Chapter 7
"$50,000 as promised!" Ms Y hands over a cheque to Max who is standing next to his manager in their office.
"That was some fight you put up last night! The crowds loved every minute of it!" Mr Y remarks as his eyes widen with excitement. Max nods, acknowledging him but he is keen not to make conversation back.
"It's been a pleasure doing business with the two of you…" Mr Ricci replies, extending his hand.
"The pleasure is ours" Ms Y comments, glaring at Max with one hand on her hip.
"Now unless there is anything else we can do for you, if you don't mind my fighter here has training to return to" the manager insists.
"Of course," Mr Y replies with understanding as the pair turn to leave the office situated in Y Tower.
"Actually…." Ms Y interrupts, stopping Max and his manager in their tracks before they turn around. "My brother and I would love to host you for more fights. Last night was a major success both for our reputation and revenue. Thunder is now Wood Oak's top underground fighter…."
Max and his manager briefly glance towards one another before Max speaks out for the first time, simply querying "so what are the terms then?"
"That's my job to ask that!" Mr Ricci mutters under his breath feeling displeased.
"$80,000 for the next fight to take place on Thanksgiving in two weeks…" Mr Y promptly answers. Mr Ricci's eyes instantly widen, intrigued by the offer.
"Make it $100,000 and we got ourselves a deal" Max negotiates.
"You drive a hard bargain Mr Hatchet…" the young man folds his arms.
"I think, given how popular the event was last night, if we can pull in the same crowds, same bets and more, 100K is possible" Ms Y smiles.
"You got yourselves a deal". Max tilts his head, folding the $50K cheque in his hand then placing it in his back pocket.
"We'll be in touch soon!" Mr Y escorts them to the door with a large grin on his face.
Once Max and his manager have left, he sits, leaning against the desk while Ms Y falls back into her leather chair.
"Do you think he trusts us yet?" He asks his sister.
"If we can show Max that we run things differently to father, in time he will do. Sooner or later we'll have Thunder under our control then Ricci can go disappearing off a cliff" she laughs, scheming in her head.
"Sounds like a plan" Mr Y smirks.
"Next rounds on me!" Max raises his hand to alert the barman over.
"But you got us the last three rounds!" Axel replies, sipping the last drop from his bottle of beer.
"I can't believe it! Nobody told me a thing!... You've been back in town now for the last week?!" Sammy bursts into the bar with shock having just learnt the news about Axel returning. He greets him first before bro shaking with Max and Adam.
"I haven't seen you in almost 9 years!" Axel says to him, noticing how grown up Sammy has become. Deep down he is still the same quirky young man but his rebellious teenage rollerskating days are a little way behind him. Now Sammy is the proud owner of one of Wood Oak's most popular youth spaces consisting of the city's largest skatepark as well as a leisure centre. The work he and his team do to teach young teenagers martial arts, performing arts, sports and various activities has been a successful project for some of the city's most deprived areas in keeping young people off the streets.
"Well this is a first - you hanging out for a drink with us now that you're old enough!" Axel grins at Sammy.
"I definitely feel old now!" Sammy laughs.
"You? Old?... You'll always be my baby brother!" Adam jokes around, gently hitting him at the back of the head whilst Max squeezes Sammy's shoulder.
"Shit! I forgot how much that hurt!" Sammy frowns as the others laugh at him.
"Hey, check out 3 O'Clock by the entrance. Those honeys over there have been staring at us ever since we got here" Adam proudly grins. "I'd bet you $50 that I could get that one's number within 20 minutes…" he says.
"$100 says you wont old man!" Sammy challenges him.
"Just wait and see…" Adam replies, slightly turning around on his barstool. He catches the eye of a very attractive woman sitting with her friends in the distance. She is a Puerto Rican female, physically athletic and tall with short red hair and bright green eyes. She is wearing a tight black top displaying her navel, cleavage and curves with skinny black jeans and stilettos.
"Damn, she's getting up to approach us!" Sammy says feeling surprised, observing her out of the corner of his eye.
"Nice to see you again, Thunder". The woman who Adam was checking out less than a minute ago walks straight past him then puts her arms around Max. She gives him a quick passionate kiss, leaving a dark red lipstick mark on him. Adam's jaw immediately drops with shock and his pride is wounded.
"100$ now…" Sammy quietly smirks, extending out his palm underneath the bar. Adam defeatedly slaps the bill into his brother's hands.
"So you two know each other?" Adam smiles at Max amused.
"Yeah! I always told you to stick around longer after the fights" Max winks whilst putting his arm around the woman.
"This is Diva by the way….. Diva, this is Axel, Sammy and Adam" he introduces.
"Nice to meet you. Those are my friends over there, Beyo and Riha. There's plenty of room at our table if you boys wanna join us…" she flirtatiously smiles.
"Sure!" Adam perks right back up after checking out her two friends in the distance.
"Sammy, go home…" He orders his brother.
"What…?" He replies, not amused as Max and Adam get up to join them.
"You coming or what man?" Adam questions Axel.
"I'm good. I gotta get home to Leon" he replies whilst downing the rest of his beer next to Sammy at the bar.
Adam shakes his head disappointed with his friend. "Leon is fine, Cherry is looking after him! Besides this little get together was to celebrate your freedom…. Hello? Look at all these hotties up in here! 15 years ago you would have been the first one out of us three over to that table! You got your whole life ahead of you man, don't waste it!" Adam shrugs, whilst walking backwards towards the ladies' table.
Five minutes later Axel and Sammy notice the group leaving the bar, with Max's arm around Diva and Adam's around the other two ladies with on on each side of him.
