I watched him take on a different kind of challenge and he was knocking out his opponent the way I taken out mine in the ring. Only he was fighting a battle I… I couldn’t. I had to stay in the shadows with only a few hours of comfort from men who were paid to spend some time with me. My life, though successful, was empty. I envied Aiden for his courage and his freedom to be brave. The more I watched him on television, the more I wanted to see him again. When we touched hands for that brief moment, it was as if I had felt some kind of connection to him, but I ignored it at the time. I’d had other things on my mind during that exchange.
The more we talked, the more relaxed I became around him. I liked that Superman was his favorite hero too. Maybe that was why I had used his first name when we shook hands goodbye. Truth be told, I was a little upset when Barry ended the interview. I kind of wanted to talk to him some more, but I guess that was Barry’s way of saving me from the damn thing. I turned the channel, because looking at Aiden made me desire him more and I hated wanting things I couldn’t have.
I found an action flick on one of the premium channels free of commercials and watched that. This was my last night in the hotel. The week before one of my fights, I liked to take myself out of the comfort of my home and spend it someplace unfamiliar. It meant I couldn’t get too relaxed even when I stayed in the lap of luxury. It helped me keep my game tight and my mind focused. I liked the Baldwin Hotel for its privacy and the fact that it was only two miles from Barry’s gym and four blocks from the arena. But if I wanted to stay wealthy, I wasn’t going to spend another night there. My bags were already packed, with the exception of my jogging outfit I was going to wear tomorrow.
As I laid there enjoying the movie, my cell started ringing. With a quick check of the caller ID, I saw that it was my brother. I answered. “Hey, Bro.”
“What’s up? I caught your match on Pay-Per-View… couldn’t you have dragged it out at least two more rounds so I could at least feel like I was getting my money’s worth?” he asked with a chuckle.
I smiled. “Maybe if he hadn’t talked so much shit leading up to our fight, I might have taken it a little easier on him.”
My brother, Rico, snorted. “No, you wouldn’t have.”
“You’re right, I wouldn’t have.”
We both laughed at that.
“So, I bet you’re feeling awfully good today, defending champ,” Rico said.
I sighed. “Yeah, the Light Heavyweight belt is still around my waist, so I’m feeling great. If you know Barry, then you know there’s no rest for the wicked. Barry worked me to the bone in the gym today… but I enjoyed the training. Felt like I accomplished a lot. How’s the wife and kids?”
“Getting on my damn nerves. You want them?”
“Hell no.”
He laughed. “Speaking of, when are you going to get a pair of your own?”
“Never. I see how unhappy you are. Why would I ever want to bring that kind of misery and despair onto myself?” I joked.
I loved my sister-in-law, Macy, and niece and nephew, Melanie and Alex. Of course, like the rest of the world, he had no idea I was gay. I didn’t have the kind of family that accepted that “kind of shit,” as my father, Ignacio, called it. Even when I had crushes on other kids growing up, I never felt comfortable telling them about my feelings. I remembered being confused and too afraid to seek help. It wasn’t until I was sixteen that I met another kid who was just like me. He was my first, and my heart broke when his family moved away. But being with him let me know I wasn’t going crazy. And that my desires weren’t my own, but shared by other males. That was the first time I didn’t feel alone. I cherished those times.
My brother finished laughing at my joke. “Fuck you, Macio,” he retorted.
“You never answered my question.”
“They’re good, but they miss their Uncle Macio. When do you plan on coming out here to L.A. to visit us?” he asked.
“I’ll try to make some time soon. I’ll let you know.”
“Cool. Listen, I’m going to let you go. I’m proud of you, little bro.”
I smiled. “Thanks. I’ll talk to you later.”
We didn’t do any mushy shit like saying “I love you” because it was implied. I wasn’t sure if my brother would still be proud to call me his brother if he knew that I was gay, in spite of the love we had. Sometimes love didn’t conquer all… or maybe that kind of love came with too many conditions. Regardless, I never felt comfortable telling him the truth. Again, as I turned off the television to get some sleep, my thoughts drifted back to Aiden. God, why couldn’t I get his very sexy and bitable ass out of my mind?
My cellphone ringing woke me up. I silenced the call and rolled back over, hoping I could fall back to sleep. I had been gone from my home for two weeks straight and had flown into LAX late the night before. All I wanted in the entire fucking world was a solid seven hours of sleep. I loved my job at Ringside Magazine, but hotel hopping got old during a long tip.
Instead of leaving a voicemail, the person called right back, and I knew immediately who it was and what he wanted. “Good morning, Jerry,” I said to my editor when I answered the phone.
“When are you going to turn in your interview with Animacio De Niro?” I didn’t get a good morning, a hello, or a bend over and grab your ankles. Just straight to the reason for his call. Jerry Wisnowski was a brilliant reporter-turned-editor, but his people skills were lacking.
“Jerry, I already told you I didn’t get enough out of him to writea story.” I didn’t bother disguising my frustration with him. “The coach and publicist only gave me half an hour to interview him and most of that was spent arguing with the guy over why I was asking certain questions.” I slowly released a frustrated breath. I had never dealt with such an infuriating athlete since I had been hired by Ringside five years prior. “I think he answered two questions.”
I thought our readers would love to know how Macio got started fighting – hell, a lot of people could relate to being bullied. Knowing the reason he liked Batman over Superman was cute and would give personality to the article, but those two things were not nearly enough. I feared I was about to do something I’d never had to do before; I was going to mark the interview off as a failure and accept that I wouldn’t be writing an article about my time spent with Macio… Mr. De Niro.
“You’re a writer, Aiden. Make it work.” There was a flick of a lighter, followed by Jerry inhaling deeply from a cigarette. “I’m giving you one more week to come up with something. Don’t let me down after I stuck my neck out for you.” The call with Jerry ended as abruptly as it had begun.
I had never heard Jerry get so worked up about an interview. Other staff reporters had run into a wall like I had with Macio and weren’t told to make it work. I sure as hell didn’t appreciate his parting comment to me, like he’d really gone out on a limb when I wrote my article about being gay and the homophobia that existed in sports. He wanted no part of that article, but was overruled by his boss who didn’t mind making a splash.
