After She Falls, page 27
Yvonne listens as she combs out a few tangles. “Are they done filming yet?”
Adri shakes her head. “No, not even close. They’re still setting up.” The producers of Coronet Cage Battle Tournament want footage of her training with Max and Boom, so they sent a demanding director and a fleet of cameramen all the way to Sparta. “And Skye and Enzo are interviewing instructors today.” She sighs and sinks farther into the chair, thankful for a moment to sit down. All of their lives have been a roller coaster ever since they returned from Chicago, and sometimes Adri wishes she could get off the ride and let her feet touch the ground again.
Yvonne smiles at her exhausted reflection. “Well, big things are happening, honey. But that was always bound to happen with you, wasn’t it?”
Adri smiles weakly. It’s been a month since she agreed to the Coronet tournament—and two months since Skye’s fight with Gemma—and she’s still trying to catch her breath.
“I haven’t seen Roman so happy in a long time,” Yvonne continues. “You going after your dreams just puts the skip back in his step.” She runs her fingers through Adri’s hair and smiles. “So thick. Just like Dalila’s . . .” Her smile fades for a moment, and Adri understands. Her aunt would be just as excited for her as they are. “Anyway, what are we doing today, hon? Just a little trim? Getting you ready for your big television debut?”
“Actually . . .” Adri bites her lip. She’s been dreading this moment all morning, but she knows it’s time for a change. “I want to do something a little different this time.”
Yvonne raises a perfectly waxed eyebrow. “Oh?”
Boom looks surprised too.
“I think I want it . . . shorter.”
“We could easily cut off three inches, and you wouldn’t miss a thing.”
Adri’s heart races as Yvonne chatters. Since Adri was old enough to talk, her mother made her swear that she would never “ruin” her hair. Owen did too. Now, her own voice warns her not to do it, but this time, she ignores it. “Can you just . . . cut a lot of it?”
Yvonne stares at her reflection for a long moment. “How much?”
“Like . . . just long enough that I can still pull it back when I’m fighting?”
Yvonne looks like she might faint. Since Adri’s hair is so long, that entails chopping off at least eight inches. Thankfully, Boom looks ready to catch Yvonne if she does pass out.
“Are you sure?” Yvonne asks, clearly hoping that she isn’t, but Adri nods.
Her hair has been her security blanket for a long time—which is part of the reason why she wants to let it go.
“Well, honey, that is different.” Yvonne’s face falls slightly as she runs her hands through it one last time. “But I suppose different is good sometimes.”
Relieved, Adri settles in while Yvonne searches for her sharpest pair of scissors. While she and Boom wait, the other long-time stylist—Franny Morrisson—enters the salon. Franny’s followed by her client—a woman with a round, scowling face and tortured hair. Adri frowns. She looks vaguely familiar, but Adri can’t place her.
The woman glances admiringly at Boom, but his eyes are on the television. He nudges Adri. “Look who it is.”
She looks up and sees Melissa Medlock, a prolific, recently retired UFC champion, talking with the show’s host. They laugh together silently.
Yvonne notices Boom’s interest and quickly looks around for the remote. “Franny, turn the volume up, would you, please?”
Franny begrudgingly obeys, and Adri and Boom listen.
“So, Melissa, besides a new show out in April, you’ve got another exciting announcement to make, don’t you?”
Medlock beams for the camera. Her smile is blindingly white against a vibrant blue background. “That’s right, Jen. I’m thrilled to announce that I’m hosting this year’s Coronet Cage Battle Tournament. Eight fierce female fighters are going to Las Vegas, and one woman will walk out of the cage with the Coronet Strawweight Championship title and fifty thousand dollars—”
Yvonne spins the chair around so that Adri faces her instead of the television. “Are you and Max still coming to dinner tonight?” she asks, pulling Adri’s hair back.
Adri nods. “Yep. We’ll be there.” A smile touches her lips before she can stop it. Since Chicago, she and Max have fallen into an unexpected weekly routine—no doubt helped along by some careful plotting by Roman and Yvonne, and maybe even Boom. Yvonne started inviting Max to her usual Saturday night dinners, but she insisted that he pick up Adri and Eva since she needed Roman’s help beforehand. Never mind that Adri could drive herself.
