“You come for a fight?”
The question came from my left and I looked that way to find Burt sidling up to me. He had a half-smoked, fatty cigar clenched in his teeth and his shirt was unbuttoned enough to see more hair than a seventies porn star, complete with gold chains gleaming in the low light.
“Yeah,” I said.
“On a scale of one to ten?”
“Twelve.”
“Shit,” he said, but he grinned. There was nothing Burt loved more than money, well, except blood, so the fact he knew I was itchin’ for a fight meant he had someone who could draw enough to make me hurt.
“You got someone good?” I asked.
“I got someone mean.”
I grinned. “Perfect.”
“Iggy’ll be your second.”
“Whatever,” I replied. I didn’t really care who watched my back. I wanted to hurt. I needed pain to wash away the beauty I’d experienced tonight. I didn’t deserve it and I needed a reminder of that fact.
“I’ll be back in a few.”
I gave him a chin lift and focused back on the current fight. The knockout didn’t take long and the crowd was a little disappointed that the carnage was quick, but this just gave Burt an opportunity to rile them up again with what he had in store.
“We got a special treat for you assholes!” he called over the mic, nodding toward me. “This here’s Doom. He’s in the mood for a challenge, so I’m gonna give him one.”
The crowd’s din grew and Burt turned waving his arm. A giant of a man emerged from the back and I couldn’t stop a smile. Yes. This was exactly what I wanted.
At six-foot-four, I was not small, but the man I was going to fight dwarfed me and I knew I was going to enjoy this battle.
I walked into the circle, removing my cut and T-shirt as I went, handing everything off to Iggy, then meeting my opponent in the middle. Burt walked the perimeter, taking bets, then met us in the middle with a huge smile. “You know the rules.”
We both nodded and Burt walked into the crowd.
The hit that came, came hard and I relished it. But I didn’t let it happen again. Because my opponent was several inches taller than me, I focused on his kidneys and got several jabs in. We sparred for three minutes before the bell rang then we rested for a minute. Iggy gave me water and patched me up as best he could, then we were back in.
I don’t remember anything after that, just the blessed black that covered me as unconsciousness came.
* * *
“Jesus Christ, Doom,” Doc hissed, pushing away from his truck.
“Whad-dar-you-doin-here?” I slurred through my swollen, bloody mouth.
“Burt called.”
Iggy handed me off to him and Doc helped me into the truck.
“Thanks, man,” Doc said.
“No problem.” Iggy jogged back into the building and Doc shook his head.
“You need to get a handle on this shit.”
“Wherez-bike?” I asked as Doc climbed into the truck beside me.
“Rabbit drove it back to the compound.”
