Page 3 of To Love and Protect
As an undefeated underground boxer, Nico felt untouchable. Not only did hefeelthat way, he truly was that way. It was really like that with him. Everyone in the Ellway Projects knew who he was, which meant they knew they could either be cool with him or be on his bad side. Niggas that chose to be on his bad side understood where his nicknameNightmarecame from.
“You ain’t tired yet, boy? What’s ya name again?” Nico taunted as he bounced on the balls of his feet. He grinned as he watched his opponent sway. The poor guy tried to keep his fists up to protect his bloody face. It was of no use though.
“You ain’t even learn my name before stepping into the ring? Kinda disrespectful shit is that?”
Nico shrugged as he kept moving around with a watchful eye on the man across from him. The crowd was deafening aroundthem, which only fed Nico’s ego. “See, that’s where you fucked up, boy. I don’t respect any nigga I can beat up.”
“Fuck you,” his opponent spat.
Blood flew from his mouth, and Nico frowned and completely stopped all movement. “Aw, come on, nigga. That’s nasty as hell.”
Because he was arrogant, Nico looked down at his red shorts to make sure there wasn’t any blood on them. He knew what he was doing. He wasn’t stupid at all. Giving people a show was what he was known for. He braced himself for the punch he knew was coming as he pretended to busy himself with checking himself over.
It landed right at the side of his head. He reared back slightly with a wicked grin on his face. His opponent tried to land another weak ass punch, but Nico dodged it and went in for the kill. Literally. He always went for the kill. It normally took several refs on standby to pry Nico off his opponents at the end of a match.
Instead of throwing a left or right hook first, he caught his opponent by surprise and hit him with an uppercut. He followed that up by two quick jabs to his right temple and the left hook straight to the center of his face.
Nico felt teeth crunch under his fist just before the man fell in the center of the concrete floor. The rigged ring was nothing more than a roped off square in the middle of an abandoned warehouse that was elevated slightly. Blood stains from past matches decorated the hard gray floor, and the smell of mildew never quite left the place, no matter how much they tried to clean it up.
As soon as his opponent hit the ground, Nico went crazy. Nothing was off-limits in underground boxing. His size thirteen feet stomped on ribs, his fists connected with bones, and hisknee pressed into the man’s neck when he kneeled down to end this shit once and for all.
As charismatic as Nico was, he was also a bit touched in the head. He loved gore. He got off on it. He’d been like that since he was a kid. His mama always called him a true boy. He loved any form of fighting. Action and horror movies were always his favorite.
It wasn’t until he was sixteen when he met Gramps that he started training for underground boxing. When he was seventeen, he had his first match. When he was eighteen, he caught his first body. After that, Gramps demanded there be extra security and refs to get Nico under control at the end of the matches. They only slipped up one time a couple of years ago when Nico caught his second body.
He wasn’t a psychopath. He felt things very deeply, but when that switch flipped and he became Nightmare, he blacked completely out. It was hard to describe. When he finally snapped out of his blackouts, he was always surprised by what he’d done, but he never felt bad. This was underground boxing, and when a nigga signed up to go against Nightmare, they knew what they were getting themselves into.
“Enough, Nico. That’s enough.”
Only Gramps’s voice could ever pull Nico from that dark space. He blinked and stilled, allowing several hands to finally pull him away from the ring. Gramps made Nico sit in a metal folding chair before he hovered over him to check out his face.
“A nice cut under your eye.” His wrinkled features split into a smile before he held his fist out to Nico.
Nico grinned, finally coming back to himself, and dapped his mentor up. Gramps taught him everything he knew and was the only father figure he’d had in his life. For both him and his younger brother.
“Chile, I thought for sure that was going to be body number three,” a baritone voice said. Nico grinned. He never understood how his brother had such a deep voice but made it sound so feminine.
When Nico turned, there Tyree stood. His younger brother stayed with a piece of gum in his mouth, and his long hair was braided down his back. That night, he opted to dress more masculine with a black Ellwood Infernos jersey and black jeans. His nails were clean cut, and he didn’t wear makeup. Still, everyone could tell what team Tyree batted for.
When his little brother came out of the closet, it didn’t bother Nico one bit. He only worried about people picking on his brother. And they definitely tried. Nico wasn’t having any of that though. They found out quickly that Tyree Graves was off-limits. Besides, his brother was just like every other nigga in the Ellway Projects. Only difference was he liked dressing like a girl from time to time, and he liked sucking dick. That wasn’t any of Nico’s business, so it damn sure wasn’t anyone else’s business.
“Nah, y’all can’t let that happen again,” Nico said between his heavy breathing.
Gramps and Tyree nodded. They both knew it was truly up to them to make sure of that, because Nico had no control when it got to that point. They’d all accepted that long ago. The last time Nico beat someone to death, it had been a close call. There was a lot of scrambling to make sure mothafuckas kept quiet. Word on the street was Karma even had to step in. Legend had it that she and her family ran all the underground boxing rings, but nobody had ever even seen the woman. She and her family were like a hood myth. Whatever happened, Nico had been lucky enough to get away with that twice. He wasn’t so sure the third time would be a charm.
“We got you, champ. You did good tonight,” Gramps assured with a smile.
Nico knew Gramps being proud wasn’t just because of the money they all made that night. It was because Gramps was genuinely proud of Nico. Back in the day, Gramps was the reigning champ in the underground boxing ring. He never had any kids, so meeting Nico and learning that he was into fighting was like a godsend to Gramps. He had someone to pour into. Truth be told, Nico saved Gramps from falling into a deep depression. Life after fighting could be a lonely and dark one. That was when the demons came alive and haunted the mind. It was a lesson Gramps tried drilling into Nico. He wanted the young man to remember there was more to life than fighting, but he didn’t quite understand that yet.
“Fifty thou’ off bets, big bro. You did that,” Tyree affirmed.
Nico grinned. That was ten thousand for Tyree, ten thousand for Gramps, and thirty thousand for him. Not bad for a few minutes of fighting.
“Where the party at tonight, Ree?” Nico asked. His heartbeat had finally slowed some, and he felt the tension in his body slowly seeping out. He spared a glance back toward the ring. A crowd of people were in there now, no doubt trying to peel ol’ dude off the cement. He shook his head. He didn’t understand why niggas still challenged him in the ring, but he was thankful they did. They’d made him a multi-millionaire at this point.
Gramps shook his head. “On that note, I’m out. Take it easy tonight, champ. Take the next week off. We’ll get back to training for your next fight after that. You hear me?”
Nico waved him off. “Yeah, yeah, old man.”
