[Right jab, right jab, bob, weave, left hook. Right jab, right jab, bob, weave, left hook! The combination hit the bag several times. The bag, held by Hans, which had been hit many times before was barely holding it's own as my fists met it with grueling combonations. I hit it a few more times, and at the last left hook yelled at the top of my lungs.]

'One hundred!' I said as I gave it a weak hook, and then put my arm on top of the bag.

[The sweat was pouring down my forehead. My hair that was medium length, and curly, was now stringy, and straight with sweat. I pulled the glove to my forehead and whiped the sweat off. When pulling the glove away I saw the beads of sweat dropping from a long streak that I made from my forehead.]

[Hans released the bag, and walked around to the other said. He examined me closely, noticing rapid chest, and stomach movements he nodded to himself, and then, with his hand on his chin examined me a bit more.]

'We need to work on your stamina, and endurance, because if you think ole' mister Reigns is going to go down after a hundred combo attempts then you're dead wrong. Sure, if you're connected with them he would go down reletivly quickly, but he isn't ranked as number one contender because he loses. Infact he hasn't lost yet.' Hans said.

'Well then if he's so damn good why am I fighting him while I'm 0-0? I mean if I beat him won't that rank me pretty high with only one win?' I asked.

'Is there a problem with that?' Asked Hans.

'Of course there isn't, with me, but what about with all the other boxers?' I asked.

'Who cares? If we looked out for the good of all the other boxers you wouldn't be ranked until you were in your mid twenties, but you're getting the chance of a life time here kid. Lets make it good, so even if you lose you can still say you tried you hardest, and with a win against him you'll be seemingly unbeatable. Now lets tire you out more.'

[That is definetly not what I wanted to hear. I was tired already.]

'Sit-ups.' Said Hans.

'How many?' I replied.

'Do Five.' He said looking at his watch.

'Five sit-ups? No problem.' I said.

'No...' He took a momentary pause.

'Five minutes worth.' He said.

[I looked at him with the strangest of stares, but he didn't aknowledge the stare, instead he looked at his watch. After staring at him for a few minutes I got down on my back, and began undoing my gloves.]

'Keep those on. We need you to get used to the feel of a sweaty glove. It's irritating but you can't take them off in a fight either.' Hans said.

[I tightened the one I was undoing back up, and began my sit-ups. They seemed easy at first, I was doing about fifty a minute for the first three minutes, but then it got hard. My stomache tightened, and my abs ached. I was finding it hard to do even thirty sit-ups by the fourth minute. There was one more minute left, and I was taking them slow.]

'Ok I want fifty more sit-ups and you're done.' Hans said.

'But I thought you said five minutes worth.' I said.

'That was before you started moving like a slug.' He replied.

[Up, and back down I went fifty more times. The pain in my stomache by the time I was done was unbarable, and I could hardly breathe. I laid there gasping for breath clutching onto my stomache, curled up in a fetal position. Before training was hard, but it was nothing like this. All we did before was work on jabs, and hooks, and do a few sit-ups. Nothing like this.]

'Stand up, and put your hands above your head, it will help you bring oxygen into your lungs.' Hans said.

[Didn't he care that I could barely move, or breathe?]

'I can't.' I said.

'I'm sure Kip could. Actually I know Kip could. He wouldn't be as good as he is if he couldn't get up after a few sit-ups. GET UP!' He barked.

[I was seeing a whole new side of Hans. It kinda' scared me, but I did as I was told, and stood to my feet. I placed my hands on top of my heads, and locked my fingers tightly, taking big, deep breaths so I could get the air into my lungs.]

'Go get some water, and get back here.' Hans said.

[So I dropped my arms, and walked over towards the water fountain.]

'Jog it.' He said.

[Looking back over my shoulder I saw that Hans was serious. So I picked up the pace, and began to jog. As I leaned over the water fountain I began to believe that Hans was taking this fight personally. This fight wasn't just about me anymore. It was about him showing Kip, and the rest of the world that he could train someone like myself to beat a monster like Kip Reigns. If I looked good, he looked good. It was as simple as that. At this time I thought that what I was thinking was true, but as I learned later. I was wrong, dead wrong...]

[I stood back up straight after I swollowed a good seven or eight gulps of water, and jogged back over to Hans. My wife beater was drenched in sweat, and my heart was pounding rapidly. I stopped right in front of him, and looked him dead in his eyes waiting for my next orders.]

'Next, I want you to do push ups. When you get to the top of the push up I want you to push yourself up, and clap your gloves together. A hundred of these will do just fine.'

