Geleel
The dreadhead had just separated from Amara, who was heading home to greet her mother.
Her father would be at the boxing gym right about now, today would be the first day Geleel had been inside the gym.
The kid was excited to say the least, it's not everyday you get to get a free pass into Adonis Creed's gym...then again, how many people can say they're best friends with the man's daughter.
Geleel didn't know what to say about life, sure L.A. still had assholes like Malachi but...Amara and Adonis definitely made up for it, maybe his mother was right.
His thoughts then traveled to the gym...he wondered how it would feel to finally...
"Woah." Was all Geleel could say as he arrived upon the gym.
It was gargantuan to say the least...might as well have been a mall instead.
"This is crazy..." Geleel trailed off as he approached the entrance to the gym.
He drew in a deep breath before opening the double doors.
It was mesmerizing...the bright feel he got as soon as he entered was immaculate.
He took everything in, the equipment, the flags, the murals, and ofcourse, the boxers sparring in the ring.
"It's an amazin feelin." He heard Adonis state as he turned to see the man walking up to him.
"Yea I know, felt the same way when I first stepped into a gym." Adonis finished as Geleel smiled at him.
"This place is insane bruh, I don't think Ima ever leave." Geleel said as they approached the ring.
"Let's settle down now, we don't want ya mama to kill both of us." Adonis said with a chuckle.
"You right, aye, where's Amara?" Geleel questioned Adonis who hummed at the question.
"She probably with her moms right now, but, she'll be here soon, don't worry, but for now, let's watch these ladies spar." Adonis said as Geleel smirked at that idea.
It was a boxing gym, ofcourse they had to sit down and watch some boxing.
Geleel noticed that this gym was unisex, and he only noticed that when a group of female boxers had shown up.
A woman with a set of pink gloves, that were seemingly too large for her hands had somehow just won 3 straight fights.
"She's fast..." Geleel trailed off as he watched the woman dance around her opponent and break the other woman down with quick jabs and hooks.
"Yea she is, that's Veronica, I like to call her the Italian death." Adonis said as Geleel arched a brow at him.
"It's a work in progress." The man quickly followed up as they began watching the sparring once more.
After a while, Amara had finally arrived, she greeted Geleel and her father both with a hug before sitting down and joining them to watch the spars.
The men were now fighting...but it was more like man, because a boxer, who Geleel had learned to be Otto Parker, an African American man, had won his last 6 spars, and did not seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
"Yea!" The man shouted after he had just knocked out his 7 victim with a powerful right hook.
"Come on! Who's next? Who wants some?" He shouted irately as he bounded around the ring.
He then turned to Adonis and the two kids next to him.
"You want next, Creed?" Otto questioned as Adonis chuckled to himself and shrugged.
The man had proven himself as a boxing legend numerous times, he was above taunting, maybe younger him woulda took Otto's challenge.
"Ah whatever." Otto dismissed Creed as he turned to Geleel who was giving him an indifferent stare.
"What about you, boy? You wanna step in between these ropes, come on." Otto challenged Geleel as everyone oooed and Adonis gained a more tensed expression.
Otto was a grown man...and a professional boxer, he had to step in before Geleel made a bad decision.
Geleel however, looked around the gym to see all the other boxers, male and female urging him to take Otto's challenge...he then looked to Amara and Adonis, the latter shook his head at the boy.
"Nah man..." Geleel trailed off as he looked at Otto and declined the challenge, the entire gym let out sounds of annoyance, except for Adonis and Amara.
Adonis sighed in relief, he was glad Geleel was much more smart and less abrasive than his younger self.
"Ah whatever, he just scared." Otto said as Geleel's face became crossed, the latter watched as the other boxers laughed at his expense.
"What?" He questioned Otto as he stood up swiftly.
Amara wish she could understand what was going on right now...she couldn't fully grasp it but she could tell something was wrong.
"You heard me, you a pussy lil bro." Otto continued taunting as Geleel felt his heart sink to his stomach...he'd be damned if he let anyone get away with saying he was a afraid of them.
He wasn't scared of anyone, no matter how big, strong, old, fast, whatever the case may be, he was always going to put his hands up.
Adonis then stood up and walked over to Geleel as he tapped the kid's shoulders.
"Aye Otto, don't-" Geleel cuts Adonis off.
"Let's box." Geleel stated firmly as the entire gym began ooooing again, Adonis felt his blood run cold, he had seen this story play out before, firsthand too.
"There we go." Otto said as he smirked, showing his neon green mouthguard.
The crowd of boxers began whooping and slamming the canvas of the rings with their hands.
This was probably going to be an easy fight for Otto but...a fight was a fight, and it was always a reason to get hype.
"Geleel think this through, I've been in your position before, I know what it feels like to be taunted, I can't let you fight Otto, he's-" Geleel cuts Adonis off again.
"I don't care what he is, I'll rather get knocked down in that ring over and over again before I let someone play with my name." Geleel said firmly as he stared Adonis into the eyes.
Adonis didn't know what he saw...but he saw something behind those brown eyes, it was like looking in a mirror and seeing a young Adonis Creed, raw and hungry.
