Quest and Tillie

Chapter 18: All The Difference

With his hand at the small of my back, Quest guided me carefully through the crowd. People brightened when they saw him and patted his back or said things like Gonna win me some money tonight, Quest? or How you feeling tonight, Quest? Lucky?  He ignored them all and didn't stop until we were in front of a chair in the front row that said Reserved for Quest. 

He took the paper off the metal folding chair. "Here's your seat, Tillie. You good?"

"I'm fine." I also noticed that on either side of me, the chairs had similar signs: Reserved for Fire Chief and Reserved for Chief of Police. This had Quest written all over it, to put me between two men who knew his family well and would protect me while he couldn't be with me.

"Please don't leave here without one of the chiefs with you. The crowd can be kind of rough."

"I won't. I'll be fine, Quest."

He looked down at the floor then back up at me. "Sorry. This isn't just me being overly protective, just wanting you to beware of the crowd. Some of them are from out of town and don't know what would happen to them if they bothered you at all."

"I'll be fine, and I'll be careful."

He nodded. "As soon as I'm done fighting, I'll shower real quick and come get you. The chiefs will stay with you until I get back to you."

Then he took off, and not long after, the first fight was announced just as the chiefs slid into their seats. They each welcomed me warmly.

"It's good to see you and Quest in the same room again," the police chief said simply. Then he and the fire chief leaned forward as they followed the fight. We sat through six fights in total before we got to the main event that everyone was here for. The fire chief tapped my hand.

"Prepare to be amazed," he said, grinning. "Quest is one helluva fighter."

The announcer called out Quest's opponent, who got a nice cheer, but when the announcer called out Quest's name, the crowd screamed. His opponent was totally showboating, trying to play to the crowd, but the spectators were solidly behind Quest. He walked into the cage calmly and stood waiting.

His demeanor changed the minute the fight started. Quest's face drew tight, and he went after his opponent with an intensity that soon overwhelmed the man. Quest dropped him to the mat in no time, and the crowd was going nuts.

"That's Quest's unbeatable move," the fire chief said to me. "The armbar. This should be over  soon. I've got five hundred on him finishing the fight in less than two minutes. COME ON, QUEST!"

I was watching Quest's powerful body move and twist and strain, every muscle taut as he worked to win his match. Then his opponent was tapping the mat, and the match ended faster than I'd expected. The referee was holding Quest's arm in the air, declaring him the victor.

"He won by submission," the police chief gloated.

"And in under two minutes," the fire chief crowed. "Hell, yeah! You better come every week, Tillie, because I think you're his good luck charm."

Quest smiled at me, then left the cage, walking back to what was the locker room, I assumed. The chiefs talked excitedly about the match, throwing out terms I didn't understand but didn't need to since they had the conversation under control without any input from me. 

In less than ten minutes, Quest was back, wearing his jeans, T-shirt and well-worn boots. The chiefs stood up and congratulated him, shaking his hand heartily, before they said good bye to us and left.

"Ready for dinner?" he asked.

"Quest, that was amazing. I mean, I didn't understand anything that happened, except that you won. Congratulations, by the way."

That got a huge smile from Quest. "Thanks, Til. You have any questions, let me know and I'll answer them for you."

"I'll let you know," I promised him.

"You've got to be hungry by now, so let's get going."

We walked out of the gym, people trying to stop Quest to congratulate him, but he didn't acknowledge them other than with a nod or a brief thanks.

Quest opened the truck door for me, and watched while I got settled in my seat and buckled my belt.

"Tillie," he said, "Thanks for coming to see me fight. Had my best fight in the cage tonight because you were there. Having you there makes all the difference to me."

"Well, I'm glad I got to see you fight," I said lightly, feeling like this was about to get deeper than I was ready for. "Now let's get some food."

Quest waited a beat. "Let's get some food."