Still Tangled

the offer

Barrett

"You did well today, bear." Count said,  "A little rusty on your technique, but at least you won your pairing." I nod and head for the showers. "Before you leave, I need to have a word with you."

Exhausted from the day, I slump against the showers stone wall letting the water wash away the pain. Every blow to my partners face, was another reminder of what happened to my father. I found myself having to swallow down the writhing anger, or else I was likely to not stop the beating. I must be the last one to leave for the night, having lost myself in my own misery. I notice two men, who I have never seen before, leaving the Counts office. I find him propped up the same way he usually does in his chair.

"Potential sponsors?" I ask him.

"Eh, something like that. Have a seat my boy." I opted for the torn, leather couch. The same couch I use to sleep on when I was a young boy as my father trained the fighters.

"Your father and I go way back. Mike and I decided to open the Fight Box twenty years ago. This place was your father refuge, especially after he found out about your mother."He stood from his chair, walking to the glass window. I knew most of this story. My mother and her drug addiction, and how my dad poured himself into the fight box. he said it was for my good, and the rest of the community. That it would keep young men distracted, unable to get themselves into trouble. "She was stealing from our profit, and eventually we were going to lose everything we had. So Mike made deal, with some very powerful people," he continued, "those people came in, and helped us get back on our feet. Offering us a financial investment we couldn't turn away."

Is this how he could afford all the gifts for me?

"And now that your father is gone," he sympathized, "I will need someone to take his place. Someone I trust. Someone I know can carry out what was started. Someone else who would take the secret to the grave. And in order to fund your sponsorship, and training, if you take my offer, you would be guaranteed a sponsor."

"What do you want Count?"

"Those men who left are part of an underground drug trade. They will be using our fight nights, and tournaments to pass off any trade. And I need you to help me continue doing their side job. They have seen videos of your fights, and assured me you would be considered."

"A drug dealer. That's my offer?"

"A simple offer. Continue to fight for me, bring in the crowds, draw attention to the box. Let your skills attract the scouts, and leave it to me for the funding."

"Do we have deal?" Count bargained.

"Who knows about the underground?" I asked, curious if anyone else knew about my father and the possible business.

"Only a select few."

Is this what my father was running from? Did he truly know the business he had succumbed to? I couldn't imagine my father agreeing to this, not after what the drugs did to my mother. Then again, he knew how much this place meant to me, and the other fighters. I watched him struggle to keep this place. I owed him the respect of finding out who killed him and why. And maybe this drug trade could lead me to the person. The extra money would be nice, and with a sponsorship, I could become a professional, and leave this Box and its memories behind.

Whatever it takes.

"Deal." I seal my future.

A sly smile pulls at counts face, and he firmly takes my hand into his and we shake upon our new agreement. I fired up the jeep, and blasted the music as loud as I could. The sun was beginning to set, and my mind twisted with thoughts. Missing my father, solving his murder, Counts offer, the fact I had just agreed to be a drug dealer. Hell, I didn't know which way was up. The only reason Count paid for my tuition to Brook Hills High School was the fact he needed Intel on the students, and who could be a potential buyer. A mix of nausea and anger rose in my chest. So I just drove. I wasn't sure how I ended up on this part of town, but I wasn't stopping now.

I needed a distraction.

And I found one in a girl with auburn hair running down the sidewalk. I should keep driving. I knew I should. But I wanted a distraction, and I was going to find it with her.

Any comments and/or critiques are welcomed as it will help me in the editing process.