Chapter Ten



When I arrive at the field, there's a group of trucks parked in a circle, headlights on. There's about 15 people there to watch and I see the guy I guess I'm supposed to be fighting. He's taller and more built than me, but that's never stopped me before. Besides, the anger that's in me is just begging to burst forth. I'm so ready for this fight and then maybe I can actually get a decent few hours of sleep.

A guy approaches me and holds his hand out for me to shake. I shake it and he says, “Hey, you must be Ariya. I'm Brett. The guy you're fighting is Rob. You sure you're up for this? He's quite a fighter.”

“Did you speak to D?”

“Yeah. He seemed quite certain you'd be up for this.”

“I am. I'd like to get started, if that's ok.”

“Sure. Let me introduce you to Rob.”

This Brett guy introduces me to Rob and we shake hands and share a smile.

“Don't hold it against me when I beat you...”

“Sure about that? Just coz I'm a girl, doesn't mean you're gonna beat me. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve.”

“I can see you at least train; you've got the figure for it...”

“If you keep checking me out, you're gonna lose for sure. You think you can see past my womanly figure?”

“What a figure it is, but sure, I think I can see passed that. My momma always told me not to beat on girls...”

“Do you always do what your momma says?”

He scoffs at that. “Hardly. But this is quite an important rule.”

“How about if a girl throws the first punch? Then you're just defending yourself. I'll throw the first punch and then your conscience can be clear, yeah?”

He chuckles, obviously not taking me seriously. “Sure, you can throw the first punch. After that, I'm not making any promises.”

“Good stuff. Now that the girlie chat is over, you think we can just get to it?”

“Not one for small talk, huh?”

“Nope. I prefer to get down to the dirty straight away.”

His eyes go wide for a few seconds and then he laughs, “You're something else...”

“That's what he said...”

I see the amusement in his eyes, which is going to make this win that much sweeter. He thinks I'm a sweet little girl and he will be taken completely off guard.

Rob and I go head to head in front of the crowd and Brett stands by our sides. He says, “No rules, except you don't kill each other. First one to throw in the towel or to be knocked out loses. Clear?”

We both nod and Rob smirks at me, so I just wink at him.

“Good luck both of you. Fight!”

I see Rob throw up his arms in a defense move, so I fake a right jab and when he moves to block it I land him with a strong left. He's not expecting it and he stumbles back from the blow. This is my opening, so I come at him with a combination of left and right jabs and some uppercuts. The blows are quick and powerful and they leave him reeling. I need to slow myself down or I'm going to knock the guy out too quickly. I need him to think I've tired myself out to at least make this journey, (and my coming punishment from Justin), worth it.

I back off a bit and lull Rob into a false sense of security. It takes him a while to get his head together after the beat down I just gave him and I'm mentally twiddling my thumbs, waiting for him to get back into it. We spar back and forth until I can't hold myself back anymore. He's actually not a bad fighter, and under normal circumstances, he'd be a better opponent. However, D was not planning on how much this place has annoyed me and 4 weeks of pent up anger has just been given the all clear to rip from inside of me.

I see red and I keep throwing combos at Rob, hardly giving him a chance to come back at me with anything. I have no doubt I'll be sore and bruised when the adrenaline wears off, but it'll be so worth it. My final blow lands on the side of Rob's face, causing his head to turn to an almost unnatural angle. I hear the blow as well as feel it through my fists and Rob slumps to the floor, like a sack of grain. He doesn't move for about 3 minutes. During this time, Brett is checking to make sure Rob is still breathing. I hunch over, catching my breath and keeping an eye on Rob and Brett. I didn't kill him; I know that, but he is out for quite a while all things considered.

We wait until Rob stirs and groans and then Brett says, “We have a winner guys! Well, I wasn't expecting that. Congratulations, Ariya.”

“Thanks. Can I go now?”

“Not one for the pleasantries?”

“Nope.”

“Sure, you don't need to stay for anything.”

“Thanks. Get him checked out.”

“Sure thing.”

“Hey, Rob? You probably won't remember this in the morning, but thanks. You didn't do too bad. I've just been waiting a long time for that. So, thanks.”

I jog off through the fields and head back to the ranch. As I get to the field nearest the house, I slow down and walk. There's a couple of reasons for this. One, I'm tired now. Two, I'm starting to feel a bit sore because the adrenaline is wearing off. And three, I'm actually thinking I could make a run for it. I don't know why I didn't think about it earlier really. I could have just gone straight from the fight. I would have had a much bigger head start. Now I'm faced with a dilemma. If I go back, Justin is going to know I got out, which means he's going to make sure it doesn't happen again. The odds of having this chance again are pretty much zero. However, if I do get caught after running away, because let's face it they obviously know the land better than me, then my punishment is going to be way worse. They might make me stay here indefinitely. That would really suck. I could possibly get away without getting caught, but is it really worth the risk? I'd permanently be on the run and have to lay low and I don't exactly have a good history with staying away from cops.

