Chapter 1: Brown Skin

Keith

There she was again. Always in the corner of my eye, always distracting me from my training. The funny thing was, I knew she wasn't trying to. The mahogany-colored girl had been coming to Redemption Gym for the last six months. Always on her own. In and out; not a sideways glance or a word to anyone. We all noticed when she first walked in the door. The girl was at least a hundred pounds overweight with a determined look on her face and headphones blasting in her ears. Rampage and the guys had laughingly taken bets on when she would quit this gym on the wrong side of the tracks. Half a year later and no one was laughing anymore. The girl had slimmed down to less than half her bulk and seemed to be on a mission to lose the rest of it as fast as possible.

"Hey Wall," Obsidian called from across the room, drawing attention. "Why don't you just ask her out already? You been crushing on that girl since day one." The others, sheep that they were at times, joined in the ribbing. There was no chance of embarrassing the girl, her music was so loud anyone could hear it. Not the words, but the rhythm. I spent a lot of time wondering what she listened to while she sweated the pounds away. It didn't sound like rap, hip hop, or R - the music of choice for our people. It sounded loud and it sounded angry. We all gave her space, not wanting to startle her or spook her into leaving the gym, but she was an enigma I just couldn't get off my mind.

"Seriously, Keith," Obsidian said, dropping my ring name to show that he was serious, "You should strike up a conversation. She seems nice. And the speculation and suspense has been killing all of us for months now. Ask her some questions, see where it leads." I glared at him balefully, but the dark-skinned man only grinned at me, his impossibly white teeth made whiter by his dark skin. Giving up on intimidating the jovial bisexual man, I turned to the object of my obsession once more. It was true I'd been dying to ask her something, anything to hear her sweet voice. It was musical, though she rarely had anything to say to anyone beyond the receptionist when she paid for her time. I'd noticed right away, being a drummer and backup singer in a local band.

Thinking up and discarding several opening lines that came off as too personal or cheesy, I finally settled on something simple as I stalked across the room to where she was packing up her things to hit the shower. Feeling a little like a teenager, something I hadn't been in at least a decade, I tapped her lightly on the shoulder to see what she would do. I now had the room's full attention.

The girl startled, whipping around so fast that one of the two giant-sized plaits she kept her dreads in as she worked out smacked me in the chest. Looking at her up close, I couldn't believe I'd lasted this long without talking to her. She had a beautiful, delicate face and those thick lips begged to be kissed. The force of her stare made my chest puff up with pride. Yes, there was a reason my ring name was 'The Wall'. I was two hundred and fifty pounds of pure, hard muscle that drove the women wild. I'd never in my life felt my blood heat the way that my mystery girl made it boil. It was a little like after a fight. The adrenaline pumping through my veins made me bold. Her innocent eyes on me made my heart pound.

"I didn't mean to startle you, miss. I just…" I lost my train of thought as she ripped her headphones off. She still looked afraid. I would give anything to soothe her, but my mind was blank as she stared directly into my soul with those deep, brown eyes of hers.

Looking more and more like she was going to cry, my mystery woman stared at me, the music blaring out of her headphones. "Y-yes?"

Something in my chest unfurled at the simple sound. "I didn't mean to startle you, miss. You look like you are in the zone. But I just wanted to know… Who does your hair?" I asked, running my hand through my own waist-length locs. I stepped back so as not to overwhelm her with my six-foot-six-inch body. I didn't want her to be afraid of me. "It's beautiful. And beautifully maintained." The girl considered me carefully. I didn't realize I was holding my breath in anticipation of hearing that sweet voice of hers until she spoke.

"I do. I've… I always wanted long hair and this seemed to be the best way to get it. I've been managing my hair since I was five years old."

"It's amazing," I said truthfully. "Do you have a card? I've been looking for a good hairdresser." Wow. I didn't know that our people could flush that red! She started undoing her plaits as I'd watched her do after every workout. Her hair fell into a crinkly mess that I'd give anything to run my hands through.

"I don't… I don't have a shop," she said softly, musical voice thick with longing as she patted her thick, knee-length locs down her dripping wet body. "What I do, I do for fun and friends." Feeling bold, I reached for one of the strands, rubbing it between my fingers. The loc was thin like mine but durable. Stepping up close, I looked deep into her eyes and knew that if I didn't say something, she would disappear out of Redemption and never return.

