On The Rise

Chapter 9: Poker Face

                          The first three weeks of training were bitterly brutal to my ego. There were so many challenges to over come, sure i did better then the others but this was just the beginning. What if someone was better than me when we start gun practice, or knife practice. Then what? Butcher would never let me into the Machetes which only made me work harder! Right now we were working on hand to hand combat with our trainer Clint, and that nigga was huge. If you saw him in person you'd think all he did was workout, and workout some more! He was built like Dewayne 'The Rock' Johnson but looked like The Game with the tattoos that covered his 6'4 frame from head to toe. He'd even had the nerve to be harder on the girls than the guys, but there were only three girls out of all the guys. 

                              The other girls hung together because they were around the same age, and also because i wasn't looking for friends here. Yet the guys were easy to talk with especially since they were constantly adding me in their convos. I'd also learned that everyone here thought of my parents as legends, not that they knew who I was, but they talked about being the next Grim, and get this, or the next Rico. Every time they brought up that nigga name my mind went back to that day and i'd go find a punching bag and pretend it was him. I still couldn't believe he kicked me out because of who my father was after i gave him some of the best la-la ever! He'd never find another as good as this one!

                          Anyway, we were now fighting in single's and last week we had fought in pairs. I had learned techniques that me and Roselita would have to use on one of these disrespectful hoes one day. Rose would love it! "Jamie, on the mat, you're up again!" Clint called out. I walked into the middle of the abandoned ware house, where a stage sat with a mat you'd use in boxing or karate lying across the floor. I pulled up my black Jordan jogging pants that hung slightly off my hips showing my 'lady briefs'. I pulled my  twists up into a ponytail again and pulled my camouflage t-shirt down to cover my belly button, even though it'd just be right back up showing of my belly-button piercing and my tattoo of cheetah spots running down to my thigh, the same my mother had. My first day here i caught Clint looking at it especially harder than the other guys. 

                                 "Alright lets see the last person your against today is...," he looked at his clip board full of his own personal notes about us. A smirk slipped on his face,"Monica." Monica was one of the females, and this would be the first female versus female fight. We had tried to stay out of each others way until this moment. I had studied her 27 year old, 130 pound, 5'8 frame. She was slippery to keep a hold of, and she moved her feet like a dancer, making her hard to hit and sometimes dodge. She also had her flaws, like how her facial expressions could give her away, or the fact that she got winded if you kept the fight going long enough. She was also bad with her right arm. I looked over at the tall figure of an Indian looking woman, as she approached the stage. 

                                        My eyes watched her as my mind slowed everything down and I evaluated my situation. She wore heels all the time so she could be better when she actually started working, which meant she didn't wear them often. For someone like me though, it was like a second pair of feet so i'd just been practicing in tennis shoes. She'd also hurt her right arm from her last  fight. The guy saw the same thing i did, and after she broke his nose i guess he wasn't playin' with her anymore! She mugged me for a minute and looked me over, i just kept my face neutral. Your facial expression can be the number one give-away in combat. 

                                       Clint blew the whistle and I waited for her to make the first move, "Ladies first, so i guess i'll go ," she smirked. She ran up and swung with her left and should've come up on  me with her right, but didn't and instead took a step forward, blocking off my exit to the right, trying to corner me in. I stepped back, and took a defensive stance. She took another swing at me but i let her hit my arm, not knowing how hard she can blow, i'd have a bruise tomorrow. I took the chance to hit her in the stomach with all my power knocking the breath out of her. Moving quickly i grabbed her right arm and put it behind her back, but she recovered quickly and put her left arm back behind my whole neck holding me there. "You smell sweet. Like the little girl you are," she chuckled smiling.