A Little Piece of Heaven

I felt the impact of my gloves hitting the bag. I shot my arm forward again, again, then my left arm. I imagined his face, and I punched harder. I used everything Matt had taught me- right hook, left hook, left jab, right jab. It wasn't enough. I wanted to punch harder, but I couldn't.

I tried, though, and the bag attacked back. I punched so hard I could feel my hand throbbing under my glove. And eventually, my hand gave up. I took my gloves off and threw them as hard as I could across the room. I pushed my back against the wall and slid down. I drew my knees up to my chest, and I laid my head down on my arms.

I don't know how long I'd been crying before Johnny came in. He sat down next to me, his legs out in front of him. I looked up.

"I know you're not okay, so I'm not even going to bother asking that," he said. "But what's wrong?"

"I don't want to talk about it," I replied.

"Can I tell you something then?" he asked. I nodded and he continued, "When I was younger, my dad was an alcoholic. He'd come home every other night so drunk he could hardly stand. Sometimes he hit my mom. They pretended I didn't know, but I knew. Once my dad hit my mom so hard, she had to go get stitches. That's when he decided to change. I hated him for a long time, and it took me forever to forgive him. I'm still not sure about him. How could I be, after growing up around it."

I put my head on his shoulder. "You aren't lying?" I said.

He shook his head.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't know."

"How could you have?" he asked. "I never told anyone. Well, the guys knew, but no one else."

"My dad wasn't a drunk," I said. "He was just a dick. He mostly targeted me. My mom had a job that took her out of town a lot. He hit me with stuff like crowbars and belts. Never his hands. It was like he was afraid." I looked down at my hands. "That's why I moved away as fast as I could."

"You don't have to worry anymore," said Johnny, putting his head on mine. "We're all here for you."

I smiled. "Thanks," I said. "You sure know how to make a girl feel better."

I stood up, and he stood as well. I hugged him and kissed his cheek. He smiled a bit.

"Lunch?" I said. "I'm hungry."

"I'll go get the guys"-

"How about just you and me?" I suggested. "We can let them work. We'll pick something up for them."

"Oh," said Johnny. "Okay."

"I'll go get changed then," I said.

I left Johnny standing in the room by himself. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Johnny had never been this nice before. Why now?