Page 8 of The Fighter
Leo
I had never spent as much time in the gym as I did after Raven became my mentee. The woman was relentless and kept a rigorous training program. Technically, no one asked me to supervise her while she worked out, but her preferred method was fight training, and I figured that my presence would deter any of her opponents from getting too rough with her.
In the beginning, none of us eighty-five men at Station Seven would spar with her. Not only was it ingrained in us from early childhood never to touch a woman, we also had strict laws that could put our lives in jeopardy if we overstepped our boundaries and touched a woman without her permission. Those laws had been lifted when it came to Raven’s fight training, but the thought of hitting a woman was so alien to us that no one wanted to do it. Raven didn’t give up, though. Being resourceful and sneaky, she played mind games with young Monroe until she riled him up enough to fight her.
As an opinionated rookie who felt entitled to respect, Monroe wasn’t popular among us experienced policemen. After Raven lost to him in her first fight, she was able to persuade some of my colleagues to train with her under the pretense that she needed their help to beat him in a future fight.
Three weeks later, she had beat Monroe twice and the whole damn station was lining up to spar with her. Some of the men were taking pride in her explosive improvement rate and loved teaching her, while others enjoyed beating her to put her in her place.
For most of these men, Raven was the first female they got to touch. I worried that the raised testosterone and excitement level that occur during fighting might make some of the men unable to control their urges. That’s why I stayed around to make sure she was safe.
Today, I worked out in one end of the gym whileSergeant White was sparring with Raven. He was in his late forties and from what I’d seen, she was giving him a run for his money. The eight colleagues watching the fight were blocking my view, but I could hear them call out and make comments – some encouraging Sergeant White, and others helping Raven improve her technique.
“Come on, White, you can’t let her get away with that.”
“Raven, be ready, he’s coming on your left.”
“Get that fucking elbow up, woman.”
“That’s it, White, show her who’s the boss.”
That last comment made me walk over to the ring area to get a better view just as Cameron shouted:
“Turn, Raven, fucking roll like I showed you. Yes. that’s it!”
I stopped next to Cameron, a large man a few years older than me. “How is she doing?”
“She doesn’t have his strength, but she’s compensating with speed and technique.”
Just then Raven got a kick in and Sergeant White, who was sweating profusely and panting hard, doubled over with a deep groan.
“Don’t just stand there, take him down,” Cameron ordered, and Raven was quick to sweep at her opponent’s feet, making him fall flat on his back.
“Arrghh!” Sergeant White roared with irritation and banged his hand down the floor.
Raven’s face was red and sweaty too, but she was dancing on her feet with a large grin on her face. “Did you see that, Cam?”
Cameron, who was normally always so stoic and brusque, grinned back at her. “I saw, Raven, but you still have to move faster and be more precise. There was no reason for you to let him get that blow in. Had Sergeant White fought you when he was five years younger, he would’ve nailed your ass to the floor.”
The man in question was already back on his feet and he scowled at Cameron as Raven tried to ease his embarrassment.
“I just got lucky. We all know that even experienced fighters have bad days. Next time, it’ll be me on that floor for sure.”
White was leaving the ring, but he turned and answered her, “Fucking count on it.”
That led to a satisfied smile on Raven’s face and then she looked at me. “What about you, old man? Do you want to go a few rounds with me?”
I hated when she called me old, and I suspected that was exactly why she did it. Raven had a special gift for riling people up. She was an expert at finding things that would give her a strong reaction.
“How many times do I have to tell you, I’m not interested in fighting with you?”
She gave me a cocky grin. “What if I go easy on you?”
Cameron’s deep chuckle next to me made me narrow my eyes. “You wouldn’t stand a chance against me, Raven.”
“That’s what Sergeant White, Monroe, and the others said before I beat them.” Looking straight at me, Raven still danced on her feet, jumping from side to side with a lot of energy. “Come play with me, Leo. It will be fun.”
The other men looked to me, and one of them muttered. “What the hell, Inspector, did she just call you Leo?”
