Page 46 of To Love and Protect
Gramps led them over to a couple of metal folding chairs in the corner of the room. He and Remedie sat down while Tyree and Nico stood.
“What’s goin’ on, bro? I got a few niggas we can check out from out of town to put you up against for your next few fights until things die down here. I was gon’ go over that while you warmed up, but it don’t seem like you ready to put no work in today.” Tyree popped his gum loudly as he looked at Nico intently.
“Let him speak, Ree,” Gramps said, but he kept his eyes on Nico.
Nico’s eyes found Remedie, and a wave of calmness washed over him as he gazed into her pretty brown eyes. Peace over this decision came to him, and that allowed him to face Gramps and his brother confidently. He squared his shoulders and spoke. “I decided to end my boxing career.”
Silence engulfed them for a few seconds as the news sunk in before Tyree’s loud ass spoke. “Now what the hell do you mean? You career is how we all eat, Nico.Nightmare. You keep food on all our table. You really gon’ do this to me? To Gramps? ToMama?”
Nico let Tyree have his dramatic minute. When he stopped rambling, Nico asked, “You done?”
Tyree’s mouth dropped open, and he looked over at Gramps. “You not gon’ say anything, old man? Are you hearing this? Maybe you didn’t hear. I’ll say it louder for you. Nico said?—”
Gramps shut Tyree’s shouting off with a swift punch to the gut, just hard enough to knock the wind out of him. “I heard him, fool. Quit all that hootin’ and hollerin’.”
“You aren’t gonna say anything?” Tyree asked again as he gasped for air.
“Ain’t nothin’ for me to say. Nico is a grown ass man,” Gramps replied before he looked up at Nico. “You sure ’bout this?”
“I ain’t gon’ lie, I’m sad. Boxing is life, but . . .” He glanced around the empty gym before he lowered his voice. “I can’t keep blackin’ out and killin’ niggas.”
It was the first time he’d said it out loud. The weight of the statement felt heavy on his shoulders. He had killed multiple men with his bare hands. There was a lot of power in that, but there was also a lot of guilt buried deep down in there. With thatpower and guilt, there was bound to come a downfall if he kept on.
“This last time wasn’t even because you were boxing, bro. It was because a nigga couldn’t keep his hands to himself,” Tyree argued before glancing at Remedie. “If I had seen the shit before you, I would have gotten to him before you did, and his ass still would have been dead.”
“It ain’t good for me no more, bro. It just ain’t. It ain’t normal for me to have killed three niggas because I can’t control my fists. I got a future to think about. I got a woman now.” He walked over to Remedie and stood behind where she sat. While he rubbed her shoulders, he continued. “And we ’bout to have a baby by the end of the year. This boxing shit is dead.”
“Well gah damn,” Gramps said with a toothy grin. “You gon’ be a daddy?”
Nico nodded. He didn’t expect so much emotion to cloud him from speaking those words out loud for the first time, but suddenly, his throat felt tight.
“I’m gon’ be an uncle?” Tyree asked. His voice echoed off the walls in the empty space as he grabbed his brother up in a hug. Nico knew from that moment on, Tyree wouldn’t care about boxing or anything else aside from the baby growing in Remedie’s stomach. And their mama? She was about to be over the moon. “I forgive you,” Tyree finally said as he pulled away from Nico and wiped his eyes dramatically.
Nico scoffed. “Forgive me for what, nigga?”
“For fuckin’ up my money,” Tyree replied seriously.
“Ree, all you’ve ever done is live off my money, nigga. You call yourself being my manager because you get bored and it keeps you busy. You know good and damn well that ain’t even why your bills are paid,” Nico argued.
Tyree stood back and thought about it for a moment before he tossed the clipboard he had been holding behind hisshoulder. “Fuck it then. I got a baby on the way. I’ll stay busy fulfilling my uncle duties.”
Tyree pulled Remedie up by her arms and hugged her. While they spoke about baby things, Nico stepped over to Gramps. He shoved his hands into his pockets and asked, “You disappointed in me?”
Gramps’s brows pulled in before he stood up slowly and looked Nico in his eyes. “Disappointed?”
Nico shrugged. “Yeah. You spent a good deal of your life and time giving me the tools to be the best, and now I’m quitting.”
Gramps shook his head. “Son, you ain’t quittin’ nothin’. You startin’. I always told you to find somethin’ outside of boxing to love on.” He looked over Nico’s shoulder at Remedie and smiled. “You did exactly what I taught ya. You did better than me.”
Tears filled Nico’s eyes, but he blinked them away as he pulled Gramps in for a hug. That moment right there solidified all of Gramps’s teachings for him. The old man never wanted Nico to grow up alone and with nothing but boxing to show for his life. It was how Gramps’s life turned out, and that made Nico sad.
When he pulled away, he tried to ease the emotional moment with a grin. “Since you ain’t gotta worry ’bout trainin’ me anymore, you can find you a nice tender young thang to settle down with.”
Gramps chuckled deeply. “I think that ship has sailed for me, champ, but I wouldn’t mind spendin’ some time with that baby of yours. Been a long time since I been around the youth. Probably since you and Ree was lil niggas runnin’ ’round here and eatin’ up all my food and shit. Might help keep me young.”
“You gon’ be the best Gramps,” Nico said, squeezing the old man’s shoulder. “I think it’s officially time to retire you.”
“Ah, now don’t that sound good?” Gramps asked with a grin.
