Chapter 34: Javier’s Rude Awakening
The gym felt like a tomb. Javier stood by the ropes, mouth dry as dust, watching Tommy blink slow and confused on the other side of the ring. Dark blood drops stained the canvas where his friend had fallen. The smell hit him hard - sweat, blood, and that cheap cologne the Bronx kids wore.
Tommy stumbled when Danny helped him up. Javier looked away. He couldn’t meet his friend’s glazed eyes. Guilt crawled up his spine like ice water.
"Brooklyn boy got put to sleep!" someone yelled from the crowd.
"Y’all came to the wrong gym!" another voice added.
Laughter rolled down from the bleachers. They weren’t just happy Tommy lost. They enjoyed watching him suffer.
Antoine bounced on his toes near the center, throwing perfect combos into his trainer’s mitts. Each punch cracked like a gunshot. He moved smooth as water, then suddenly stopped and stared right at Javier. No expression. No nerves. Nothing.
"Your boy folded easily," Antoine said quietly, almost gentle. "You gonna do the same?"
Javier’s heart hammered against his ribs. The crowd noise felt like distant thunder. Antoine’s trainer clapped the mitts together and nodded with a small, satisfied smile.
A cold green window slid across Javier’s vision:
[OPPONENT ANALYSIS ACTIVATED]
[NAME: ANTOINE "IRON JAW" WASHINGTON]
[AGE: 17]