As it began to peak, the bell rang.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Rex moved first, a blur of dangerous speed. All pretensions at limping were gone as his muscles flexed and he flew across the ring. Gunther hesitated for half a second too long, surprised at Rex’s movement, and caught a fast series of jabs to his face and body. Gunther quickly gathered himself and pushed Rex back, and they began to circle each other like animals on the prowl.
My whole body was tense as the crowd shouted in cheers in waves. I couldn’t tell who they were rooting for; I thought it might be more for the general violence between the two men than for either man specifically. They wanted blood and didn’t care whose blood they got. For a second, I understood Michael’s dilemma. How did you control people like this? Michael had his hands full constantly juggling one crisis after another among people who wanted nothing more than to hurt everyone around them.
More than that, I understood why Rex wanted to get away from it all. As exciting as it was, there wasn’t a single decent person in that room. Being surrounded by all that violence, anger, and death can change a person. Rex was probably trying to get out before he was stuck forever. It made sense that he was so desperate to escape. He probably didn’t know any other life, or at least hadn’t for a long time. He must have realized that his chances to truly change himself were becoming fewer and fewer.
Gunther faked a lunge forward, and Rex took a step back. Gunther then twisted and kicked at Rex’s face. Rex managed to duck at the last second, but he was off balance. Gunther used his momentum to launch himself at Rex. His fists caught Rex on the chin before Rex got his hands up to defend himself. They circled closely and traded blows like boxers, and I couldn’t tell who was winning. Their speed was incredible, and I had no idea how either man could possibly still stand after taking even a single punch, and yet they exchanged multiple. Their fists were blurs and they moved with incredible precision. I had never seen such amazing reflexes before in my life. During that exchange, Gunther probably took more hits, but Rex was already injured before the fight started, and each blow took more out of him. Soon, Rex lunged forward and they fell into a grapple, their strong arms locked around each other, struggling for control.
The sweat on their bodies rolled down toward the cold concrete floor as the din of the crowd built and fell in waves. For a second, I pretended I was in an amusement park riding a rollercoaster of sound. Blood rolled slowly from Rex’s nose and dripped onto his body. I had never seen a man force another man to bleed before with his bare hands. My rollercoaster fantasy was shattered by the violence happening in front of me. The man I loved, the man I was so deeply shattered by was being physically mauled, possibly to death. I felt a scream building in my stomach, but I stifled it. I wouldn’t give Michael the pleasure of hearing my pain.
After a short struggle, Gunther managed to get leverage under Rex, and threw him over his hip. Rex hit the ground with a soft thud, and Gunther was on top of him in a flash. Immediately, Rex wrapped his arms and leg around Gunther’s body and held him there, not allowing Gunther the ability to strike him. They began to struggle again, their muscles straining, each man looking for a slight advantage in leverage and strength. It wasn’t flashy or exciting, but I could tell that their grappling was incredibly dangerous. Both one of them was capable of killing the other with the slightest opening, and they were both keenly aware of that. While the struggle may not have looked as exciting as the punching and kicking had, I could tell that it was much more dangerous.
I glanced at Michael, and his face was completely impassive. For a moment that could decide his entire life, he was taking it in like it was another television show or something. There was no expression at all, and he stared at the two men without blinking. Aside from me, Michael was the only one in the room not cheering and yelling. I noticed men moving through the crowd with money, taking small bets on the action, and I figured that the betting was the entire point of the fights. Plus, men seemed to like fights, especially men like them. Violence and betting mixed to create the most exciting atmosphere, at least in some places.
Rex rolled to his left as Gunther attempted to rear back away from him, which let Rex get free of Gunther’s weight. Gunther jumped at Rex but missed as he scrambled to his feet. Gunther met him head on and they traded blows again, one for one. The crowd went crazy again, happy that their slow struggle had broken up. Gunther took a step forward to attempt to grab Rex again, but Rex ducked him then kicked him hard in the gut. Gunther stumbled back, and Rex followed up with a hard right hand to his jaw. Gunther fell back into the crowd, but the men there caught him and pushed him back at Rex. Gunther came up swinging. He aimed huge, powerful blows at Rex’s face, but Rex was too fast. Each fist missed by inches as Rex dodged and weaved like a pro. Their hands were blurs as they came at each other again, both smoothly blocking then counterattacking.