To Adri’s surprise, Max accepted Yvonne’s request without hesitation, and for the last month and a half, he’s shown up every Saturday evening at 5:45 on the dot, dressed sharply enough to rival Roman. He comes earlier than he needs to so the three of them can stop at the German bakery and Eva can pick out a tin of cookies for dessert. Adri’s heart flutters in her chest as she thinks about those sweet, simple moments when it’s just the three of them, which have become the highlight of her week.
He even broke the vow he made in Albany and went to church with them a few times the following Sunday mornings. His face is usually set and serious as he listens, but Adri can tell he is listening—and she’s thankful for that. The electricity between them still crackles beneath the surface, but lately he seems just as determined as she is to not give in to it.
Boom, too, has noticed the changes in Max, but, like her, he’s cautious. “He’s come a really long way, Adri. . . .” he said the last time they spoke about it. “But he’s still got a few things he needs to sort out. Keep giving him time.”
She desperately wanted to press him for details, aware that Max confided in him, but she forced herself to be content with Max’s slow but steady progress.
Yvonne’s frown breaks through her happy thoughts. “Roman mentioned you’re still talking to Owen,” she says, making a few careful cuts. “How’s that going?”
Adri frowns. Yvonne’s displeasure, like everyone else’s, is obvious. “It’s going fine,” she says flatly. “I just let him talk to Eva once a week. That’s all.” She doesn’t mention that Owen’s been a little less consistent over the last month, sometimes calling too late or too early to talk to Eva. She knows that will just make Yvonne even more uneasy.
Hushed laughter fills the room, and Adri glances in the direction of Franny and her client. She catches bits and pieces of their conversation.
“I guess her husband was bad news. . . .”
Adri finally recognizes Franny’s client—Lexi Arden. They went to high school together. She was the cheerleader who followed Max everywhere.
“She had her kid out of wedlock, I think,” Lexi adds. “She—”
“That’s right,” Adri says loudly, sitting a little straighter in Yvonne’s chair. “I married my ex after we had Eva. We’re divorced now, but I’m sure you already knew that.”
Lexi falls silent, but her cheeks turn tomato red. There’s a stunned pause as Yvonne throws Franny dagger eyes while Boom fights back a laugh.
“Just ignore that nonsense, honey,” Yvonne says, frowning. “Jealousy comes in all kinds of different flavors.”
Adri nods, but Lexi is already slipping from her mind. As she watches Melissa Medlock on the screen, her thoughts drift back to Coronet. Out of the tournament’s eight fighters, Adri’s ranked eighth. Gemma Stone is ranked number one.
Yvonne bundles her hair into two low ponytails and picks up her scissors. “Let’s do it.”
Adri feels a rush of anxiety as the blades get closer, but she reminds herself that it’s okay to cut away old, too-heavy things. Yvonne hesitates for a moment, but then she cuts the first ponytail, then the second, with four soft snips. As her hair falls into Yvonne’s palm, Yvonne spins the chair around so Adri can see the full effect. The cut reveals the small, intricate crown tattoo on the back of Adri’s neck. Yvonne hands her the silky severed ponytail as Boom stands up to take a closer look.
“What do you think?” Adri asks, ignoring her racing heart.
He smiles. “I think it’s nice to finally see you.”
Yvonne continues cutting and shaping while they listen to Medlock’s voice narrate the tournament details, spliced together with a montage of the eight female fighters and their coaches. Roman briefly appears with Adri, holding mitts for her in Max’s gym. His face is as determined as hers is as she lands rapid-fire punches.
“I think I understand it now,” Yvonne says, interrupting her thoughts with a small smile. “Why you and your uncle like fighting so much.”
Adri gives her a curious look. “Why?”
“I think maybe it’s because you come from a family that knows what it’s like to lose everything.” Her face falls, no doubt remembering Dalila’s stories about the dangers she and Roman faced before they fled Cuba as young adults. That was part of the reason why Roman took the fight with La Cruz despite everyone expecting him to lose—he desperately needed the money.
