SWNOVELS Knuckles: Chapter 5
-:- KNUCKLES -:-
Arriving at the venue for tonight’s fight, I walk over to the so-called office, which is a room a janitor would have used. The place is more of a warehouse that had been abandoned quite a few years ago.
Byron is sitting behind a beaten-up table with two notebooks open in front of him. Grit, another bouncer, is standing on one side of the room and gives me a head nod, and an eye roll as I walk in and stand in front of the table.
“Do you have all the fights lined up?” Making sure I give Byron the blank look I usually do, the last thing I want is this fucker thinking I like him.
“No, I’m looking for a fighter to go up against a new guy. I was thinking of your man or Lincoln. He’s coming, so I’ll pair him up with that one.” Looking down, he continues writing, but I can see he’s agitated.
“I’ve got some of my club people comin’. You got something for Colton?”
Byron looks up at me with interest, as it’s unusual for me to offer any fighter up for him to use. But he’ll know it’s a one-time offer or he’ll not get the fighters at all.
“They’re comin’ for a night out, it’ll be a one-time thing, don’t ask again, and if you do, I’ll be out, along with Colton.” Folding my arms over my chest I look down my nose at him and glare at him.
Nodding, he looks back down, then points before asking. “The first timer I’ll put up with Lincoln. I have Gordon the Great wanting a fight.”
Before he can say anything else I pipe up. “Colton will take Gordon, but he’ll probably retire after this fight, and I’m talking about Gordon, so be ready to lose him.”
Byron jots down Colton’s name, but I see he has two others without a corresponding fighter. “Why do you have so many fights set up but no fighters?”
Grit chuckles, and when I look up, he glares at Byron before speaking. “Got himself in a little trouble, didn’t you, Byron? Now he’s scrambling to make enough cash to drag himself out of the hole he’s in. Make sure you up your percentage rate on the fight tonight, Knuckles.”
Byron gives Grit a filthy look but surprises me when he remains quiet. Something is going on between these two, but I’m not getting involved in that, for sure. I’ve always had enough to do without getting into their shit.
“Follow the Fist is here tonight. He needs an opponent.”
Chuckling because it seems like fate, I shake my head. “I’ve got one that’ll be happy to fight with him. We call him Fist, so it’ll be perfect.” I don’t think Fist will have any problem taking Follow down.
“That’s it. I’m all set. Gerry is taking the first fight, and I’ll pin up the rest in a minute. Make sure your men are ready. Fist will fight third, Colton will fight fifth, you are seventh on the card, and then only the one fight after that. I’ll make sure I up the percentage for stepping up and helping me out.” Byron gives me a sleazy look, and that has me leaning over him at the table.
“If you try fucking us over, you’ll be in the fuckin’ ring and you’ll not be comin’ out, as it’ll be a death match.” The color fades fast down his face and gives me a fast nod, which makes him look like a damn bobblehead, but I turn and walk out while listening to Grit chuckling.
Walking over to Colton, who’s standing near the door waiting for the brothers to arrive, I give him my serious listen to me look. Turning, he notices I have a set look, and he straightens up, paying me attention. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, but you are fighting tonight. I got you lined up with Gordon the Gobshitter. But listen to me Colton and listen carefully. You know all his tricks and you use them against him. I want you to make him pay for all the fighters he’s taken down and broken. I want him gone, but I want you comin’ out of this without a scratch, you hear me?”
“Well, Knuckles, I didn’t know you could say so many words. You know, all at one time.” Colton ducks when I throw my punch playfully at him, and when he laughs before standing and giving me his serious look, I wait. “I’ll take him down, and I’ll watch every one of his fuckin’ moves. I know them all, you taught me to watch for everyone and I take notice. I’ll finish him so he’ll never come back.”
We both turn when we hear our names being shouted and see the club brothers, led by Axel, grinning and rubbing their hands together, obviously looking forward to the night ahead.
Seeing Fist, I grin because I’d hoped he would be here without my having to send him a message. “Evening Pres, I’ve reserved a section of seating for you all, near the ring, of course.”
“Can’t wait for this, Knuckles. Have you got someone fight-worthy?” Axel asks me and he’s got that damn feral look on his face. I hope we don’t have any brawls tonight ‘cause I’m sure he’ll throw himself into it with the mood he’s in, and then I’ll have to face Mia.
