"Are you saying that Thrasher Jones deliberately killed my brother?" I yelled, clenching my hands into fists.
Benji slowly rose up from the couch as if a weight was pressing on his shoulders, and nodded regretfully.
The words that spilled unfiltered from my mouth had no justification. My emotions were running wildly out of control and I failed to grasp ahold of them.
"What the hell! The coward murdered Leo just to win the competition and then took his own life. This isn't fair. Why would you get Thrasher's initials tattooed on your wrist? I don't get it," I rambled.
Benji refused to look at me as he clamped a hand around the tattoos. "I can't," he whispered as his eyes glossed over, "I can't talk about this anymore."
My brother was loved by many people. His death had been just as hard on me as it had been for Benji. We were both suffering because of it which was why I'd allowed the issue to drop. If it had continued, I didn't know what would have ended up happening and what I would had done.
"Okay," I sighed, changing the topic, "I'll be graduating high school this year."
"Oh?" Benji said, hitching an eyebrow as he leaned against the wall beside the small shelf, "You should start applying for colleges soon, right?"
Recalling the conversation I'd had with Sabrina earlier on the topic of college, I admitted, "I can't afford it. It's a long story, but I didn't get much money when my parents and Leo died."
Benji rubbed his chin and scrunched his eyebrows. Tying the red bandana around his head, he asked, "Do you know what the prize is for winning the Twenty-One and Under Boxing Championship Tournament?"
I shook my head. "You mean besides a giant trophy and bragging rights?" I clarified.
Benji laughed. "Yeah, besides all that."
"Then, no. Leo participated to have fun. He didn't care what the prize was so I didn't either."
Benji smiled. "Sounds just like him to not care that the ultimate prize is one-hundred grand."
"One-hundred thousand dollars!" I gasped.
"Mhm. Drew, I promise you right now," he said, holding his hand out to me with his pinky outstretched, "that I will win the competition and pay for your college, got it?"
My jaw practically unhinged as I gaped at him. "I can't ask you to do that for me. Benji, you've already done enough for me and-"
"You may have not realized it, but Drew, I owe my life to you. If it weren't for you, I would have most likely killed myself by now," he confessed, taking steps forward until he stood directly in front of me.
Bringing his hand between us, he raised his pinky finger once more and nodded. I stared into his unique eyes as a flash of sadness overcame them. The emotion passed as quickly as it had surfaced, becoming replaced by a hesitant happiness.
Benji's gesture brought tears to my eyes which I forced back, smiling instead. "Thank you," I whispered, truly grateful.
As I wrapped my pinky in Benji's, I felt the walls that I'd built around myself to protect myself from Jackson's abuse start to crumble. Benji and Leo must had shared a wonderful friendship that had run deep for they were both beautiful people with huge hearts that beat for others.
Without a second thought, I threw my arms around Benji's broad shoulders and hugged him tightly. His entire body stiffened and his arms remained rigid by his sides.
"Thank you," I repeated to which Benji said, "You already thanked me."
"No, I mean for being friends with my brother. We're going to win the competition together, okay?"
After a few seconds, Benji's arms came up around my back and he pulled me close, murmuring, "Of course."
I didn't know how long we stood in each other's embrace before we separated. I blushed, pushing my glasses higher up the bridge of my nose as I awkwardly shuffled my feet and twisted the ring that Leo had given me.
Benji cleared his throat, announcing, "Carlos should be here soon."
"Oh, are you two training?"
He ran a hand through his blonde hair and replied, "Yeah. Despite his appearance, Carlos is no one to mess with. He made it to the finals last year for a reason."
A sudden thought occurred to me and I pointed out, "Won't you have to challenge Carlos during the competition?"
Benji shrugged. "It depends on how the bracket is set up, but if we both make it to the finals..."
"Then you'll have to fight each other," I finished for him.
"But don't worry," Benji grinned, "I'll take him down if it comes to that."
"I can hear you, kid!" A familiar voice joked from behind the door of the apartment.
Benji laughed, crossing the room to open the door for Carlos who had a pair of bright red boxing gloves tucked under one of his arms and a pair of worn, faded boxing gloves under the other. Shooting a look over his shoulder, he came inside and closed the door behind him.
"Hey, Drew," he greeted. "Sabrina's not here, is she? I wouldn't want her to witness it when I crush her little bro, you know?"
Benji chuckled. "Don't get so arrogant," he daringly warned with a crooked smile.
"They don't call me Fuego Carlitos for nothing," Carlos boasted and puffed out his chest, causing Benji to snort.
"Let's just get started," Benji said, snatching the old boxing gloves from Carlos. He removed his long sleeved shirt to uncover a gray tank top he wore underneath. His inky black tattoos impressively spiraled the length of his muscular arms, and I found myself searching for the initials Jackson had discovered.
