Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
“You sure you want to do this?” Remedie peered up at him with her brows pulled in. Concern laced her face, which caused Nico to run his thumb across her cheek to smooth those worry lines out. She never needed to worry with him.
“I’m positive. Let’s get inside so we can break the news,” Nico urged.
He closed the car door and took Remedie’s hand. Together, they walked slowly into the gym Nico spent most of his time at.
He wouldn’t admit this to Remedie, because it would cause her to worry more, but his heart felt heavy.
It didn’t have to be his last time walking into this gym, but for some reason, it felt final.
He could still train and practice when he felt like it, but today would be the official death of his career as he knew it.
He worried about how Tyree and Gramps would take it.
They walked into the gym, and Nico noticed right away that it was fairly empty.
The few men in there training spotted him and immediately stopped what they were doing and packed up their things.
It was his first time stepping out since the incident with Zayden a couple of weeks ago, outside of the doctor appointment with Remedie.
He knew it would take a while for people to get used to him again . . . It always did.
He sighed heavily as the men left the training space. Remedie was right there with her small hand on his toned back, rubbing small circles. Since they found out she was pregnant, she had become such a worrywart. He knew his next mission needed to be to figure out how to calm her down.
Gramps and Tyree walked into the large space from the locker room area. Tyree had a clipboard, and Gramps had his usual grumpy expression. When they noticed Nico and Remedie, they both perked up before frowns of confusion covered their faces.
“Where’s ya bag, champ? Why you ain’t got ya shit on?” Gramps asked.
They were supposed to start training again today.
Nico waited until the last minute to tell them he planned on quitting because he had still been going back and forth with it for the past couple of weeks.
Really, he knew what he needed to do. He was just hesitant about making the change. All he’d ever known was boxing.
Nico grabbed the back of his neck with one hand and squeezed Remedie’s hand with the other. “I need to holla at y’all real quick.”
Gramps studied him like he knew exactly what Nico needed to talk about. “Come on. Let’s sit.”
Gramps led them over to a couple of metal folding chairs in the corner of the room. He and Remedie sat down while Tyree and Nico stood.
“What’s goin’ on, bro? I got a few niggas we can check out from out of town to put you up against for your next few fights until things die down here.
I was gon’ go over that while you warmed up, but it don’t seem like you ready to put no work in today.
” Tyree popped his gum loudly as he looked at Nico intently.
“Let him speak, Ree,” Gramps said, but he kept his eyes on Nico.
Nico’s eyes found Remedie, and a wave of calmness washed over him as he gazed into her pretty brown eyes. Peace over this decision came to him, and that allowed him to face Gramps and his brother confidently. He squared his shoulders and spoke. “I decided to end my boxing career.”
Silence engulfed them for a few seconds as the news sunk in before Tyree’s loud ass spoke. “Now what the hell do you mean? You career is how we all eat, Nico. Nightmare. You keep food on all our table. You really gon’ do this to me? To Gramps? To Mama?”
Nico let Tyree have his dramatic minute. When he stopped rambling, Nico asked, “You done?”
Tyree’s mouth dropped open, and he looked over at Gramps. “You not gon’ say anything, old man? Are you hearing this? Maybe you didn’t hear. I’ll say it louder for you. Nico said—”
Gramps shut Tyree’s shouting off with a swift punch to the gut, just hard enough to knock the wind out of him. “I heard him, fool. Quit all that hootin’ and hollerin’.”
“You aren’t gonna say anything?” Tyree asked again as he gasped for air.
“Ain’t nothin’ for me to say. Nico is a grown ass man,” Gramps replied before he looked up at Nico. “You sure ’bout this?”
“I ain’t gon’ lie, I’m sad. Boxing is life, but . . .” He glanced around the empty gym before he lowered his voice. “I can’t keep blackin’ out and killin’ niggas.”
It was the first time he’d said it out loud.
The weight of the statement felt heavy on his shoulders.
He had killed multiple men with his bare hands.
There was a lot of power in that, but there was also a lot of guilt buried deep down in there.
With that power and guilt, there was bound to come a downfall if he kept on.
“This last time wasn’t even because you were boxing, bro. It was because a nigga couldn’t keep his hands to himself,” Tyree argued before glancing at Remedie. “If I had seen the shit before you, I would have gotten to him before you did, and his ass still would have been dead.”
“It ain’t good for me no more, bro. It just ain’t.
It ain’t normal for me to have killed three niggas because I can’t control my fists.
I got a future to think about. I got a woman now.
” He walked over to Remedie and stood behind where she sat.
While he rubbed her shoulders, he continued.
“And we ’bout to have a baby by the end of the year. This boxing shit is dead.”
“Well gah damn,” Gramps said with a toothy grin. “You gon’ be a daddy?”
Nico nodded. He didn’t expect so much emotion to cloud him from speaking those words out loud for the first time, but suddenly, his throat felt tight.
