Chapter 33

I awoke in the morning knowing that I had to get ready for something, but not realizing exactly what. I slipped my peg on and immediately went out to do my forms, stretching, and feeling my lunges and kicks. I had only been lifting in the hotels and not with free weights in a gym, so I knew my musculature was probably less than it should be. It could be considered showing off if I did this bout and was successful. Did I really want to show off, or just beat this guy one last time so that he would leave me alone in the future? I should probably talk to Bobby, but she was crazed the last time we talked. I continued until I felt I had my body in the right condition to compete.

Jane and Lisa had been watching me, and Lisa commented, "You were already preparing. You have to make your mind up. Do you want to hurt him, or let him live and accept your superiority?"

"He may not do that, Lisa. I have to prepare for that. Do I do that or let him off if he goes for a kill? That's difficult to train for."

Jane offered, "Let my brothers help you train. They'll help you to slide your killing blows off and to keep from that final thrust. Some will recognize your training; others will think you're weak. We'll know you resisted killing him."

Jane's brothers relentlessly worked with me that day. They took the brunt of my training as they constantly attacked and were tossed and pounced upon time after time. They were the perfect sparring partners, as they constantly tried to hit, spin, toss, and finish me with a killing blow. My past training is what let me constantly give the counter throw, toss, and/or chop. We worked on not breaking arms, wrists, or legs. That's the most difficult. The rule is simple, you immediately counter and hurt an opponent if he tries to harm you.

A man called my cell and asked, "I'm sorry, but I don't know who your agent is. Can you give me his name and telephone number so we can work out the details of this match?"

"I don't have an agent and shouldn't need one. I think this is a grudge match between Rocky and me. He doesn't like me, and I'm not supposed to like him. This is something he wants that isn't welcomed by me."

"Oh, come on. You're going to make out like a bandit getting your butt kicked all over the mat. What'll you get, a mil or so?"

"I haven't actually thought about what 'I will get' because I don't think Mister Sandy Molehill will beat me. I've beat him every time he's tried, and I should do it again. Ask him, and be aware that I've injured him each time. Ask Bobby if you don't believe me, she'll tell you."

The voice on the end paused for a long time then asked, "Are you the guy who broke him up before?"

"I did toss him, and I was the one who disarmed Bobby when she tried to pull a gun. You need to tell him to let it go and forget it. The match isn't worth it."

The man said, "Let me call you back. This may not be good for Rocky."

Lisa was listening as I had the phone on speaker. She said, "I've heard how you took care of Rocky Mountain before from the girls, but do you think you could still do it if he trained and is prepared for you?

"The one given is that the guy doesn't think he can be beat. The other is that he's too egotistical to practice for an opponent as small as me. I've worked out with Jane's brothers, and they are bruisers. I should easily be able to take care of Rocky if I can handle the two of them at a time. The key is to not let him get a hold of me. Someone will have to watch Bobby, because she has a stake in this. She also loses if Rocky does, and a lot of money could hinge on this."

I called Kal, "My friend and potential father-in-law, how much should I get for subjecting myself to this guy?"

Kal said, "I made the match up for the winner's side to get five mil. How much do you want?"

"How about you give a million to a good charity, and another million to the local vets? That should cover it."

Kal told me, "You can probably have another mil if you want to keep some for yourself."

"I don't think so, but maybe we should make a bet on the money you get."

"What kind of bet, Chuck?"

"Oh, an easy one, you get what's left if I lose, you give away what you win if I win."

There was another long pause, "I'll do that. Do you mind if I take the local costs out before distributing the proceeds?"

"Not in the least. Make sure this doesn't cost you anything, but I want the guy to suffer a little and to help some local charities."

"This will help my image as much as anything, Chuck. Beat the guy and have half of Hawaii wanting to worship you. I'm getting excited now."

"Okay, Kal, now comes the fun stuff. How long should I keep the guy up? I can take him down in the first minute if I want to. I could kill him in the first ten seconds. I don't think that's what you want. Should I let him play for five minutes, ten minutes, or what?"

"You don't mean that, do you, Chuck?"

"What are you asking, Kal? A guy like this can hurt me if I let him get hold of me. I won't do anything bad unless he gets a hold of me. All bets are off if that happens. I will hurt him as he can crush me. I will keep him away from me but I will hurt him if he gets hold of me."

"Damn, I didn't think of that, Chuck. I know my kids can do that stuff and you bested them. Don't kill him. Hurt him if you have to, but don't kill him."

"I'll try to be good, Kal."

"God, I hope so. Did you tell that to his manager?"

"I did and he laughed. Go to the guy and ask him to cancel. That would be best."

"Cancelling may be more than the guy's ego can handle. Rocky may be insisting."

I hung up on the phone call as we weren't getting anywhere. I looked for the agent's number on my call list and called him. I curtly said, "Call Bobby and have her call me. Tell her it's important."

Bobby called less than two minutes later. She said, "You're being nice to play Rocky's game. Do you think you should do that?"