"Besides, I don't fear any man,
he bleed just like me." Geleel finished as Adonis nodded.
"Okay fine, I'll let you fight, but as soon as it looks crazy in there I'm calling the spar, aight?" Adonis questioned as Geleel nodded to him.
"What you gon fight with?" Adonis questioned the kid as he noticed how bare his hands were, and all of the boxers were using their gloves.
"Here." Geleel heard Veronica's voice as she walked up to him and shoved her bright pink gloves into his chest.
"It's better than nothing." She said with a shrug as Geleel took the gloves, they may have been too big for her but they were a perfect fit for him.
"Thanks." Geleel thanked her as Adonis helped him wrap the gloves up.
"Don't mention it, just don't embarrass yourself with my gloves on kid." Veronica said with a smirk as she went back to the sidelines.
"Aight Geleel now look, I don't know what is allowing me to let you fight Otto, but, please protect yourself out there? If you get hurt-" Geleel cuts Adonis off for the umpteenth time today.
"I know, I know, I'll be careful." Geleel assured Adonis as he put on the black headgear he was given, and the white mouthguard, which he adjusted with his gloves.
"Aye pinkie! Getcho bitchass in the ring and stop chinwagging out there!" Otto shouted as Geleel turned to him irately and stepped into the ring.
"Yea, I like that, now let's see what you got kid." Otto said as he bounced around in his corner.
Geleel put his gloves up as he cracked his neck, he couldn't mess this up.
He noticed the crowd letting out small laughs at the fact he was wearing pink gloves but...he didn't care, it wasn't about the gloves, it was about his name.
The kid then began advancing as the man did as well, the gym was the loudest it had been all day...this was crazy.
"Is something wrong dad? Why is Geleel fighting Otto?" Amara questioned Adonis.
"He's just young and hotblooded baby, this will be a learning experience for him." Adonis assured Amara who looked at Otto and Geleel circling eachother with a wary expression, she didn't want Geleel to get hurt.
Otto was 25-2-0 in his division, Geleel had never even been in a ring before.
She knew Geleel had raw boxing skill, but raw skill could never beat honed and trained skills.
As Otto and Geleel continued sussing eachother out, the former throws the first jab as he narrowly misses Geleel and chips the boy's shoulder.
Geleel then threw a punch of his own which missed wildly as Otto swiftly dodged it and hit him with a powerful left hook.
"Woo!" The crowd hooted and hollered as Geleel backed off a bit, that punch was a wake-up call for sure.
"Yea, wake yo ass up boy." Otto taunted the kid as he advanced towards him again.
"Come on G! Lock that shit up!" Adonis shouted as Geleel tried to keep his guard up.
Otto then swung at Geleel's body swiftly, which was unorthodoxly clad in a long sleeve shirt.
The dreadhead then got separation from Otto again as he tried to stop the man's onslaught, he had yet to land a punch and Otto was on fire.
"Stop runnin boy." Otto said as he bounded towards Geleel.
Amara watched with a wary expression as Otto hit Geleel in the head with a big overhand shot.
"Guard! Guard!" Adonis shouted as Geleel put his hands up.
"Come on! What you got, huh? You softtt." Otto taunted as he swung at Geleel with a stiff punch, only for the latter to unexpectedly dodge under it and quickly rebound with a big right hook to Otto's grill.
"Woah!" Adonis shouted as the crowd erupted once more...this was the first time all day Otto had been hit with a CLEAN shot, and it was right in the mouth.
Amara was shocked to say the least, this was probably the first time she'd seen Otto take a hit in a sparring match...no GROWN man had done that, yet here was Geleel, fighting for his life and still surprising her.
Otto stared at Geleel irately as he tapped his mouth with his own glove.
"Oh so now you fightin huh? Let's do this then." Otto began as the two boxers approached eachother more carefully this time.
Geleel was being careful because of who this man was, and Otto was being careful because he didn't think this kid would even land a punch.
"Come on G! Hang in there!" Adonis shouted as Geleel dodged two quick jabs from Otto.
The dreadhead was glad to atleast have Adonis rooting for him, at the beginning of the fight the entire crowd had expected him to get knocked out in less than a minute, but after he landed that punch some of the crowd was rooting for him now.
"Come on!" Geleel shouted as Otto jabbed at his chest.
The dreadhead brushed the attack off and jabbed Otto, hitting the man across his forehead.
"Yea! Come on!" Adonis shouted as the crowd had the entire gym jumping.
It would seem like Otto would not have an easy victory like he had expected.
However, when Otto got the upperhand again and drove Geleel into a corner of the ring and began digging into the kid with body shots everyone knew it was all over but the whining now...
"Get out of that corner!" Adonis shouted as Geleel continued guarding his face.
Amara covered her mouth, even without hearing, she could tell how vicious those body shots looked.
"Finish him already Otto!" A boxer shouted from the crowd.
Geleel yelled out in pain with every body shot Otto delivered to his ribs and core...unbeknownst to everyone else, this was all apart of a plan.
"Get out of the corner!" Adonis shouted again.
