Ocean of Secrets

The crowd cheered loudly as Brandon was introduced by a man dressed in all black. At some point Malachai had grabbed my hand again, and now I was squeezing his tightly in anxiety. I had never witnessed something like this before, and I didn’t really want to see it now.

I risked a glance up at his face, and it was engulfed in shadow. We still hadn’t moved from our dark corner and I was glad because I couldn’t promise that my face would remain impassive throughout the whole thing. His head turned in my direction and I thought I saw a small smile grace his lips.

Malachai’s thumb traced a circle on the back of my hand and I relaxed my grip. He didn’t say anything as the man in black dropped Brandon’s arm, and he still didn’t say anything when his opponent climbed onto the stage but I couldn’t stop a small whimper from escaping my mouth.

The man that I assumed to be fighting against Brandon was twice his size. His biceps were about as large as my head, and as he walked around the ring in only his athletic shorts; I could see the muscles rippling under his skin. Brandon was going to die.

The announcer screamed his name, but I didn’t really hear it over the applause that had erupted all around us. Neither Brandon nor Malachai seemed fazed by the man’s large size, but I was having a mini heart attack inside my head.

A whistle was blown and I watched in horror as the two men began to circle the ring with their arms up, covering their faces. “Why’d you bring me here?” I couldn’t watch any longer; Brandon had taken the first staggering blow. So, I decided to ask my question again.

I didn’t think that he was going to answer because his eyes stayed on the ring. The only indication that he had heard me was the fact that he had stopped caressing the back of my hand. “I wanted to see your reaction,” and then he continued staring and rubbing as if nothing had happened. As if I had not even spoken to him.

He wanted to see my reaction, what the Hell did that mean? Why would what I thought of something like this even matter to him? I continued to stare at the side of his face, but I seemed to have no effect on him. All of his attention was on Brandon and the other man. What could possibly make this place so important to him?

I risked a glance back at the ring just as another loud cheer echoed around the large building. Brandon’s mouth was a bloody mess, but the other guy looked far worse. His nose was bent at an odd angle and blood was pouring out of it, his mouth, and one of his ears. Red marks covered almost every inch of his body and I could even see a couple bruises already forming in random spots.

The announcer guy blew his whistle as the large guy backed up from Brandon, and then after a moment to rest, they started up all over again. “How do they know when to stop?” My eyes were trained on Brandon as he dodged almost every blow. Being small seemed to be an advantage for him.

Malachai’s eyes finally turned to mine as he seemed to consider his answer. A strained smile formed on his lips, “when one of them can no longer move.”

I don’t know if he looked away from me after that or not. My brain became fuzzy and my eyes turned back to the ring. I couldn’t even feel Malachai’s fingers clasped around mine anymore; I was shocked.

I watched the rest of the match play out in slow motion, unable to move. A couple more times the crowd went crazy over a certain move that either of the gentlemen did, and then Brandon was standing over the other man. He was laying face down, and he wasn’t moving.

A hush fell over the crowd as the announcer knelt next to the body. At some signal, unseen by me, the room realized that Brandon had won and screamed once again. The announcer touched the man’s neck and nodded towards two men whom carried him off the stage.

My head ached and my eyes burned. I felt a finger on my face and realized that it was Malachai. His hand came back wet – I was crying.

Suddenly I felt a whole wave of emotions crash into me. I was sad, and angry, and tired, and I just wanted to go home. I took a small step away from Malachai and watched his face change. I didn’t even have the strength to feel bad. I just wanted to get as far away from here as possible.

Brandon walked up behind Malachai with a guarded expression on his face. Most of the blood had been wiped up from his mouth, and I could see that he really didn’t look hurt at all. “What’s up, you guys? How’d you enjoy the fight?” I could tell that the second question was directed towards me.

Sweat rolled down his face and naked torso. “You did good,” Malachai’s mood changed again as he spoke to Brandon. He looked excited and happy. “I’m going to take her home and then come back. Give me about an hour or so.”

Both men turned to face me and I looked down at the ground so that my hair would fall around my face. A hand was extended out to me; his knuckles were bloody and ripped open. “It was nice to meet you.” All I could do was stare at his hand until Malachai began to lead me back outside.