The Wide Receiver's Baby (18 page)

Chapter Thirteen

Chase

Reg knew I was suffering.  He said that the moment I got together with Kayla, I couldn’t stop talking about her on the phone and texting about her.  I was worse than a lovesick teenager.

One time, Reg said that we could only talk if none of the words that came out of my mouth began with a ‘K’.

He had never seen me so happy, but he was sick to death of hearing the name Kayla. 

And the moment she left, he knew that my world had fallen apart because I moved damn colleges.  I wanted to make her a distant memory.

One minute I was worried sick about her leaving, and the next I thought of nothing more than finding her.  She made my whole world go crazy and I blamed it on her.

I blamed her for confessing that she was in love with me.

She should have kept it to herself.  Maybe it was all a lie.  This was the life she craved.  Fighting like a dog in a cage.  This was not what I wanted.  I deserve more than that - maybe that was why she left.  Shit, I used to drink too much.  Get together with girls.  But I never wanted to lead this type of lifestyle.  It just never appealed.  I saw a couple of the guys here snorting something when I went to the bathroom earlier.  These guys were all money and all women.  They had the fast life and they loved it. 

I was just some college boy.  Shit, why did she mess with my head like that?

Telling me she loved me and then leaving like that?

“Shit, the more I watch her, I feel sick.  I have to keep convincing myself it’s Kayla,” Reg blurted out as he started to put his arm over me.

“I want that bitch to beat her…”  I slurred as I knocked back my glass of brandy as if it was water.

“You don’t mean that.”  Reg glanced at me.

He didn’t even ask me who I was referring to.  He knew that I didn’t mean it when I said that I wanted Natalie to win.

“You fucking love her, man.  Don’t even try and pretend you don’t.  When it’s finished, we’ll get to her.  You’re not the only one that wants answers.  I want to know why she broke my best friend’s heart.”  He patted me on the back. 

It was a guy’s moment, a short-lived one, in the middle of a stadium that was filled with every kind of emotion.  Some people behind us were arguing about the amount of money that they were going to lose tonight if Kayla won.  Others were happy about the outcome - not many, but a couple of women.

“Well, I had my money on the newcomer.  She’s good, I’ve seen her in a few fights.  Besides, I’m tired of seeing Natalie win.  Aren’t you?” 

The businessmen behind us agreed and we tried to listen to what they had to say, but then Miles interrupted.

“Gee, this is supposed to be a fun night,” he shouted to us.  “You guys are boring.”   He didn’t wait for a response as he started to search for people he knew.  I hated to admit it, but Miles was right.  We weren’t there to chase my ex-girlfriend, but to celebrate Reg’s birthday.

“Miles is right.  We came here to celebrate, not to go on about Kayla,” I tried to sound lively, but it was so damn hard to.  Shit, I was never a good pretender.

“If I ever fall in love.  And I mean ever!”  Reg laughed to himself.  Reg had the same attitude that I used to have towards love, until I hooked up with Kayla.

Love was a distraction.

He didn’t want to get involved.  He made it clear from the start with any girl that he hooked up with that it was for one night.  No strings, and no attachments.  Some girls loved it.  Others tended to walk out of the door.

Either way, it never bothered him.

“After the fight, we go all Hawaii 5-0 and shit.  Get you together with Kayla, somehow.  Just so you can put this chapter to a close.”

He patted me on the back.  He had said what I feared the most.  I was going to get answers tonight, but there was one thing I wasn’t going to get ever again.

Kayla.

Chapter Fourteen

Kayla

Victory was mine when Natalie refused to get up.  I heard the bell ring.  The crowd roared, and everything felt like it was happening in slow motion.  Willy ran over to me as soon as the referee announced that I had won.  I tried to hold my hand up.  It was hard to, and I shook my head in disbelief.

I whispered over and over again, “Thank you, Lord.  Thank you.”

My heart felt as if it had missed a thousand beats.  Time stood still.  My life would be normal.  Our life would be the way it should be, and I was so happy. 

Too happy.

Chase was in the crowd.  I had to get away from him.  What if Hannah went back on her promise?  For all I knew, it could have been part of a scam.  She could decide that, seeing as I was a winner, she wouldn’t let go of me.  All the things that I thought wouldn’t happen, would.

I would find myself in a trap.

Like the one that I had been in before.

The one I was in when my dad had used me as a punching bag, and then tossed me away like I was a piece of garbage.  I’d started going to defense classes, not to defend myself against strangers, but from him.  I didn't want to be part of this life anymore.  I couldn’t be.  I couldn’t scream my relief at winning.

The questions were spinning out of control in my mind.  One minute I felt happiness, the next, sadness, and the remainder of the time - pain.  Natalie had inflicted so much pain on me.  My aching body was as amazed by my win as the disbelieving crowd.  It was fucking determination that had made me stay focused.

I felt as if God had given me the strength after all.  That was when my body started shaking and the whole place turned to darkness, and the last thing I remembered was hearing the crowd roar and cheer.  Some had wanted me to win, whereas others were disappointed.  The last thing I saw was Hannah’s evil smile looking down on me, as if she had gotten exactly what she wanted.

***

I could hear Willy trying to wake me up.  He had panic in his voice.  “Shit, Kayla, you gave us a scare.  You okay?”

He took a few deep breaths as I opened my eyes.  I was happy to see him in front of me, and not Hannah.  I still had visions of her evil smile in my face.  Maybe she had left to go and spend her winnings in the casino.  Either way, the only thing I could think about was never seeing her face again.

