It was the dead of night, the small bedroom was silent, moonlight shined through the window. The rays stretched far upon a bed, where a young man, about the age of seventeen, was sleeping. He tossed and turned, his breath uneven, sweat dripping down his face. Suddenly, the lad awoke with a start, he felt a small, sharp pain on the back of his neck. He checked to see if there was blood, but found nothing out of the ordinary. This was not the first time he woken up from his nightmares. The worst part is that he cannot quite remember what exactly happen, not even once.
"Not again." he mumbled as his breathing was turning back to normal. The boy didn't bother going back to sleep, so he began to read a book that was laying on his night table. He felt pretty silly to have this become a routine, but who can complain over something forgotten? Several hours passed when he glanced at the window, only to be greeted by the sun climbing up from the horizon. Dawn has arrived in the Bronx again.
"Hey Mac! Time to get up son!" an energetic voice called. A small smile cracked on the young man's face.
"I'm up already Doc!" he responded. Laughter sounded through the apartment, making Mac chuckle as well. The lad hopped out of bed and got dressed in his usual clothes, a black tank top, and a bright pink hoodie with matching sweatpants. Mac exited the bedroom and headed towards the kitchen, where a somewhat tall, albeit, plump, dark skinned man was waiting.
"Did you sleep well son?" he asked.
"Yeah, for the most part." Mac replied. Doc raised an eyebrow at the boy's response.
"Another nightmare?" he questioned. The lad nodded, making Doc sigh a bit. This made him always worry, despite the times Mac told him he was fine. It made him wonder if the young man was hiding something, but then again, he had faith that the boy wouldn't do anything like that either. Even with the rough beginning of raising him, Mac was an overall good and trustworthy kid.
"I'm alright, a little loss in sleep is not gonna ruin my trainin'!" he declared, and threw a couple of fast punches to prove himself. Doc let out a hearty chuckle, feeling relieved.
"Alright Mac baby I believe you, but before we get started I need you to run to the store." he stated.
"Huh? I thought it was your turn, don't be trying to slip it on me!" Mac shouted with a snarky smile on his face.
"I have no idea what you're talking about son." Doc said, trying to play innocent. The lad let out a small sigh of defeat, he knows that his coach will out play him like the many times before.
"Alright, you win, I'll be back in a while." Mac responded. Doc handed the boy some money and with a small wave, Mac left the apartment complex. Though the weather was chilly for an early autumn, the streets were bustling with cars and pedestrians trying to get to where they needed to go. Seeing this kind of setting always made Mac more carefree. With that, he decided to jog the long way to the local market instead of the typical shortcuts he took. The back allies of the city were much longer, but the boy didn't mind that, to him it was another part of his training for the WVBA. That was his dream ever since he was a child. He wanted to be a boxing part of the big leagues, heck, the champion! This was sparked even further when the lad discovered Doc himself was a champion at one point as well. What are the odds of that? After a few more minutes of walking, Mac ended up at a small, but nicely decorated building. When he entered through the doorway a small bell rung, with the cashier at the far left greeting him. The boy also said hello before walking down one of the many aisles.
"I'll start with the chocolate first before I get the rest." Mac told himself quietly. He still vividly remembered the time he forgot to buy chocolate for Doc; that day ended unpleasant for the both of them. After shivering at the thought of it happening again and grabbing the candy, the young man wandered around, collecting any necessary items. He double checked every once in awhile to see if everything is in order. He felt everything was in order and headed to the checkout, where two kids around his age were hanging out.
"Did ya hear about the new group of thugs creepin' around?" one of them whispered. This caught Mac's attention, he decided to listen in on the conversation.
"No, I never really pay attention about that kind of stuff." the other replied.
"Well, you should, these guys are crazy, going into the main streets and mugging people. They must have a good reason to do so, otherwise they're stupid as hell." the first kid said. Mac was suspicious about the whole thing, certainly no criminal would rob people in such an open area. But then again, he've done it himself in the past. ...Trying to ignore memory lane, Mac grabbed a newspaper on the rack at the counter. Sifting through the pages, one particular section caught his eye. It was a story about a doctor from a children's clinic that went missing a couple weeks ago. This made the boy uncomfortable. It wasn't necessarily the story itself that's making Mac this way, it was because of a doctor being associated with children. Like if it was yesterday, he remembered being examined by doctors constantly for who knows why, and he always asked them something, but he cannot find the words that he said to them.
"Would you like to buy a copy sir?" the cashier asked, making Mac snap back into reality.
"Oh, no thank you." the lad responded, putting the newspaper back neatly. Feeling a bit silly for zoning out like that, Mac left the shop with his purchased items. He didn't want to waste anymore time in the city, so he quickly rushed back to his apartment. After snagging a chocolate bar and an old bike, Doc and Mac began training.
"You got this son! Keep going!" the man shouted, cycling down the sidewalk. Mac was behind him, running and trying to catch up to his coach with each step. The boy always found this to be his favorite part of training, since it shows how far he came from the beginning. When he started he was always falling behind, or had to stop due to fatigue. But, he never gave up. Now, he felt like he can run alongside Doc without too much trouble. As he was about to attempt it, something caught his eye. It was a couple, walking alongside a little girl that looked similar to both of them. Mac slowed down, examining them, yet he wasn't sure why. He felt...off. Was it envy? How can that be? He had Doc who cares about him so much. That wasn't it. It bothered the lad heavily until a phrase popped into his mind: "Will I have a family?" Mac stopped jogging. He was locked in a trance. Why did this bug him so much? His mind raced, trying to figure out this oddity. He was getting frustrated, gritting his teeth in his closed jaw. Suddenly, he felt someone touch his shoulder.
"Mac, are you alright?" Doc asked, standing next to the young man. Mac didn't even notice him there.
"Yeah, I'm fine." he muttered. Doc's brows furrowed, he felt that something was wrong.
"How about we do the running later? Let's work on strength instead." the coach suggested. Mac nodded, he didn't feel like running anymore.