Chapter. 56
A week had past after Vincent's fencing. The sun rose and shined through Lyle's window, waking the sleeping giant. Lyle's alarm went off which he quickly shut off, today was the day of his boxing match against another school. After he showered and dressed Lyle walked out into the kitchen to find his mother hard at work making breakfast.
"Good morning Lyle! Have a seat honey!"
"Come on mom-"
"No son, you have a big day and you need to be at your best." Lyle's mother placed a bowl of oatmeal in front of Lyle as he sat down. "Knock them out honey, I'll be right there to cheer you on!"
"But don't you-"
"I spoke with my boss and she said it'd be okay."
"But if you-"
"We'll be fine Lyle I've saved some money so we'll be okay this month." Lyle's mother placed a plate of eggs, hash browns, and peach slices. "Now eat up Lyle, I"m driving and I don't want to hear another word about it."
Lyle nods calmly. "I have to pick up Coco."
"We'll swing by on the way. It's no trouble."
Lyle sighed and smiled. "Okay mom. Thank you." Lyle picked up a spoon and started to eat.
...
Corina locked her apartment door and ran down two flights stairs and raced to the street as she saw a green car pull of the passenger window roll down to reveal Lyle. "Hey Coco, hop in."
Corina pulled the door open and jumped into the back seat. "Hey Lyle!" Corina saw Lyle's mother in the driver's seat. "Hey miss, thanks for the lift!"
"Anytime dear." Lyle's mother nods then steers the car back into street. "So, how are you and my son getting alone?"
"We're doing just fine mom."
"Lyle's really sweet to me."
Lyle's mother smiles. "That's good to hear. Just remember to take it slow, I'm still too young to be a grandmother."
Lyle facepalmed while Corina waved her hands. "No way! It's way too soon for that!"
"So you two already have it planed out?"
"No, I mean, we, Lyle help!"
Lyle turned to look out the window. "Just stop talking, anything you say will just make the hole bigger."
Lyle's mother shook her head and she laughed.
...
The three arrived at the school, Lyle's mother dropping Corina and her son at the gate as she looked of a place to park. "Your mom like to joke a lot." Corina comment as she watched the woman drive off.
"I'm just happy to see her smile again. Any happiness after the divorce is welcome." Lyle wrapped his arm around Corina's waist. "Come, I have to get ready."
The two walked into the school and headed for the gym they turned a corner when they heard yelling.
"It's just one little favor." Catherine begged as Vincent took a step closer to her.
"I don't own you anything. Now get out of my face you fucking thot!" Vincent turned and walked away with Rebecca right behind him.
Catherine looked to Levi who was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. "What?"
"Don't like it when you don't get your way."
Catherine shrugged. "I have plans so I think I'll be leaving. See you later, ice queen."
"Later bitch." Levi noticed Lyle and Corina watching. Levi closed her recorder and approached them. "Hey you two, got everything Lyle?"
"Yes."
Levi nods. "Good. I'll take care of Coco, you go get changed then."
"What was that about?" Asked Corina.
"Catherine wanted Vincent to meet a friend of her's, but you know those two. Still, it's fun to see someone tell Catherine no."
The three entered the gym to find it packed with students and their families around the boxing ring. Lyle let go of Corina and headed for the locker room. Corina and Levi found Rebecca sitting alone with three empty seat next to her.
"Thanks for saving!" Corina jumped into seat next to Rebecca. "Where's Vincent?"
"In the locker room to help Lyle."
Levi leaned back with her arms crossed. "You two think Lyle will use Brain burst to win?"
Corina glared at Levi. "Never! Lyle will win with his own power, He's trained for this! Beside, Lyle hates cheats."
Rebecca nods. "So does Vincent."
Levi shacks her head. "Boys and their honor I guess."
...
In the locker room Vincent stood by a stall as Lyle changed. "Feel out you opponent, don't get hasty. You have four rounds, use them." Vincent threw a few punches. "We don't know anything about who you'll be fighting. On the flip side he doesn't know anything about you. So it's race to see who can figure out who first."
"Anyone can hit, boxing is about making the other guy miss. It's a mind game." Lyle stepped out of the stall in bright blue shorts, shoes, and headgear. He held out a pair of blue boxing gloves to Vincent as he put in his mouth guard.
Vincent put the gloves on Lyle and tied the laces. "You got this brother. One punch at a time, one step at a time, one round at a time. Think, feel, and move. Don't stop doing all three." Vincent tightened to laces and patted Lyle's shoulder. "Give'em hell Lyle."
Lyle took a deep breath then headed out into the gym. Half the crowd cheered as Lyle Climbed into the ring, Vincent standing by his corner. Moments later someone else came out of the locker room. A tall teenager with short blond hair wearing green gloves, shorts and shoe climbed into the ring as half of the crowd cheered.
Lyle and his opponent stood in the center of the ring as the referee stood between them. Alright boys, clean fight. Give everyone here something to remember. Touch gloves and begin." The referee backed away, the boxers bumped their gloves together the stepped back. The bell rung and the first round begun.
