SWNOVELS Chapter The End
There was a slight tremor in her hands, and she wasn't sure if it was because of Nox, or because of where she was going. She shut her eyes and leaned her head back against the trunk of the tree and dug her fingers into the bark to center herself.
Taking slow, deep breaths, Guadalupe counted backwards from fifty. She opened her eyes when she reached one, and righted herself.
"You can do this, Ada. As easily as you started this mess, you can end it." She gave herself a little pep-talk, hyping herself up before she psyched herself out. She needed to do this. She needed to end this.
With a determined huff, Guadalupe set off, and towards the crumbling building to see Charlie.
She had been meaning to pay him a visit for a while now, but she kept putting it off, making all sorts of excuses in her head for why she shouldn't go.
"He's probably busy. I don't want to disturb him."
"I have a lot of assignments to complete right now, maybe when everything is submitted."
"I'm on my monthly, I don't feel too good to walk all the way."
"The weather doesn't look too good. I don't want to get caught in the rain."
The reminiscing she did this morning made her realize that this wasn't healthy. She was harming herself; nothing else. She was tired of making excuses; she needed to stand up and start taking care of herself.
The first step is ending what she and Charlie had.
She should feel disgusted with herself. "I've literally been going down to a boxing ring and willingly letting a fucking underground boxer beat me. And I liked it. I liked the pain when his fist connected with my skin; the sting when I start to bleed. I-"
She was trembling, the magnitude of it all crashing down on her. "How did no one stop me? How did anyone let me do this?" Guadalupe was beginning to hyperventilate as her pace quickened.
Then she realized that the only real friends she had were half the world away, MIA for two years, "Or ignores me completely." She grumbled, her heart clenching as she thought of Keon. "God, if I still had Jamie around things would be different."
She came to a stop out of habit, getting out of her meltdown long enough for her to make sure the coast was clear before she sprinted across the road and continued walking.
An image flashed in her mind and she nearly tripped over air. "I literally just ran away from him, why am I thinking about him?" Guadalupe chastised herself, huffing as she swiped a stray curl away from her eye.
She swiped the image of Nox away with her invisible feather duster and kept walking, her anxiety slowly rising as the building rose before her. She could already smell the sweat, and hear the poor sandbags get the filling punched out of them.
She knew that Charlie was one of those who were beating the life out of the bags. Her mind flashed to some weeks ago.
She watched him as he pummeled the sandbag, grunting with every few hits. Her heart was racing; part of her, more than she'd like to admit, was turned on.
His skin was covered in a layer of sweat and his muscles bulged as he jabbed at the bag; her bottom lip slipped into her mouth. For a split-second, his green eyes flashed to her and she jerked out of her daze. She tried to compose herself, but he had already stopped his assault on the sandbag and was heading straight towards her, like a predator stalking his prey.
She stared down at her lap, her entire body quivering. His massive hands came down on each side of her, both wrapped in white bandages that were wet and dirty at the knuckles. His hot breath hit her face as he panted; Guadalupe gulped. His right index finger tapped on the desk she was sitting on.
"Something interesting you lookin' at little lady?" Guadalupe inhaled before raising her eyes to meet his, but still the words refused to come out of her mouth. She settled for a shake of her head, but the smile Charlie flashed at her said that he didn't buy it.
"Anything interesting you thinkin' about then?" His smirk was growing, and Guadalupe already knew where this was going. She finally found her voice, but it was smaller than it usually was. "Nothing in particular." Her eyes darted away from him momentarily, but by the time she glanced back at him, his face was much closer to hers.
"You sure?" His voice had a slight accent that made girls swoon for him; she'd admit that she was one of them. Guadalupe nodded, and Charlie nodded as he leaned away from her. "How's the arm doing?" He asked, and Guadalupe glanced down at her arm. She held an ice pack to it, and it was already bruising, but she felt fine.
"It's okay; doesn't hurt much." She said, and Charlie scoffed. "Oh really?" He grabbed her arm and turned it over, exposing the bruise fully. She heard his sharp inhale and looked at him.
He had a handsome face; the structured jaw, the cheekbones, the lips, the dimples. Everything that romance books would describe as the epitome of male beauty.
His eyes were like jades, and they stared down at her arm in horror. "No more training for you." Charlie gritted out, and Guadalupe went to protest, but he raised a hand before she could even speak.
"I said no, okay? You keep getting hurt and I don't like it." He sighed deeply, and placed his hands on either side of her again. His dark drown hair dropped onto his forehead, and he flicked it away.
"When are you going to stop?" Their eyes were locked, both searching for something. "When I'm ready." She replied, and he nodded, leaning in closer. "When's that gonna be?"