No, not yet, Geleel's plan was to tire Otto out before getting the chance to strike.
He knew at his current skill level he could not beat Otto with pure boxing, so he had to take some punishment if he intended to win this fight.
Then that's when it happened, Geleel noticed Otto was visibly slowing down...the latter had exhausted himself by delivering all those powerful body shots.
"Come on O!" Another boxer shouted, it was time to finish Geleel off.
That's when it happened, Otto was so tired that when he raised his hand to deliver a right-hook to Geleel's head and finish the kid off, it was so sluggish and televised that Geleel was easily able to duck under it and get behind Otto.
Otto was now in the corner, but before he could react, Geleel delivered a swift, powerful punch right to his jaw...it connected all the way.
The man's head turned from how hard the punch was as he fell to the canvas...everything was seemingly moving in slow motion to Geleel, did he really just do that?
He then looked around the crowd, everyone had fell dead silent, no way, no one had ever landed a solid punch on Parker in a sparring match...much as put the man onto the canvas.
Geleel then turned to Adonis and Amara who were smiling at him in both admiration and shock...they knew the boy was special, but this was insane.
"Dad, you should enter him in the tournament." Amara signed to her father who thought it over before looking at Geleel.
The kid had raw talent to say the least but, if he was trained properly he could definitely be a force to be reckoned with.
Geleel then sighed to himself as with a slow clap from one boxer...the whole gym soon erupted once more in cheer.
"Yea! Woo! Way to go kid!" Geleel heard all of these things as he couldn't help the smile pulling at his face.
He did it, he really beat Otto Parker in front of Adonis Creed.
"I did it...I did it!" Geleel shouted as he exited the ring and ran to Adonis.
"Yea, you did kid." Adonis said as Geleel began unwrapping Veronica's gloves from his hands.
"You were a beast out there Geleel!" Amara shouted as she helped him get the gloves off, he smiled at her, for a girl that didn't talk, she was so emphatic.
"Good job kid, you didn't embarrass yourself with my gloves on." Veronica said as she walked up to Geleel with a smirk.
"Don't mention it." Geleel said as he handed the woman her gloves back.
"Aye lil G, what would you say about me entering you in the 18U boxing tournament?" Adonis questioned Geleel as the boy's eyes widened at this.
That was the most prestigious boxing tournament for teens who had aspired to become pro boxers...the last 3 years the tournament had been dominated by none other than Malachi Bonner.
"You sure? I don't think that's for me man." Geleel said as Adonis arched a brow.
"Dude, did you not see what you just did? You got heart kid, I feel like you would go a long way in the tournament with the right training." Adonis urged Geleel as the latter looked to the ground.
"Here, I won't force you but, if you do decide to do it, just get your mom to fill this out and I'll provide you with everything you need to join the tournament." Adonis said as he handed Geleel a slip.
That was another thing, even if he was SURE he wanted to fight, his mother would never allow him too, the woman was super overprotective of him after his father's passing.
"Thanks Don." Geleel said as he folded the paper and put it into a folder he had got from his bag.
"Bye Amara." Geleel signed to his best friend as she smiled at him and drew him in for a long hug.
"Ooookay, hug time over, gon head and get home Geleel." Adonis said as he separated the two teens, to which the two chuckled to themselves.
Later
As Geleel rode the bus home, he looked at the form Adonis had got him.
Did he really have what it took to compete in this tournament, guys like Malachi Bonner were built for these typa things, what was Geleel?
Even still, he had to worry about his mother, what would she say? It didn't hurt to try atleast tho...
Apartment
"Absolutely not." Yvette said in a dismissive tone as Geleel kissed his teeth.
"Come on ma! Why not? Mr. Creed said I'd be good in the tournament, just-" Yvette cuts her son off.
"What's the matter with you? Didn't you hear me I said no!" Yvette shouted at him.
"But the end prize is one million dollars and a clear shot to the big leagues, I could go pro!" Geleel challenged as his mother rounded on him.
"Oye, go pro? You must've lost your damn mind, I don't care about that money, and I'm for sure not letting my son put his life on the line for a sport as stupid as boxing!" She shouted angrily as she walked up to Geleel.
"What do you mean put my life on the line? That money could set you up to get that shop you want and even get me a career, aren't you always dragging on me about what I'm gonna do when I grow up?" Geleel questioned his mom.
"Yea, the money could get me a shop, and get you a career, but you know what boxing could do? Give me a dead son." Yvette said as Geleel's heart sunk at that last statement, she had never been so straight up with him before.
He was honestly lucky she was allowing him to go to the gym still, if she found out he fought Otto Parker today he'd be locked in his room forever.
"I already had to bury your father, I don't want to bury you too baby." There it was, Geleel knew that was her main concern, she was only overprotective of Geleel because she lost his father.
"Understand I'm just doing this to protect you." Yvette said as she grabbed Geleel's chin.
"Okay?" She questioned as he nodded.
"Okay ma..." He trailed off as she smiled at him.
"Good...now go do your homework." Yvette urged Geleel as he sighed and began making his way to his room.
He shoulda known that she would've said no.
Chapter Fin