Fight

5

"Lena and Damian were best friends," Spoke Tuloo. "Longer than any of us actually, technically Lena was only three days old when they met, this is back when Damian's dad was still alive, he took Lena in after her mother died giving birth. Her grandma had just gotten the call and was heading down for her grand daughter," Tuloo started. "Just three days old, sharing a crib with Damian," He added.

"Wait, after Lena's mom died, Damians dad got temporary custody?" Kate asked. "Of course! That was her mothers best friend, he was the god father, Damian and Lena were destined to become best friends," Tuloo explained. "I know your dad ran off Lena but where was Damian's mother?" Kate asked.

Tuloo smiled. "Damian didn't have a mother. He was adopted. Damian's dad was a single father, he never found the right man to marry so he just adopted," Tuloo said. "And Lena and Damian's mom and dad were best friends, I'm caught up," She said. "He would have raised Lena too, but her grandmother came to help out," He said.

"I remember how he was before high school," Tuloo said. "Oh man! I almost forgot! I laugh everytime I think about it!" Luis said. "Man, those days seem so far away. Middle school Damian, I can't believe how things change," Martin said. "What? What was he like?" She asked.

"He was skinny, like a chicken. A scrawny little boy with a bald head hiding behind Lena's skirt," Trina spoke. I smiled at the warm memory. "You mean the world most dangerous fighter used to me a scared little boy?" Kate asked. "Yes! In middle school it was Lena fighting his bullies for him. Oh! The poor boy was scared of everything! The wind could've knocked him over!" Trina added. Kate laughed, "What? I'm having a hard time believing that absolute behemoth of a man was a scrawny scared weak little kid," She said.

"Woah, not weak. Scrawny and scared maybe but not weak. Damian is a lot of things but weak isn't one of them. He was just different from other kids. He was gentle and loving. Remember Lena? Our Damian may have jumped ten feet in the air at the sign of any danger but he was an amazing kid. He was my best friend, he was loving, patient, so kind and incredible. When I was younger and living in my shitty family house two streets over I had never seen the kind of tenderness Damian showed me. He taught me a lot. I remember having to lie about having a sleepover at his house because my parents didn't like his fathers 'lifestyle'. Every time I stayed there I got to know Damian and his dad, I felt loved and appreciated. He was a gentle boy, then everything changed," Tuloo said.

"What happened?" Kate said. "His dad got sick, the summer before high school. It was hard to see the boy who was so loving and kind close up like a shell. He closed up on everyone, well not everyone," Trina said gesturing towards me.

"Your the only one who understands Lena, your the only one who gets me,"

I was haunted by a memory of what used to be. "What happened to his father?" Kate asked. "Lung cancer, he fought for two long years then died. It was tough. It's one thing to loose a parent in a car crash, instant. But it's another to watch them die slowly, painfully. It changed him," Tuloo said.

"How so?" Kate asked. "For one, he got angry. Angry at the world mostly. Put it this way, your own parents don't want you but you luck out. You get a great father who loves and takes care of you just for the world to snatch him away. That's how he got into fighting, he used to pick fights and we were all so worried about him. Then one day Martin Sr. brought him to the gym. He trained like an animal, rose up the ranks. Attracted all kinds of attention and then...he left," Tuloo said.

"I'm confused. Where does Lena and her son come in?" Kate asked. Trina smiled, "Even though Lena was scaring off the middle school bullies she had nothing on the high school ones. Lena used to be different too. A lot more soft spoken, quieter. Being a broke single mom changes you," Trina started. "Her grandmother got dementia, had to put her in a home. As much as we all try to be there Lena had to really do it all alone. The whole nine months, then the labor," Trina said.