"Please say you'll come back tomorrow?" She startled again, likely wondering if I could read her mind. But I did not have to. It was written all over her face. Such expressive eyes…

"I don't think that's such a good idea," she whimpered.

"Please?" I asked again, desperate to convince her. "I didn't mean to scare you. You're safe here, I promise. Just… Keep coming back. Your progress is inspiring. It's the essence of what we do here. Please don't go away." Again she considered me. Again I held my breath, not realizing that I was doing it. Finally, she nodded.

"I'm Keith. Keith Rochester. I go by 'The Wall' here."

"I'm… Tamara Saunders. Tammy to my friends." We shook hands and it was like lightning up my spine. From the way she jumped, I could tell she felt it too. "I should go clean up."

"Okay, Tammy," I said casually, noting the return of her blush. Inside I was feeling pretty shy myself. She rushed away from me, making a beeline for the women's locker room just as Shayla came out, ready to teach her class.

"You scaring my potential clients, Wall?" she glared playfully. "I've almost got her convinced to take my Baby Boot Camp. Don't need you spooking her at the last minute."

"What's holding her back?" I asked curiously. Shayla was one of the best instructors here. Flexing as she stretched, she shrugged.

"Can't commit to every class. She's a nurse at the local hospital where Doctor Death works."

"It's better if she misses a class or two than not to take the course at all."

"That's what I said," the woman nodded in agreement. "But it's also a matter of pride. She says she's not thin enough or healthy enough to handle the classes here without 'embarrassing herself'." This last was said with exaggerated air quotes to show how Shayla felt about that excuse.

"Well, now that the Wall is talking to her, maybe we can convince little Tammy to join the team officially," Rampage laughed, clapping me on the back. I fought the urge to punch him in the face. Tamara hadn't given him or anyone else permission to use her nickname.

"Let's see if we can get another MMA fighter like Shayla!" Blade Saw said excitedly. Well, that got everyone's attention. The whole group erupted into cheers and fist bumps just as my girl exited the locker room. She jumped and then ran out of the door before I could talk to her again. A growl echoing my own sounded out in the gym.

"Is this a gym or a gossip group?" Torment rumbled like a mountain on its first cup of coffee. The rowdy group immediately got back to training. No one wanted to take on the gym owner.

… …

It took another week to see her training. Today was a cardio day. Instead of being in the back with the free weights, she was working to the side of the cage with the heavy CrossFit ropes and a jump rope. I'd watched her alternate between cardio and strength training for months. And the routine she'd obviously designed for herself was working; lean cords of muscle lined her arms and thighs where once flab weighed her down.

Not wanting to disturb her workout, I started using the punching bag until she started cooling down. After that, I approached her in the most non-threatening way I could think of, drawing amused looks from the regulars.

"What are you doing?" she asked breathlessly as she stretched, pausing her music and taking off her wireless headphones.

"I didn't want to startle you, little one," I told her truthfully. To prove my point, I settled myself on the floor a little distance from her, folding my long legs pretzel style and watching her intently as she worked her body. After a few minutes of tense silence, I finally asked the question that had been bothering me for days now.

"Where have you been, Tamara? You promised me that you wouldn't disappear." The girl blushed but didn't stop her cooldown.

"I come here every day, just not always at the same time. I had evening shifts all last week. I work out in the mornings on those days to keep up my momentum."

"Evening shifts?"

"Yeah," she said ruefully. "I work down at the county hospital as a nurse. That's how I heard of this place. It's a good job. Days/evenings rotation, good pay, benefits. Plus I can earn seniority the longer I work there."

"You don't sound very excited about it," I observed, leaning over to snag her headphones.

"It pays the bills," she shrugged, returning to her work. I couldn't take my eyes off her as she stretched her muscles. It took everything in me not to help her cool down.

Looking over the headphones, I smiled that they were the same brand I preferred. Turning them on, I got my first taste of her music. Drowning Pool's 'Let the Bodies Hit the Floor' blasted in my ears full tilt and my body locked up in shock.

