Spark in the Dark

Chapter 49

Shawn walked into Lumpy's later that night. She felt much more comfortable in her jeans than she had in her dress. Kip was in the ring fighting a guy much larger than him, but at a glance, it looked to Shawn like Kip was winning. She walked over to a table where beer was being sold to buy herself a drink, but ran into someone taking bets first. After placing money on Kip and getting her drink, she looked around for the other guys. Tig, Bobby, and Chibs were all close to the ring. Juice was sitting watching the fight close by. Shawn caught her father's eye and he got down off the elevated boxing ring to talk to her.

"Hey, doll. What brings you by?"

"Some of the girls at Cara Cara were talking about the fights tonight. Thought I'd stop by," Shawn lied.

"Good thinking. Sack's doing great."

"Yeah, I can tell."

"I gotta get back up there," Tig told her.

"That's fine. Go. I'll just, uh, sit with Juice over there."

Tig went back to his spot with Chibs and Bobby as Shawn walked over to the empty seat next to Juice and sat down.

"What Tig say?" Juice asked her.

"Nothing. He seems too distracted by this to care. I told him I was going to sit here, though. So, it's a start."

"Hey, you placing any bets?"

"Already did."

"Not on Half Sack, right?"

"Uh, yeah? Why do you say it like that?"

"Hey," Cherry said from behind them, getting their attention. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Me?" Shawn asked her. Cherry nodded.

"I'll behave, promise," Cherry told her when Shawn hesitated.

"I'll be back," Shawn told Juice and stood.

"Be nice!" He called to her as she walked away.

Shawn followed Cherry away from the crowd until Cherry turned around to face her.

"So, what do you want?" Shawn asked her.

"To apologize. I was a royal bitch when I first met you. I came here from Indian Hills to be with Kip and he sort of rejected me and I was pissed off."

"Kip? I thought you hooked up with Clay?"

"I did, but I really like Kip. Me and him are together now, actually."

"So, that all worked out for you then. Other than the..." Shawn motioned to her nose.

"Yeah, Gemma and me are good now, though. I was hoping you and me could be good, too? I don't really know anyone around here except for the guys."

"What? You want us to be friends?" Shawn asked her and she nodded. "I don't really get along with other girls. Seriously, I have, like, one female friend."

"That's ok. We can hate on other girls together," Cherry said and smirked.

"Ok, but just so you know... I don't use a skateboard when someone pisses me off," Shawn told her with a laugh.

"Yes, ma'am."

Shawn smiled and headed back in to finish watching Kip fight. Cherry excused herself for a moment to get herself a drink and Shawn went back to Juice.

"You two make up?" Juice asked her.

"She apologized. We'll see. So, why was I not supposed to bet on Kip?"

"He's supposed to throw the last fight. That way the club can get some cash."

"Damn."

"You bet a lot?"

Shawn shrugged. "I'll be alright. You sure he'll lose, though? Cherry said they're a thing now. Can't imagine that he wants to lose in front of her."

"He will if he knows what's good for him."

Cherry came back and took a seat behind Shawn. Shawn turned in her own seat so Cherry would feel included. The three talked as they watched Kip win more than one fight.

During the last fight, Clay took a seat right behind them and patted Shawn's shoulder. "How you doing, sweetheart?"

"Can't complain," Shawn told him.

"Even with this idiot talking your ear off?" Clay asked with a smile, referring to Juice. Juice rolled his eyes, but he hadn't turned around, so Clay didn't see.

"He's not so bad," Shawn told Clay.

She turned around so she could pay better attention to the fight. Kip was doing was he was supposed to do, but he didn't look happy with having to lose. All of a sudden, it was like something in him snapped. Kip started beating his opponent.

"Sack, no!" Clay yelled.

"What the hell is he doing?" Juice asked, his voice filled with a mixture of shock and anger.

The guys jumped into the ring to break up the fight. Juice slumped in his seat a bit and rubbed a hand over his face.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better," Shawn said to Juice after both Clay and Cherry walked away. "I just won, like, $15k."

Juice looked at her with disbelief. "How much money did you put on this fight?"

"What? You think I don't have money?"

"I didn't realize you had that much money to just blow through."

"I'm sort of insulted. I thought by now you would have hacked into my bank account or something."

Everyone was starting to leave, so Shawn and Juice stood, too. Juice waited for her while she collected the money she won and they headed for the exit.

"I didn't hack into your bank, that seemed wrong," Juice told her. "I might have looked up your police record, though."

Shawn looked at him with a surprised smile. "Wow."

"You coming back to my place then?"

"Yeah, I'll meet you there."

They reached some of the others who were standing around outside.

"Go on. Get out of here before I rape both of you," Tig said to Kip and Cherry.

"Ick," Bobby complained.

"What? It's just an expression. Term of endearment," Tig defended himself.

"No, Dad. Just no," Shawn told him. Tig grinned at her before putting her in a headlock. "Hey! Can't breath."

He loosened his grip, but kept an arm around her shoulders as he walked her to her car.

"You doing alright, Shawnie?" Tig asked his daughter.

"Yeah, I'm good. Working a lot."

"Dating anybody?"

Shawn raised an eyebrow. "And if I say yes?"

"I'll kill him," Tig said, making Shawn scoff. Then he smiled. "It serious?"

Shawn looked at him for a moment as she considered telling him the truth. "I think it is, yeah."

"I get to meet him?"

"Yeah. Soon, ok?"

"Sure," he leaned in to kiss her temple. "Let's go to dinner one night next week."

"You got it," Shawn said as she opened her car door to get in. "Night, Dad."

"Good night, doll," he said and shut her door for her.

Shawn started her car and pulled out of the lot as Juice made his way over to his bike.