The boxer punched Lyle in the chin but it seemed to have no effect as Lyle drew closer. The boxer kept back as he threw more jabs to Lyle's chin. Lyle leaned back to fake out the boxer then punched him hard in the nose. Lyle followed up with punches to the torso as the boxer guard his body. The boxer backed away into a corner then jumped to the side, trying to get behind Lyle. Lyle stepped back to evade the boxer's punch then followed him as the boxer was hopping backwards.
The boxer lunged at Lyle and punched him in the face with his left then with his right. Lyle reeled back but the boxer was on him, following with two more punches to the face. Lyle was on the ropes was the boxer hit him with left jabs.
Lyle leaned back into the rope which pushed him into the boxer. Lyle used the momentum to strike hard with a right cross to drive the boxer back.
The first was over and the two went to their corners. Vincent handed Lyle some water. "So what do you think?"
"I don't yet. He's being careful."
"Just keep your guard up and wait. Patience is your weapon, he'll slip just wait for it."
The second round begun and Lyle's opponent was rushing to meet in. As soon as they were close the boxer punched Lyle in the face with his right then followed with a left hook, He threw another right punch with a left haymaker. Lyle hopped back but the boxer stayed on him, punching him in the head. Lyle threw a right jab but the boxer dodged to Lyle's right and punched him in the side of the head.
The boxer backed away into a corner, Lyle punched with his right but the boxer dodged again. Now in the corner Lyle held up his hands as the boxer assaulted him with jabs to the torso
The second round was over, Lyle returned to his corner as members from his boxing club took off his helmet to look for cuts and gave him some water to clear is mouth.
"How is he?" Asked Vincent.
"He's breathing hard, Lyle doesn't have much left in him. That guy is working him hard."
"Let he talk to him." Vincent climbed into the ring. "Lyle, how are you feeling?"
Lyle shook his head. "Not good."
"Come on Lyle you got this. You're coming back, and you'll be better and stronger because of it. You've got to make a declaration, that this is what you stand for!"
One of the club member trys to pull Vincent away. "He can't keep going-"
"Vincent shoved them away. "What do you want me to tell you? It's going to be picnic? No, it's not. This dream you got, will it be easy to just run out and do? No. Will it happen over night? No. Will it kick your ass? Yes! Yes that a part of it! Do you want to die? Yes! That's apart of it! But that just what you have to go through to get where you want to go. And guess what?" Vincent grabbed a hold of Lyle's shoulders. "You're strong enough to do it. your life if worth what you have to go through."
Vincent nods to the other members as they finish checking on Lyle and place his headgear back on. "I don't care how good you are, there are times where things just aren't going to go right. There are times where anything that can happen will happen, this is one of those times. It doesn't matter what happens to you, what matters is what are you going to do about it?"
Lyle stood up and stared at Vincent. "Right! I'm not going down anymore!"
The bell rung for the third round. "Now get in there and bury him!" Lyle walked past Vincent who climbed out of the ring.
Lyle charged into the fight, the boxer threw jab to Lyle's face. Lyle headbutted the punched swung wide to strike his opponent with a right haymaker. The box jabbed with his left fist, seemingly to have no effect as Lyle threw a hard right hook. The boxer punched Lyle with his right arm to stagger Lyle. As the boxer reeled his arm back for another Lyle recovered and threw a right punch of his own.
The two traded punches four punches each when the boxer went for an uppercut. Lyle leaned back to evade then rushed to get close as he started punching the boxer in the chest. The boxer swung his left arm but Lyle ducked and kept punch his chest. The boxer grabbed onto Lyle's shoulder to clinch but Lyle kept him back with hard right jabs to his ribs.
Lyle shoved the boxer back and followed with a right haymaker. The boxer tried one of his own but was too slow as Lye went for another, causing the boxer to stagger back. The boxer was in a dazed and covered his ribs with his arm. With the opening Lyle chained haymakers with both arms, not caring for the waste of energy as it was pushing the boxer back.
Lyle punched the boxer down and stepped back as referee kneeled over the boxer. The boxer laid on the floor until the referee counted to five and then he started to stand, getting back on his feet at the count of eight.
The boxer reels his right arm back for strong punch. Lyle dodged to the boxer's left side and struke with an uppercut, putting the boxer back on the floor. The referee stood over the boxer to count again. This time the boxer didn't get up.
The crowd stood up and exploded with cheers as the boxing club climbed into the ring to celebrate Lyle's victory. Corina climbed in with them and threw her arms around Lyle. "You did it Lyle!"
Lyle spit out his mouth guard and placed his left hand behind Corina's head. "Thank you Coco." Lyle leaned froward and kissed her.
! #$%^&*()_+}"?:{
So, SO sorry for the wait! Iceborne and code vein have consumed my life. I'm back now so I'll try to be more diligent. Thank you for have the patience of a god. As always please review, it keeps us writers going. Till next time which will be soon. CG out. PEACE!