Below The Belt

Round 31

Tyreek's POV

Have you ever stared your demise in the eyes before?

I have a few times.

Last time I looked into an opponent's eyes and wasn't entirely sure I'd win, I was standing across a man with a fiery sense of determination and ambition burning behind his gaze. His ambition led him to make a deal with the referee to not stop the fight no matter how many blows he landed below the belt, or no matter how many times he repeatedly and purposefully hit me in my ribs until I ended up in a hospital.

And now I'm standing across from that man again, staring into those same eyes and seeing that same ambition.

"Thought you left me behind at the Onyx, ain't you?" Red whispered with a low laugh. "Luckily for me, you left a few angry people behind in the club... I'm sure you recognize my manager." He nodded subtly over his shoulder, making me look behind him.

Mr. Onyx glared back at me with rage in his eyes.

"I beat you once..." Red continued, forcing my attention back to him. "And imma do it again."

For once, I didn't smile in my opponent's face. I frowned and clenched my jaw as we stood face to face, ignoring the flashing cameras that went on in the crowd. We didn't separate until we were physically pulled apart, and even then we continued to glare each other down as we were ushered off of the stage.

"See you in the ring, pretty boy..." Was the last thing I heard from him before I was pulled away by Quan.

"Ain't no way that nigga really followed you to the pros." Quan muttered as he guided me through the crowd who was now trying to stop me for questions.

"Tyreek, do you know Red?"

"Is it true that you have a personal relationship with your opponent?"

"Do you think Red has the potential to beat you?"

"What is your personal history with Red?"

Those were only a few of the hundreds of questions that were thrown my way before I slammed the door to the locker room shut.

"How the fuck did they get here?" I asked through gritted teeth as I paced around the room.

"I'm hittin' up Mr. Raymond right now. He should be around here somewhere." Quan answered as he typed away on his phone.

Shit don't even make no sense... I was scouted and signed into the WBO because of my talent... What the fuck does Red have? Evil in his spirit?

All he's done in his career at club Onyx was beat me once by paying off the referee and fighting dirty. How could he have possibly made his way into the same league as me?

"So I'm assumin' you know that redbone nigga." We heard as the door opened, showing Mr. Raymond followed by the rest of my family. "He's already out there doin' interviews, tellin' niggas that y'all's rivalry go way back."

"I barely know that nigga!" I complained. "I didn't even know he had a fuck ass white ass name like fuckin' Bartholomew! All I know is that his name is Red and he's so obsessed with beatin' me that he broke three of my ribs and left me in the hospital over a fake ass title in an underground fight club." I only stopped pacing when Dre came to wrap his arms around me, effectively and almost too quickly calming me down.

"You good?" He asked me quietly. I took a deep breath before nodding my head.

"That nigga is fuckin' obsessed with me, baby." I muttered as I pulled away from his embrace. "And Mr. Onyx is his fuckin' manager— They doin' all this because I decided to leave and do somethin' more with my life."