stop the drugs and drinking. You weren’t that far gone.”

  Darlene took a few steps back. “Get out, the both of you. Just get out of here,” she yelled at them.

  Devon came running out of his room. “Mommy, why are you yelling?” he cried.

  She looked to both men as she wrapped her arms around her frightened son. “Get out, please,” she said, holding the little boy close.

  Mack scurried to the door and turned. “Joe, you coming?” he asked.

  Joe turned to Darlene. “I’m leaving but not for good. I will make this all right, I promise. I’m sorry I acted like a jerk. I should have known better. I have the biggest fight of my life coming up, and I need to train and keep as low a profile as possible.” His eyes traveled down to Devon, who held onto Darlene. He could feel the pain in his chest. He hated to leave the kid; he loved him and wanted to be a father and a good influence in his life.

  He grabbed his car keys off the small end table in the living room. “Devon, I’ll be gone for a little while, but I’ll call you, okay, kid?”

  Devon nodded and smiled.

  Joe’s eyes traveled up to Darlene’s face, and her tears ripped at him. He turned quickly, trying to hide his anger. He didn’t want to scare Devon any further. He grabbed Mack by the arm. “You and I have a great deal to discuss.”

  “Goodbye,” he heard Darlene whisper.

  He didn’t turn around. “There is no goodbye in my vocabulary where you and Devon are concerned.”

  He opened the front door and pushed Mack out first. “Did you bring your fucking car, Mack?”

  “Joe, of course,” Mack answered.

  “I’m going to the gym. I’ll meet you there, asshole,” Joe said, trying to stifle his anger.

  ****

  The ride to the gym was the longest ride Joe ever took. He wasn’t sure how he was going to handle Mack, but beating him within an inch of his life was a thought. Why would he sabotage his relationship with Darlene? He had thought Mack was his friend and wanted what he wanted, a championship.

  He pulled up in front of the gym. Mack’s car was nowhere to be found. He entered and walked straight to the showers. He stripped off his clothes and ran the shower as hot as he could, as he tried desperately to clear his head.

  “Fuck!” he yelled, letting his voice echo through the room. He wanted to punch the walls until his hands were raw, but doing so would prove nothing, only that he didn’t give a damn if he hurt his hands. He slid down the wall of the shower, letting the water smooth his path. He sat on the floor and cried. It had been years since he shed a tear as a man. The last time was when his father had died.

  He wanted a life with Darlene. He loved her and Devon. It was more than her body or her face. He loved the way she smiled, the way she walked, and the way she pondered the simple things in life. She was his balance, his other half. She knew how he was feeling, and she knew how to make him smile.

  Joe was devastated and more broken than he’d ever been in his life. Crazy thoughts entered his mind. Should he kill Mack? Was that the answer? The little son of a bitch had caused this all. Yeah, yeah, he was an asshole for letting that blonde suck his cock but under other circumstances, Mack would have stopped him. Instead, he encouraged him. That puzzled Joe.

  He shut off the shower. Mack was the problem, and Mack had to go. He had some serious thinking to do. He grabbed a pair shorts from his locker. He hung up his clothes neatly. He let out a sinister laugh; he could be wearing them for a few days.

  He sat on the bench that ran down the middle of the locker room and scrolled through his phone numbers. There it was, Christen Howard. Should he? He’d met her a few years back; she was Raoul Velazquez’s manager. The guy was a lightweight boxer, one of the finest he’d ever seen. He eventually wound up winning the lightweight belt. For weeks, he was ribbed about having a woman manager. He, in turn, told most of the guys how fantastic she was. And, as it turned out, she was.

  When he took Mack on, she’d given him her card then a little pep talk. He never forgot the way Mack had treated her with cold countenance. She never talked badly about Mack but did infer he’d had problems with former clients.

  It was time for a change. He dialed her number, wondering if she’d still be interested in managing him.

  “Hello, this is Christen Howard’s office, how can I help you?”

  “Hi, this is Joe Murphy, the boxer.”

  “Mr. Murphy, I know who you are. How can I help you?”

  “Would it be possible to talk to Christen Howard?”

  “Of course, please hold the line for one moment,” the young woman said.

  He held on, sitting there with his head in his hands. He had to do something. He had to move forward. He had to get rid of Mack.

  “Mr. Murphy, this is Christen Howard. How are you?”

  “I’m fine, and please call me Joe. Is it okay if I call you Christen?”

  “Of course, Joe, how can I help you?”

  “I need a manager. I guess there’s no other way to say it.”

  “Can you see me today? I have an opening at three p.m.”

  “I’ll be there,” he said and shut off the phone just as Mack walked in.

  “Hey, I don’t know what to say. I thought by going to Darlene, she could help get you on the right path again,” Mack said, his lips trembling, showing Joe he was nervous and edgy.

  “Get the fuck out of my sight. You’re part of my problem. I always thought you had my best interest at heart. For your own sake, I’d get fucking lost or I’m going to step on you and put you out of your goddamn misery.”

  “Jesus Joe, what are you saying? I’ve always had your best interest at heart. You’ll thank me for this.”

  “You’re fucked up. Thank you? You’re lucky you’re standing there and not in the hospital. Now, get out of here. I’m breaking contract with you. I’ll get a lawyer I can trust, and you can kiss my ass. In the meantime, stay out of my sight.”

  Mack’s face turned red, and he punched one of the metal lockers then yelled, “Ouch, Goddammit, you try to help a guy and,” Joe got up and grabbed him by the neck.

  “You’re lucky I don’t fucking strangle you. B
ut you’re not worth going to jail over.” He dragged him from the locker room and through the gym, causing people to stop and watch. Joe opened the door and threw Mack out onto the sidewalk. “I want your membership terminated. I don’t want you anywhere near Darlene or me. Don’t even fucking open that mouth of yours; be glad you still have teeth in it.”

  Joe stormed back into the gym. He didn’t make eye contact with anyone as he walked back into the locker room. His heart was pounding in his chest. He needed to punch something or someone. He called in Tom, the owner, and asked him to tape his hands up.

  “I’ve seen you pissed, but I think you finally got the picture with Mack. Want me to cancel his membership? He hasn’t paid anyway.” Tom said.

  “Thanks, Tom. I need to get in touch with my accountant. I’ve been living under a rock I guess. Let me call him and put a block on Mack from doing anything.”

  “Sure, just call me back in when you’re done.”

  He rang his accountant. “Dave, block Mack; it’s a long fucking story, but I need you to put a hold on anything Mack tries to do.”

  “Funny you should say that Mack just called.”

  “Well he’s no longer my manager, and I need bank papers drawn up. I want him off all of the accounts.”

  “Your holdings are safe. I’ve been watching everything, Joe. Darlene and I had a talk a while ago. She was concerned about your finances, so we took some precautions. That lady never touched a penny of what you gave her without calling me first. She’s an amazing woman and loves you very much.”

  The ache in his chest radiated. It was worse than any punch he’d ever received in a fight. He had to make things right with her, but he only had two weeks to train and needed to pull himself together.