Bare Knuckled

Chapter Six- Cornerman

Feeling as if he had lost the grand opportunity that he had to turn his life around, with the chance to be able to take Mackenzie from her seemingly horrid situation, Zane spent the next day after the fight isolated within his apartment. Not even the sound of his mail being dropped off down the hall was enough to make him get up. Instead of existing as one with the world or committing to being a part of society, Zane focused all of his frustration on the stand up punching bag gifted to him by Butch before his failure. With all of the dramatic thoughts in Zane’s mind, he was waiting for the second that a knock would come on his door and he would be told he would have to leave. He was prepared for anything to come to his door-everything but what had. 

Although he wanted to ignore the sound of the knock, he knew that he couldn’t evade his fate forever, and so he moved to the door and opened it to see Candace on the other side of the threshold. A smile crafted from pity came across her ruby lips as she waited to be invited in. Taken aback from having expected Butch, one of his goons, or even the apartment manager to come to him, he moved from the center of the door so she could enter, before slowly making his way around the apartment in an attempt to clean with a subtle touch. 

“I wanted to see how you were doing…” She spoke while making her way towards the living area of the apartment. It had seemed that even though Butch had been unkind go Zane in some aspect, he did go to some lengths of a kind attempt by giving him a fully furnished apartment. Because of this, she took a seat upon the couch and sat upon the edge-almost fearful to sit back and relax in entirety. 

“I’m fine…” He lied in an attempt to remain indifferent to her real reason for being present. He wondered if Butch sent his wife so he wouldn’t have to be the one to deal with the brunt of the firing that Zane felt was awaiting him. The notion was made clear by the look of sadness in her eyes that continued as she tried to find the proper words to say. 

“You don’t have to lie to me.” She verbally cornered him as he then looked to her in surprise. His arms came to his chest, folding into a defensive stance before watching her then stand to her feet. “If you’re worried that you’re fired, that’s not why I’m here...I’m here to tell you that you have one chance with him...and although you may not have been the victor that night, it doesn’t mean that that chance is over…”

“How can there be anything else out there for me other than being a janitor? At least with that, I had a constant paycheck and an apartment that I didn’t feel I had to give an arm and a leg for to show my appreciation-”

“I came here to tell you that they ruled his notion immoral against you.”

“What? What does that mean?”

“Apparently someone went to the higher board and made them see that it should have been a foul-which would have made you the winner by default. But to be fair to both sides, they say that you have the opportunity to fight again, because of his illegal move.”

Zane smiled to her. “Just someone?” he asked as he held her under suspicion as having been that "someone".

“It doesn’t matter...what matters is that the right thing was done. So you have two weeks until you go up against him again...only now, you know what kind of fighter he is...you know he will play dirty if he has the chance…” He nodded. 

“Thank you, Mrs-” She smiled before moving back towards the front door. 

“Please just call me Candy...everyone else does…” She commented while moving to the door before hearing his voice speak again, making her freeze where she stood. 

“Why are you helping me?” He questioned her, moving close enough to her to almost have her up against the door by her arms, and moving closer with each second it took her to answer the question. 

“Because you helped me...and you never asked me about it...all you cared about was that I was okay and staying with me, even when you were threatened by Butch...So I guess you can say I’m in your corner…” She spoke with a low, almost breathy tone as he now had his hands on either side of her as her back was pressed up against the door. 

“Okay…” He spoke while moving his hand to the doorknob, pulling it open, to allow her to exit. When she was released from his arms, she was able to breathe again, unaware of how he had truly affected her up until now. There was something about the way she became when he was near her; a way that made her turn into a giddy school girl-a feeling she adored having, but one she was embarrassed to harbor at the same extent. Because of this, she didn’t even turn to say goodbye, as she pulled her purse close to her side and made her way quickly from the building, trying to appear as if nothing had changed-but it was clear to them both of the effect he held on her. Because of the news she had delivered and the fact she had done so in person, his depression seemed to fade and become replaced with hope-something he hadn’t had in quite a long time. 

Without a second to spare, Zane quickly changed his attire into that in which he could use his full range of motion within, before grabbing a drawstring bag and throwing a change of clothes and his own medical tape for his hands. When this was done to completion, he tore himself from the apartment and onto the street to make it to the arena. Upon doing so, he came upon Tariq who had been fresh off of a flight from an overseas flight, arriving back to his hometown fight. They quickly became acquainted once again by their masculine handshake before making their way inside the building and directly to the training gymnasium. 

“So you finally got out of the shadows, huh?” Tariq teased him as he pulled the training pads from the floor and brought them to his hands so Zane could use them to practice. “Was it Candace or the money that finally got you to do it?” As her name came up into the air, Zane paused for just a moment before returning to wrapping his hands for practice. “I’m not judging, I think it would do both of you some good to let out your frustrations…” He continued as Zane gave a nervous smile before moving towards Tariq. 

“Shouldn’t I be holding the gloves for you?”

“Not this time, I didn’t come back just to enjoy the great things Camden has to offer.” He spoke with sarcasm. 

“I came back to help you...especially after hearing what Erickson did to you…” 

“He won’t get that option again…” He spoke with great dedication and devotion behind his words. 

“Let’s make sure of that.” Tariq spoke while beginning their training.