I told Justin I wouldn't run, and I don't lie. I know I'm a lot of things, and I know I escaped for the fight, but I had every intention of going back, until just now. I'm not a liar though, and running now would make me a liar. No, I will face my punishment and deal with the consequences of my actions. Believe me, whatever Justin throws at me will be worth it. No one can take away the quiet that I feel inside at the moment.

I climb into my room and grab a shower before slipping into bed. It's 1:45am and Justin will open my door at 5am, so I can try to grab a few hours of sleep before then.

My lock sliding open wakes me up, and I'm startled by the noise. I jump up and look at the clock; 4:59am. Shoot, I overslept.

Justin's voice rips through my panic, “You're not ready...?”

He looks utterly confused by this change of events. Honestly, I'm not too fond of the abnormality of this whole situation either.

He sounds utterly confused as he asks, “How were you still asleep? More importantly, what happened to your face?”

Now, I could say here, that I was dreaming, but that would be a lie. And you know my feelings on lying. So, instead, I fake dumb and ask, “Huh? What?”

“Your face. What happened to it? Actually, your hands as well.... Ariya, what have you done?”

I can almost see the steam coming from his ears, so I jump up and head for the bathroom, shouting, “I'll be ready in 2 minutes.”

There's fire in his tone as he says, “You will have a valid answer for me by the time you get downstairs.”

There is no arguing with the venom in his words, not that I would argue anyways. I made the decision to leave, so I will accept the consequences. I'm not a coward. I hear him storm down the stairs and as I approach the kitchen, Mike appears looking disheveled. He whispers, “J, dude, we need to talk...”

Justin grinds out, “Not now. I've gotta deal with that...”

He looks straight at me as he says the word 'that', but I refuse to wilt under his glare. As I said, I'm not a coward and I'm not weak. If he wants to take me on and throw me a beat down, then I can take it. I might not win, but I'll give it a darn good go.

“That's what I need to talk to you about...”

“It'll have to wait. I need to speak to her first. Cover the breakfast, Mike. Lou will be here to help in a bit. Miss Flynn, you come with me... now...”

I follow him quietly, but I'm not ashamed and I'm not scared. I'm just sensible enough right now to keep my mouth shut. I'm in the wrong here and no matter how much I hate to admit that, I won't argue a point that isn't in my favor.

He leads me to an office type room and tells me to shut the door after me.

He stares at me for a few seconds, probably trying to intimidate me or something, but it's not going to work. I've seen and dealt with people much much worse than him, and he doesn't scare me. I see anger and maybe a bit of hurt in his eyes when he eventually asks, “What happened? What did you do? And don't tell me it was a nightmare...”

I snort at the fact we'd had the same thought, but his look shows me he doesn't appreciate my lack of seriousness on that matter.

I sigh and say, “I had a fight.”

“You had a fight? With who? Yourself? Todd was locked up in his room and Mike looks perfectly fine to me. I swear, if you hurt Lou, I'll....”

This time I chuckle. “You think Louise could leave me with bruises? You're a joker...”

He shoots me another annoyed and angry look, but I can't stop myself. The nasty streak has reared it's ugly head again and my mouth just runs on.

“She could barely rip a wet paper towel in 2. How the heck do you think she could actually land a punch on me? I mean, seriously? What have you been smoking? I doubt she'd even be able to make a fist, let alone throw one...”

I think I've overstepped the line when I hear his voice bellow out, “Enough! You give me the answers I'm looking for, right now!”

“I snuck out and had a fight. Don't worry, the guy had someone with him and he's alright...”

“You think I'm concerned about the other guy?! I'm furious at the fact you snuck out! In what world do you think that's ok?! You're here as a punishment! You're here because the state of New York doesn't know what else to do with you! I thought I'd give you a shot and try to help you get your life back together! You've just thrown all of that back in my face. What is wrong with you?!”

I laugh humorlessly at that. “You have no idea, man. I warned you. I told you I was a nasty piece of work. I warned you that I get into fights, that I can't keep my temper. I don't want to be here, so just send me back to New York and they can put me in jail. That's where I belong, isn't it? People like me belong there, right?”

“Why did you come back? You must have known there would be consequences for what you did.”

“I told you I wouldn't run and I didn't. I didn't have to come back. I could have just run off, but I didn't. You know why I didn't? Because I told you I wouldn't. I told you I don't lie, and running would have made me a liar.”

He sighs, but I can still see the fire in his eyes. “Do you know how many rules you broke pulling that stunt? I hope it was worth it...”

