Last Round Romance

As a matter of fact, it hadn’t really ever been a real dream before. It was usually just the whispering voice that woke him up, but he couldn’t remember there being any mental images before that night. All he could remember from the dream were blurry images and colors. And for all he knew, that’s all that there was to it. But the one thing he knew for sure was that the voice had gone from whispering discernible words, to a scream of fear and pain that he couldn’t bear to listen to. It was so full of hurt and unknown, and he couldn’t tell who it was coming from or if it had words contained in it. All he could remember was a blur of red and white and gold. He remembered a hand, a girl’s hand, but that was all. It could’ve been anyone. Actually, it could’ve really been no one and he wouldn’t have known the difference.
When his breathing had finally gotten back to normal, he glanced over at his clock. But it was only three in the morning. There was no way that he could do anything productive at this hour in the morning. He wouldn’t have been able to focus on his homework, and there was no way that he could drop by anyone’s house. He could’ve stopped by Elliot’s but he would’ve felt bad. Elliot would have said that it wasn’t a problem, but having to deal with anyone at three in the morning was a problem, no matter how good of a friend it was that you were dealing with.
He tried hard to get back to sleep but his body wouldn’t relax. He knew that he had to get up and do something or he was going to explode. He tore the blanket off of himself and stumbled blindly over to his dresser. He took out one of his cutoffs and a pair of basketball shorts and put them on. He grabbed a pair of socks and went back and sat down on his bed and put them on. He reached under his bed and pulled out his running sneakers. He pulled them on and grabbed his iPod and a pair of headphones and quietly slipped out of his room, down the hallway and stairs, and out the front door after tiptoeing through the kitchen. He put his headphones in and started playing his workout play list and took off down the road at a jog. He didn’t know where he was going, or when he was going to turn around and start heading back, but at that point he didn’t care. He just needed to clear his head and forget about everything for a little while.
He was jogging down one of the few main roads in his town when he all of a sudden came to a stop. He saw a pair of sneakers in front of him and he looked up to apologize running into the person. At first, he was trying to think of who else would be outside at three-thirty in the morning and for a moment he thought that he was going to get kidnapped or mugged. He looked up and was in the midst of saying sorry when he realized whom it was that he had just run into. She looked a lot different when she wasn’t dolled up in skirts and ruffled tops. He tried to say hello but he found himself stammering nervously. She smiled at him good-naturedly, the way she always did. She pulled out one of her earphones, “Good morning to you too.”
They both stood there in silence for a moment before Curtis looked back up at her, “What are you doing out this early Maria?” She chuckled and shifted her weight to one foot, “I could ask you the same thing haha. But I come out and run every morning before heading back to the gym and boxing for a little while.” Curtis cocked his head to the side in confusion, “I thought you said that you didn’t box anymore?” She shrugged and looked down at the ground a little nervously, “Well, I didn’t make the boxing a regular part of my work out until a few days ago. Before then it had just been the running. But things have been kind of…difficult lately and I needed something to do so I didn’t kill anyone haha.” Curtis raised his eyebrows in shock, “Wow, I never would have had you pegged as the “murderer” type. Or the angry-boxer type haha.” She smiled and shrugged, “Well, what can you do? Before a few days ago I hadn’t done real boxing since…in a really long time. It felt nice to put my wraps on and hit the bag again,” she paused, “But enough about my weird habits. What are you doing out here at three thirty in the morning? And don’t lie to me.” He smiled at her, “I woke up and couldn’t get back sleep. I woke up and my body just couldn’t calm back down. So, I went running.”
It was like Maria had stopped regarding anything he said after he told her that he couldn’t get back to sleep. “What woke you up?” she asked in a curious yet concerned tone. Curtis just chuckled and shook his head, “It was nothing.” Maria gave a sigh that portrayed how unconvinced she was, “Don’t bullshit me Curtis.” His eyes grew a little wide at the sound of her swearing, something he had never really heard before. He looked at her and shrugged, “It was just a bad dream. No big deal.” She shook her head, clearly concerned, “What happened?” Now it was Curtis’ turn to shake his head, “I don’t really want to talk about it okay? It’s still kind of freaking me out.” She nodded understandingly and didn’t ask anything more.
