Page 25 of Sucker Punch Drunk Love

“Now breathe,” I instructed and she followed with steady inhales and exhales. Slowly I stretched out, touching the cage floor, memorizing the texture beneath my knees, remembering what it felt like to fight at its center.

“I want you to feel it. Explore the sensations. The sounds. How your body responds while you're here. Anytime you fight, you should feel one with the cage. Every time, anywhere. No matter who’s house you find yourself in, the cage should always feel like home town advantage.”

She rolled around, her loc’d hair outstretched and kissing the mat, as her sinewy frame became one with the mat. “Now breathe.” At my command she stopped, relaxing into a lotus pose across from me.

“How do you feel?”

“I don't know.”

“Wrong answer. You'vetrainedin the cage. You'vehumbledyourself for the cage. You becameonewith the cage. Now what?” I probed again. With her big doe eyes, she met my gaze me, saying the only words I wanted to hear.

“I'm gonna win in that fucking cage.”

“¿Comó??* Speak louder, I can’t hear you.”

“I said I'm gonna win in that cage,” she repeated with more confidence.

“That's more like it now. Now get dressed. We got a long drive ahead of us. Best we not even stop for home and get on that road now. And then you’re gonna win that fuckin’ fight.”

***

This was the longest fucking drive of my life, ¡Ay, Dios Mio?*!

Normally, I could handle Sierra’s little generational nuances, and I’d certainly listened to artists back in the day that would’ve annoyed whatever parental figure I’d been dumped with before I aged out the system. But I wasn’t prepared for what a ride with both SierraandHéctor would look like, forced to listen to an unhealthy mix of anything from Sabrina Carpenter to SexyRed.

He made time to be Sierra’s second cornerman, but right now, I wanted to slap the shit out of him for encouraging her, even singing along with her to half this shit. Then I forget he had daughters, so that’s probably the only reason why he even knew the songs. You can only run back Espresso so many times before you put your fist through the radio.

“You’ve been listening to this shit the whole fucking ten hours,” I yelled to the back seat. “At least put on something we canalllisten to.”

“Can you make the whole trip in one shot, or did you plan to get a room on the way?” Héctor wondered out loud. I lovedHéctor, but he was not driving my car, so it meant I was forced to be at the wheel the entire time. I could probably make most the trip, but I would need some rest before the fight, and sleeping in a car before a match was not ideal.

Honestly, I only needed about four hours of sleep to feel good about driving the rest of the way, but I could tell the kid needed a good six if she’d feel confident about tomorrow. We’d passed her home state of Pennsylvania, but you never knew how big a state was until you were driving in it. PA was nearly most of the way, and that I could have handled, but I figured if we were actually in Ohio, the rest of the trip would be smooth sailing.

“Who’s got signal? Is there a motel nearby?” As within a few miles, we slowed for the first one, all of us unable to ignore the bad feeling we got from it. Upon seeing the confederate flag in the check in window, I’d never sped so fast in my life, us all collectively agreeing that was ahellno, as we sought out something closer to a major city this time. None of that outskirts shit.

When we finally did find accommodations, it was pretty basic, but promised a bed and a separate room for each of us. I was footing the bill for everything, so the least I could get was my own room. Héctor hadn’t even hesitated before he reveled in the fact he wouldn’t wake up to three screaming kids, a true good night’s rest if you will, reminding me of how fortunate I was not to have done that to myself.

His kids were great though. Two out of three of them he wouldn’t have to worry about, but that eldest daughter? I didn’t envy him now that she was officially a teenager and asking for permission to date. Thank god I wasn’t a parent.

Helping Sierra with her bag in my trunk, I was about to walk her to her room, when the hotel manager chased us down. “I’m sorry Mr. Mendez, I charged you for three rooms, but it looks like we only have two.”

“Get the fuck outta here, you just said you had three!”

“If you come to the front desk, I can refund you, but room 354 is currently in use. It must have been an error on my part?—”

“You god damn right it’s an error on your part, now I’ve got no place else to sleep. It’s too late in the night for this shit!” I protested, as Sierra was trying to calm me down.

“Maybe we could just share the room for now, it’s not a big deal for a few hours of shuteye,” she suggested, giving the idiot that charged my card a free pass.

“If it helps, the room you were headed has two twins?—”

“No, it doesn’t fuckin’ help that it has two twins,” I taunted. “But you’re lucky I’m fucking tired and don’t have time to argue. I’ll seeyouin a minute,” I addressed the hotel manager, before making sure Sierra got to her—which I guess was nowourroom.

“Josue, it was a simple mistake. There was no reason to pop a blood vessel over a clerical error.”

“Don’t take it personal kid, but you already take up half my space at home. Ain’t nobody trying to wake up to you snoring.”

“I do not snore,” she whined.