Vampire Love Story Page 5

  “Hey,” she said.

  “Hey, there.”

  I did a u-turn and pulled onto the main highway. I glanced over at Lena. Her eyes were looking straight ahead.

  “So what’s up?” I asked.

  “Are you hungry?” she asked.

  “I’m actually starving.”

  “We can go to this mom and pop burger joint on the corner. We can talk inside.”

  “You sure? We’re not going to get shot or anything?”

  “It’s not that bad out here. People out here are meth-heads not gangbangers.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind when a meth-head slits my throat for some cash.”

  “Trust me, it’ll be okay. I’ll protect you.”

  “You protect me?” I laughed.

  “What’s so funny about that?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe because you’re a hundred pounds dripping wet.”

  “I can kick some serious ass if I have to.”

  I glanced at Lena’s petite body. “I bet.”

  “Pull over in there.” Lena pointed to a little diner on the corner. It had a sign out front that read “Burgers and Tacos.”

  “Classy,” I said, pulling my truck into the driveway.

  “Don’t be mean.”

  “So what kind of food do they serve here?” I asked. “I just hate when the name of a place gives you little idea what to expect.”

  “I think they serve a little of everything. You might want to stay away from their roast lamb, though.”

  I laughed and glanced at Lena. Our eyes met and I didn’t say anything.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Nothing,” I said. “Or, well, I just think you should smile more often.”

  “If you were as funny as you think you are, then maybe I would.”

  “That so, huh? I didn’t realize Goth girls liked to laugh.”

  “Goth girl? Is that how you see me?”

  “You do wear a lot of black.”

  “Black is a good color. Everyone could use a little more black in their wardrobe,” Lena said, looking at my colorful Ed Hardy T-shirt. “You might also want to let your legs breathe, ‘cause those jeans are on kind of snug.”

  “The chicks dig the snug.”

  “I’m pretty sure Yari would, too.”

  “Wow, where did that come from? I think you might be jealous.”

  “Okay, now you’re getting funny.” Lena did a big fake laugh.

  “I’m not so sure....” I said, letting my voice tail off.

  “Why? Do you want me to be jealous?”

  I once again stared at Lena. Her eyes were asking me ‘Well?’. I thought about it for a second and decided to leave the topic alone. After all, the last time I had seen her, she had been pretty cozy with Atticai. Instead, I asked, “You hungry?”

  “I’m starving.”

  We walked inside and gave our order to the old man who ran the joint. He gave us a number and we sat down at a booth next to a window that overlooked the street. We were both quiet. Lena was staring sort of morosely out the window.

  “Hey, are you okay?” I asked, genuinely concerned.

  After a moment, she turned and looked at me. “You know, one thing was lost in the shuffle last night.”

  “What was that?” I asked.

  “That those boys at the party tried to take advantage of me.”

  “It didn’t get lost on me. I have an aching back to prove it.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. How’s your back?”

  “It hurts like hell, but I’m alright.”

  She nodded and reached out and patted my forearm. She retracted her hand quickly.

  “Thank you again, but I just feel so stupid.”

  “Don’t feel stupid. That’s the last thing you should feel. Those guy were Grade A douches. Plus, they got what they deserved.”

  “Did they?” Lena seemed upset.

  “I’d say so. They got an ass kicking by me and then your friends beat the crap out of them, too, not to mention taking bites out of them in the process.”

  “I’m just pissed that I let it happen.”

  “Well, don’t be. We all make mistakes. Look at me, I made the biggest mistake of all. I decided to go jogging last night.”

  “Very funny.”

  “Hey, I almost stayed home.”

  Lena stared straight ahead. She had tears in her eyes. I finally got up and sat next to her.

  “Sometimes I need to feel normal,” she said. “Sometimes I just want to be like everyone else.”

  She was wiping her tears with the back of her hand and so I got up again and got her a napkin. I handed it to her. She took it without comment and wiped her eyes.

  “Look at me, I’m crying like a typical chick.”

  “I have news for you, sweetie: you are a chick. And you’re human. You had a very traumatic thing happen to you last night. Don’t be so hard on yourself for feeling some aftermath.”

  “Josiah, there is so much you don’t know.”

  “Like what? Tell me.”

  “Stuff.” Lena looked out the window again, this time up into the bright afternoon sky. I had at first thought she was looking absently into the sky, until I saw her eyes tracking something. I turned and looked, too. There was nothing up there but some birds. Crows, I think.

  “What are you looking at?” I asked, not sure why I suddenly cared if she was looking into the sky.

  “Nothing.” She turned away and faced me again.

  I could tell something was weighing heavy on her mind. So I decided to press, “Are you talking about Atticai and his buddies? Have they done some pretty bad things?” Lena’s eyes were focused on the napkin in her hand. I could tell she wanted to tell me something—but was afraid to. “Lena, you can tell me anything.”

  “That’s the problem Josiah. I can’t. For your own good. I can’t.”

  “For my own good? What will happen to me?”

  “Josiah, let’s just change the subject.”

  “Or what? Your wannabe vampire friends will try to eat me again?”

