Team Rachel’s training day…
It’s 6am and I’m walking into the gym… for the last 4 hours I’ve been awake dreading this. My head is all out of shape right now. I just can’t get it screwed on right… I’m throwing myself into this training gig I’ve been given by Rachel but it’s just not enough for me… Since Sam took me out of action I’ve been itching to get back into a fight and last night? I fell into bad habits…
5 hours earlier…
“UUGGHHH!!… OOMMPPHHH!!!… OUULLLFFF!!!”
This big fat bitch is driving knee after knee into my abs. each one is lifting me clean off the ground. She’s got me in a Thai clinch that I could easily get out of but I don’t want to… there’s a sickness in me you see.
A need.
An addiction.
“AAAGGGHHHH!!! FUCK!”
The bitch just knee’d me in the face. My nose is bleeding bad… SHIT!
“HEY!!! I warned you! Not the face I said! Uuuuuugghhhhh….”
She answers my angry mandate with defiant left hook. That fat, greasy, ham sized fist smashes hard into my right eye socket and I stagger back to the roar of the crowd…
“oh no…. no you fucking didn’t……” I growl low, my face turning into a vicious snarl
“Bitch! I’ma do whateva the fuck I wanna do to you!” she laughs back, the motion causes the pale folds of fat on her face to wobble repulsively. She’s got to be at least a foot taller than me at 6’3” and if I had to guess I’d say she’s pushing 280lbs. At the start of the fight she was a nervous wreck, I mean… I’m quite well known in the fighting world after all and she‘s an overweight tramp who‘s looking to score some extra money in an underground fightclub… but I let her just wail on me for the last 10 minutes as the bloodthirsty crowd bayed and gambled away. All I told her was not the face… guess the beat down I let her put on me has built up her confidence. More fool her…
I circle her, light on my feet and she looks quiet stunned. After all, she’s sweating profusely from the heavy shots she’s been dishing out and now I’m bouncing like I’m fresh off the bench… she comes at me
“Aaaaaagghhhh!!! Fuck!! My… my nose! She broke my noUUUUUGGGHHHH!!!!”
She runs straight into a left jab and as she clutched her broken, pouring nose my heavy right hand levelled the fat bitch! I should point out that since that fight with Sam I had to have some major hand surgery I now have a heavy duty metal plating over my bones that helped to re-align them and as a nice little fringe benefit I’ve got a lethal right hand now.
“Dumb cxnt! I SAID NOT THE FACE!!!” I roar, my heart pounding in my chest as I feel my eye swell up… this is gonna be a bitch to talk off….
I leap on her back and come crashing down knees first into her kidneys
“AAAAAGGGKKKKKK!!!!” she splutters. Quickly I wrap my left arm around her throat and pull back in a camel clutch choke hold…
“I was gonna let you have the win tonight but now? Now you’re getting knocked the fuck out!” I hiss as I pull back tighter… A fitter girl would have lasted a lot longer, maybe even a minute or two but a slob like this? She was unconscious in seconds… I drop her prone body and kick her hard in the ribs before storming off to grab my money and get the fuck out of there.
back to the present…
I open the gym door and Rachel see’s me… her eyes flash up straight away. She of course spots my huge black eye in an instant. I could have walked in with a tiny scratch and she’d still notice. Rachel Apache never misses a damn thing…
Rachel - Hello Gemma, You’ll be pleased to know we have a little help from now on
I was a little surprised… I was expecting a full interrogation and a humiliating dressing down on how a Team Rachel trainer should represent a professional appearance at all times but she seems to be ignoring it…
Love - Hey there stranger
Oh shit…
Love - long time no se… WOAH! Nice shiner you got there slugger! Don’t tell me… you walked into a door? Or are you going to shock us with the truth for once?
Sage - Hey now Love… go easy on her! That’s no way to… wow…. That’s a big one! What hit you? A truck?
Gemma - Sage. Good to see you again
Love - Why Gemma… I’m hurt! You imply it’s NOT good to see me again?
Gemma - It’s always good seeing you Love! You know that. It’s just not that good hearing you…
Love - Well nobody likes hearing the truth… I guess that’s why you never tell it
Gemma - really? You’re here for 5 seconds and you’re on my back? FINE! I got into a fight last night, you happy now?
Love - Pfft… fight. Yeah right… a half truth isn’t really a truth at all, you know that.