[Man, he was really turning into a drill sargeant. I fell to my knees, and then put my gloves to the ground. I never knew how hard push ups with gloves really were, but I was finding out just now how hard they were. I was slipping, everytime I tried to get positioned, and once I did manage to push up, I clapped my gloves together, and fell on my face. About the third time blood began to flow from my nose. I stopped. Hans looked down at me and shook his head.]

'That was only six.' Hans said.

'But I'm bleeding!' I exclaimed.

'As you will in your match. Except in your match we only have thirty second to prepare to blood. So if you think thirty seconds will stop the bleeding I'll give you a quick break to try.' Hans said.

[Of course I'd try. So I stood to my feet and ran over to the box of tissues that sat over in the corner of the gym. I tried picking them up with gloves but it just wasn't working. My grip strength wasn't good enough to grab something so small yet, but I kept trying. The blood was now pouring down my wife beater, and I was getting mad. Several attempts I took to grab a single tissue. They all failed.]

[I lashed out and hit the wall with a left hand.]

'HEY!' Hans yelled from the other side of the gym.

[I looked back at him. My nose was now flaring, and I was bleeding heavily. The blood was going every where, and Stacy had just come out of her room where she was reading a book to see what was going on. She first looked at me, but I didn't exchange glances with her, instead I kept my eyes on Hans. I was enraged, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.]

[I had a bad temper, and I was tired, and to make matters worse I was bleeding. I brought my left glove to my mouth, and began undoing it.*

'I said keep your gloves on!' Hans yelled.

'I quit.' I whispered.

'What was that?' Hans asked.

[Stacy had a worried look in her eyes as I tore the one glove from my hand and threw it across the room. I then began undoing the glove that was cramping my right hand. I then took that one, and chucked it across the room, and it landed almost right next to the other glove.]

'I SAID! I QUIT!'

[Hans dropped the clip board he had in his hands. He looked at me with an angry look in his eyes.]

'You'll do no such thing!' He demanded.

'I can do what I want! You're not my dad!' I said.

[It seemed to be the classic thing for kids to say to a person who seemed like a father figure to them. Even the ones who were an even better father figure than their own father.]

'I'm the only family you have! I may not be your father, but I still support you like you're my own son. If you don't concider me family then why do you sleep in my gym, eat my food, and take up my precious time!?' Hans yelled.

[This really hit home. I kinda mellowed down and thought about it, but I could see that as soon as Hans said that it really bothered him, and so could Stacy. He stopped his ranting and just stood there. He was upset that he said that, and we could tell, but I had my foolish pride, and I began walking towards the door. On the way I stopped right in front of Stacy.]

'Don't go.' She pleaded.

'Don't go.' She said again.

[I stood there, and let my foolish pride get the best of me.]

'I have to, I'm sick of this place.' I said.

[She grabbed my wrist trying to get me to stay but I just pulled out of her weak grasp. My nose was bleeding heavily as I walked out of the door. As I left Hans walked into his office, and slammed the door behind him.]

[There I was, out in the street once again. All by myself, on my own. Not knowing where I'd go, or what I'd do. I had more clothes on then I did when I met Hans. When I met him I had torn rags, now I had a wife beater, and a pair of shorts. They may not have been the warmest of clothes but they were better than torn rags.]

[I walked a few blocks. Now I really wasn't thinking. I was just walking. I didn't know where to, but that wasn't the point, to me it really didn't matter where I was going. I was just going...]

[But suddenly something I could have never expected happen. Walking towards me, with a huge group of guys was Kip Reigns. I didn't know if he noticed me yet, but I wasn't going to stick around to see if he did. I quickly turned off down an alley way and began walking. It was a long alley. It was the entire length of the block, and I was still walking. It was disgusting. There were smelly dumpsters lined up all down the alley way, and old, rusted out burning barrels. Some old bums were passed out, more than likely drunk, in the alley. I was almost to the end when the worst thing that could ever happen, happened.]

[Kip Reigns, and two other boys were blocking my path to get out of the alley. They must have ran I thought to myself, because there was no other way they would have beat me here. I turned around and began to sprint toward the other opening. I looked back and saw that the three were just walking slowly behind me in a stalking manor. I almost reached the other side when three more boys stepped out in the opening blocking my way. I was surrounded.*

[Sure I had quit, and wasn't going to fight Kip anymore. Or so I thought, but how could I explain that to him. He would have never believed me. As all six boys came closer I just stood there. Not knowing what to do... Was this the last time anyone heard from me? I sure as hell hoped not...]

To Be Continued...

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