31- Landon “Breaker” Mercer
Today was one of those days I was here, but I wasn’t at the same time.
I couldn’t break my routine, I needed to train, but I didn’t feel like that shit today.
I just wanted to block everything, and everyone out.
A day to say fuck it all. Since I was weeks away from my fight, I dragged my ass out of bed and came to the gym.
Planting my feet, I threw a combination.
It felt off, but I stepped around the bag and did it again.
“You still dropping your right when you swing with your left.” Looking over my shoulder, I saw Pops walking towards me.
“I see you came to gloat.” He looked confused as he stepped in front of me.
“About what?”
“You were right about Ariyah. Congratulations.”
“Who the fuck would want to be right about some shit like that? Move over.” Grabbing my spare pair of gloves, he put them on.
“What you think you doing?”
“What it look like?” he asked as if I should already know.
“It looks like an old nigga not wanting to accept he old, and about to pull something.”
“Now shut yo ass up, you just might learn something. This is what you’re doing whenever you swing with your left.
” He hit the bag while mirroring what I had just done.
“This is what you should be doing.” Knowing it felt off when I was swinging, I could see he was right.
My left had full power, but I didn’t fight strong when I lead with it.
Pops stopped for a second to catch his breath.
“Damn, yo old ass tired already?” He went back to hitting the bag, but I kept fucking with him. “Them punches getting kind of light.”
“You want me to hit you? Then shut yo ass up.” Laughing, I walked to the bag next to him and began hitting as well. We hadn’t done this in years. We were in a groove when he finally broke the silence. “I didn’t come here to say I told you so.”
“Could’ve fooled the fuck out of me.”
“Son, I get no pleasure in seeing you hurt. Hell, I didn’t think she would fuck up.”
“Could’ve fooled me on that shit too.”
“Landon.”
“You spent all that time telling me I needed to leave her alone because she was a distraction. She played me out, and yall clowned me.”
“That’s not what I meant though. When you start something, you give your all. Being with her meant you was going to give her your all instead of your training.”
“Because you think I can’t win. That hurt more than anything else.” Walking away from his bag, he stood in my face, but I kept swinging.
“You know I’m your father, right?”
“That ain’t got shit to do with the price of tea in China.”
“What it means is I’ll never stop being scared, son.” I looked up at him, and I could see the worry in his eyes. “Do you remember when I was at my away game, and you got into that fight?”
“Yeah.” I started laughing at the memory.
“I jumped on the first flight out ready to kick that nigga’s ass even though you had already won.”
“Then you wanted to beat my ass.”
“Because you got me fined.” We both laughed.
“That’s what being a parent is. No matter how many battles you win, I’m still going to want to fight them for you.
You’re my son, and being a champ doesn’t change shit.
You can knock out every last one of them, and until they hit the mat, I’m going to be scared they might hurt you first.” Thinking about how I had to be there for Ariyah because she had no one, I regretted how I blew up.
“Thank you, Pops.”
“For what?”
“Always being there. Sometimes, it may seem like I take that for granted, but I don’t.”
“I always will, even when Danger beating on your ass.” Instead of getting offended, this time I laughed. We both did.
“Get your ass the fuck out my gym.” He threw his hands up in surrender.
“Sensitive ain’t ya?” I went back to hitting the bag, and this time, I didn’t feel a weight on me.
“Love you too, Pops.”
“Don’t forget to pick your right up.”
“Aight.” He walked off, so I went to work doing what he said.
“Hey.” Hearing her voice gave me pause. Not about to let her fuck with my head, I continued swinging.
“What the fuck you doing here?”
“We need to talk.” She said sounded as if that was the last thing she wanted to do.
“Again? Damn, you talking more in two days than you have in a month.” Shorty didn’t have shit to say to me when she up and left. Now, her ass wouldn’t shut up. Probably wanted me to train her again.
“Landon, can you be serious?”
“I am, though.” She rolled her good eye, causing me to laugh. She shifted from foot to foot not saying a word. “Talk.”
“I overheard Stone and Danger talking about you.” That made me stop. “They had this whole plan about getting in your head so that you could lose the fight.” She went on to tell me the rest, and I couldn’t do shit but shake my head. I couldn’t even say I was surprised.
“That’s crazy as hell. I wasn’t trying to push the nigga out; I was doing what I thought should be done. I didn’t have to include him on shit, but I did.” I left out how I was just trying to make her happy.
“I really thought the nigga was looking out for me. I trusted him, and he played me. All the games Danger was playing by using the media. I’m just tired of feeling like this,” she said as if she was expecting me to have sympathy for her. Shaking my head, I laughed.
“You think this shit funny?”
“I actually do. I can have empathy for you, but I don’t have to have sympathy for you. You don’t get to come in here and play victim and expect me to let you.” Her head snapped around fast.
“Excuse me? What do you mean play victim?”