“I’m gon’ be an uncle?” Tyree asked. His voice echoed off the walls in the empty space as he grabbed his brother up in a hug.
Nico knew from that moment on, Tyree wouldn’t care about boxing or anything else aside from the baby growing in Remedie’s stomach.
And their mama? She was about to be over the moon.
“I forgive you,” Tyree finally said as he pulled away from Nico and wiped his eyes dramatically.
Nico scoffed. “Forgive me for what, nigga?”
“For fuckin’ up my money,” Tyree replied seriously.
“Ree, all you’ve ever done is live off my money, nigga. You call yourself being my manager because you get bored and it keeps you busy. You know good and damn well that ain’t even why your bills are paid,” Nico argued.
Tyree stood back and thought about it for a moment before he tossed the clipboard he had been holding behind his shoulder. “Fuck it then. I got a baby on the way. I’ll stay busy fulfilling my uncle duties.”
Tyree pulled Remedie up by her arms and hugged her. While they spoke about baby things, Nico stepped over to Gramps. He shoved his hands into his pockets and asked, “You disappointed in me?”
Gramps’s brows pulled in before he stood up slowly and looked Nico in his eyes. “Disappointed?”
Nico shrugged. “Yeah. You spent a good deal of your life and time giving me the tools to be the best, and now I’m quitting.”
Gramps shook his head. “Son, you ain’t quittin’ nothin’. You startin’. I always told you to find somethin’ outside of boxing to love on.” He looked over Nico’s shoulder at Remedie and smiled. “You did exactly what I taught ya. You did better than me.”
Tears filled Nico’s eyes, but he blinked them away as he pulled Gramps in for a hug.
That moment right there solidified all of Gramps’s teachings for him.
The old man never wanted Nico to grow up alone and with nothing but boxing to show for his life.
It was how Gramps’s life turned out, and that made Nico sad.
When he pulled away, he tried to ease the emotional moment with a grin. “Since you ain’t gotta worry ’bout trainin’ me anymore, you can find you a nice tender young thang to settle down with.”
Gramps chuckled deeply. “I think that ship has sailed for me, champ, but I wouldn’t mind spendin’ some time with that baby of yours.
Been a long time since I been around the youth.
Probably since you and Ree was lil niggas runnin’ ’round here and eatin’ up all my food and shit. Might help keep me young.”
“You gon’ be the best Gramps,” Nico said, squeezing the old man’s shoulder. “I think it’s officially time to retire you.”
“Ah, now don’t that sound good?” Gramps asked with a grin.
Nico would make sure Gramps lived a comfortable life.
He owed the man everything. His mama and Tyree had nothing to worry about either.
It was only because he was such a busy body that he felt the need to worry about money.
He couldn’t see himself sitting around doing nothing for the rest of his life.
Besides, he and his family might be good for the rest of their lives with the money he had, but his plan had always been to create generational wealth.
Nico made his way back over to rescue Remedie from Tyree, who was currently crouched down and baby talking to her stomach.
“Cut that shit out, goofy,” Nico scolded, mushing Tyree’s head away.
Tyree stood straight and immediately put his fists up. “You ain’t the only one that can fight now. Try ya mama, not me.” He bounced around on the balls of his feet in a fighting stance for a second before his eyes grew wide. “Have you told Mama yet?”
“Nah, and you better keep your big mouth shut until I have the chance to,” Nico warned.
Tyree pouted. “Fine, but I want to be there when you tell her. Chile, she’s ’bout to be over the moon.”
Nico ignored him and looked at Remedie. “You feelin’ okay?”
She shrugged. “A little nauseous.”
“Let’s get you home.” Nico kissed her temple. Remedie leaned into him, and he could feel her exhaustion from this little field trip. “We’re gon’ head out.”
“We might as well walk out with you,” Gramps said.
They walked toward the exit, and that heavy feeling came back and nestled into Nico’s heart. Remedie must have sensed it because she stopped walking, which caused everyone to stop walking. She looked back at the gym and then at Nico. “Why don’t you buy it?”
“Buy what, cookie?” Nico asked as he brushed her hair back away from her face.
“This gym.” She waved an arm around to gesture at the space.
“This is the same one you’ve been coming to for years, right?
You too, Gramps? Why don’t you guys buy it and fix it up?
Maybe even train legit boxers or something.
” She shrugged as if she hadn’t just spewed out the best idea he’d ever heard.
Nico looked at Gramps and Tyree. “Why we ain’t ever thought about that?”
Tyree shrugged. “We were too focused on keeping you the champ. We never had space to think about nothin’ else for real.”
Gramps clapped Nico on the back as he moved around him and out the front door. “It sounds like a fine idea to me, champ.”
That it did. That little seed of an idea was already sprouting and growing in Nico’s mind. When he finally stepped out of the gym, he no longer felt sadness. In its place, hope had sparked.