God's Gonna Cut You Down

I throw my duffle bag over my shoulder, wiping the sweat off my forehead with my wrapped wrist. The gym is quiet—everyone has left for the day. The only light is the yellow glow of the street lights on the outside. I can feel my messy bun falling apart, so I stop to fix it. I put my duffle down and notice that my shoe is also untied. I’m always such a mess after workouts. I hear a noise, and I freeze. My senses regain and I hear two men talking. The conversation ceases and I then hear a small whacking sound. I’m puzzled until I see where it’s coming from—a guiding cane and attached to it is a blind man. As he comes into the light, I can’t help but notice that he’s attractive—dark hair, a five o’ clock shadow, and he’s well built—my type. The street lights cast through his glasses, a red hue filling the round lenses.

“Are you supposed to be here?” He asks.

I jump a little bit, not expecting him to notice me. “Are you?” I retort.

“Well, I’m sure you just heard me talking to the owner on my way in, so yes, I am.”

I’m silent.

“I’m just kidding,” he chuckles. “You can relax.”

“I’m perfectly relaxed,” I lie. Just because he’s blind doesn’t mean he couldn’t be some kind of pervert.

“Hm,” he murmurs. “Well, I’d like to get started, if you don’t mind…” He uses his cane to gesture to the general area of the gym.

I finally let my muscles relax. “Oh yeah, sorry, I’ll just be going.” I pick up my duffle and I slowly walk toward the exit, keeping my distance as I walk by him.

I turn my head back, and I see the man take off his glasses and begin to wrap his hands and wrists. He steadies the heavy bag in front of him, takes a deep breath, pushing it out slowly, and begins to smash his fists into it. I am immediately fascinated. I take a seat on a nearby folding chair and watch with wide eyes. He punches and pounds on the bag, grunting in the process. I’m no boxing expert, but he has excellent form and his punches sound hard. Suddenly, he stops.

“Are you just going to sit there and watch me all night?” He pants, holding the bag to keep it from swinging back.

My heart stops, dropping into the pit in my stomach. “W-what?”

“I said, are you going to sit there and watch me all night?” He asks more forcefully.

“Um, I can leave—“

“No, that’s okay.” He turns around and strides toward me. I expect him to run into me, but he stops perfect distance away from me. He holds on his hand. “Matt Murdock,” he says with a smile.

I about melt at that grin. I take his hand, standing up. “Amelia Smith.” I smile weakly, shaking his hand. Awkward silence looms over us.

“Wow, most people I meet at the gym immediately ask me if I’m Battlin’ Jack Murdock’s kid… but you’re new to this gym, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I have no idea who that is. I’m not a boxing fan. I just like to punch stuff in my free time.” I take a breath when he laughs softly. “I just moved here from Michigan with my sister.”

Matt’s face becomes puzzled. “You moved from Michigan to Hell’s Kitchen? Why?”

“Why not?” I shrug. I step past him and walk toward the bag. “You’re quite skilled. Learn that from your dad?”

Matt turns and follows me. “In a way.” He stands before me, and I throw a punch at his face. He swiftly moves out of the way, my fist hitting nothing but soft air. “Hey, what was that for?”

“Good reflexes,” I point out. “Want to spar? I still have my hands wrapped.” I start toward the ring, lifting up the elastic ropes.

“You want to box a blind guy?”

“You seem like you can handle your own,” I giggle.

Matt looks like he’s pondering it, but then his face breaks into a smile. “Alright, let’s see what you’ve got.” He climbs into the ring, and gets into position.

A sinister grin spreads across my face. I throw a punch and my fist is, once again, met by cool air. Matt answers with a punch to my ribs. I was right—his punches are hard. I catch my breath, gritting my teeth. I send two more punches his way. He dodges the first one but I hit his cheek with the second.

We keep throwing punches at each other, and it seems to be a stalemate. Plus, I’ve already been boxing for a couple hours. I’m growing more tired with each swing. Just when Matt thinks he’s learned my pattern, I do a one-two punch and then I side-sweep his legs, knocking him on his back.

The wind is knocked out of him, but his breathing settles. “Last time I checked, that wasn’t part of boxing.” There’s humor in his voice.

I grab his hand and help him up. “Well, maybe I added some MMA in there to make things interesting.” I laugh, and he joins in with me. I calm myself and I look at Matt with dreamy eyes. “So, do you want my number?” I blurt out.

“What? After you just cheated? Are you kidding me?” He can’t stay serious long though, and he chuckles. “I don’t know…”

“I’m pretty! I promise.” I smile brightly even though I know he can’t see it.

“No, no, I… I don’t doubt that.” He casts his head down and then brings it back up. “Alright, what the hell?”

I jump out of the ring and head to my duffle for my phone and he does the same. He tells me his number and I quickly punch it in. He hands me his, and I begin dinking around with it.

“What’s taking so long?” He asks, still smiling.

“I’m trying to figure your stupid phone out,” I lie. I hit ‘Save’ on his phone. “There! Now you’ll know I’m calling you…”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, let me call you…” I select his contact and my phone dials his number. Within seconds, “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen starts playing and I burst into laughter.

“Ha, ha, very funny, Amelia.” He rejects the call and puts it back in his duffle bag.

Silence surrounds us once more. “Well, I had fun kicking your butt tonight,” I say softly.

“I had fun too,” he responds with the same softness. “Well, uh, I should get going. Talk to you later?”

“Yeah, definitely! Always nice to meet a new sparring buddy that I know I can beat!” I grab my duffle bag and stand proudly.

“You’re just full of jokes, aren’t you?”

“What can I say? I’m quite talented!”

We walk out of the gym together. I can’t stop smiling all on my way home. Who knew I would come to New York City and meet a nice guy so soon?