Fight For You

Chapter 22

El Lobo was already standing in the middle of the parking lot when I pulled up. I thought he wouldn't make good on his word but Dominic was there as well. His hands and feet were tied together behind his back and a strip of duct tape over his mouth.

"Do you really need all the theatrics?" I said, pointing at my cousin as I got out of the car and walked over to him.

"Better to be safe than sorry, Ragusa." El Lobo smiled a sinister smile.

"So you've got me." I held my arms out. "Now let Dominic go."

"Nuh uh." El Lobo shook his head. "We fight first."

I clenched and unclenched my fists, craning my neck from side to side. "I said you could fight me in exchange for releasing my cousin."

El Lobo laughed. "Nobody said anything about a fair fight."

I glared at him. I should have just brought my gun and shot him right there. But I knew he probably wasn't alone. "Fine," I growled.

"If you win, he can go."

"That's the deal," I said, cracking my knuckles.

"Too bad I never lose, Ragusa." He jumped forward, landing a swift kick to my shoulder causing me to stumble backward.

Dominic muffled grunt of protest only made El Lobo laugh.

"Nice shot, Martinez." I jumped up. "You were always one to fight dirty. You couldn't actually win a fight if you played the game right." I bounced around him, keeping my hands up.

He put his foot up for another kick and this time I blocked it, grabbing his ankle and pushing him backward until his back slammed on the cement. He yelped and I bent to get him into a submission, but he rolled over, putting his arms up to block me. "Always the valiant one, Ragusa. Thinking you gotta play by the rules to succeed. But then you have your own set of rules."

I turned, jumping up and blocking another kick from him. "They aren't my rules. They're society's rules."

"Not in the animal kingdom, baby. You take from me, I take from you tenfold. Circle of life." He went in, jabbing quickly over and over, so fast I didn't have time to block half of them. I spit the blood out of my mouth and landed a hard right hook to his jaw, feeling the crack as his head snapped to the left.

"Mother fucker!" he yelled, grabbing onto his face and stumbling back.

I lurched forward, but El Lobo was quicker and put his hands up for the block, pushing me backward.

I shook my head, keeping my guard up and blocking another punch. El Lobo grinned widely and charged, knocking the wind out of me so I landed flat on my back. He sat on top of me, pinning me, and his fists connected with my jaw over and over again. My life flashed before my eyes. I thought that was it. I was going to die right there. Maybe this was the end. Maybe I was just born to die. Maybe everything in my life had led to the moment that I would die in some abandoned lot and this was what my father set me up for.

A muffled cry knocked me out of my reverie and had El Lobo pausing his assault on my face mid-punch. Then he stood up. "What the fuck is that? Did I say you could move, little Dago fucker?"

I stayed on the ground, afraid to move. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Dominic's silhouette. This wasn't about just me. It never was. This was for him. For Jackie. For my famiglia. I had to win for all of them.

El Lobo's back was to me, so I took my chance. My body ached, but I slowly stood up. I wrapped one arm around his neck, pushing my forearm against one side of his neck and my biceps against the other while my other arm pushed against the back of his head. Gasping for air as I locked my feet on his, his arm fell and his feet buckled underneath him.

I dropped to the ground with him, loosening my grip, but keeping my hold. I didn't want to kill him, but I didn't want him to get away, either. I'd won.

I stood up slowly and looked for Dominic. He wasn't alone anymore. Two other guys stood on either side of him, each holding a gun.

"What are you going to do now? Are you going to kill me? Go ahead. Fucking shoot. That's what you want anyway, isn't it? Just have more of our families die?" I looked at them hard. "Aren't you tired of this shit? Of all of our friends dying? Don't you just want it to end?"

The two guys looked at each other and slowly lowered their guns. I let out a deep breath and dropped my hands. Who knew I'd be able to talk a gangbanger out of shooting me? Maybe there was hope for humanity after all.

"Nah," said one of them, raising his gun.

I heard the crack of the gun as it went off and bent to the side, feeling the searing pain of the bullet in my chest before everything went dark.