Guadalupe opened the door to the boxing gym, stalking into the familiar place and heading straight for Charlie. "Hey, Charlie! Your little lady's back!" One of the regulars shouted as she walked past him, and she paused, backing up just to land a punch to his gut. "Good seeing you, Fred."
"You too." He wheezed, but she barely heard him as she kept walking to the ring. She stopped just in front of it, and he walked closer, leaning on the ropes. They stared at each other, and Charlie raised an eyebrow.
"Today, Charlie." Was all Guadalupe said, and he smiled. "I'll be the judge of that."
It was almost silent. As soon as she placed her bag on the ground and climbed the stairs to enter the ring, people stopped what they were doing. All she did was pull up the sleeves of her sweater. "Sure you don't wanna take that off?" Charlie nodded towards her sweater as he tightened the bandages around his hands.
"What? So you could stare at my boobs?" Guadalupe asked, resting her hands on her hips. "No, it's so you can have better movement." He finished what he was doing and copied Guadalupe's stance. "You're a work of art, little lady; but I'm a man on a different mission today."
Her tongue ran across her teeth as heat warmed her cheeks. She huffed and nodded, then pulled the sweater over her head and threw it towards her bag on the ground outside the ring.
Fred stood outside the ring. "I want a clean fight you two. No dirty tricks, no low-blows." The pair in the ring rolled their eyes. "Got it." They mumbled as they took their stances.
"You know what you gotta do, don't ya?" Charlie asked Guadalupe, and she nodded firmly, breathing deeply to calm her nerves.
She was ready to let go; ready to bring an end to this. It had been a major source of their arguing; she was too scared and ashamed to admit that she didn't know anything else. That she didn't deserve anything else but this.
Even though he did what he did, Charlie was kind-hearted. At her lowest point and with no one else she could reasonably talk to, he was there, bargaining and reasoning with her.
Guadalupe wanted to apologize to him, for backing him into such a tight corner that night that he had no other choice but to agree to this arrangement that they've had for two years.
Guadalupe and Charlie circled each other in the ring, gauging the other's reactions. Guadalupe knew that she was on the defense, and she had to dodge Charlie's attacks; she had to fight and not get hurt. She wanted to prove to herself and Charlie that she could do it.
He lunged at her, and she slipped out of his path. She stood some distance away now, her fists clenched at her sides. "I'm gonna end this quick. I got homework to do."
He let out his deep, rumbling laugh. "Alright little lady, let's wrap this up." He continued to lunge at her, and she slipped away each time, changing from defense to offence when Charlie got too close for comfort.
Fred kept track of the time, and announced each third minute. "Nine minutes!" He called out, and Guadalupe huffed, bouncing on her toes as she rolled her shoulders.
"Gettin' tired, little lady?" Charlie asked, amusement in his voice. Guadalupe glared at him. "Fuck off. You're going down." Charlie chuckled at the confidence in her voice.
"You've been doing well so far; so I believe you." They began circling each other again, Guadalupe waiting on Charlie to strike. His right hand shot out, and she slipped under it, kicked the back of his knees and went in for a choke hold.
They went still; both were panting heavily, and Guadalupe was shaking. His shoulders started to shake and soon enough, his laugh was echoing through the room.
Charlie quickly got out of her hold, and turned around, tackling her into a hug. "You did it! You did it; I'm so proud of you!"
Her heart hammered in her chest. A pressure built up inside her and before she could stop it, the tears were rushing out of her eyes. She did it; she really did it. She didn't give into her demons, who were begging her to take a hit.
But she knew that even if it was just one, that one would turn into two, then three, then more. Now she was free; she would no longer be a slave to violence.
She remembered why she so suddenly had a change of heart. Her eyes drifted to the ceiling, and she sighed deeply. "Always looking after me, even when you're not here." A smile bloomed on her face.
Charlie hauled her to her feet, and gave her a good pat on the shoulder. "You're all grown up now, Ada. You're ready." She wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you, Charlie. And I'm sorry for what I did."
He patted her head gently. "It's okay, Ada." He sighed. "We do crazy things when we feel hopeless." Neither of them spoke after that; they just stayed in each other's embrace for a little while longer until Guadalupe detangled herself and left the ring.
The looks that they shared said everything that mere words couldn't.
The mid-afternoon sun shone on her face as she made her way home. There was a pep in her step and a smile on her face. "It's amazing what pulling the Death tarot card in a dream can do to you."
Guadalupe adjusted the strap of her bag as she neared home. "I'm going to be a whole new girl." She smiled to herself as she got closer to her house, already hearing the chaos within.