  Lena took a pen out from her purse. She began writing on her napkin. When she was done she handed it to me.

  It read: They are not wannabes, Josiah. They are real.

  “Real what? Vampires?” I said out loud. “Just because someone decides to dress up like it’s Halloween everyday doesn’t make them something that doesn’t exist.”

  “Please stop talking about it, Josiah. You have no idea what you are doing or saying.”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  “Josiah, please. There’s so much you don’t know. Please trust me. Don’t talk about it out loud.”

  “Why not?”

  “Just don’t!”

  “Why?”

  “Because that’s what the Mani want. They want you to know.”

  I was confused. “Who the hell are the Mani?”

  Lena had the kind of look on her face that suggested she had just accidentally revealed the secret location of the Holy Grail, and that despite what Dan Brown says, it’s most certainly not under the Louvre in Paris. Her combination of horror and surprise was almost comical.

  “Josiah, please. I promise you that someday I will tell you, but right now it’s not safe to talk about it.”

  “Talk about what? I’m still lost.”

  But Lena was as serious as a heart attack. I couldn’t believe that she thought her friends were really vampires. She was either delusional or on something.

  “Okay. I’ll drop it.”

  “Thank you.”

  I sat there quietly for a moment. Unfortunately, my brain was having a hard time dropping it. It kept replaying the word vampire. Finally, I said, “Well, tell me this. How did you meet Atticai?”

  Lena sighed, leaned back, and crossed her arms just under her chest. “I was at a party in Riverside about two years ago. A typical college party: stupid stunts, drunk assholes, beer bongs, and I was pretty bored, to say the least. I was sitting alo
ne outside having a smoke when Atticai approached me. He seemed more out of place at the party than I did. He sat next to me and we talked for hours. We ended up being the last two at the party. He took me home and the rest is history.”

  “It’s the rest that you can’t tell me about?”

  “Not at this moment. No. But I can tell you that Atticai is the one who started calling me Lena.”

  “Your name isn’t Lena?”

  “You don’t remember? My name was—is—Donna.”

  “Sorry. I remember your face, but I never knew your name.”

  “Wow, no wonder why I hated jocks so bad in high school. You didn’t even know my name.”

  “Hey, we never talked. We didn’t have a single conversation.”

  “Trust me, that was all you.”

  “Why is that?”

  “I had a little crush on you.”

  “You did?”

  “Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t have your picture hanging in my locker or anything, but I definitely thought you were pretty cute.”

  “I wish I would have known.”

  “What are you talking about? You didn’t even know my name.”

  “I knew your face. You were someone that I thought was hot, but had zero chance with. I figured girls like you hated guys like me.”

  She laughed. “Trust me—we did. No one knew I was secretly crushing on you.”

  “How funny,” I smiled at Lena.

  “Oh, don’t start getting cocky.”

  “I’m not getting cocky. Life is funny. We never spoke in high school, but yet after one night you trusted me enough to have me come out and talk to you today.”

  “Why is that so funny? Are you not to be trusted?”

  “No, I’m very trustworthy.”

  Lena paused and took me in. Her eyes penetrated through me.

  “I want to trust you,” she said. “I hope I can.”

  “You can, Donna.”

  “Please don’t call me Donna. I actually hate that name.”

  “So why did Atticai rename you Lena?”

  “The reason is kind of weird.”

  “Trust me, nothing you tell me about Atticai would make me think he’s any weirder than I already do.”

  “No, this is pretty weird—even for Atticai. Okay, fine. It was his mother’s name.”

  I paused. “You’re right. That is pretty freaking weird.”

  “I know. Right?”

  “Your order is up!” the old man from behind the counter yelled out. I got up and grabbed the tray and filled up my Diet Coke. I brought the tray over and set it on the table. Lena tore open her burger wrapper and took a giant bite.

  “I’m so hungry,” she said, wiping her mouth.

  “Apparently so.”

  She took a couple more big bites, and then asked, “Can I ask you a personal question?”

  “Sure,” I said. I started with my fries, as I always do.

  “How much do you get paid to fight?”

  “I’m fairly knew at the sport. So I get paid the minimum.”

  “Which is?”

  “About five thousand a fight.”

  “Wow! That’s pretty good.”

  “Actually it’s not. When you only fight every three months, it ends up being a pretty remedial job.”

  “Then why do it?”

  “Because I’m hoping to get better and to win over a fan base. The idea is to get good enough to get on pay-per-view. That’s where the real money is.”

  “Well, you’re as good a fighter as I’ve ever seen. I’m sure you’ll be the best in no time.” Lena took a couple more bites of her hamburger. I decided to start on my own hamburger. It was actually pretty good.

  When we were done, I took Lena home. I knew she had a lot more on her mind, and that I wasn’t going to get it out of her on this day. I dropped her off and was just about to pull out of the driveway when I got a text from Tommy.

  It was a short text. “Get home. Now.”

  Chapter Six

  I pulled up to my house and Tommy was outside sitting on the porch steps. I got out of my truck and headed over to him.

