I walked in, and everyone yelled out hi, or various forms of good wishes. I did the same, and went to go find my coach.
“Hey, Robbie, how's it going?”
“Great, buddy. How are you?”
“I feel great. I can't wait to get in there and destroy that guy.”
“That's just what I like to hear. Make sure you stay hydrated with some water throughout your warmup. Give me a minute, and we will wrap your hands.”
“Sounds good.”
I headed to the cooler, and at that moment wondered what Natalie was doing with her evening. She would probably be bored to tears at an event such as this. I got a couple of bottles of water from the fridge and brought them back to the locker room. I downed one immediately, and saved the other for later. There were a couple of girls hovering around the locker area, and I had to assume they were girlfriends of the other fighters. I wondered what it would be like having a girl standing in my corner, cheering me on. I had never had a long-term girlfriend before, and my conquests were never invited this close to my fights. On occasion, one would be in the audience at the fight, but they were never allowed near the corner, or in the locker room. They were only my prizes after I had won the fight, or my consolation prize, if I lost. The idea that someone would be there to kiss me good luck, and support me like a team member, was interesting. I walked back into the locker room and went to talk to the other two fighters.
“Hey, Craig, are you ready to go to war tonight, or what?”
“Hey, Jet, yeah, are you kidding me. I can't wait. I hope to accumulate the same rec
ord you have.”
“Oh, you will. It just takes time. You're a strong fighter, man, you will do just fine.”
“Thanks.”
Joshua was the other fighter going out tonight, and he joined our conversation when he noticed me talking to Craig. “Hey, man, I can't wait to see your fight tonight. I heard your opponent is brutal. He hasn't lost yet, at least.”
“Not yet he hasn't, but he will. I'm ending his clean record tonight.”
They laughed. “That's the spirit, man; it's gonna be a great fight, can't wait.”
“Well good luck, guys, and I will see you out there.”
Before I went to get my hands wrapped, I had to go do my weigh-in to make sure I was on par for the fight. They had a medical table set up around the octagon for the time being, so I headed over there. There weren't many people there, and I didn't see my opponent at all yet. It was my turn to head up, and I went on the scale to get weighed. They marked down that I met my weight for category. They took a picture of me, and I headed back toward the locker room.
When I went inside, Coach waved to me, and I headed over to the back area, where he had set up some chairs to wrap the fighters’ hands.
“So how did the opposing fighters feel about being located in the girls’ locker room?”
Robbie laughed out loud. “Well, hopefully, it fucked with their heads a bit.”
I chuckled along with him. I watched as he finished wrapping Craig’s hands and waved him off. He got up out of the chair, and Joshua sat down. They would be fighting first, so they needed to get ready before I did. I would be the last fight of the night.
“Things are starting to get busy out there. They are ready to go.”
“Good, you can help me start warming up the boys in about 20 minutes, and we will get them ready for their fights.”
“Sounds good.”
He finished wrapping Joshua, and the guy moved on. Robbie was a genius at wrapping; he could do a solid, protective job of wrapping knuckles quickly. He was the best coach I had ever had. I was lucky to have him.
He started weaving the cotton wraps over and over on top of each other, until he made a thick blanket of them. He proceeded to place that tiny blanket over my knuckles. When he was done, he taped them down. After that, he taped until my hand was as secure and safe as it could be inside my glove. I would not be breaking my hands that night. He did the same with the other hand, and I thanked him.
“Okay, Jet, let's get these fighters ready to go.”
Chapter Seven
Natalie
My day had gone terribly. I was thoroughly exhausted from working on my writing project that day. It was more tiring doing a mental project than going to the gym for an hour. All I wanted to do was relax at home for the evening, but that wasn't what life had in store for me. No, instead, my wonderful photography class was meeting at the gymnasium that night for a live project. I couldn't imagine what it was all about, but either way, I wasn't looking forward to it. I was finishing a cup of tea at the kitchen table when I pulled out my digital Canon SLR. I wanted to make sure it was clean and ready to go for the project. I made sure that there was nothing obstructing the lens, and I blew inside it to make sure there were no dust particles. I cleaned the front of the lens with special cleaner, and put the lens cap back on. I had purchased the camera used at a pawn shop when I started school, and it had been perfect. I had fallen in love with the images it provided, and it was one of my most prized possessions.