Page 76 of If You Fight

Chapter Twenty-Three

Ryder

Keyser lived up to everything I’d imagined it would be, as far as Appalachian towns went. Empty streets that looked like they belonged in a ghost town welcomed us as Floyd drove past one after another abandoned building, and I half expected to see some tumbleweeds roll toward us when we got out at the building where the fight would be held.

“Booming metropolis,” I mumbled as I followed him toward a vacant building.

“This place looks like the kind of place where at any minute zombies would appear coming down the road,” he said with a nervous chuckle.

I turned around to take one last look at the street before walking into a dimly lit hallway. Cinder block walls on each side were covered in graffiti, and beneath our feet entire sections of concrete were missing, leaving gaping holes in the floor.

“Jesus, Floyd, this place is even worse than The Pit, and that’s saying something,” I joked as he led the way to a large metal door at the end of the hallway.

“It’s no Taj Mahal, that’s for sure.”

He pulled hard on the doorknob and heaved the metal door open to reveal a huge, brightly lit space that looked nicer than I’d expected. It was no great place, to be sure, but at least it didn’t look like meth heads had been squatting there as recently as a few hours ago, like I’d worried it would.

A large guy with long hair and glasses saw us and immediately walked up to shake our hands. “Floyd, you son of a bitch! It’s good to see you, man,” he said in a gravelly voice.

“Nate, long time no see. This place doesn’t look like the shithole I thought it would by the way you described it.” Turning toward me, he said, “This is the kid I was talking about. Nate, meet Ryder Rhodes.”

The man gave my hand a firm shake and grinned at me, showing off a nice set of teeth that didn’t seem to fit with the rest of his look. I threw Floyd a nasty look for the kid remark, even though compared to both of them, I would be a kid.

“I hear good things about you, Ryder. Floyd says you’re unbeatable. Is that him just talking shit to get me excited, or is he right?”

Shrugging like I always did when someone asked me if I was as incredible as they’d heard, I said, “Little bit of both, I guess. I haven’t been beaten lately, so he’s right about that.”

“Lately?” Nate asked, obviously sensing that his friend had lied to him.

Floyd quickly answered, “He stepped away from fighting for the past two years, so I wasn’t counting that last fight before he left.”

Nate whistled and looked me up and down. “Two years? Damn! That’s a long time to be away and come back to winning form. You must be good. I guess we’ll see tonight.”

“I guess,” I said with a smile as I scanned the area behind him to see where I’d be fighting.

He noticed where my attention had gone to and looked back at the big empty space. “It’s not much, but then again, there isn’t much overhead so it’s a win-win for everyone involved.”

“Just point me in the direction of where I can get changed and I’ll leave you guys to talk shop.”

Nate turned back to face us and pointed to the corner of the room. “Just head back there. You’re the first one here, so you get to take advantage of being the early bird.”

“How many fights are you running tonight?” Floyd asked as that exact question ran through my mind.

“Just Ryder’s and another one. He’s got the main event, so he should be ready by seven since the first one is scheduled for then but it could be over quickly. You never know, do you?”

Floyd laughed. “No, you never do. I swear I’m the most surprised of them all sometimes, and I’ve been in the fight business for decades.”

Nate and Floyd began to reminisce about their biggest shocks in the business, so I walked back to the changing room, happy for some peace and quiet before the fight. Floyd had talked my damn ear off the whole ride there, going on about some show he’d watched on TV the night before that had been just the best fucking thing since sliced white bread. By the time we got there, I was happy to be anywhere but in that passenger seat.

Even an ugly, down-on-its-luck Appalachian town that looked like all but misery had deserted it.

For about thirty minutes, I sat alone on an old wooden bench and thought about how great it was going to be when I surprised Serena with being able to leave after this fight. She’d come home so happy from seeing her mother for the first time since she was a little girl, and I wanted to add to that happiness with the news that we finally could escape Robert and everything that came with him.

I didn’t mention it to Serena, but the thought had crossed my mind that once he found out we were gone, he might retaliate against Alita like he always threatened to. I didn’t want to see her hurt any more than I wanted to see us hurt, but I needed to believe Robert’s threat was just that, a threat meant to manipulate Serena and nothing more.

Maybe we could find a way to help her escape from his control too. I didn’t know if that could happen, but I felt hopeful because of this fight. When I won, that money would be our ticket out.

All I had to do was win.

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