  “So what’s up?” I stood there looking at Tommy. He wouldn’t look me in the eye. “Tommy, what’s going on?”

  He hesitated, and then said, “You know, we got our match-ups today. Aren’t you the least bit curious who you’re fighting?”

  “You know me, Tom. I don’t really care. I fight my fight no matter who it is. Look, if you’re pissed off that I took a day off from training....”

  “Josiah, you have a tough opponent this time and you better start taking your training very seriously.”

  I shrugged. “Who did they give me? Don’t tell me they gave me Marquez already.”

  “No your opponent is a little tougher than Marquez.”

  “Who am I fighting?”

  “Josiah...you’re fighting...me.” Tommy stood up and walked onto the lawn.

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  “I wouldn’t have asked you to come straight home if it wasn’t true.”

  “Can they do that? I mean, everyone knows we’re practically brothers.”

  Tommy laughed. “Josiah, they can do whatever they want. They are the Commission, man. They can make us fight a leopard in the ring if they want to.”

  “I don’t understand. They told you this was only going to be a tune-up fight. They know I’ve knocked out everyone in the first two minutes of each of my fights. I’m anything but a tune-up.”

  “It’s not your performance in the ring, Josiah. It’s who you are out of the ring. ”

  “What does that mean?”

  Tommy was getting himself worked up. “It means you don’t take being a fighter seriously, man. It means you get fat every time you’re done training. Don’t you think the trainers see that? They see you come in late to train and you’re always the first to leave. You’re looked at as soft.”

  “That’s bullshit and you know—”

  “Josiah, they apologized to me that they couldn’t give me a better fighter.”

  My mouth dropped open. “You’re being serious?”

  He nodded. I knew this wasn’t easy for him.

  “They really apologized for not getting you a better fighter?”

  He nodded again. “Look, Josiah, I know you’re tough and I know what you can do. So I’m telling you right now that you better train seriously. If I kick your ass easily, they will think you threw the fight and that would be worse than me losing.”

  “I can’t believe you think you’re just going to kick my ass. Do you have any idea what I’m capable of?”

  “It doesn’t matter how tough you are, Josiah. You and I both know that. When two fighters are as good we are, the winner is always the person who trains the hardest and the smartest. You and I both know I have you on both points.”

  This was the first time in my life I ever wanted to punch Tommy in the face. How could he say these things to me? He was in my corner in each of my knock outs. He saw how easily I manhandled all of my opponents. The nerve of him thinking he could just roll me over.

  “Look,” I said, raising my voice, feeling that familiar surge of adrenalin. It was all I could do to control myself. “Do what you have to do, and say what you have to say to try to get in my head. But I’m telling you right here and now that this is the worst thing that could have happened to you. You better train Rocky Balboa-style. I will not be easy on you. In fact, I will be the exact opposite. I’m going to kick the living shit out of you.”

  Tommy had a cocky smirk on his face. “Good, that’s what I want to hear. Our fight is in 24 days. I think it would be best if I stayed with my Grandma. You know how I get. It will be just too weird running into you each day.”

  “Do what you have to do,” I said, and brushed past him into the house. I went straight to my room, where I stripped off my shirt and jeans. Now just in my boxers, I dropped to the floor and cranked out 4 sets of 50 pushups. If Tommy wanted me at t
he top of my game, then that’s where he was going to get me.

  * * *

  I spent the next two weeks training three times a day.

  My days started with a five-mile run and then a four-hour gym session. Each evening I did a six-mile run just because I could. One thing I knew I could count on was that my legs were going to feel heavy, and little Daphne was always there to greet me before each run with a loud squawk.

  Each night before bed, I would visually play out my game plan against Tommy. My strategy was simple: I was going to strike. I was going to throw a storm of punches and kicks until I knocked him out. Tommy’s strategy would be to get me to the ground. Tommy loved to do submission moves, but there was no way I’d ever give him that chance.

  At the gym, I practiced my ground game with Mike Flores. Mike Flores was an ex-MMA fighter who had to quit cause he blew out his ACL in his knee. Mike had been in my corner in each of my fights, along with Tommy. Mike thought it was naive of me to think that I was just going to knock Tommy out in the first two minutes and that I had better figure out some ground defense.

  So I did. Working hard with Mike Flores. And as the first week came and went, I had forgotten all about Lena and her crazy friends. On a Saturday night, with seven days to go before the big match, I decided to take the night off. I was craving some hot wings from Hotlanta, a barbecue joint that served up some incredible good old-fashioned soul food. It was in Riverside which was about a half hour away. I could really use a nice drive. I showered up and put on my only black T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. I was in the bathroom fixing up my hair when I heard a knock on the front door.

  I finished the last bit of my beautiful locks and went to answer it. I opened the door and found Yari standing there. She looked incredible. She was wearing a long white dress that looked like something out of a romance novel. Her hair was fixed up and her bright red lipstick made the color in her hair stand out.

  “Hey there,” I said, surprised as hell.

  “Hey, yourself,” she said in a sultry voice.

  I peeked out the door and saw that she seemed to be alone. There wasn’t even a vehicle in sight. “Do you want to come in?”