Page 41 of Bruised Hearts

“You been calling me nonstop. Now, I wouldn’t mind if I knew you were calling for me, but it feels like you call when you’re trying to stop yourself from calling that man.” I can’t say she was wrong, but this call had nothing to do with that.

“I thought that’s what besties was for. Excuse me for bothering you, I won’t call again.”

“You tried it. You’re not about to guilt trip me into being Breaker 2.0.” Giggling, I couldn’t say shit because I was caught.

“Bestie, who else I’mma talk to about it? You’re all I got, so you gotta take it.”

“Nope. I am a firm believer in trauma dumping and transference of energy. Since you been mad at Breaker, I’ve cursed out my bus driver, accused him of lying about eating the last piece of pie, and thought about swinging on him once. I rethought the last one though. He’s not Breaker, but he’s still a big Black American.” This time I laughed out loud.

“Leave that man alone. He loves you, Charly.”

“We thought the same about Breaker. I just can’t accept that someone that is so thoughtful they restored your father’s gloves can be that messed up. I really think you should call him.”

“Not happening. I don’t blame him. I knew better, and I allowed myself to fall for it.”

“Okay, I’m not about to do this today. I done side eyed my bus driver again, and he’s not even here.”

“Do you think I’m doing the right thing? Training at another gym?”

“Two things can be right at the same time. I don’t think you should give up what you fought so hard for, but at the same time, I don’t think your new trainers will be as effective as Breaker.” Funny, I thought the same thing.

“Yeah, I agree.”

“Well, you’re not going to figure it out sitting in the car. At least give it a try. You’re Nova. You’ve been through worse. You don’t get to give up, not even for Breaker’s fine ass.”

“That man was fine, wasn’t he?” Opening my car door, I grabbed my bag and got out of the car. “I’ll let you know how it goes.” We said our goodbyes as I walked inside. The air and energy in Knock Outs were different from The Ninth Round. Everyone seemed to be aware of the cameras that were there for Danger who was in the corner putting on a show. The Ninth Round was more off the grid and gritty. Looking around, I found a trainer in the back alone and walked over.

“Hey, I’m Nova. I was told to come here and train. I don’t know who’s assigned to my corner.”

“I’m Fixer, your chief second, and I’ve been waiting on you to get here. Your Second is Vonny over there, and Pippy is your cut man. They won’t work with you until fight night though. You will spar with Tangy once I feel you’re ready.” Everything was so formal here, and it was going to take some time to get used to.

“Okay,” I said unenthused.

“You good?” I nodded, so he pointed to the locker room. “Go put your stuff up in there, get gloved out, and meet me at the bags.” Walking off, I wasn’t sure if this was going to work. I felt out of place. Doing everything he instructed, I made my way back to Fixer. He was working with someone else, so I stood there.

“What are you waiting on? Get to work.”

“Oh, I thought I was doing the bag with you.”

“Listen, everybody here is busy. Someone is always training, getting ready for a fight, or just conditioning. There will be nobody here holding your hand. Get in where you fit in until someone can make it over.” Not wanting to piss anyone off, I bit back my words. I was tearing a lining out of my jaw trying not to go off on his ass. Going over to the bag, I got in my stance and began punching. I was in a groove when Fixer stopped me.

“What are you doing?”

“Hitting the bag.” I couldn’t avoid my annoyance from showing. Hell, I was two seconds from hitting him.

“You’re doing that all wrong. If you go in the ring using that form, your ass gone be knocked out in round one.”

“Breaker said my original stance was wrong. My height-…”

“You’re not at your old gym. These are the best fighters in the world training in here. Trust me, we know what we are doing. Now, stand like this and bring your arms out some.” I wanted to tell his ass you don’t have the best fighters because the champ is across town at The Ninth, but Landon could suck a dick, so I wasn’t about to praise his name. Taking a deep breath, I tried to do it his way. Somehow, I kept slipping into my old stance pissing him off.

“This is not working. I’m reverting back to muscle memory.”

“You don’t say. I’m going to send Vonny over here. Once he feels you got it right, then I’ll come work with you.” Fixer walked off leaving me devastated. All the voices from over the years saying I wasn’t good enough began sounding off in my head. Not wanting to wait on Vonny, I began hitting the bag the way Fixer was telling me. I only had a month to get it right, so I checked my attitude and tried to focus. Around forty minutes later, Vonny finally made his way over to me. By that time, I had gotten it down pat. He held the bag while I went into attack mode.

“If you twist your arm some when you swing, you can do more damage.”

“Is that safe? Breaker told me swinging like that can damage my wrist.”