Sage - Now now girls… play nice
Sage steps in and gives me a hug… I’m a little taken aback by that to be honest. I didn’t know we were on hugging terms… for those who don’t know Sage is Rachel’s younger sister. As smart as she is beautiful, she has something of a Jessica Alba look to her. You’d be hard pressed not to like the woman but then again… the last time we properly met we were in a match together and I made her tap out in a particularly vicious Boston Crab…
Love - I always play nice Sage. It’s Gemma here who likes the rough stuff
And this is Love… Possibly the best fighter to never step in the ring. Rachel tells me just how good she is but truth is? I have no idea. She doesn’t do anything but talk. We’ve had our differences in the past. She’s taken to becoming Sage’s personal angel since Sage turned pro and when I beat Sage? Well… that didn’t sit to well with Love, I don’t mind telling you. Truth is I could just eat up that woman! She’s tall, has the perfect hourglass figure, blonde and smart with a wit that’s so sharp it can cut glass but for some reason… she makes me feel uneasy
As if on queue she steps in and whispers into my ear…
Love - I know you’re fighting on the underground scene again… we need to talk about that
Yup. That’s why she makes me uneasy… she see’s the darkness in me. And I hate her for that. Whenever she’s around it reminds me of my own failings.
Rachel - come on now, we need to get this session underway
I take Rachel’s queue and round up the girls. To be honest I’m happy to do so… I knew Sage and Love were going to join us on the coaching staff eventually and my heart drops a little now they have… you see… I never really got the chance to get to know Rachel. It’s not as easy as it sounds. We’ve had lots of time together talking about the fighters, the strategies, the methods… but whenever I try to get to know the real Rachel she’s always back to business. And now? With her little sister and her protégé here I’m just going to fade into the background. I’ll never be a part of that clique… Maybe it’s me. Maybe I’m just too standoffish to be ‘friend’ material…
Despite my misgivings The training session goes quite smoothly, each of us falling into the roles Rachel assigned us to perfection.
Love, with her harsh tongue and searing wit is the hate figure… she’ll walk though and balk at one of the girls, laughing at their flawed technique or openly dismissing their biggest strengths in an effort to get under their skins… already she’s taken the wind out of the old veteran Wildcat’s sails, dismissing her stand up game with a sarcastic remark
Love - Is that how they fought in the 80’s? wow… and people paid to watch you? Here, let me show you how to take someone down
The words almost purr from the sultry blonde and Wildcat of course took offence to them but 5 seconds later? She’s on her arse in pain. I couldn’t believe it! Wildcat gripped Love in a bear hug from behind and I swear to god I was sure Love was about to get snapped in half! Then Love just shrugs Wildcat off, reaches down between her legs and yanks the old veteran’s ankles from under her! In a heartbeat Love had Wildcat tapping in an ankle lock I’ve never even seen before…
At that moment? I began to realise why Rachel talks so highly of her. The woman just radiates skill and ability. Now I know that the silky smooth voice and the calm cheeky smile she wears… it isn’t born of arrogance… well… not entirely… it’s more earned through confidence. That unwavering assurance that you can’t fail. And to top it all off she did all that in street cloths no less! You see the thing with love? She’s walking around in tight blue jeans and a jacket… you know why? Because she’s that fucking good she doesn’t need to dress for this. She put down the biggest fighter in this tournament on a whim!
Then in comes me. After getting openly diss’d by Love they’re suddenly far more eager for a sympathetic ear and a caring coach. Where as in the previous weeks the fighters would shrug and do what I ask reluctantly, now they see me as being on their side, eager for me to help them over the harsher Love. I must admit… on a personal level? It’s nice not being the figure of hate for once.
And after me there’s Sage. She’s the confidence booster, the polisher of the rough stone. She’s doing wonders with Laurie, Lucky and Kathy but personally… I have my doubts about how confident Lucky really is. Sure she plays the lost little lamb, but then she steps in the cage and pounds the shit out of you.
As I walk past I overhear Sage talking to Laurie…
Laurie - again? I’m sick of grappling! I wanna hit something!
Sage - Here’s the thing Laurie. You’ve got this amazing spirit to you! It’s really quite staggering how determined you are! When you couple that with your striking, you’ve got a neat little package… but… then your wrestling skills, although a lot better that before, still need a whole lot of work… but we can do it! I know we can. You stick to what we say you’ll be a force of nature out there! So let’s hit that grapple dummy one more time, ok?
Laurie - ok, you’re right. Thanks Sage
I chuckle to myself… the shit sandwich… the perfect way of criticising someone and have them not even realise it!