“You know how that kind of loss feels, too, in your own way,” Yvonne adds, as her eyes meet Adri’s in the mirror. “It seems like it either breaks people or it turns them into fighters.”
Adri inhales softly, surprised by the emotions that Yvonne’s insightful words stir within her. She waits as Yvonne finishes up with a few more careful snips, until what’s left of her hair perfectly frames her face.
“Do you feel a little lighter now, honey? That hair was heavy.”
Adri stares at the unfamiliar woman in the mirror. For the first time in her life, she can’t hide behind a dark, shiny curtain, but that doesn’t scare her anymore. As she lifts the ponytail in her lap and feels its weight, it sinks in just how far she’s come. “I do.”
“Do you think this one’s too much?” Adri holds a sheath dress against her torso. It’s made out of a metallic material that looks like liquid gold and is undoubtedly the fanciest dress she’s ever owned. The tags still dangle from the sleeve.
Roman studies it for a moment, then shakes his head. “It’s for a big occasion, isn’t it?”
She runs her fingers over the expensive fabric one more time, still unsure, but then she carefully folds the dress and adds it to her suitcase. She feels wildly out of her league as she looks over what she’s packed for Coronet. Max surprised her with three beautiful brand-new fight uniforms. One for each fight—assuming she advances every round.
“When do you land tonight?” Roman asks.
She zips up one of her bags. “Pretty late.” She, Max, and Boom fly out this evening to start her training camp before the tournament begins. Roman and Yvonne will bring Eva and join them a few weeks later.
She watches as Roman’s eyes drift to the photos above her bed—the ones he pinned to the wall almost a year and a half ago now, when Adri first arrived in Sparta. He smiles, and Adri knows why. The young woman in the photos looks a lot like the woman standing in front of him and less like the one who showed up with bruises on her neck and a wounded look in her eyes.
“I’m sure you know this already, Adri, but I’m so proud of you.”
She looks down at the carpet, trying to keep her emotions in check. The mounting pressure of the tournament has kept them a little closer to the surface than usual. “Thank y—” she starts to say, but she falls silent as her phone chimes on the nightstand. She glances at the number and frowns. “Oh. . . . One second.”
Roman nods, but concern clouds his face.
“Hi,” she says quietly into the phone as she moves toward the door.
“Hi.” Owen’s voice is cheerful on the other line. “Is this a good time? Can Eva talk? Or you, if you want to?”
Roman’s eyes are on the photographs, but Adri knows he’s listening. She pretends she didn’t hear Owen’s last question. “I’ll get Eva for you.”
“Okay, sounds good.”
She leaves the room and finds Eva in the kitchen, drawing penguins. She and Rocco have been exchanging artwork for the last few months. Adri lowers the phone. “It’s Daddy.”
Eva takes it eagerly and presses it to her ear. “Hi, Daddy.”
Adri can still hear Owen’s voice through the phone as she steps away.
“Hi, beauty. What are you doing—”
Adri exhales as she reenters her room. Roman is sitting at the foot of her bed with his arms crossed. He sits rigidly, almost like he’s ready to spring up and fight if necessary, but the look in his eyes is more troubling. He looks defeated.
She sits beside him. “I know you don’t like that I’m taking his calls.” She sighs, aware that her decision unsettled everyone. She thinks of Max, who disappears whenever Owen’s name is mentioned. Boom, too, falls silent and his brows crease. “I just think Eva should have the chance to know her dad, if she can.” She can’t hide the hint of bitterness in her voice as she says it. Because even as much as Roman loved her, her own father’s lack of love still hurt. “I’ve been working with a lawyer on a formal visitation plan, I’ve just been so busy—”
Roman raises one of his hands, silencing her. “I get it, kiddo. I do. I just . . . I’m praying he doesn’t hurt you again. That’s all.”
“I won’t let him.”
He nods, but worry is etched into his face.
“Uncle Roman?” Her heart races as he waits for her to find the words she’s been trying to say for months. So far, what she’s come up with doesn’t feel like enough. Roman was her uncle and her coach, but he was also her first real friend. She takes his hand, which is as callused as hers but softer with age.