“Yeah, he’s okay. Should be a good fight.”
Clapping his hands together, then rubbing them eagerly, Axel turns and looks at all the brothers standing behind him. “Come on, brothers, let’s get our seats and be ready for the first fight.”
Colton nods to Axel and shows him the section of seating that the brothers have reserved for them, but I grab Fist’s arm before he can pass. “I booked you a fight. You up for it?”
“For fuck, sure I am. Who is it?”
Grinning at him, I blandly say. “Follow the Fist.”
“Follow the Fist. What sort of fuckin’ name is that? Well, he can follow my fist all the way down to the ground.” Fist rubs his hands together. “Yeah, it’s gonna be a better night than I expected.”
Slapping his shoulder while holding back the laughter at his excitement. “Your fight is third on the list, so you can go start getting ready. There is some gear you can use in the changing area. We always have spare, so don’t worry yourself.”
The first fight is announced, and Gerry steps into the makeshift ring. He’s a wiry man, trying to make a better life for his wife and kid. When I spoke to him a few weeks back, he said two more fights, and he’d have enough to buy the house he wanted, then he was out. I hope that’s true because he’s a good guy.
Gerry’s fight goes as I expected. He took his time, watched his opponent, and took him to the floor as soon as he had the chance. Holding his hand out to help the guy back to his feet, none of us expected the boos that were ringing around the room.
I glance around and see the opponent’s friends stepping toward where Gerry will step out of the ring, and I make my way quickly to intercept. What surprises me is Buzz, Drag, and Beer stepping up at the side of me, all three looking calm but lethal. Grinning, when the friends step down and quickly move away from us, I turn to my brothers. “Thanks. Some of these fuckers are idiots, but five of them were more than I wanted to take on.”
Buzz slaps my shoulder, “Pity the fuckers stood down, watching the fight got my blood running hot.”
Hearing Lincoln’s name being called out, I turn back to watch the ring as Buzz nods for the others to head back to Axel and their seats. Lincoln gives me a nod as he passes, but I stop him by holding my hand up. “Is your sister here? Do you need me to watch her?”
“No, I left her home. Well, she was going to be home, but Sybil planned an evening at her friend’s house. It’ll be good for her to get out, as she’s never out of the house with the threat hanging over her head.”
“What threat?”
“I’ll fill you in later. But thanks for the offer.” Lincoln steps away and enters the ring, facing his opponent, whom we call Timer, because it’s his first time in a ring.
The fight only lasts a few minutes and only then because Lincoln toyed with him a bit. When they both leave the ring, I grin as Timer is staggering after only taking one full hit to the jaw.
“When you’ve got changed, come and sit with my brothers. If your sister’s not home, have a night for yourself.”
Lincoln gives me a searching look, before looking at my brothers and giving me a nod of thanks, then heading to the changing area.
Shit, I’m grinning when I see Fist jumping up and down like a fucking prize fighter heading to a world-class fight. I flick my eyes to the left and see all the brothers grinning and encouraging the fool. Shaking my head, I sidestep as he passes, and chuckle when he sing- songs, “Follow the Fist is going down, going down, going down.”
The man announcing shouts out Fist and his opponent. The other fighter looks solid. He must be 6’ 3”, an ugly fucker, and he’s not moving an inch. He’s eyeing Fist as though he’s a gnat, but I know Fist has a punch like a Mack truck and I’m sure it’s going to rock this fucker.
The fight is called, and Fist hops around the man who is keeping his eye on Fist. Throwing the first punch Follow The Fist growls lunging at Fist who hops to the side and throws his punch which catches Follow The Fist under his chin, forcing his head back hard and fast and he goes down to the ground out cold.
Fist throws his fists onto his hips and looks around until he finds me, the glare he sends me has me chuckling. “What the fuck, Knuckles, what sort of fighter is this?”
Throwing my head back, I can’t help the fit of laughter that bursts out, the look on Fist’s face is pure disgust, and as he walks out of the ring, he gives the fucker on the ground a sharp kick in the gut.
