We sold off the last of the papers and began heading back to where we planned to meet others. It was getting hotter by the hour. I found myself hoping they would all want to skip the fights and jump in the river until it was time for the afternoon papers. Spot had his sleeves and pant legs rolled up, and I had stripped down to just my undershirt.

When we reached the alley we had planned on meeting in, I saw everyone but Racetrack. Mush, who had been selling with him, told us they were working some bets on one of the fights back down the street and that they would meet us at the distribution center later that afternoon. Then he slipped off into the crowd.

Train decided we would find a shop to get food and watch one of the less busy matches. We found a deli and bought sausages and bread. On our way back to the rings, Spot looked back at Topper to talk and ended up walking right into a man who stopped for a carriage. I saw his sausage go flying between the legs of the group in front of us and into the street. He cursed under his breath.

"Don't worry 'bout it, ya can have some of my sausage." I told him.

Behind me I heard Topper laughing at something and turned to see what was funny. He howled a second later as Spot backed up into him and stepped on his foot.

"Damn it can't move with all these people."

We couldn't find a place to sit and watch the fight, so we stood on some crates in the alley and ate our food. I ripped off part of my lunch and handed it to Spot. The fight was already almost over by the time we finished eating, both men were bloody from head to waist. Finally one fell to the ground and wasn't moving much more than pathetic attempts to lift his head. We waited another 10 minutes for the next fight.

Topper and Jumper were sitting down writing on a piece of wood between them. Train and Jack just sat there talking about finding some booze for tonight.

Spot still held part of his lunch in one hand as he paced back and forth, smoking his third cigarette. The man at the side of the ring rang hammered on his bell to get the crowd's attention. The talking became quieter as the two new boxers climbed up into view. The guy that was facing our way had a head of curly red hair and pale skin.

"Relative of yours Spot?" Topper said smirking at him.

Spot tossed the last of his sausage at him and said "Ah shut your mouth," before heading over to Train who beckoned for a drag off his cig.

I glanced up as the fight started. The other fighter was a large guy with darker hair. He didn't hit as fast as the red head, but you could see there was power behind the swings. After two minutes or so of blows, the smaller guy went down. The brute spit blood to the side of the ring and turned towards us.

My stomach jumped into my mouth at that moment. And though I know now it was unlikely, it felt like he was looking directly at me.

"Jesus," was the only thing I could say.

I heard the others coming up behind me. Jack stood next to me, giving me a questioning look. I turned to face Spot who was stretching to see over Topper's shoulder.

"Spot, you're never going to believe who's fighting up there . . ."

I saw his eyes flash as he finished my sentence before I could. "Brick."

I looked back at the ring, but heard a shuffling noise behind me and glanced back at Spot, who was turning white. He was slowly stepping backwards, looking at the ground. I saw him lose his footing and fall to the ground. Jumper stood up from his crate, taking a step towards him to help him up, but Spot rolled over on to his hands and knees, stood up and started running.

I watched him go for a moment before I took off after him. I heard the footfalls of the others following behind me. Train and Topper were yelling to him to stop, but he just continued to speed up. I saw him plow into people a few times, and did my best to sidestep around those same individuals as I sped up behind him. He was fast. Topper caught up with me and gave me a worried look. After about 15 blocks I heard less feet behind us. He finally turned and ran down an alley with a gate at the end of it. I was relieved that he would finally be forced to stop.

We slowed down our own pace. Spot stood with his forearms against the rails of the gate, staring at the ground. I started walking towards him, but felt Topper grasp at my arm to stop me. I shook his hand off and went to Spot. I placed my hand on his shoulder.

"Kyndall"

As I said his name, I felt his shoulder tense as he let out a pain ridden howl. I felt his shoulder turn beneath my left hand, and I moved my head so I could see him better, but all I saw was a fist right in front of me.

I felt the impact and saw a bright light. My head began to buzz. I could feel myself falling backwards and fought to regain my footing. But just when I thought I was good, my foot went through a piece of a wood crate and I fell backwards. I heard a loud cracking sound as my head hit something hard. I slowly felt myself drift off.