“Thank you,” she says simply. She used to be someone who never let anyone see her cry, but that part of her, like so many others, is gone. “Without you and Aunt Dalila, I wouldn’t really know what love is like.”
His eyes are wet, too, before he briefly turns away.
“I made a lot of mistakes, and I know some of them hurt you,” she continues, steadying her voice. “And I’m sorry for that.”
His face softens. “I forgive you, Adri.” The words fill her with unexpected relief as he squeezes her hand. “Love is never free of pain, my dear. You know that as well as I do.”
21
ADRI AND BOOM STARE OUT THE WINDOW, both mesmerized by the beautiful shimmering lights of Las Vegas below them. Max sits beside them on the plane, but his eyes are on the notebook in front of him. “Look,” Adri says, nudging him. “You’re missing it.”
He gives the city a cursory glance before turning his attention to his notebook again, his expression serious. She frowns. Danny had one just like it, but he only fished it out for the toughest wrestling matchups. It’s a simple leather book with lined pages filled with Max’s neat handwriting. In bold letters at the top of the page, he’d written,
3. Rivera vs. Kuniku
2. Rivera vs. Rimes
1. Rivera vs. Stone
Her nerves surge as she realizes those are his predictions. She’s been so focused on her first fight that she’s hardly thought about the others, but Max’s matchups remind her that she has three difficult fights ahead of her—unless one loss derails them all.
After the plane lands, they gather their luggage and arrive at the Bellagio Hotel well after midnight, but the lobby is bustling. People talk and laugh and lounge on velvet couches, but Adri is most intrigued by the ceiling, which is covered in thousands of gleaming glass flowers.
“Hey! Rivera!”
Adri turns and finds a curly-haired young woman grinning at her. She immediately recognizes her even though they’ve never met—Diana Kostas, a fellow Coronet fighter and the first to square off with Gemma. She’s dressed in a short white dress and followed by a small crowd. They look sheepish and excited as they approach Adri.
“They want a picture with us,” Diana says. “You okay with that?”
“Sure.”
The group cheers as they crowd around Adri and Diana while one of them fumbles with the camera on his phone. Their interest in her surprises Adri until she remembers that Coronet is a massive promotion for female fighters, so being included automatically makes her a more recognizable face—for now, at least. That’ll change if she loses against Jiayi Kuniku.
Max observes from a safe distance away, but Diana pulls Boom into the picture too. “Good to see you, Boom,” she says with a coy smile. “You never texted when I was in New York.”
“Oh, yeah, sorry about that.” Boom awkwardly clears his throat. “I meant to, but . . . life got busy, you know?”
“Uh-huh.” Diana flashes a wide smile for the camera between their conversation. “Well, I’m here for a few weeks. Maybe you’ll find some time.”
He smiles, but it looks a little forced as they pose for more photos together. When the group eventually disperses, Diana throws him one last look before turning to Adri.
“Good luck with Jiayi next week. She’s tough.” She grins cockily. “I’ll knock out Gemma for you. Who knows? Maybe it’ll be us two in the final fight.”
Adri nods, but Max shakes his head sadly when Diana saunters away. “Yeah, there’s zero chance she’s going to beat Gemma.” He glances at Boom. “She seems nice, though. Why didn’t you text her back?”
Boom sighs, his embarrassment growing.
“Yeah, Boom,” Adri says, teasing him as the three of them wait for an elevator. “Why didn’t you?”
He scowls. “You, too, huh?” When the door slides open, he’s the first one inside. “Look, Diana’s a lot of fun, but she’s just . . . in a different mindset. I’m looking for someone a little more serious.”
Max smirks. “What, like a nun?”
Boom laughs. “No, dude, nuns don’t date. That’s like . . . a huge part of being a nun.”
“Oh yeah.” Max presses the button for their floor. “Because they’re dating God or whatever, right?”
“No, that’s not it,” Boom says, throwing him a weary look. “They don’t think God is their boyfriend or something. They just want to focus on building their faith and helping people.”
Max’s brows knit. “You can do that and love someone, can’t you?”