"See you around!" He waves at his friend and brother left by the bar. "Oh, and if Cherry could crash at your place tonight that would be great! I don't think I'm gonna be home til the morning!" Adam shouts out at Axel as they leave.
Sammy smirks next to him. "You realize, they're gonna make him pay at least $400".
"What do you mean? Doesn't Max already know that Diva chick?" He asks.
"They're hookers man!"
"You sure?" Axel replies puzzled.
"Yeah! In his mind he's probably shouting out his usual 'Hunter Strikes' BS. But karma is a bitch and Adam ain't gonna be happy by the end of the night!" The two of them chuckle.
It's almost 6:30am on a Sunday morning. The trash cans are scattered about over the downtown streets which are littered from the night before. The sun is barely up yet and the sky is a hazy grey.
"Where the fuck are we?" Adam confusingly asks Max.
"You definitely smoked too much last night, make sure you shower before you get to work!" He laughs.
"So how do you know this Diva chick then?" Adam inquires.
"These girls hang out at Y-Tower after the fights…"
"Hold up! You're fighting at Y-Tower now?! Why the fuck would you…."
"They're paying me good money for the fights." Max replies.
"I told you, if you need any help with those debts I'm here…"
"You got Cherry to think about now. I can handle this and I don't want your money." Max insists.
"Just be careful then…" Adam sighs.
"Besides, didn't you just lose 300 dollars last night?! I always get mine free you know cos I'ma fighter" Max callously grins.
"400 fucking dollars! I lost a bet to Sammy also!" Adam angrily huffs, placing his jacket on. "You didn't see man, I mean the night was great but those two women had these weird looking anacondas staring at me from a glass box on the wall when I woke up! I had to get my shit outta there fast!"
"That doesn't sound good!" Max laughs at him.
"It's fucking crazy! Ax definitely dodged a bullet last night… shit! I gotta pick up Cherry! She can't see me like this. If she takes one smell of the weed on me she'l use it against me for life!"
"Here, take my spare key, go and shower at my apartment. There's enough time to quickly wash your clothes, tumble dry then change…"
"Thanks Max, you're the best!" Adam takes the key relieved "where are you gonna go though?"
"I'm heading to the gym to train. Got some spare clothes in my locker!" he smiles.
"Damn you good training on a Sunday after the night we just had! Ok, pick up this key later on at my place! You're coming over tonight for an early Thanksgiving dinner! And I ain't taking no for an answer… see you at 7!"
"Alright, I'll check you later". The two of them part ways then walk off in separate directions.
Max glances around the quiet streets to make sure that Adam is gone before he turns a corner leading him deeper into a rougher edge of downtown Central District.
"Yo Brash?!" Max calls a skinny dealer wearing a denim jacket, ripped t-shirt and jeans.
"What do you want Hatchet? Can't you see I'm busy?!" He snarls.
"I wanna see your boss!" Max insists.
The scruffy man opens the door behind him then he leads Max into a block of old run down apartments. They walk up four flights of stairs then down a graffitied corridor until they reach an apartment at the end of it.
"Thunder?! What a pleasant surprise!" A bald man wearing shaded glasses and a grey suit in his 50s is sitting in his chair and inviting Max through the door. He is surrounded by several thugs guarding him.
"Bronze" Max nods acknowledging the gang boss as he enters the apartment.
"What can I do for you? Your next payment isn't due for another two weeks yet." The man raises his eyebrows.
"I got the next payment right here already, 30K in cash." Max slams a gym bag down onto the living room table.
Bronze unzips open the bag, inspecting the money.
"So are we clear now for this month then?" Max questions.
"Something like that…. I'll see you around in six weeks then for your next payment" he smirks, satisfied with the debt.
On the way out, Max hands over to Brash another 200 dollars discreetly. "What was it you preferred? The powder or the pills?" The dealer grins.
"Give me the pills" Max insists before he is handed a small plastic bag with 4 tablets inside".
"See you again soon!" Brash sinisterly grins as he returns back inside the apartment.
Max hastily rushes to the other end of the corridor consisting of at least 15 other small apartments with the entire block owned by Bronze. He steps over a crackhead on the way to the stairwell, passes an arguing couple where the woman is throwing her partner out as well as a third apartment continuing their Saturday night party at 7am.
Max couldn't be happier to get out of this dump fast enough!
As he reaches the exit to the street, he looks back with disgust when he sees one of the residents urinating in the hallway. "Can't you do that elsewhere man?" Max says to him as he opens the front door. Suddenly the 200lb wrestler accidentally barges into a woman entering the building whilst he is on the way out.
"Hey, I'm so sorry mam! I should have looked where I was….." He instantly freezes, staring at the woman in shock as if he has just seen a ghost.
"Next time watch where the hell you're going, you could have barged into my dog!" The brunette angrily replies.
"Blaze!? What the fuck...!" His expression turns pale as he takes a good look at her face whilst the dog growls at him.
"I told you, I've paid my rent already and I'm not interested in your stupid drugs or working for you! Now get the fuck out of my way" she answers back, not recognising him.
"It's me! Max!" He shrugs as Blaze and Charlie walk into the elevator.
"I don't know who you are or why your boss insists on telling the guys in here my name. But I told you, I'm not interested! Go and get yourself clean and stay the fuck away from me before I hurt you!" She insists, disappearing as the elevator door closes.
Max leaves for the street in disbelief at what just happened. That was definitely Blaze! Sure she's a tiny bit older and her brunette hairstyle is parted slightly differently but this is still the same Blaze he remembers with the British accent and beauty spot above her chin.
He places one hand over his mouth as his jaw drops, feeling dumbfounded and astonished at what he just witnessed.