“I love that name.”
“You do, huh?”
“I do.”
I gripped her ass and brushed our lips together again as my brother transitioned into playing a new song. He was a professional saxophonist, and I hired him to play for us. He didn’t want me to pay him and insisted it would be a gift, but I insisted he could get us something else as a gift. I didn’t take his skills for granted, and I believed he should be compensated generously for his talents.
“I’m ready to take you up there and make your flowers bloom.”
She laughed so hysterically at that, that she couldn’t keep kissing me. We had been talking in between pecks. When she finished, she stared at me with the brightest smile as we continued swaying. “God I love you.”
“Not half as much as I love you.”
And I believed that with my heart. As much as Dove loved me, I would always love her more. She was the most precious gift I had ever received, and I would never take a moment with her for granted.
TEN MONTHS LATER
“He looks so composedand relaxed. Ohhh, Jack, he caught him in the head with a left hook!”
“Reston’s leaning on Bloom, Nick.”
I shook him off me as he fell into the cage. When Gage Reston came toward me, I switched my stance, swung around, and kicked him in the head.
“Reston’s bleeding, Jack! He’s bleeding.”
“Yeah, but he’s still up and moving. He’s not down for the count yet.”
“If Bloom is smart, and I think he is, he’ll take advantage of the injury.”
I moved closer to him and started working his body to weaken his resolve until the bell rang. This was the rematch he had been begging for, for the last two years. It was the fight everyone wanted to see, and it was the perfect one for me to retire on.
Thoughts of my mother’s latest relapse went through my mind. It plunged me back to darker times when she would disappear on us for days at a time, leaving us hungry, scared, confused, and even at times with no utilities.
I was angry at the illness—angry at my mother. Yet, my heart broke for her too. I was even angrier at the man who had decided it was okay to make a baby with a woman who had mental health issues and leave her behind.
The reason I knew he was aware of her illness and me as a baby was because I had gained that information in one of her rare moments of clarity.
I gave Reston a couple of high kicks as he moved in, catching him off guard because he thought they would be low. He stumbled backward, but I kicked him in the head and then tripped him.
Once he was on the canvas, I became blinded, as I often did in these moments. All the noise receded, and I didn’t see the faces around me or even the man curled in a ball on the canvas. He was no longer my opponent. He was the enemy who attacked my mother’s mind, he was the demons that she fought daily, he was the fear that came at me whenever I was weak and afraid, and he was the man who fathered me but hadn’t bothered to stick around to give me a name or love.
When the ref came and tapped me, I crawled out of that dark space. The loud cheers and thunderous applause echoed all around me again, and the faces were no longer a blur. I stood with my arms raised as the arena went wild with cheers. I ran tothe rail and jumped on top of it before I kissed my gloved hands and raised them to the air in honor of the Almighty God.
My eyes lowered to the stands, and I easily found my siblings, my foster parents, and my wife. She was the one who mattered the most to me. I saw the love and acceptance in her eyes.
I climbed down and checked on Gage before I spoke with my team in the center of the ring. At the end of it all, Gage and I stood in the center of the ring and shook hands and congratulated each other on a battle well fought, before the announcement was made.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the fight was stopped at two minutes and forty-seven seconds, and we declare the winner by knockout and still the undisputed EFC heavyweight champion of the world, Reighvyn ‘Rage’ Bloom!” the announcer professed loudly.
I dropped to my knees and bowed in worship to the Almighty. It was all because of Him that I had made my way to this place in my life, and it was Him who protected me throughout my career. This was my last fight in the ring, but it wouldn’t be my last battle in life. I wasn’t worried, though, because I knew there were greater things on the horizon. I couldn’t wait for the next chapter of my journey to start.
“That was impressive last night, Son,” Papa Larry declared over dinner the next night.
“Thank you, Papa. I’m just glad that you all could make it.”
“Son, you know I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
He wasn’t lying. They had attended every fight that I had sent them tickets to.