"I don't know, Bobby, but I want to tell you in advance, I promise not to hurt him if he plays fair. All bets are off the first dirty thing he tries, and I will hurt him, Bobby. Listen to me, Bobby, I will kill him if he tries anything that's disabling. I won't mean to, but it'll happen because that's the way I'm trained. You need to tell him to play fair and be respectful for me, and I'll do the same."

Bobby didn't say anything for a long time before she finally said, "He wants to hurt you, Chuck. He thinks he can hurt you so much that you won't walk or talk. I'll tell him what you're telling me, but he's going to be that much more incensed. I don't like this. He's been training with a martial arts guy, but I don't think the guy is very good. He lets Rocky beat him up all the time and I know better. Let him live if you can, Chuck. I'll tell him what you said, but don't look for any respect or consideration."

I told Bobby it was good to hear from her and hung up.

My phone rang about a half-hour later. As soon as I said hello, a gravely voice said, "I'm going to pull your arms out of their sockets, and then piss in your face. I think I'll drink a lot of extra water to make sure I can do a good job. You little motherfucker; that you would ask my woman for me to fight fair is a joke. I never fight fair and I'm not going to worry when I break your fucking neck. Be ready to die, you little asshole."

"Are you done, Rocky? I've hurt you each time we've had a skirmish. I told Bobby that I would injure you if you attempted to intentionally hurt me, and that I wouldn't slip my blows or hold back if you attempted to do more than that. You could die, Rocky. Do you want to die?"

"Don't do me any favors, Punk; you'll be carried off the mat. I will piss on your corpse."

I disconnected the call. There was no reason to continue.

This wasn't the way to do something like this. I felt like a ten year old being challenged by a schoolyard bully. I'm surprised Rocky's name wasn't Trask.

I was sitting on the patio trying to figure out how to handle this without hurting either one of us. Lisa came out and said, "Don't be such a wimp. Throw him and put a sleeper hold on him if you want to end it quick. Let him up and do it again if you want to tease him some more. You can put him under five or six times before it does any damage. Just don't squeeze too long or so hard that you could crush his larynx or break his neck. I know none of this is your way to handle a problem, but remember that he'll hurt you if you let him."

I looked up at her and she could tell that I didn't want to come out to hurt the guy. She reminded me, "Go inside and look at your kids. Look at all nine of them, and then look at the mothers, knowing you have five more coming. Look at your two from Gina, and Marion and Virginia. They're all yours, Chuck. Whether or not it was your sperm, they're yours. Finish this fight quickly, once and for all. Don't play with him and don't kill him. Hurt him if you must, but put him down and keep him down."

That's what made my mind up. I couldn't let him harm me. My family needed me. The fight was tomorrow and would be televised and promoted all over the world as the bout of the century between Rocky Mountain and his tormentor, a Florida unknown who had challenged Rocky's manhood.

Kal was beside himself with excitement. He said that the bout would be the biggest of the year, regardless of the outcome. We were scheduled to begin at four our time, so it would be live on the mainland's east coast at nine. There would be a lot of hoopla and buildup so that commercials could be shown between interviews.

I showed up at the arena and put my gi on. I figured that would be the way I should be dressed and would show that I am who I am. I folded and put the sash on the correct way. I wasn't a high degree black belt, but I was also a student of the advanced arts.

I thought that I would antagonize Rocky's supporters by going through my basic forms when I went to the ring. My music gently played to me as I went through the forms that would protect me from a strong assault. Those who knew the art would know what I was doing and nod their approval.

There was a lot of music and fanfare when Rocky came into the ring. The crowd was yelling and hollering more than a Friday night announcement on the patio. I stepped back into my corner as he strutted around the ring waving and flexing his steroid induced muscles. He came near me and gave me the finger. It was everything that I could do to keep from breaking that finger right then. I smiled at him and told him to quit acting like a schoolboy instead. The microphone picked up what I said and broadcast it to the audience. That got him. He stomped back to his corner and took his huge championship belt off.

The announcer began with the introductions. He didn't know what to call me, so I hollered, "I'm Chuck, only Chuck."

There was the buildup when the announcer had Rocky come to the mike to tell the audience what he wanted to do to me. He told how he was going to rip my arms out of their sockets and piss in my face. He acknowledged that he wasn't being respectful, but he didn't care as I was a thorn in the world's side and he planned on pulling that thorn forever.

I was next, and when I was asked what I wanted to accomplish, I spoke into the microphone, "Rocky and I have had several skirmishes and he's come out on the short end every time. I don't want to hurt him, but I want this feud to end once and for all. My ex-girlfriend went to him, and Rocky's been jealous of me since. He is married to Bobby, and I'm happy for both of them, but Rocky has this idea that I was a better man to her before he came along, and that apparently hasn't changed."

Rocky came running out of his corner and lunged at me. I ducked and pushed him up and over to send him into the corner. That had to hurt. I stood back up and spoke into the microphone, "That's how Rocky keeps making the same mistakes. Would someone like to come up and help Rocky straighten up so we can get this over with?"

The crowd was really rowdy and was yelling for Rocky to get up and really hurt me.