Axel is holding his hand out and Chisel slaps fifty bucks into it, then turns to Fist who’s walking back to the changing area. “Hey Fist, man couldn’t you have at least let him last three minutes?”
Fist shrugs his shoulders and points at the fucker still on the ground. “He’s a fuckin’ pussy.”
BS and Wings are walking back from where the betting area is being held and they both have a wad of cash in their hands, grinning at the winnings Fist earned them.
Richie is the next fighter, and this fight lasts twenty minutes, but it’s pretty brutal as they are evenly matched. The brothers are shouting and enjoying the night, and it’s great to see as we don’t often all get out at the same time. There are around twenty-five of us here tonight, and it’s brought out a great atmosphere, but it’s not gone unnoticed by any of us that another MC is in the opposite corner.
Colton is next, and I step in front of him as he makes his way to the ring. “Don’t make any mistakes. I don’t want to see you get hurt by this fucker. Remember what I’ve told you before.”
Nodding at me, and with a serious look on his face. “I’ll be careful and I’ll take him down.”
Lincoln walks over from where he’d been sitting with the brothers, he leans in and murmurs something to Colton, who in turn gives a small head nod.
Colton walks over to the ring, and I turn to Lincoln, “What did you tell him?”
“I injured his right knee and if he catches that knee he’ll be down and finished for good.” Lincoln grins.
Standing on one side I watch as Colton jumps up and down warming himself, but he’s watching Gordon the whole time. We’ve all seen Gordon cheat to finish an opponent, and we’ve all seen him send men to the hospital to fight for their lives. I’m apprehensive, but I know I’ve trained Colton well, and he’s had the extra training from Wings, Meat, BS, Chaos, and Target. He’s had all the training he needs, but it’s his hot head that has me worried.
The announcer calls the fight and as soon as the word ‘Fight’ is out of his mouth Gordon storms forward nearly catching Colton by surprise, but he ducks the punch and aims a good one at Gordon’s ribcage.
I can see Colton is staying relaxed, his face is showing none of the aggression that I’ve warned him about because that aggression is the one that makes him sloppy and take risks he never should think of making.
Gordon roars out his anger and I lift a surprised eyebrow because that’s unusual for this man. He is usually calm and controlled but cheats at every opportunity. To see him losing his temper must mean he has a grudge against Colton.
Colton half grins and flicks his eyes at me for a second before concentrating once more on Gordon. That flick of his eyes tells me he knows something more is going on here.
Throwing himself down and sliding towards Colton’s legs, Gordon makes a grab to take him down, but Colton’s ready and hops on one foot and flicks the top of his other foot hitting Gordon under the chin hard, and I mean hard enough for his head to snap back and his forward movement come to a sudden halt.
Colton moves away, keeping himself at a safe distance, and I nod my head with a yes that’s the right thing to do. I am, however, watching very closely at Gordon, who is getting to his feet, but watching Colton all the while.
I can hear the brothers shouting for Colton to finish him and stop fucking around. Lincoln I see leaning forward in his seat, muttering to himself, he has his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped together, but he is intent on something on the other side of the ring.
Flicking my eyes to where Lincoln is looking, I see the other MC standing up from their seats and then I realize Gordon is one of them. If I’d known, Colton would never have been in the ring with the fucker. I step nearer the brothers and lean down and warn Hammer who is the nearest to me that something is going to go down with the other MC.
Hammer nods and speaks to Ruger who is next to him, who speaks to Sting and that’s how the message is quickly transferred around my brothers.
Stepping closer to the ring I see Colton give Gordon another hard punch knocking him back. While he’s shaking his head, I call out catching Colton’s attention. “Finish him now. No time.”
Giving me a frown, but a thumbs-up sign, I watch for the move I know he’s going to make next. I’m not disappointed, when Gordon rushes forward and jumps, Colton jabs him in the chin, throat, and gut, then slams his foot into the right knee. We all hear the bone cracking and watch as Gordon goes down bellowing in pain.
The opposite MC members surge forward and before I can even do anything, my brothers are all nose to nose with one of them, and Axel is standing in the middle of the front line of brothers, eyeing their President as though it’s a normal occurrence. I don’t know what Axel says but the other President tells his men to back off and they all step back to their seats.