Willy was going to help me escape after the fight.  He’d said that winning would mean an escape.  If I’d lost, he would try, but there was no guarantee.  There wasn’t one part of my body that wasn’t aching.  He put his arm around my back.  I could slowly move; I needed to get out of here.  I realized as I looked up that I was back in the same dingy room that I’d been in before the fight started.  They must have put me on a stretcher and dragged me out of there.  Shit, why didn’t they call the doctor?  I was about to speak, but my lips could hardly move.  Shit, I really took a beating.  The worst I had ever had, even from my old man.

“Your friends were worried about you.” Willy paused as he looked to the left, “So they’ve been trying to wake you up too.”

That was when I saw Chase next to me, with Reg.

Holy crap!

I felt my heart racing again.  The same way it had after the fight.  Darkness became my friend.  I couldn’t tell Chase the truth.  He couldn’t handle it. He deserved better.

Why couldn’t he have just watched the fight and left?

He should have just walked out of the door and pretended that he never saw me.  Then again, if the roles were reversed, would I have done that?  Most likely, I wouldn’t have.  I would have wanted answers too.

Chase being in the room felt bigger than any blow Natalie had given me tonight.  Willy had said friends.  I wondered what Chase had told Willy.

I started to panic, as I knew Chase wanted answers. 

I was more afraid of the ones I might give him, rather than the ones that I needed to give him. 

I didn’t know if he could forgive me.

Especially, when I had never forgiven myself for what I had done.

Chapter Fifteen

Chase

This whole thing was nuts. 

Why the fuck were we in a back room?

The doctor came in for a brief second and, as quickly as he came in, he left again.  At least, I thought he was a doctor.  Who knew?

He was probably the same age as the old man.  He had a little case, a hat, and a seedy look on his face.  I didn’t know if he didn’t want to be recognized, because he had some kind of fake moustache that kind of stuck out.  If the situation hadn’t been so serious, I could have found it quite comical, but all I was worried about, as the old man told him to leave, was Kayla’s life.

“We have to get a doctor.  Why does she keep blacking out?”  I asked the old man.  He hadn’t told me his name, but I could see by Kayla’s reaction to him that she thought a lot of him.  She seemed to trust him in the ring and, when she woke up, she looked kinda relieved to see his face, unlike when she saw mine.

“We NEED to get her out of here,” he replied anxiously, ignoring my question.  That was not what I expected him to say.  He gazed across the room for a split second as if he was lost in his thoughts.

Reg and I exchanged glances and nodded.  This could only mean one thing.

Kayla was in some sort of trouble.

Why did the old man tell the doctor to leave?  Especially without exchanging words.  It was as if they had some secret eye contact when the doctor shifted his hat as he entered the room, staring at the old man. 

It all started to fall into place.  When we approached the old man and said we were friends of Kayla, he’d let us come into the back room with no questions asked.  He’d practically ushered us in as they brought Kayla on the stretcher.  The two guys that carried her on it quickly dumped her on the bed and left.  The old man closed the door after he told us to quickly get in.  Then, the doctor came in, they did the secret eye contact thing, and he left.

The old man wanted our help.

Not the doctor’s.

Or even the guys’ who brought her in.

But he didn’t even know us.  In this dark, dingy room, how did he know that we could be trusted? 

He wanted help to get Kayla out of here.  I noticed that the red-haired woman he had been talking to while Kayla was fighting had left as soon as Kayla collapsed the first time.  I hadn’t seen her again.

Maybe he was running from her?

I didn’t know.

Shit, I didn’t care.

“Open the door, Chase,” Reg commanded as he slowly lifted her up and she curled in his arms.

That was when the old man blurted out, “Chase? Did he say your name is Chase?”  He raised his eyebrows and stopped for a second as he held on to my arm.

I nodded, unsure what he was going to do next.  The stocky, little man nodded and sighed.  “That’s why she kept looking up when she was in the ring.”

Did he know me?

Had she mentioned me before?

All these questions that I wanted to ask came to an abrupt end as the old man demanded, “Shit, do you know the area well?”

He knew I was from out of town.  We both looked as Kayla sighed in Reg’s arms.  She was bruised and probably had a few bits broken.

“No,” I replied abruptly. 

“Well, you need to meet me in front of the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi in one hour.  Don't be fucking late.  I have something for you.  Then, after that, don't bring her back here again.  Like, never.  You understand?”

I nodded like a bobbing doll and Reg shifted.  His phone was ringing and we knew that there could only be one person ringing this time of night.

Miles!

The old man shouted, “What are you kids waiting for?”

He didn’t need to ask us twice.  He pointed to the exit and added, “I have something for you, Chase.  Something I know Kayla would want you to have.”

That made no sense to me. 

What could Kayla possibly want me to have?

I didn’t ask and, before we knew it, he was gone.  The old man hobbled down the long hallway in the opposite direction.

“Shit, just say it’s all some kind of trap?”  I asked Reg as he started to head in the direction the old man told us to go.

“I don't give a fuck.  We need to get out of here.  Now.”

There were people with loud voices and heavy footsteps heading in our direction.  I couldn't see the old man any more.  Reg whispered, “Shit, she’s shaking.”

I had visions of her dying in his arms and I got scared.  I would do exactly as the old man said, but the first stop would be the hospital.  I had just found Kayla and I sure as hell wasn’t going to let her go.