I went back to my corner as the referee helped Rocky to his corner. The announcer announced the bout once again; complete with two out of three falls needed to win. I haven't done that before, but I will now.

Bobby was up in Rocky's corner massaging his shoulders. She was glaring at me for having thrown him into the corner. I'm sure she thought I could have softened the throw. Tough; he messes with me, I'll mess with him.

I saw Bobbie pass something under Rocky's nose and he brightened up. It must have been something good as he was now looking spry and eager to get at me.

The referee was acting like a figurehead as he waved his hands together and stepped back. Rocky came from his corner like a madman and rushed me. I stood my ground, and I chopped him in the throat and pulled his chin up to break his neck when he reached to grab me, but I swung his body using his own weight and let him slam into the floor on his back. I stood over him with a dagger hand and thrust it at his throat, but didn't make contact. I acted to slam the base of my hand into his nose to drive the bones into his brain, but stopped short. I slammed my hand on the mat three times while the referee was standing there with his mouth open, to let everyone know that the first fall was mine.

I then massaged Rocky's temples and brought him back and helped him to his corner. I think every supporter in Hawaii he ever had vanished right then.

It took Rocky almost three minutes of breathing whatever it was Bobby was offering him before he came to. He looked at me differently, but still had the angry look that he should have known spelled his demise.

I hadn't worked up a sweat so far, but I wasn't comfortable. The masses in the building were creating a lot of heat.

I had been standing, waiting for Rocky, when he stood and came to the middle of the ring. He did it again. The man is a creature of habit as he actually offered me his hand. I smiled at him and acted like I was going to shake, but I pulled my hand back and jumped away as he lunged. I helped him stumble to the ropes with a push on his back. He used the ropes as a spring and came back at me with his wide open arms squared in order to grab me.

I fell flat to floor and watched him trip over me. I was on him in a flash and acted like I was going to break his neck, but put a sleeper on him. He didn't even twitch as he went out like a light. Once again the ref stood to the side with his mouth open so I stood up, pulled him down to Rocky, shoved his hands under each shoulder, and then used one of the ref's hands to slowly slap the mat three times. I pulled the ref up and as I was leaning over to bring Rocky out of it, Bobbie came through the ropes raising a folding chair, in order to hit me with it.

A blurred figure came flying through the air from the side and kicked Bobby with two feet. Bobbie did a backwards summersault, landing on her face. You could tell she was out. Tiny Jane came to me and bowed to the audience as she motioned me out of the ring. I stopped and massaged Rocky to wake him up. I turned his head toward Bobby when his eyes opened and told him, "Go take care of your lady."

The folding chair was still lying next to Bobbie, and Rocky grabbed it and was going to slam me and Jane with it, but another blurry body came from the ropes and kicked the man's arms and hands, sending the chair into the air. It came down on the ref, knocking him out. Rocky was looking at the odd angle his arms were at. Lisa had broken both arms and probably his hands.

The three of us walked out of the ring and up the aisle to the locker room. We actually never stopped there, but went straight out of the building. The crowd was still hushed as we walked out of the auditorium.

We heard the people in the auditorium erupt in derisive hollering and hooting as we went toward the parking lot, booing at the great Rocky Mountain who couldn't beat up a man half his size and was done in by a woman. We later heard that Bobby was obviously hurt and was helped from the ring to the locker room. Rocky kept looking in disbelief at the odd angles his arms were in.

We later watched the video of him leaving the arena and slowly walking up the aisle amidst all the hoots and chants.

As the video people were interviewing the audience, one of the spectators said, "You know, that little guy looks like the new guy with the Blues Expedition, and that one girl looks like the new girl with them. Could they be them?"

That was the only clue to our real identities, and none of the announcers caught it. Jane, Lisa, and I went to the hotel where I put some shorts and a t-shirt on along with sandals. The other thing no one had even noticed was that my right lower leg was a stalk and not real. Everything I did didn't require any footwork and was basic martial arts. I think a first degree brown belt could do what I did. They might have been overwhelmed by Rocky's size, but they could have handled him.

The ladies were gathered in the suite's living room area when I came from the bedroom. Frieda said, "Etta told us that you wouldn't have a problem with Rocky, and you didn't. Brandy and Tiani wanted to be there to do what Jane and Lisa did. Taiying and Sing are very upset that you didn't finish the man, but we all understand why you didn't. I think you finished, but didn't kill him. He'll have to live with his failure for the rest of his life."

Judy said, "My big disappointment is Bobby. We loved her and made love with her many times. That she would have turned on us so easily hurts. It hurts a lot. I wanted you to go and bitch-slap her the way she should have been. I guess Lisa's kick was about as bad, but Lisa was trying to kill him for his actions. That wouldn't have been good.

Tiani said, "I'm not that much smaller than Jane. I want to be the way Jane is. I'm learning a lot, but I don't have that knowledge yet. I want to learn to be like that."

Jane hugged the little cocoa girl and told her, "I'll teach you, Tiani. Taiying and Sing will teach you what we know, and Don will teach you even more. We all need to know how to defend ourselves and our family. I will help do that."