“You have no clue? Nathan, you took off running for the fucking desert over a man who doesn’t give a fuck about you.”
I was about to let everything I’ve held inside rain down on him. It was about time Nate opened his fucking eyes. I had to lay it on thick and hoped he bought some of it.
“Your father has been shit for as long as I’ve known him, and I’ve known him longer than you’ve been alive. I watched him bring you to the sportsbooks and bet a shit ton of money that he didn’t even have. He blew money on nothing rather than provide for you. I remember leaving the casino one night and spotted you. Your father left you in a chair at the end of the sportsbook while he scoured the aisles for plastic cups that still had beer in them or parlay cards that hadn’t been collected on. I despised your father, and I hated watching how he neglected you. Anyone could have walked out of there with you when he wasn’t looking. I can give you a much better life, and I’ve been trying to show you that, Nathan. For months now, I’ve been trying to give you opportunities that your father wouldn’t give to you, even if he had the means. Your scumbag father, the one you wanted to check on, won’t even take your phone calls. How does that make you feel?”
I let go of him and shoved him to the ground. Nate glared up at me with hate-filled eyes.
“Marcos!” Max hollered.
I turned to look at him. “Shut up, Max.” I kicked Nate and yelled the question again. “How does that make you feel, Nathan?”
“Like shit.” He sniffled and shook his head.
“And you want to be one of the many for Hollis Ward and his fucking baby dragons? Have some respect for yourself! You and Diego are my guys! I’ve been trying to be patient with you and trying to let you come around on your own, but you’re a stubborn guy, and it’s not sinking in. Taking off in a sprint for the desert tells me that you’re not going to come around on your own. So now my patience has gone out the window. You want to be treated like shit, so be it. I’ll treat you like your piece of shit father treated you. When you grow up and realize that I’m here to help you succeed, then I’ll treat you the same as Diego. But right now, you haven’t deserved it.”
Hollis
July
Patrick and I walked into the gym where my young fighters trained to check on them. I stopped in a few days out of the week and spent some one-on-one time with each of them.
I’d hoped we’d see Nate today. I hadn’t seen him in a few weeks, and even though none of these guys were under contract, all of them, including Nate, had been really good about notifying someone on the staff if they were going to be out or late.
“Think we’ll see Nate?” I asked Patrick.
“I hope so. That kid worries me some.”
“Why? Do you think something happened?”
“I don’t know. I just have a weird feeling. He’s got that addict father,” Patrick began. “He could be hurt or something.”
“True.” I took a long sip of my coffee. “Or, he could just be an eighteen-year-old experiencing freedom for the first time,” I suggested.
“He did just graduate high school last month.”
I could tell by Patrick’s voice that he was trying to find reasoning with my suggestion. It had only been a few weeks after all. While I naturally thought of positive things, Patrick automatically thought the worst.
“There’s Marty.” I gestured with my coffee cup in the direction of my boxing coach. “Let’s go talk with him.”
I leaned on the cage beside Marty while he hollered out tips to the fighters.
“How’s it going, Marty?” I asked.
“Good, Hollis. Everything is going well.” Marty looked around and pointed in the direction of some treadmills. “Herb and Frank are working with a couple of guys on their conditioning, and Leo is working with another pair. And I’m watching these two.”
“Where’s Nate the Great?” I asked and looked around.
“Hollis, the last time I saw Nate was a few weeks ago.”
“No one has heard from him since?” I asked.
“I don’t think so.” Marty whistled loudly and then yelled, “Guys, take a break. Spencer, come here.” While Spencer took his gloves off and walked over, Marty looked at me. “Spencer was sparring with Nate a few weeks ago at one of the voluntary workouts. I don’t know exactly what happened, but some of the other guys said trainers from another team were here that day. I had gone into the office to take a call, but when I came out, everything seemed to have settled.”
“What’s up, Coach Marty?” Spencer asked. He smiled and wiped sweat from his head when I tossed a towel over the top to him. “Hi, Hollis,” he said.
“Remember back a few weeks ago when you were fighting with Nate?”
“Yeah.”
