Chapter 50: Days Between Battles
Sunlight shines through the barred windows, hitting Javier square in the face. His body screams in protest before he even tries to move. Purple bruises bloom across his ribs like paint splatters. His knuckles look like swollen grapes despite the gloves and wraps from last night.
He touches the fresh stitches above his eyebrow from where Wells caught him clean Saturday night. They itch worse than mosquito bites.
The fight replays in his head like a movie he can’t turn off. Wells backing him against the ropes. The uppercut that changed everything. The crowd chanting his name. The referee raising his hand.
It doesn’t feel real. Like it happened to someone else.
"Yo, Javi!"
Kevin bounces up to his bed, eyes wide as dinner plates. David trails behind him, trying to act cool but failing.
"Tell us about when you hurt him again," Kevin demands.
"You already heard it twice." Javier sits up slowly, every muscle complaining.
"But I wanna hear about the uppercut. Did his eyes roll back?"
David leans closer. "Did it feel different hitting someone who could really fight back?"
The questions come fast. These kids had only seen boxing on TV or in their nightmares, until his fight. Now they’re staring at someone who’d chosen it, survived it, won with it.
Across the room, Tommy moves like an old man getting dressed. Both friends catch each other’s eye and share a look. Only they know what it feels like the morning after a real fight.