Just to Live

One of the first things Matthew did when he woke up that Sunday morning was re-call his appointment to make sure he had the right date. Of course, the man who answered the phone told Matthew that his appointment time hadn’t magically changed. “Get a grip. You made this appointment weeks ago since you wanted things to be so specific. We’ll expect you at one,” the man said before hanging up.

Reassured again, Matthew readied himself for the day which meant him wearing a muscle t-shirt, basketball shorts, and a pair of running shoes.

Next, he walked down to the third floor to Tabitha’s room. He rapped on her door three times and leaned against the wall.

The sound of something colliding gently on wood woke Tabitha up. She looked out her window thinking she overslept. Realizing she was late, she kicked the comforter away and jogged to the door, opening it quickly. Some of her franticness eased when she saw Matthew standing there. Surprise overrode the panic.

“Hey,” he smiled, revealing his prominent dimples. “I want to take you somewhere. Get ready and we’ll go.”

She did so and walked towards one of the many cars in the mansion’s garage with Matthew. He gave her a croissant when she settled herself in her seat. She gratefully accepted the breakfast food and nibbled at it.

It took time for Tabitha to realize that Matthew took her to a shopping plaza. She gave him a confused look but he refused to acknowledge her at the moment.

“Don’t argue with me please,” he pre-warned her while they walked towards Modell’s Sporting Goods.

He wouldn’t explain why he needed her to pick a pair of sneakers in her size, a wife beater, and basketball shorts. All he told her was to pick out what she liked.

The last thing on the very small to do list Tabitha needed was a pair of sneakers. Once she found an okay pair, she sneaked around the store to the cashier to pay for her items.

“Hello ma’am, how are you today?” asked the chipper young boy at the register.

Tabitha smiled. “I’m fine thanks.”

“You’re not slick,” Matthew sighed, appearing out of seemingly nowhere.

“Jesus!” Tabitha gasped, flinching.

“I’m paying for it, don’t worry about it.”

“Oh come on,” she argued. “If these things are for me, then I’m using my money.”

“You know what?” he asked. He took out his credit card and gave it to the boy. “I already paid.”

“You’re a mean person.” Tabitha pouted in the car.

He grinned.

“Are you taking me running?” she asked. He didn’t reply. “One hint?”

“It’s a place that people go to,” he said, shrugging.

“What kind of hint is that?”

“A good one. Now shush. I wanna hear this song.”

Tabitha clamped her mouth shut and listened to the song Matthew was referring to. She made a noise once she figured out who sang the song.

“Now throw your hands up in the air, and wave ‘em around like you just don’t care. If you wanna party, let me hear you yell ‘cause we’ve got it going on again,” he sang with wholesome glee.

It was lucky they arrived at the unnamed place the moment Tabitha opened her mouth to make a sarcastic comment. She was transfixed at the building she was facing. The name sounded rough and barbaric. She wasn’t sure what to make of it.

THIS IS SPARTA
Training Grounds

He took her into the building, along with the bag of clothes and sneakers. He told her to go into the changing room and wear her new clothes while he waited for her by the entrance of the conditioning room.

It took him weeks to get an appointment at this particular gym. It was the only gym he knew that could grant him the privacy he wanted without anyone bothering him. Scheduling an appointment was never an issue. The issue was having an appointment on a day with the smallest amount of people occupying the building. It wasn’t for his sake; it was for hers.

When she walked out in her new clothes and shoes, Matthew led her to the conditioning room that was currently unoccupied. He told her to sit on one of the mats as he trudged over to the closet and took a bandage wrap and boxing gloves.

He was still silent as he bandaged both of her hands with the wrap. He didn’t think she’d need it, but he had to follow the rules set by the gym. It was always safety first.

“What kind of gym is this?” Tabitha asked curiously.

Matthew finished bandaging her hands and looked at her. “A regular one?”

She smiled and shook her head. “I mean, why aren’t that many people here?”

“Oh…That. Don’t worry about it.”

He didn’t allow himself to look at her as he helped her into red boxing gloves. He then led her over to a punching bag closest to them. It was a slight shock she hadn’t asked so many questions about his plans.

“Alright.” He cleared throat and held the bag with his hands. “I want you to punch this bag with as much strength as you can.”

She frowned at her slightly raised fists. “I can’t. I’m not violent,” she replied.

“Technically, you still aren’t. You’re only exercising your strength.”

“I guess.”

“Now, punch!” he demanded.

She took one swing with her right fist. Even she knew it was a flimsy attempt.

Matthew rolled his eyes. “Are you kidding? That was pathetic!”

“It was not!” Tabitha argued.

“Oh yeah? Prove to me you can do better.”

With an almost inaudible growl, she took a harder swing.

He smiled a little. “It still sucks. How long have you been out on the streets again? Why are you so weak?”

“Shut up!” she cried, beginning to deliver extremely powerful punches for someone of her stature.

In the beginning, Matthew thought he wouldn’t need to bandage up Tabitha’s hands. Yet, while she was punching away at the bag, he had to use some of his strength to keep it from moving too much. He felt smart that he decided to take safety measures for once.

“I FUCKING HATE YOU!” Tabitha suddenly bellowed.

Thinking quick, Matthew decided to play along. “What did I ever do to you?” he asked, having to keep his balance for Tabitha’s fury grew worse.

“You left us!”

“You were better off without me!”

“Shut up!”

“You know it’s true!”

Without warning, she stopped. She didn’t say a word or left the room. All she did was hug the bag, coating it with her tears and sweat.

“How could you leave?” she whimpered. “We needed you. I still need you…”

She cried harder, a sound of so much pain; she could almost mimic a wounded animal.

Matthew felt horrible for making her cry. All he wanted to do was help her release pent up anger. He sighed and went over to her. She was trying to rip her gloves off. He frowned, taking them off for her. Once he did, she punched his chest repeatedly until she was out of breath.

“Come here,” he whispered, grabbing her sweaty body and pulled her in for a hug.

Tabitha cried against Matthew’s body, not even attempting to stop. It had been so long since she let her emotions free about her father. Although she felt like she was going to lose her voice from the crying, she wanted to keep going. She knew Matthew wouldn’t judge her for being so vulnerable. He seemed to understand that sometimes people needed to cry. He wasn’t going to make fun of her.

When she finished crying, she didn’t look at him as she ran into the bathroom.

He waited in the conditioning room for two hours, but she still hadn’t walked out. He was worried, very worried. He decided to ask one of the female trainers in the workout room to go into the bathroom to check in on Tabitha. The girls came back out after 10 more minutes of waiting. Tabitha looked apprehensive.

“Are you alright?” Matthew asked.

“Fine,” she muttered.

His brain went on overdrive. “Do you want anything? Food, chocolate, ice cream, new shoes?”

Tabitha smiled. “I’m not some rich girl that needs new shoes to be happy. I just want to go home.”

“Home?” he wondered.

She looked up at him. “Back to the mansion; home.”