They stood there like that for a few minutes, not saying anything. She was in a purple t-shirt that looked about five sizes too big, and a pair of black and white basketball shorts. Her hair was pulled into two quick braids. Her black and purple running shoes were bouncing back and forth on the ground as she shifted her weight. Looking at the two of them standing together on the street corner, in the early morning fog and mist, it was almost like a scene that was stolen from a novel or movie.
Maria brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face before returning her gaze to Curtis, “If I ask you something, will you be honest with me?” He looked at her cautiously, “Depends on what you’re asking.” She smiled at him for a moment before her face grew serious again, “Are you okay? I mean, besides whatever happened this morning?” Curtis couldn’t help but to laugh when she asked, “That’s a loaded question there Hon.” She nodded, “So I figured.”
She lightly touched his hand to get his attention so he was looking at her again instead of trying to avoid her gaze, “Follow me.” And with that, she turned on her heel and started jogging back the way she had come. Curtis wanted to ask her what they were doing or where they were going, but she had already put her headphones back in and he knew that it was no use at that point. He followed her down side-streets and trails that went through the woods until they came out onto another road in a different part of town that Curtis had only ever been to a couple times in his whole life. He usually didn’t stray too far from his house and the skate park.
Maria turned and jogged down an old alley-way. They went past a series of partially broken-down buildings that were still in use. On the inside they looked brand new, but just by looking at the outsides of them, you would think that they had been abandoned long ago. It was quiet in the alley and there were hardly any lights on, just the motion-sensor ones that went off when the two of them jogged by. But besides that, all of the buildings were deserted. It made sense though; it was only quarter after four in the morning. Curtis would’ve been surprised if there were any people out and about.
They jogged back to the last building on the left side of the alleyway before Maria stopped and turned around to him. She smiled, “Oh good, you followed me. I was worried you wouldn’t haha.” He smiled at her as he tried to catch his breath, “You had me so intrigued.” She nodded in approval as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a key. She turned around and walked up to the door of the building. Curtis looked up at the sign above the door, Schott’s Boxing. He nodded in interest and then followed Maria inside as she slid through the door. He looked around the short little hallway and saw the fighting posters up everywhere. Maria poked her head back into the hallway, “Hey, Earth to Curtis.” Curtis snapped out of his daze and followed her as he pulled his headphones out. He walked through the doorway that led to the main part of the building and his jaw dropped as he took in everything that he was seeing. The gym was amazing. Simple, but it was everything that you really needed to start boxing and train and such. He walked out into the center and just looked around at everything. The gym had two separate boxing rings, a bench and weights and a pull-up bar and a bunch of other miscellaneous workout gear and machines. Then, they had a row of six speed-bags and three Double-M bags, and the whole back wall was covered with heavy bags. Some of them were strapped to the wall and some of them hung lose. The one ring that was elevated had four heavy bags hanging in it. Next to the ring that was down on the floor were a few more pull-up bars and heavy bags. On the left side of it there was a treadmill and a refrigerator that Curtis assumed had water in it. The whole place just made you want to work out and get in shape. He loved that, and he had only been in there for all of a couple minutes. What he thought was really cool though, was the fact that all the walls were plastered with photos of fighters and posters from all the big fights that had happened over the years. There were a bunch of Rocky and Ali posters everywhere too.