“I was there for you when nobody else was. I believed in you when you didn’t believe in your damn self.
Then as soon as you got what you needed, your ass was out.
Now you found out that the people you chose over me ain’t shit, and here you come.
Expecting me to pick the pieces up and put you back together. ”
“I already said I was wrong about that.”
“Congratufuckinglations. You said you were wrong. Not once did you apologize, but I don’t need you to. I’m good.”
“Oh, don’t do that. Cause even though I was wrong on that, you still ain’t shit.” She had me fucked up.
“And you still a user.” She opened her mouth, and it hung there for a while.
“A user? What did I use you for, Landon?”
“Shit, everything. Free training, connections, confidence, and a chance to show your ass was enough. The minute you got that, you were gone.” I know that might have been below the belt, but I was tired of her acting as if she didn’t know what the fuck I was talking about.
“Is that what you think?”
“That’s what I know.”
“You don’t know shit, and you ugly.” This time, I couldn’t do shit but laugh.
“Well, pot meet kettle Blinky.” Her hand went up to her eye causing me to laugh again.
“Regardless of what you think about me, that’s not what happened.”
“Well, I wouldn’t know, would I? You up and left without saying a word. Once you don’t tell me what it is, you can’t get mad at the conclusions I come up with from assuming.” Seeing her tear up did something to me, so I softened my tone. “Tell me what happened, Ariyah.”
“I let my guard down. I let you in when I don’t let nobody in. I trusted and believed what you were telling me. What you were showing me. I had hope.” She looked up at me when she said the last part.
“Didn’t look like you had hope to me.”
“Because you know what happened after that.” Now, I was confused.
“Look at me, I’m telling you I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT! Quit playing these mind games. Either tell me what you think, or just leave me where the fuck I’m at. All I know is, I helped you reach your dream and you left.”
“Was I supposed to ride into the sunset with you, me, and Tan?” I wasn’t expecting her to say that.
“What the fuck do she have to do with anything?”
“Everything.”
“Ariyah, why would Tan have anything to do with you leaving? I didn’t fuck with her until after.”
“No, you just made me own my shit. So, you don’t get here and try to act like you did nothing wrong.
The night I went out with Charly, I saw her.
She was talking with her friends about you.
I leaned in trying to listen, and she let me see the pictures of yall.
She had your black card, and it was no reason for her to be lying because I didn’t know that bitch from a can of paint.
” This time when I laughed, she walked up like she was ready to fight.
“Oh, so you’re what happened to her face.” I kept asking Tan what happened, but she gave me some bullshit story about getting jumped.
“You damn right. If you know that, then I know you lying trying to play innocent.”
“Shut the fuck up! Damn! If you had come to me then, I would have told you she was full of shit. You so stuck in your own shit, it didn’t matter what was said because you already believed this couldn’t be real.
The day I saw you in the restaurant when my lil sister blurted that shit out, I had just met the hoe outside.
She was basically trying to fuck on the spot. I gave her my number because why not.”
“Typical.” She rolled that lil ass eye again, and I shrugged.
“Perks of being champ. Anyway, I was fucking on her, but the day you came to my house, I told her we were done. Take my card and buy herself something nice. I meant to go get it later, but Raymond came to the gym. I hadn’t thought about her, nor did I see her anymore until that day I was with Stone. ”
“Wait, when were you with Stone?”
“After our date in the ring. I wanted to keep him in the loop because I thought that’s what you would want.
We were having lunch when she came in screaming how could I do this to her.
You forgot, I just posted you on my IG. I had Titan drag her ass out, and that was that.
After you played me, and I knew you weren’t coming back, I needed to release, so I hit the bitch up. ”
“And brought her here.” Her assumptions were really starting to piss me off.
“If you want to know something, ask. Quit assuming you know what the fuck you’re talking about.
I was flaunting her around trying to be petty.
When I realized I didn’t want to play that game, I told her I was done.
She fed me some shit about I owed her because I left her at the interview to come to your fight, I let her come.
Mufucka got on my nerves the entire time she was there too. When you left, I put her ass out.”
“That’s what you get. Can you teach me, so I can be like Ariyah,” she said in a whiny voice causing us both to laugh. We sat in silence for a while when she started laughing so hard that bad eye was trying to open.
“What the fuck you laughing at?”
“Them mufuckas played us.”
“Who?”
“Stone. He saw Tan at the restaurant, then all of a sudden, she happens to run into me at the bar. Mind you, I gave him my location because he said he wanted me safe. The bitch sat right next to me and began talking about how you’re her man.
I fell for the shit hook, line, and sinker.
It was all to get me away from you and fuck with your head. ”
“Damn, your daddy ain’t shit.” For the first time all night, Ariyah didn’t have shit to say, and neither did I. Finally, it hit me. I knew the perfect words.
“You hungry?”