Page 20 of Undefeated

“Now back to Josh. I’m going to call him Buster. I had a friend in Compton named Josh. He was a pretty good guy. From here on out, I’m going to call him Buster,” I said as I reached for my sandwich.

“Buster,” she laughed, and looked up and down my torso, “I like that. Well, you know what I mean. Yeah, Buster. It fits.”

“So are you a personal trainer or something?” she asked.

“No, I’m a boxer,” I responded as I handed her a napkin.

She smiled and slid the napkin beside her plate. Her teeth were snow white and perfectly shaped.

With my index finger, I pointed to the corner of my mouth and then to her face. She raised the napkin and wiped her mouth.

“Light on the mayonnaise,” I chuckled.

“Excuse me, did you say boxer? Like, you box? What do you do for work?” she asked, her face filled with wonder.

“I box. I’m a fighter, it’s what I do,” I responded.

“Oh God,” she responded.

Quickly, she stood from her seat and stared at me.

“What?” I asked as I stood up.

“Bye. Wet. Bathroom,” she stammered.

Hurriedly, she pushed herself out of the booth, and ran toward the bathroom.

Feeling somewhat confused, I pulled the hood over my head and sat back down. I started thinking of Kace, her boyfriend, and a way to get them apart. Ultimately, that was what needed to happen. Whether Kace ended up with me, alone, or with someone else did not matter. Getting her out of the abusive relationship she was in did.

“Is your girlfriend okay?” the waitress asked.

“She’s not my girlfriend, but I think so, why?” I asked.

“Oh, she just ran to the bathroom like something was wrong,” she answered.

“Well, I think she just had to go really bad,” I chuckled.

“Anything else?” she asked as she pulled the bill from her apron.

“No, how much is it?” I asked.

“Twenty-one thirty with the salads,” she responded, looking at the receipt.

I leaned forward and removed my wallet from my pocket. I flipped through the bills, and removed a fifty dollar bill.

“Here you go, keep the change,” I said.

“Uhhm, this is a fifty,” she said, showing me the bill.

“I know. Keep the change. And thank you,” I said as I nodded my head and sat back down into the seat.

“Oh God. Wow. Thank you,” she said, smiling.

Her teeth glistened.

“Certainly,” I nodded and pulled my hood off of my head as I spoke.

As she turned to walk away, Kace slid back into her seat.