Maria walked up over next to him and rested her elbow on his shoulder, “Pretty awesome right?” Curtis snapped out of his admiring daze and nodded, “Yea, this is amazing.” She tossed him two rolled up pieces of cloth, “Wrap up.” He looked at her confusedly, “Wait…what?” She turned around and looked at him, “Haven’t you ever boxed before?” He laughed, “Please, when I hit stuff, there’s nothing on my hands.” She gave a small sigh of annoyance and disgust, “All you boys, thinking that you’re “above” wearing wraps. I swear, if I had a dollar for every time I saw a guy bust his knuckles open because he was being stupid,” after that her voice became nothing more than a mumble as she unrolled the cloth to reveal to wraps. “Hold your hand flat and spread your fingers out.” Curtis did as he was told and watched in silent wonder as Maria took his hand and began wrapping it tight with the cloth around his knuckles and wrists and in between his fingers.
When she had finished both hands she took a step back from him. She looked at her work and gave a semi-satisfied shrug. She looked up at him, “Alright, clench and flex your hand a few times to make sure you can still make a fist with it.” Curtis did as he was told and he nodded at her, “Yea, I’m good.” She nodded, “Good.” She tossed him a pair of black boxing gloves with red stitching on them, “Put these on.” She put on her own pair of navy blue and white ones and then walked over to the ring that wasn’t elevated. She slid through the ropes and motioned for Curtis to follow her.
He walked up beside her and then realized that they were facing a mirror that covered the whole back wall of the ring. Maria planted her feet, “Stand like this.” Curtis did as he was told and then Maria brought his hands up just above his chin, “Having your hands at your sides will do you no good…at all haha.” He chuckled as he set his hands up the same way she had hers. She looked at him through the mirror, “You’re right-handed, right?” He nodded. She gave a sigh of relief, “Okay good. Because if you were left-handed this would be really hard to teach you.”
She raised her left hand slightly, “This hand is going to be all your odd punches,” she lowered that hand and raised her right one, “and this one is going to be even punches, okay?” Curtis nodded, although he didn’t quite know what it all meant just yet. She threw her left hand out straight and nodded to him to do the same. They did that punch a few times, “That’s your “one” punch. It’s a jab. Okay?” He nodded. She threw her right hand forward a couple of times and he followed suit. She nodded in approval, “Good. That’s “two”. That’s your power punch. Make sure to turn your back foot though, because that’s where a lot of your power comes from.” Curtis nodded and waited for her to show him the next punch. Maria brought her left hand forward around and hooked it. She did it a few more times before telling Curtis to try it. He did it but it didn’t feel quite right. She let out a small laugh, “Not bad considering it’s your first time. Three is the hardest punch to learn. That’s your hook though. And you need to bring your left shoulder back, turn your back foot, and then turn your front foot while you’re swinging your arm forward for that one.” He nodded and tried it a few more times. Maria smiled at him through the mirror, “You’ll get it eventually, don’t worry.”
She turned to him, “Alright, the next two punches I’m gonna teach you are called body shots. Four and five. You ready?” He nodded and watched her intently. She smiled and slightly bent her knees, “You gotta bring yourself down a little bit for these. Because if you ever use these in a real fight, the idea is that you’ll be hitting their sides and where their abs would be.” She took her right arm and bent it as she swung so it made a half loop. She did it once more before Curtis tried it as well. She nodded in approval, “That’s good. Just make sure to bend your knees but still keep light on your feet. You’ve gotta be able to move quickly.” He nodded but said nothing. She smiled and faced the mirror again, “Alright, well, five is the same thing, just with your left hand.” She did it and Curtis followed suit. She nodded, “Good. Now, for six and seven. These are your upper-cuts. These could do some real damage once you get them down right and you get some muscle and power behind your punch.” She dipped her right shoulder down a little before bringing her fist straight up with an insane amount of force. Curtis raised his eyebrows in shock and approval. He watched her do it one more time before doing the same thing. She nodded and did the same thing on her left side. When Curtis brought his left hand up Maria put her hand above it so it made contact with her glove. The sound that echoed through the gym was surreal. Maria laughed and nodded, “Wow, that’s really good considering that’s not your dominant arm. You could definitely hurt somebody if you had to.”