Fighting Like A Man (Editing)

Fighting Like A Man *

My heart felt like it was going to jump out my chest at any given time. I think I stopped breathing at some point, my head beginning to feel light. Nate was behind me helping me stretch while Shane gave me every pointer he could of at this moment.

"At any point that he's open, go for it okay! Keep your fucking guard up, just like that!"

Tonight was my first public fight and oh lord was I scared. In a couple of minutes I'll be squaring up with Cowboy Lee, a light weight lifter with strong legs and big ego. 

"Good luck kiddo" Nate chirped in an happy tone but I saw the pure fear in his brown eyes.

I let every detail of him seep in just in case something horrible happened tonight. Long raven hair tied in a knot on top of his head. Big brown eyes that looked like coffee in the sun. Awkward grin and ghost scars all over his face. I nodded at him and turned to Shane.

"You got this" his brother smiled, the excitement in his eyes.

My heart kicked harder in my chest. Those green eyes would be the ultimate death of me. His short brown hair looked neat even after the fight he was just in, a bruise spotting around his strong jaw with his pale lower lip ripped.

Jason, owner of this neat establishment helped me into the ring. His hand was warm and calloused, the mischievous glint in his eyes making me smile

"Hello everyone, I hope so far your night has been amazing! Tonight we have somebody new. I swear this will be the best fights you will ever see. Next to me I have fighter 220." He spun me around so we faced the crowd.

"175 pounds and 5'7 we have a new fighter. She might not be the biggest or even the baddest but she has some fucking courage to get her ass up here." The crowd cheered with absolute awe when he threw my hands in the air.

"In the other corner we have Cowboy Lee. 180 pounds and 6'1 he is one of our best fighters. Guys please don't be shy to bet on fighter 220 though, she has spunk!"

"LET THE FIGHT BEGIN!"

I watched Mr. Jays hurry out the ring and when I turned my head. BAM! He already punched me in the face. I stumbled back trying to regain my balance but it was too late he brought his foot up to my stomach. Once they came in contact I swear I felt something break. I shook off the pain and thought.

Since I found out that I was going to fight him, which was three months ago, I studied him. I watched him almost every day trying to seek out every one of his weaknesses. I found out he got in a bad car accident a few years back that damaged his right arm and just recently have his ribs started to heal from the last bar fight he got into. His greatest move was his most predictable one. He would fake a right hook then kick you with his left leg. It would knock you off your balance then he would do a combo. Punch in the stomach, elbow in the back and another punch to nose. This knocked out every one of his opponents.

I could see that he was ready to do his special move. Like I predicted he faked right but I blocked his leg. Without skipping a beat I punched him in the stomach. Hard. He stumbled back in surprise and pain. I stepped forward and punched him in the nose hearing a loud wet cracking sound. As he stumbled back a little more I got behind him and kicked him in the right leg.

He dropped to the floor holding his nose so I got on top of him. I started punching him everywhere I could get my fist at. He was trying to block some of them and kind of succeeded. Just a little. He rolled over so he was on top of me and punched, not caring where he did.

I'm getting kind of dizzy, I need to finish this. I block some more of his punches before trying to find a spot where I could strike. My right arm was free so I let my elbow slide across his forehead. To both our surprise he started to bleed. It was dripping out of a big cut that I caused. It poured all over me, getting on my stomach, sports bra and face. I felt like a gruesome horror movie.

Yet again we rolled so I was on top of him. I let the fist fly, the damage I was doing not going unnoticed. I was so busy that I didn't notice him tap out until some people were pulling me off of him. I saw Mr. Jay step back into the ring surprise written all over his face.

He was right beside me now looking down at me with a proud smile. Then he grabbed my hand and held it up in the air.

"Welcome to the family!" he said into the mic as everyone cheered.

God I remember that day. All that excitement that flooded in me when most of the fighters congratulated me, welcoming me to their big family. That was only 3 years ago though. Nothing has changed though except for the fact that I could help support the family now.

You see I have two other siblings. My baby brother Victor and my twin sister Summer. My mother is a fighter in her own terms, working harder than most people I know. I knew I needed to help her out so I went out into the real world and got down to business. First I got a part time job at and small diner on the outskirts of town but that could only help us a small bit. My two only friends saw me struggling and introduced me to an amazing sport. Street fighting. That definitely brought in a lot of income.

I sat in the room I shared with Summer, throwing a small bouncy ball at the wall and catching it. A small voice nagged me in the back of my head to train for the big fight tonight, but my procrastination got the best of me. I cleaned our small apartment first, picking up toys, washing dishes, and vacuuming. I then checked our bill cabinet and made a note on the ones we had to pay immediately. The nagging voice finally got the best of me, pushing me to our room to change. Before leaving the house I checked the mirror frowning at my face.

My once cheerful brown eyes looked wiser, the dark bags under them adding a few more years to my age. I pulled my curls back into a two braids, securing each with two hair bands and covered my sports bra and yoga pants with sweat clothes.

"Damn baby, looking finer everyday!" Pon smiled from behind the counter, watching my every move as I grabbed my water bottle.

I laughed a little and did a small spin for him as I walked towards the register, really showing him the baggy  everything was. He enjoyed it anyway, whistling and hooting in appreciation.

"How you doing ma? Can I get you anything else? Smokes, my number, my address?"

"Naw man, just this" I laughed back, hand him two dollars and tinting on my heels.

"I'll be here when you need me baby"

I jogged out the store and took a look around. I passed two more apartments and a few houses before getting to the park and dodging into the more earthy setting. In the cover of the trees was a manikin with cushions surrounding most of its body, a practice dummy you can call it.

The boys and I built this spinning mannequin last summer. We manipulated the body parts so they could spin with as much force as you put into it. I took a quick look around before shrugging off my clothes. I then started wrapping the pale medical tape around my hands and stretched loosening all muscles.

"Ready to get your ass kicked Fred?" I looked straight into the dummy's eyes and shoved his arm only to get whacked on my opposite side.

"Bring it"

I attacked. I brought my fist up to his chest and punched until his body swung left, his arm almost taking off my head. The only real flaw with Fred here was he is tall like the boys who were a few inches taller them me. I ducked to the ground, pretending to swipe my foot under his post ridden legs. His body did a quick three-sixty around and I took my chances to get back up and go on. It went on like this until I noticed Fred was no longer getting controlled by me.