"Exactly. Mom thought she had found someone who liked the same things, came from the same background, and wanted the same things in the future. He made her think that, but it was all just a lie. He just wanted to use her for a while, and when he got bored, he left."
My sister stopped as the waiter brought our burgers. I took my time adding mustard and just the right amount of pickle relish, not willing to say anything. No one had been hurt more by our father leaving or our mother's death than my sister. On top of the pain, she had me to worry about.
"I'm sorry, Fen. This is supposed to be a celebration. You kicked ass last night and you're on your way up. Here's to you, baby brother!" Dana Maria raised her glass of beer and toasted me.
"Thank you," I said.
"Can you believe how far you've come? I remember when your fists were the size of walnuts. You couldn't knock out anything bigger than a squirrel."
"Until grade school," I reminded her.
"Flying Fists Fenton," she laughed. "I wonder what all your grade school teachers think now that you're on your way to the title fight."
"They'd probably still lecture me on staying focused."
"That's all I'm saying. I know you've got your eye on the hot agent, but you've got a title to win. You can't be getting distracted now," Dana Maria said. She punctuated her words with a French fry.
I snapped the fry out of her fingers and popped it in my mouth. "I promise I will stay focused on the title fight, Ms. Morris."
"Good. Now, I hate to cut this short, but I've got that private gig to get to." She had the waitress wrap up her mostly untouched burger so I could take it with me for a snack.
"Still starving to feed me?" I asked.
"I'm not about to dance on a double cheeseburger," Dana Maria said.
"Your last dance?" I asked. "You could retire and let me take care of you for a while, you know."
"Come on, Fen, you know I like my independence. Don't be like everyone else and make the mistake of thinking I'm only dancing because I can't do anything else. I like it and it pays very well. I'm not afraid of liking the attention, I'm not embarrassed at showing off my body, and I'm not about to find something boring to do just because other people think it’s more respectable."
"Yeah, I thought you would say that." I kissed my sister on the forehead. "And, I love you for it."
I was still chewing over everything my sister said when I got to the gym. Kev seemed to appear out of nowhere. He was lucky I didn't knock his teeth out. Even crazy fans knew better than to surprise me by now.
"Whoa, you've gotta be hungover if I'm able to get the drop on you," Kev said. "I mean, I know I'm hungover from last night's festivities, but I'm not the one that has to get back in the ring."
"I'm not hungover, I'll be fine," I said.
"Yeah, I wondered if you were just playing it up for the cameras last night," Kev said. "Gotta say I was jealous of you and that Sienna. God, she is hot, and she was all over you."
I headed to the locker room, but Kev followed me. "It was all for the cameras. None of it was real."
"Real, fake, I wouldn't care if she was made entirely of plastic," Kev said. "She's hot, you're hot, and the publicity from her reality show is red hot. You should invite her to be your date to the fight promotion party. Think of all the free publicity that would buy you. Plus, her sexy friends."
"I didn't really think she was that hot," I said.
"Seriously? But she was still there when I left." Kev waggled his eyebrows at me.
"I sent her home. Nothing happened."
Kev jumped in front of me again. "Nothing happened with her, but something did happen, didn't it? Oh, I knew it! That's great, man, that is so great."
I wiped his hands off the front of my shirt. "What is great? What are you talking about?"
"You can't lie to me, man, I know you. You were with Kya last night. I love it! I love you two together. I mean, you and Sienna made for a hot reality show couple, but you and Kya, that's for real. I saw you two looking at each other from across the party."
"You have no idea what you're talking about. You were wasted last night," I said.
"Wasted or not, I recognize a connection when I see it," he said. "And you two connected that first night in the club."