"I need to talk to you... Meet me up at Chevy's restaurant... It's urgent", the SMS read...
Mick didn't know how to feel...
It's been ages since he had last met Keisha... And then, after all this time, a text from her... What
could it be?
She looked so pretty, and like always, she was before time...
"It's all gone, buddy... She's gone... Behave" Mick told himself...
"Hi"...
" Sit down ", she looked serious and tensed...
In a flash, Mick saw the wedding ring on her hand... It had a diamond.. "Damn! That Paulie, or
whatever his name is, he's really big time rich!" Mick thought...
She was silent for sometime...
"So... How's life? How're you?" Mick tried to start up a conversation...
In reply, Keisha looked at the bandages on Mick's hand and said "You still fighting?"
"Yeah.. Got a tournament coming up... Plus there's some more underground fights coming up..."
Mick replied feebly, though he wanted to say "FIGHTING IS WHAT HELPS ME KEEP MY MIND
OFF YOU, AND FOCUS ON LIFE, DON'T YOU GET IT??"
"You still fight underground?" Keisha asked...
"Yeah... Underground is good... Helps me get some more cash... Hehe"
"Okay... Now.. Why I called you here... It's grave... I'm.. I'm pregnant.."
Mick stood dumb for some time... "Well... What should I say? You're married for a year now...
This is only normal... Why call me here to tell me this? Congrats!"
"I called you here because, I've been married only five months... And I don't let Paulie touch
me... I told you, Mick... I won't let any other man touch me..."
Mick was now blown…
"Do you mean...?"
"Yes, it's your kid"
"Fuck, does Paulie know?"
"Not yet"
Then Keisha said, "I only thought I should tell you this... I won't put you into trouble, Mick... I'll
make something up.." She glanced at her watch... "Christ! I'm late... Bye.. Best of luck for your
fight..." And she left in a hurry...
Mick stood there for a while... All he wanted to say was "I can keep the child if you want"...
Then he left for his training session... He had to work out to get this event outta his head...
Keisha crossed the road... Then from the opposite sidewalk, saw Mick walking back, across
the afternoon crowd... She wore her sunglasses back to hide her tears and in a broken voice
whispered, more to herself than to him, "I love you, Mick Wallace".
"Mr Wallace? Mr Wallace? Sign here, please?" The jail warden said... Mick snapped back to
present day.
"You're a lucky man.. You beat up a fellow to pulp, sent him to a coma, robbed him, took his car
and got out only after serving 18 years..." the jailor said, spat on the Street and opened the gate...
Mick went to speedy's pub, a favorite haunt of his...
"Lookie who's here, people! It's Mick "hard-hitter" Wallace! Welcome back, buddy!"
"Hey Seb... At least you haven't changed..”
Seb, the bartender, gave Mick a drink... It was closing time, so there weren't any much people
around... While drinking, Mick saw a young couple... And Mick went back to his old days….
"Good show, Wallace! Keep this rage up!" Those were the days when Mick was just started
to emerge as the "toughest guy on the block" in underground mixed martial art fights...
"Good fight, Wallace"
"Whoa, Antwon! It's not everyday you praise me!"
Antwon was a good man, Mick had been training under him since when he was a teenager...
And he had become this good at his fighting skills because of Antwon...
"Listen up, lad... No man becomes great without education in his respective field... So I want
you to go to the library, and read about this what you're practicing... Read about fighting skills,
and their history"...
This was the third time Antwon was telling this, but Mick had always considered the library a
place for nerds, and hence excessively boring...
But this time, Antwon was being persistent...
"Ugh! Alright alright! I'll go... Jeez! What's wrong with you?" Mick replied...
Reluctantly, Mick stood outside the library...
"You there?" Antwon called on his phone...
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