Carlos confidently cracked his knuckles before sliding on his newer gloves as Benji dragged over the blue mat and put on his own gloves. I stood back as each of the boys chose a side and raised their arms, bent at the elbows. They bounced on the balls of their feet as their faces constricted into full seriousness and unyielding determination.
"Three," Benji began the countdown.
Carlos stretched his arms out, saying, "Two."
"One," they said together.
Benji's eyes glowed as he and Carlos circled the mat. He was the first to attack, lashing out with a quick jab to Carlos' chest. Carlos easily blocked the jab with his forearm and countered with a punch that carried much more strength than Benji had used. Landing a solid hit on Benji's shoulder, Carlos concluded the combination by socking his opponent in the jaw with his left hand.
I involuntarily gasped as Benji's head snapped to the side and a red blotch began to surface directly on the spot where Carlos had struck him on the jaw. Carlos didn't give Benji the chance to recover before he caught the hazel eyed boy in a left hook. He brought his knee up fast, digging it into Benji's gut.
Benji grunted and doubled over, clutching his stomach as he struggled to regain his breath. Using the moment to his advantage, Carlos packed a powerful punch to Benji's cheek, fluidly sweeping out a leg in a low kick at the same time.
Carlos cleanly knocked Benji off his feet, causing him to crash on the mat beneath the two of them. Benji's head bounced off the mat as Carlos descended on top of him, pinning the helpless boy to the ground.
Benji struggled beneath Carlos' weight, but failed to heave the boxer off of him; the very same boxer who had been training the entire two years that Benji hadn't been.
Carlos banged his glove against the mat beside Benji's head ten times, counting, "Ten, nine, eight..." and so on until he reached, "zero," each time his hand made contact with the mat.
Carlos jumped to his feet, immediately taking off a glove as he stretched a hand down to his defeated opponent, offering Benji assistance.
Benji swiftly knocked Carlos' hand away and climbed to his feet, growling, "Again."
Carlos worriedly casted me a look, but agreed to have a rematch. I lost track of the number of matches the boxers competed in. Nevertheless, the outcomes were all the same.
Carlos would pin Benji to the blue mat within minutes of starting the match and the headstrong man that he was, Benji would request a rematch that Carlos' ego wouldn't allow him to turn down.
When it became evident that Benji was behaving as a useless as a punching bag, I stepped in saying, "I think that's enough now."
Carlos swiped his arm across his forehead, unsuccessfully getting rid of the sweat pouring down in his face. Benji breathed heavily from where he stood with his hands on his knees. His bandana had turned a darker red due to the sweat soaked on it.
"Yeah, I'm exhausted," Carlos admitted, collapsing on the mat. "Gross," he said in disgust when his arm landed in a puddle of sweat.
Benji cursed, slamming his gloves on the floor in aggravation. "I won't be able to win like this," he concluded, locking his fingers together behind his head.
Lifting a hand in the air from where he laid, Carlos said, "Hey, just because you lost to Fuego Carlitos doesn't mean that you'll lose to everyone. I'm the best boxer so don't worry about it."
"If I'm not in the finals against you, then The Bruiser will be. We all know how that would end, hm?" Benji rhetorically asked.
Speaking up before their playful banter turned into a vicious argument, I asked, "Benji, how come Carlos and The Bruiser have stage names, but you don't?"
"He does," Carlos blurted, slapping a hand over his lips. "Forget what I just said," he pleaded when Benji shot him a death glare.
"I had one," Benji corrected, "but that's in the past."
"What was it?" I wanted to know. My brother's had been Dark Lion because his hair had been the same black shade as mine.
Benji's lips pressed together in a straight line as he debated whether or not to tell me his stage name.
"Come on," Carlos taunted, "It's not that embarrassing."
A look of utter confusion crossed Benji's attractive features as he mentally tried to communicate with Carlos who dramatically mouthed a few words.
"Dude, I can't read your lips," Benji said.
Throwing his hands up in the air, Carlos exclaimed, "For the love of--Benji called himself Teeny."
"Teeny?" I asked.
Carlos nodded enthusiastically. "Yup. He was the youngest in the competition, so, uh, he was the smallest? Yeah, he was a tiny teenage boy," he finished unconvincingly.
Leaping to his feet before Benji or I could interject, Carlos grabbed his gloves and headed for the door. "I'll be back again and hopefully next time, you'll put up more of a fight," he said with a smirk.
"See you later, Carlos," I said, waving.
"I'm going to meet Sabrina for a date since it's our seventh year anniversary going out with each other," he let us know, elbowing Benji in the ribs.
He paused once he wrapped a hand around the doorknob and turned back with a look of pure dread.
"Shit. I can't believe I'm just now realizing this, but I was planning on, you know," he said as his cheeks turned crimson, "popping the question, but-"
Benji cut him off, saying, "You're going to ask my sister to marry you?"
Carlos smiled sheepishly. "I guess that makes us brother-in-laws, Teeny."
***********
Hi! I've started a new job and have had to work a lot of hours these past few days so I haven't had much time to update. Sorry!! :)