09.03.08
Orphan fighter, pt. 12
“What the hell was that?”
“It was cool, wasn’t it?”
I was talking to Jesus while we sat off to the side of the ring. The rest of the guys had dispersed, and Dale was taking Gustavo to the infirmary. It was just me and the kid sitting in the dark, talking about what we’d just witnessed. For once, he seemed to be all happy-go-lucky like a normal dude his age.
“I gotta hand it to you, brat. You’re tougher than you look.”
“I beat you, didn’t I?”
Before, I would’ve thought he was being a cheeky bastard, but suddenly it didn’t seem so embarassing to have been knocked out by the kid.
“Well, anyway, I gotta thank you for saving my butt. If you had lost, those guys would’ve given me the boot.”
“I didn’t do it for you, stupid.”
“Don’t be a smartass, kid. But yo, what’s your deal anyway? Seems to me you really like beating the shit out of people.”
I don’t know what chord I struck, but it must’ve been a doozy. The kid refused to say another word to me for the rest of the evening.
When Dale got back, I jumped up and sauntered over.
“How’s the shorty?” I asked.
“Mild concussion. I don’t think he’s gonna remember a thing when he wakes up.”
“Neat.”
“You really can pick ‘em can’t you?”
“I’ll leave that for you to decide.”
He had an odd expression on his face. It seemed like he was smiling, but it was too dark to tell for sure.
“Let me tell you a little about Jesus.”
“Son of God? Died for our sins?”
“Ah hah. You’re a cad, you know that?”
“You’ll get used to it. But, yeah, go on. What about the kid?”
“Well, he’s a real wild child. His dad used to beat the shit out of him and his mom, so he’s all messed up for real.”
“How’d he end up an orphan?”
“I’m not too clear on the details. Some social worker came in with the kid and tried to sugar-coat the whole ordeal. Murder suicide or some shit like that. Guess his old lady finally snapped and took the old man down with her.”
“Damn, man. That’s…”
“Fucked up. Yeah.”
“So why are you telling me all this?”
“I was hoping that some perspective would help you understand why we’re hesitant to put him into a ring.”
“Nah, I get where you’re coming from. Can’t deny it though, can ya. The kid’s got fight in him. It’s a shame you can’t use him.”
“That’s the thing. I wanna see if we can’t fix him up.”
“What do you mean?”
“I want you to take care of him. See if you can’t tame him a bit. Right now, there’s no way he’d listen to one of our handlers.”
“Aw snap. You’ve gotta be kidding me. You want me to babysit the shorty now?”
“Hey, you picked him, Jack. I just thought you’d like to see him live up to his potential.”
“Hmm… it could be interesting.”
“Great. I’ll set up a ride for you to come down here 3 times a week. I want him to be ready in 3 weeks, you hear me? You’ll get 70% of any winnings that the kid pulls in, so I don’t want to hear any complaints.”
With that, we shook hands and sealed the deal. On the ride back to the city, I thought about all the fun times that I was certain to have in the next three weeks.