I'm quick to give him an honest answer here. “Well worth any punishment you can give me. I broke your rules, I accept that. Punish me, fine. But I won't regret doing it.”

“What were you thinking, Ariya?! And I don't want some half baked answer. I want the truth here. I think I deserve that at least, after what you did.”

I scoff at that. He thinks he deserves the truth? He doesn't deserve anything; no one does. No one has the right to demand something like that from me. That kind of truth is revealing myself, something I vowed never to do. He hasn't taken me in out of some kindness from the bottom of his heart here. He's taken me in because New York District Attorney's office didn't know what to do with me. I'm under no illusions here guys. I know neither party wanted to have anything to do with me. They're probably paying Justin a tidy sum of money to have me here, so no, I feel no obligation to tell him the truth as to why I went for that fight.

I simply say, “I wanted to fight. You guys wouldn't let me give Todd a beating, so I had to find someone who would. Simple really.”

“Somehow I don't think anything is simple with you, Miss Flynn. I will think of a suitable punishment, but for now, I will keep you under my watch at all times. I don't appreciate being taken for a fool and I certainly don't appreciate you throwing my kind gestures back in my face...”

That's it, I can't bite my tongue any longer. “Are you for real? You mean to tell me I'm here because you have some deep rooted kindness for me, a person you don't even know? You're really going to tell me the government isn't paying you a huge sum of money for keeping me here? You're just holding on to someone they don't want to deal with. I'm not stupid and I'm not fooled by the system or the language they use to try to fool people. I know you didn't want me here. I know the money swayed your decision. So don't try to pretend it's because you care. I'm never going to believe that, so don't insult me by giving me those kind of lies. At least have the guts to tell me the truth.”

“You want the truth?! I'll give you the truth. When I read your file I saw someone who I thought needed help; someone who just needed a chance. I thought I could give you the chance that the 'system' was afraid to give you or they couldn't give you. I thought I could give you a little bit of help, seeing as the system probably made you half of what you are. I thought I could actually affect your life for the better. Obviously I thought wrong.”

I snort, “Obviously. You keep thinking I've get some serious problem going on here. I hate to break it to you, man, but I'm just a nasty piece of work. I'm scum, the filth of the earth, so don't waste your time trying to help me. I don't need it. Just turf me out and send me back to jail. I'll be just fine there...”

He looks horrified at my words, which are more truth than I should have revealed to be honest. I can't take them back now, so I'll just have to play them down.

“You're not scum or the filth of the earth. Why would you think something like that?”

“Isn't that what all you law types think of us criminals?”

I tell myself, 'Good save, Ariya. Nicely done.'

“No! You've got some messed up ideas in your head, Ariya.”

“Whatever.”

I need to get out of this conversation or I'm going to start getting angry again. That calm inside of me is slowly disappearing and I'll end up needing to fight again if he doesn't stop soon.

“We're going to eat breakfast and you're going to be polite to everyone. You're going to be on your best behavior and you're going to let whatever Todd says slide today. You are in no position to start making trouble here. Do I make myself clear?”

I smirk, “Crystal.”

“Can the attitude. You're nowhere near being ok here, Miss Flynn. I will think of an appropriate punishment and it will not have a set length of time. I will remove the punishment when I see fit. Are we on the same page?”

“Yep.”

To be honest, I don't really care. I just want out of here. Maybe if I keep messing up, then he'll have no choice but to send me back.

Breakfast is.... interesting. It is completely silent. Justin is breathing fire, so no one wants to say a wrong word. I'm actually finding it quite amusing. It's a totally foreign idea to me that they'd be so scared of this guy. I can't grasp that concept. When I feel everyone's awkwardness level reach an unbelievable high, I sigh and open my mouth to speak, but Justin growls, “Keep your mouth shut, Miss Flynn.”

This just makes me want to speak all the more, so I say, “I know you all want to ask, so I'm just going to go ahead and tell you. I escaped and had a fight last night. I will be severely punished for my actions.”

Todd chuckles, “Severely punished? I'd love to see that. You obviously can't be trusted.”

Louise speaks up, “She could have run, Todd, but she came back. She shouldn't have gone, but at least she didn't run away completely.”

I throw a smile at Louise, acknowledging that she actually sees my point on this one.

Justin grinds out, “Ariya was wrong, end of story. She broke the rules and there is no excuse for it. She will deal with the consequences and it won't happen again.”

I mutter, “Can't promise that.”

I feel Justin stiffen next to me and I inwardly smirk. I'm sensible enough to hold that in though.



The rest of breakfast is filled with Mike, Louise and Todd chatting but I tune this out. Justin doesn't speak and he hardly eats. The guy is fuming and this should scare me, but it doesn't. I almost feel a little pang of regret, but then I remember the calm that I'm currently feeling and that glimmer of regret disappears.