"What are you doing? Don't listen to that!" she gasped, pulling the headphones off of me and turning them off. Abandoning her routine, she knelt in front of me, her hands bracketing my head as she stared into my eyes. "You'll give yourself a seizure listening to that at that volume! Are you okay?" I was caught up in the deep pools of her eyes, God, I'm whipped. "Stay here, I'm going to get the medic," she said, snapping me out of my trance. I grabbed her, trapping her hands with mine.

"I'm fine, Tamara," I reassured the panicked girl. "I don't need Makayla. I'm just a little dazed. What are you listening to?" I held back my chuckle at her embarrassed look with a supreme effort.

"I listen to Angry White Boy music from the Nineties when I'm working out. The energy carries me through my routines."

"How… How do you even know about that music?" The silence that stretched between us was suddenly uncomfortable. My compassionate angel seemed to finally realize her position between my legs. She jerked backward, barely avoiding falling on her back with the force of the movement.

"I should go," she said dully, searching the floor for her headphones. She scrambled to pick them up just as one of the newer fighters in the gym stepped on them, breaking the hard molding. He looked down at her in annoyance when she gasped like someone ran over her puppy.

"Out of the way, fatty," he sneered with a contemptuous look over her body. The two assholes with him broke into nasty laughter as they passed by her to the weights. Fueled by the humiliated look on her face as she cradled her broken headphones in her arms, I crossed the room and shoved the newcomer against the wall.

"Apologize," I growled at him as his neck met the solid bar of my arm.

"The fuck," he gasped, not having expected retaliation.

"You broke my lady's headphones and insulted her. You owe her for both. Apologize. Now." I could feel Homicide Hank and Rampage holding off his buddies.

"Look, that bitch-" that's as far as he got before I cut off his air completely.

"That woman has been here a hell of a lot longer than you. You deliberately stepped on her property and insulted her. You will apologize, you will reimburse her for her destroyed property, and you will never come back here again. You will do these things in that order." He was turning an interesting shade of purple as I slowly dictated his next actions. He couldn't throw me off and everyone was watching by now. I allowed him what I deemed was enough air to make his apologies but he used it to try and scream at me. I cut off his words with a hard shove against the wall and his air at the same time, seeing red. The man's eyes were bulging from lack of oxygen, but all I could think of was my wonderful lady's look of anguish and humiliation when he crushed her music and her fragile self-esteem with 5 little words.

A soft hand landed on my arm, disrupting my rage. "Please let him go, Keith. He's not worth it." Her sweet voice was the only thing that could penetrate my murderous thoughts. I dropped him like the trash he was.

"Get out of here," I growled. "And know that she's the only reason you're still breathing." The trio beat a hasty retreat and the rest of the fighters quickly found other things to focus on. Fuzzy came up behind us, patting my girl on the arm.

"You want to file a police report for the destroyed property?" he asked gently.

"I… I just want to go home," she said dully. I looked at her sharply, but she was staring at the floor. It seemed that now that the danger had passed, she was too ashamed to look at me.

"Tammy?" She turned and ran to the locker room, still cradling her broken headphones in her arm. I looked over at Fuzzy, confused.

"She doesn't look like the type that is used to violence, Wall. Especially violence that centers around her. Give her time." With a pat on my arm, the police officer went back to teaching his class. I stood frozen, watching my girl emerge from the locker room a few minutes later and slink out of Redemption. Just when she was starting to come out of her shell…

"Wall," Torment came over to me, "I need to talk to you. Now." I followed him to his office. Once the door was closed, he offered me a drink which I gladly accepted. "I know that you want to chase her down. But she needs time. Give her time and she'll be back. You might want to try and catch her outside Redemption. Take her on a date. Show her that you care about her outside of this world."

"Why are you helping me?" I asked, downing my drink in one shot. The burn of the alcohol ran a sweet counterpoint to the longing in my heart for my sweet girl.

"I remember what it was like winning my Makayla," he told me frankly. "You've marked her as yours tonight. That will help. Now you just have to convince the girl herself. Trust me, your hardest fight is ahead of you." I could only nod, knowing that he was right.

Welcome to my latest fic. It's based on a series of books I've been reading, so it's not entirely original. I hope you enjoy the ride. And Merry Christmas to all!