Chapter Twenty-Seven
Justin
It was just a few days from my final fight, and I knew I needed to get some more training in beforehand. I showed up at the gym after dropping Margie off with Anna, who luckily had no clients that day. She was so great for watching Margie at the last second. I knew I shouldn’t do that, but she told me she loved spending time with Margie ,and I could tell she wasn’t lying. It helped that Margie adored her just as much.
“Justin, we need to talk about your fight on Friday,” Artie said when I walked into the gym.
“What about it?” I asked.
“It’s Tyler. You know this guy. I know this guy. We both know his tricks,” Artie said.
“Yeah, and?”
“And he’s gonna fight dirty, Justin. You have to be on the lookout for that. You know he’s going to try to pull some borderline illegal stuff.”
I nodded, suddenly understanding Artie’s concerns. Tyler was a dirty fighter, Artie was right, but what he didn’t know was that I was expecting it. I knew all about Tyler. And though it had been a few years since I’d last fought him, I knew what to expect from him. I knew what to watch out for.
“I’ve got this, Artie. I promise,” I said as I put on my boxing gloves.
“I just want to make sure your head is in this and that you stay focused on Tyler only. Don’t let anything else distract you. You gotta go into it with a clear head. We don’t need you getting injured or KO’d during this final fight.”
“That’s not going to happen, Artie. I’ve got this, I promise I do,” I said and turned to go do some punches at the punching bag. I really did appreciate Artie and all he was doing for me, but it was hard sometimes. When he got like this, it made me feel like he didn’t trust me or my moves. I needed him to have some faith in me. I needed him to believe in me.
I threw some punches at the punching bag for an hour before I took a five-minute break.
“Your stance was great,” Artie said.
“Thanks,” I said and took a drink from my water bottle. “I’m gonna get in the ring. Anyone around up to sparring?” I asked.
“I’ll go check,” Artie said and walked away.
I checked my phone to see if Anna texted or called. I trusted her with Margie, but things could happen at any moment, and I’d hate to miss an emergency. There was nothing. I double checked to make sure my phone was set on loud.
A few minutes later, Joe walked over to me.
“Hey man, long time no see,” he said and held out his hand.
I gave him a high five, and we bumped fists. It was something we always did when we saw each other.
“Yeah, I know. I’ve been so busy trying to get through all this Markie bullshit.”
“Yeah. How’s that going? Just one more fight, right?” he asked
“Yeah, man. It’s on Friday. I’m trying to get as much training as possible done. It’s gonna be a tough one,” I said.
“Artie said you need a sparring partner. I’ll do it,” he said.
“Thanks, man, I appreciate it.”
“No problem,” he said, and we walked over to where the sparring protective gear was.
We got ready, and in five minutes, we were both in the ring together.
“Don’t go easy on me,” I said to Joe.
“Oh, I won’t,” he said.
We touched gloves, and Artie said, “Go.”