“Half a mile away in any direction of your choosing, probably,” I tell her. “We try not to park in front of where a fight’s to be held unless there’s some way to make it look like we belong there. That’s never really been my job, so I don’t know what all goes into that, but we‘re probably going to want to keep going down this road, at least a little further.”
“Do you know how to get past the fence?” she asks.
“Not yet,” I answer. “I’m sure we’ll find some gap, though. There’s always a gap.”
“I’m asking because I should probably let you out here so you don’t burn off too much energy on the walk back,” she says.
“Aww,” I tease, “you’re actually starting to get into this a little, aren’t you?”
She scoffs and says, “Of course not,” but she’s looking out the window when she says it and she avoids eye contact immediately afterward.
Given enough time and exposure, everyone gets into MMA eventually. I honestly think it’s an instinctual thing.
“I’ll be fine,” I tell her. “It’ll be good to get a little warm up on the way.”
She shrugs and pulls back onto the road. We’re a little ways further down the winding street before we start coming across cars parked randomly at the side of the road.
Ash finds a good place a little further down the way and we get out.
I’m pulling my duffel bag out of the backseat, but Ash latches onto the strap, saying, “I’ve got this. You just worry about getting your head in the game.”
Yeah, she’s getting into it.
The bag is light enough it won’t be a problem, but she’s not letting go of the strap, so I finally relent and let her take it.
“Huh,” she says, lifting and lowering the bag a few times. “You really don’t bring much, do you?”
“There’s really not a lot to bring,” I tell her.
As we’re walking back toward the building, Ash is silent. This allows me to focus on what’s about to happen.
It’s been five days since the last time I hit the gym, so I’m not at my peak. I snuck out a little earlier today for a few quick sets, but even if I’d had all the time in the world, I wouldn’t have wanted to push it too hard.
There’s too much riding on this, and I’ve got to hold the balance.
We get to the abandoned warehouse and my eyes start moving over the fence, looking for whatever entrance has been provided for tonight’s event.
We have to walk all the way around to the back before we find the gap in the fence.
Ash hands me my duffel bag when we get up to the fence and I toss it, trying to get it over the fence, but the bottom catches a couple of barbs and just kind of dangles there. I can worry about that once I’m on the other side, though.
We get through and I climb up the fence a little to get a good angle on my duffle bag, but still end up tearing a long line out of the bottom of it.
I don’t care. Today, I am calm, clear.
Finding that kind of peace was a little difficult earlier when I got Dr. Sadler to tell me exactly how she knew so many specifics about my life. Honestly, I was expecting her to say something about her years of training and how she can spot pain a mile away. I didn’t expect her to tell me that she likes to keep a private investigator on the payroll to look into new clients.
Her explanation was that those who drop out of therapy early are usually in the first few weeks. If they can get past that point in the first session, everyone’s happy. That’s what she said. “Everyone’s happy.”
What a loon.
Still, that loon does give advice I’m actually willing to take and she’s bound by doctor-patient confidentiality, so I left her office without calling the cops.
As we approach the building, I’m starting to get a little nervous that we haven’t seen anyone. Usually, there are a couple of guys standing outside with a cigarette, but I’m not even seeing a bouncer at the only door on this side of the building.
As we get a little closer, I can start to hear voices coming from inside the building and the adrenaline starts.
If I can beat Furyk, I have a chance to win this whole thing. I don’t know who I’d be going up against in the final, but from everything I’ve heard, Furyk’s really the only guy on the scene that might be able to take me down.