You’ve got great heart! - the Bread
Your ground game sucks arse! - The Shit
Listen to me? I’ll make you a star! - The Bread
You put it all together and you can tell a girl to her face she sucks balls and she’ll love you for it. Sage is a pro! She can criticise you and make you feel like a champion all in the same sentence
And finally? We have Rachel. She’s the glue really. She watches, she studies, she occasionally gets involved when I try and kill one of the girls… but mostly? She’s the authority. We’ve got a lot of fuck ups on our team but somehow? Rachel’s managed to control them. Most of the time…
The day goes by pretty fast and before I know it the girls are jogging back to the house and it’s just us trainers left tidying up. I’m packing up all the towels when Rachel, Sage and Love all get together and start gossiping. I knew it… this is the moment I’ve been dreading. It’s like I’m back in fucking school! All the girls gossiping while I’m left out on the cold… ought…. I tell myself to get over it, I always knew I’d be the outsider…
Sage - Oh! We should go and meet Brandy for some dinner! There’s a new place that just opened on the coast, I’ve heard it’s pretty good
Love - the Chinese? I’ve had better…
Sage - there you go again…
Love? What? I’m just saying… you want good Chinese food then go to China…
Sage - I’m not saying they do the best Chinese food in the world, I’m just saying it’ll be nice to have something different!
Rachel - Is that the restaurant with the olive trees outside?
Love - no, that’s the new Italian
Sage - Mmmmm….. I could really go for a Pasta Al Forno right now…
Rachel - that does sound good…
Love - If you want good Italian food then you really should…
Sage - OH MY GOD! If you say go to Italy I’m gonna put you on your ass!
Love - fine… I won’t say it!………. You know I’m right though
Rachel - I’ll call Brandy, let’s take my car, I’m not don’t want to drink
My heart sinks as I hear them all make plans so pally pally… everything I’m not… Then love turns around
Love - you coming?
I just stand there… the words registering but not really making any sense to me
Gemma - I…. uh….. Wh… what?
Love - Are you coming?
I couldn’t believe it. I could cry right now!
Gemma - I….. I’m invited?
Love and Sage look at me for a second before turning to each other and laughing out loud
Sage - Hahahahaha! OF COURSE you’re invited! What do you think we’ve been talking about the last 5 minutes!
Gemma - sorry… I uh… I just figured you were talking amongst yourselves…
Love - so what, you to good to eat with us?
Gemma - NO!!! I… I mean of course not, I… I’d love to come, thank you
I’m blushing bright red now, I can’t believe what’s happening… am I being accepted? Love turns to Sage and asks her to meet us outside then as Sage and Rachel leave she turns back to me
Love - look Rox, you’re part of the family now, you hear me? All this lone warrior stuff? It doesn’t have to be like that. You’ve got friends you know, you just need to open your eyes and see them.
Gemma - I…. it’s just that… I never really knew if Rachel saw me as a friend or as a tool she’s using to make her fighters better
Love - you are a tool…
Gemma - we already made that joke a few chapters back... But what I mean is she just seems so formal and…
Love - Robotic?
Gemma - yeah… and well you and Sage? Since that fight we’ve not exactly been pen pals.
Love - look… what happened in the past is in the past. For my part I’m sorry. I lost my temper on you, but I need you to be sorry too
Gemma - Sorry for what?
Love - look in the mirror dumb ass. Look at that fucking black eye you’re sporting. You think that’s healthy? You’re recovering from a fractured spine, a fractured skull and a broken hand and you go out to underground fight clubs? You’re sick Gemma… and as long as you stay sick you’re going to end up hurting someone
All the while she confronts me she does so with that same silky smooth voice… her calmness and sultry manner for some reason works me up all the more…
Gemma - I know!!! Ok? YOU HAPPY?!?!?! I… I fucking know… I just…
Love - look. Rachel tells me you’ve been signed off to fight again and you’re going to do a tour down south with OPW the next few weeks to get back to match fitness… I got a place in New Orleans
Gemma - It’s ok, I’m crashing at Jonica’s
Love - I wasn’t offering you my crib dumbass. I’m kind, not stupid… I just meant I’ll come visit you, we can shoot the shit. Give you a little down time in-between fights on the tour. I’ve been with Sage on some of those tours… they’re pretty extreme you know. A different city every night, travel, fight, travel fight… and on top of that you’re flying out here 2-3 times a week to train Rachel’s fighters? That’s a pretty crazy schedule
Gemma - you… you’d fly out to see me?
Love - haven’t you listened to a word I said? You’re part of the family now, of course I would.
She finishes with a warm smile as her right hand rises to brush some hair out of my eyes… then the tone changes suddenly…
Love - but one thing you need to know… don’t betray us Gemma. don’t ever betray us. You need to fix yourself and I’ll help you if you want it… but this running around getting your ass kicked in fight clubs? That ends now…
With that she turns and walks out
Love - See you at the car slugger
I lower my head a little, my hand coming up to gently rub my bruised right eye… I know I need to fix myself but it’s not as easy as it sounds….
x G x
