“Yeah,” he answers slowly.
“So, it’s a fight. And people get hurt in fights,” she concludes.
“Yeah, but…,” he begins.
“Hit, kick, punch, wrestle. Fight. Simple,” Elsie ticks off on her fingers ending the discussion.
“Ok, yeah, all that will be happening,” Dylan agrees.
“What’s up, baby,” Marco says, coming up behind Elizabeth.
“Elsie and Dylan were just talking about the, um, specifics of the fights tonight,” Elizabeth tries to explain what was being discussed.
“Yeah, this big oaf was trying to say that the fights tonight are no big deal. Fights are fights, period,” Elsie states firmly leveling her eyes at Dylan.
Marco tries to stifle a laugh, by clearing his throat. Dylan looks at him, a silent plea of ‘Help me’ in his eyes.
“Well, you’re both right. These fights don’t mean as much to the participants, because they are not fighting for status or position. It’s just a show. But make no mistake, they will be fighting for real and they’re going to get bloody,” Marco explains.
Elsie glares at Dylan. By the tight expression on her face, it’s glaringly obvious she wants to taunt him. It takes all of her control not to stick her tongue out at him.
The crowd goes quiet, and everyone turns to look at the cage. The emcee is standing in the center, and the sound of the loudspeakers coming on fills the now quiet air.
“Ladies and gentleman, thank you for joining us tonight for this exhibition of MMA fights, showcasing the finest talents around. Tonight you will see the best of the best…,” his voice explodes from the speakers.
Elsie looks around and sees the men who are fighting tonight, gathered along the far side of the room. She stands on her tip-toes and finally catches a glimpse of John and Brian. The breath she’d been holding escapes as she’s filled with a sudden feeling of relief.
Sheez, they haven’t even started fighting yet and I’m worried, she thinks, chewing on her fingernail.
Both John and Brian have calm, controlled, expressions on their faces. Everything about them screams formidable strength. She can’t see them as clearly as she’d like from this distance, but from what she can see, they look intimidating as hell. Her eyes move further down the line, and meet another pair of eyes, looking right at her. Rico. She sees one side of his mouth curve up in a sly smirk. She jerks her head quickly and finds Scott. His large frame is dwarfing the guy next to him.
“Hi everybody,” comes a sickly, sweet, singsong voice that Elsie immediately recognizes.
“What are you doing here?” Elsie snaps, before she can stop herself.
That mouth of hers is going to get her in trouble one of these days.
“Excuse me, but I’m here to support Rico,” Bambi says, looking Elsie over, before turning her nose up in the air.
Elsie, Janie and Elizabeth all share a look of shock.
“Hey, Bambi, glad you could make it,” Dylan greets her. “It’s great of you to come out and support the guys.”
“Of course, Rico needs someone in his corner,” Bambi says accusingly, stealing a sideways glance.
She looks at all three women with daggers shooting out of her eyes.
“S’up Cuz,” the voice of an unfamiliar young man, breaks her stare.
“Nothing, you guys find who you were looking for,” Bambi looks between the two hoodlum-looking punks.
Their obvious attitudes crowds everything else in the space. They are screaming with their clothes, and how they carry themselves, that trouble is always right behind them. Their pants are hanging so far down their asses; they’ve got to walk with their legs spread apart.
Elsie looks a little more closely at the one who called Bambi cousin.
“Hey, you look familiar,” she says, narrowing her eyes at him.
“Yeah, Dog, I work on the Under The Dome set, too. I see you around,” he says, moving closer to her with a wannabe sexy smile.
“Dude, back off, it’s cool,” she says holding up her hand. “Yeah, I thought so.”
She looks over to the other guy, who looks like a complete piece of shit, and cringes. The feelings she’s getting from him are so negative and foreboding, it makes her physically take a step back. The look in his eyes is cold and devoid of emotion. He’s the type of person who blames everything that’s gone wrong in his life on the world, and he wants to make it pay. Dearly.
Elsie turns, not giving them a second look. Hopefully, they’ll all go away.
“Yeah, Cuz, we found ‘em. We got a lot more people to talk to. I’m out,” the young punk tells Bambi.
“Yay, sounds like it’s going to be a good night,” she squeals, smiling happily.
He shrugs, trying to keep his face expressionless and cool, before he turns and walks away. The two guys give Elsie a little ‘hey baby’ smirk before they leave.
Eew! Well, that was weird, but at least two of them are gone, Elsie thinks letting out a quiet huff of relief.
Because of her proximity to Bambi, she heard the whole conversation, but it’s likely no one else did. She shrugs her shoulders, dismissing it as nothing.
The bitch is crazy anyway, Elsie thinks.
“So,” Bambi turns to Elsie, “I see all of the teachers’ pets are here tonight. When’s it going to start,” she says trying to look around Dylan to see the cage.
Oh, no she didn’t! Elsie thinks as her blood is beginning to boil.
A firm hand clasps her arm and holds her back.
“Yes, Sweety, we’re all here, it’s nice to see they let you come out with the grown-ups every once in a while. Now, you be a dear and play nice. We wouldn’t want anything to happen to those extensions of yours, now would be?” Elizabeth tells Bambi with her subtle sophistication.
“I…..I…..I….,” Bambi stammers, exasperated.
“Yes, Darling, we know, now why don’t you run along. I’m sure it will be more, um, pleasant for you, over there,” Elizabeth continues, pointing a long perfectly manicured fingernail.
Elizabeth can cut you down, with style and poise, before you even know what hit you.
“HHRRRMPPH,” Bambi snorts and stomps off,
