gloves | vinnie hacker

15.

Vinnie Hacker.

As I drove home, my anger was boiling inside me with every minute that passed, louder and hotter than before. I was pissed, no doubt, and the ride home allowed me to revel in it a little more, thinking and replaying the whole day over and over again.

I never had fights during the week, mine were always on Friday nights, so when Ray called me up a couple nights ago about some last minute fight, my first instinct was to say no, until he told me how much I'd be getting for this one. I didn't like going to club if I didn't need to, I strictly went there for fights, I didn't train there like the other guys that belonged to the club. Ray had his own small boxing gym a couple minutes away from the gym so I trained there regularly. I had decided against going to school that day, I couldn't be bothered to wake up early and drag my feet across school when I had a fight the same day.

Upon waking up, I made sure to brush my teeth and wash my face, then I changed into clean workout clothes for a quick run to get some type of cardio before tonight. Running wasn't something thag most people typically enjoyed, that wasn't the case for me though. I didn't mind it, it was almost relaxing despite the fact thatit actually made my heart pump 5 times faster than it usually did. On my last lap around the neighborhood, I chose to slow down a little to catch my breath, jogging the rest of the way.

Harry's dad had left for work earlier in the morning around 5 am, and my mother had left around an hour or two after him and Harry was at school, so I had the whole house to myself. I liked it better this way, it was more comfortable in a sense. Not that I wasn't comfortable around them, but it just felt more natural to be alone. I felt liberated in way, although that might not be best word to describe it. I was free to blast my music at whatever volume I desired, free to invite whoever, whenever I wanted.

After my run, I took a quick shower and changed into clean clothes to lounge around in, a pair of black sweats and a fitted white tee shirt. I didn't have much to do today, other than the fight of course. I didn't like to train on fight nights, it felt like a waste of time and energy. I liked to save all my strength for my opponents, I didn't want to be worn out and tired when having fists conctantly flying at my being.

I spent the day lounging around, relaxing, enjoying the peacefulness that I had at the moment before the inevtiable interupption that would soon come from the parents or Harry coming home. As I sat on the couch, munching on my lunch for the day, I heard the engine of my mother's car, signalling that she has arrived from work. I didn't understand why she worked still, knowing Harry's father made enough to support her comfortably. I guess it was habit for her at this point in her life, working tirelessly day after day, never truly getting a break.

I heard keys shimmy into the lock on the door, followed by the turn of the doorknob, and my mother's cheery energy filling up the foyer.

"Vinnie? What are you doing here?" She asked, dropping her purse and keys on the table near the front door. I turn my head to look at her, both of my arms resting on top of the backrest of the couch.

"Wasn't feeling good this morning." I said simply, there wasn't much explanation needed. I didn't like to go too into detail about things, required too much talking, and it just felt unnecessary. My mom nodded her head before making her way over to the kitchen.

"Just don't make this a habit okay? I don't want the school calling me about absences all the time, you know what happened last year." She speaks from the kitchen, her tone is stern yet tender at the same time. This is the first time she's spoken about it since everything happened, almost as if shes been too afraid to tread the subject until now. We don't like to talk about it, it's one of those things that get swept under the rug and ignored. It's hidden, sure, but the filthiness and the dust is still there, taunting us. I'm not quite sure what to reply to her words, so I mutter a simple "Okay", loud enough for her to hear me clearly.