“The body! The body!”came Ruben’s shout.
Ava snapped two hooks to the girl’s ribs. She doubled over in pain before Ava dropped her with an uppercut.
Ava didn’t need the ref pushing her away to tell her it was over. She had heard the roar from her corner before then. She spun around and leapt into their arms, holding on to Ruben as Chris hugged her from the side. She slid down to her feet and raised her arms to thank the crowd for the loud burst of applause she received. They loved a fierce fight even if it was short. And that’s exactly how Ava felt, fierce.
The girl was helped up by her team. Ava walked over to her, unsure how the gesture to thank her for the fight would go. Surprisingly, she was great about it. They shared a brief hug and then a handshake.
“Great match,” Ava said.
The girl laughed. “You too. You’re an animal.” She held her jaw to emphasise her point. It was a light-hearted response, yet it carried a hint of awe about it.
Ava re-joined her boys and together they headed back to the curtains.
“Fuck yeah! Killed it!”
“Show us ya tits!”
“Look at that fuckin’ arse!”
“They oughta put you in a cage, baby!”
“Go, blondie!”
Once behind the curtains, the event organiser was there to greet her. “Well done, Ava. Well done. Winner’s take. So, that’s five hundred minus entrance fee... comes to three ten.”
He reached into his pocket and peeled off three rough looking one hundred dollar notes and then a ten, handing them to Ava. She thanked him and went back to the makeshift dressing room where the boys waited. They embraced her again, each one more time.
“Here, we’ll split this evenly,” Ava said.
“No, we won’t. It’s yours. You earned it.”
“No, we earned it. I couldn’t have done this without you guys.”
“Babes, listen. Maybe we should’ve talked about money before this, but we know how much of a slippery slope it can be so we decided to leave it until at least your first match,” Ruben said. “Until you turn pro, we are not going to touch your winnings. After you turn pro, we’ll get a ten percent cut between the two of us. No more. No less. No arguments.”
“But that’s not fair. I can’t keep ninety percent with all you do for me.”
“Ava, when you turn pro, we are talking serious money,” Chris said. “Five percent of a five or six figure sum is a hell of a lot. This is your dream. Your journey. We are here to help you, not take from you. But, you know, Chrissy might want a new pair of diamonds every now and then.” He winked.
Ava watched as the two of them tidied and collected their various things and she hugged each of them again. They had been so good to her. She couldn’t imagine a world where, as in her parents eyes, she was hated by God when he sent these two to watch over her. “As for tonight, why don’t you go out and have some fun,” Chris suggested after having his hug too. “Let off some steam. You deserve it. And... there won’t be much time for it in a few days when training starts.”
“OK, but only on one condition. You guys come out with me, and at least let me buy you a drink for everything you’ve done for me.”
Chris and Ruben both smiled. “Enjoy yourself tonight, and let us shout you for all the hard work you’ve done so far. Get tarted up, babes. Let’s do it.”
7
Ava venturedinside the Lemon Drop, the boys’ favourite gay bar. Inside was both dark yet lit up with laser light shows as the dance numbers pumped through the sound system. “What do you guys want?” she asked.
“We said we’d—”
“Shout me? Yeah whatevs. I’m shouting first. And if you don’t like it, you can kiss my toned arse.”
Chris bobbed his head to the music and playfully replied, “Babes, it would take us all day to kiss that arse.”
She smacked him on the arm, bringing a cringe before they gave her their requests, then moved slowly through the dance floor until she came to the line-up for the bar. Four bartenders were on, taking orders from multiple people, voices crashing over each other. It was perfectly controlled chaos. Loud but controlled.
She waited in line next to a fellow blonde woman an inch taller than herself. The woman’s hips swayed and bounced to the music as she stood waiting. Her full figure was almost trance worthy, and Ava watched out of the corner of her eye. They were both jostled around as people took their orders away and others joined the queue. It was manic but not so manic that Ava missed the blonde’s arse being rubbed by a guy’s crotch. Ava guessed he was her boyfriend until he had the woman’s arm at his throat.