Under the Lights (part one)

RJ just stood there. His mouth was dropped; his legs were shaking; his

heart was hammering inside of him like a carpenter. He had never been

on the other side of the ropes before. He had never had anyone else

strap on his gloves. The same question kept blocking his focus. It

rattled inside his brain and stole his attention completely. The question

was, “do I belong here.” The bell rang with a stinging wave that echoed throughout the building, but he never even heard it. Everything swirled around him, as he

stumbled and fell against the outside of the ring.

“ Hey RJ, your up.”

Eight weeks before, RJ had once again signed up for the Florida 14-16

Duo Martial Arts season. He only signed up because his best friend

Thompson Banks needed a partner to qualify. The deal was that

Thompson would start the first four of eight rounds and win the fight

before RJ ever had to take his turn. This was really not that

improbable, because Thompson was by far the greatest fighter that the

league had ever seen. He was the reason they started buffing up on their

protective head gear. The year before this had been easy, Thompson

had made his way through the season almost untouched and won the

championship in the second round. Every thing should have been the

same this year, but something was different. Travis Field, that is what

was different. He hadn’t taken many belongings to Florida, but he

brought plenty of trouble. He was the only fighter anybody in town had

ever seen that could go toe to toe with Thompson, and last four rounds.

Travis had his little brother as a partner, and he was almost just as

good. Jackson had been fighting all his life! When the final fight, the

league championship came around, Thompson needed to win, and fast!

Unfortunately, that just didn’t happen. The first round had dragged on,

and Thompson had taken a beating. The second round was better, but

Thompson still lost points. In the third round, Thompson had hung on

for dear life, and had tied his opponent in that round, but he was still

down an overwhelming amount of points. In the fourth round, the old

champion made an incredible comeback. It was a sell out worthy

performance. The crowd had gone wild as he tore the new kid to

pieces. It wasn’t enough though. Right before the knockout blow, the

bell sounded. Thompson was forced out of the ring despite his constant

begging for another round. Now everything rested on RJ’s shoulders,

which were already sagging from fear and weakness. It is true, RJ had

wanted to be a fighter all of his life. He had trained hard, and even though he lacked natural hormones from birth and would never grow to full strength without them, his heart still burned for this moment. Unfortunately, when it finally came, the lights burned

harder. He stepped out onto the ring, and watched the arrogant younger

brother strut around the ring, clearly begging for attention.

This was the moment of victory that he had always wanted, but did

victory want him?

* ten likes and I will publish part two.