Axel winks as he walks back to his seat, murmuring ‘Pussies’ as he passes and shaking his head, with disappointment written all over his face.
The next fight I know won’t take too long so I walk over to the changing area, but not seeing my opponent as yet, I’m thinking something is amiss. I look around and see Grit walking in, giving me a shake of the head. “The Hammer isn’t comin’, he’s in the fuckin’ hospital. He fought last night in Denver and got taken down badly. So, you are all clear tonight, sorry man, I was lookin’ forward to you fighting him.”
Walking back out and to my brothers, I shake my head. “No fight, my man is in the hospital, so that’s all done for the night.”
Axel frowns, then grins before walking over to the other President, they speak for a few minutes, and then Axel walks back again, grinning like a fool before turning to Buzz.
“Get ready, you’re goin’ up against their Enforcer. I want to see you beat the holy shit out of him, Buzz and if you don’t, I’ll beat the shit outta you.” Axel retakes his seat and starts to whistle, which has us all looking at Buzz with a WHAT. THE. FUCK. look on our faces.
Buzz shucks off his kutte, handing it to Drag before walking into the ring, cracking his knuckles, and calmly waiting for his opponent.
Taking out my wallet, I hand a hundred bucks to Hammer who’s heading to the betting area. “On Buzz.” Hammer grins taking the cash and I turn back to watch the fight.
Now Buzz is 6’ 5” and built like a brick outhouse, the other enforcer isn’t much smaller. Buzz has been best friends with Axel since they were kids, and I know in some way Buzz will make Axel pay for this, but looking at Axel you can tell he’s not worried in the slightest ‘cause he’s got the biggest damn grin on his face.
When the first punch is thrown Buzz ducks, sidesteps, and pulls his fists up to his face. Looking over his knuckles at the other guy, he throws a punch landing on the side of his face, and for the next few minutes, they trade a punch for a punch.
Shouts from both sides of MC brothers have the place in an uproar and you can hardly hear yourself think. But when the other enforcer takes out a switchblade, everything quietens, and all my brothers stand. Axel points at the other President who has a smirk on his face.
Axel murmurs something, and it quickly is passed from brother to brother. The brothers step away from their seats, moving with purpose towards the other MC, who are looking around wondering what’s going on, I’m sure, because some are shouting to their President asking what the fuck has he done now.
I step nearer the ring because I will not watch one of my brothers get badly hurt or taken out if I’m able to stop it. I’m not sure how he did it, but Buzz moves fast, slaps his shoulder under the arm holding the knife, and flips the other enforcer around so his back is to Buzz’s front. He has his arm around the fucker’s neck and although he’s fighting to get free, nothing is going to stop Buzz from getting his man down.
Turning the man, Buzz eyes the President and gives a feral grin, then loudly asks. “Pres, do you want me to break his neck?”
Axel taps his chin with his forefinger, pretending to think about the question. “Nope, just put him down Buzz.” Turning to the President, Axel points. “You ever come near mine again and I’ll make sure, you and all yours, are taken out, and breaking necks won’t be the only thing that happens.”
Buzz gets the fucker out for the count and tosses him unconscious on the ground. Giving every one of the other MC brothers a snarl before walking back and picking his kutte up, shaking it out, and sliding his arms back in, all done with pride on his face.
Before making our way out, we all collect our betting winnings and I turn to look at Grit and Byron who are both looking shocked at the turn of events. I make my way over and hold my hand out. “I want all my brothers’ fight winnings, and they better be more than the normal, and I want something for Buzz ‘cause you allowed that shit to happen.”
Byron looks like he’s going to argue but I lean into him. “Pay up or I’ll take it outta your hide. I don’t care either way.”
Grit chuckles. “After tonight, Byron will be out of business. I’ll be taking over, so is it okay if I message you if I think I have a decent fight for you?”
Giving him a nod, I take the cash, check it’s okay, then make my way over to my brothers, paying them out and patting Buzz’s shoulder. “This is for you; I made the fucker payout.”
Buzz looks at the eight grand and grins. “I bet on myself too and made a killing. Good night, Knuckles… good night.” Laughing as he waves the money in front of Axel who gives me a nasty look because Buzz has ended up better off than he has.