Crooked Halo Series – Part 1

Crooked Halo Series – Part 1

A deep beat vibrated through the space. The crowd was teeming with rowdy, thick men with body odour reeking of what one could only assume was high testosterone. Each person, including Hannah, had a thin layer of sweat as the energy in the room continued to gradually escalate.

Hannah swallowed her hesitancy and pushed as politely as she could through the crowd, weaving through the gaps as the large men bickered and laughed wildly around her. All it would take for danger to arise would be a slight interaction from one of the brawling men to draw attention to the young girl, intruding on the male sport.

"Here, Hannah!" Melody called across from her far left. Hannah exhaled nervously as she approached their row of seats carefully, studying the two boys with Melody, both awaiting eagerly to scan her from head to toe with their desperate, wandering eyes.

It was evident that the boys had previously acknowledged some sort of silent method to pick which girl each would chase, increasing their chances for success as a team. One would undoubtedly prefer blondes, while the other would honestly believe he was more intellectually superior to most men. He couldn’t simply base his choice on appearance alone. He would fool himself into believing he selected his favourite girl out of the two by an intellectual test. The basic quiz he would inflict would simply be to wait until conversation dictated any sort of distaste in one of the girls. He would dig his claws into that one interaction and base his displeasure of the girl on that one comment. The other girl, she would be the more superior choice for his standards. Out of all the times Hannah had been around clean-cut boys like this, it was the same song, different tune, every time.

The boys would find a moment to quickly lock in their selected prey with each other before dedicating all of their individual flirtatious resources on their choice. Little did they know or expect, Hannah didn't like the look of either of them. She didn't notice their nice white smiles or clean white Ts with the matching branded shoes. The uniform of privilege. Instead, Hannah saw a boy not much older than her at 18 with dark hair that was already giving way to the view of his scalp. He looked to Hannah like he had skipped puberty and catapulted towards his late thirties.

The other boy had thick hair, but it was light blonde with evidently 'too perfect' highlights he probably gained at his rich-mom's regular saloon. He pressed an unnatural crooked smile Hannah’s way when their eyes met. Zachary had thought the moment was a spark connection as he read her shy turn as flirtatious. In reality, Hannah couldn't avoid greeting both the boys with a smile without feeling like she would look like a weird girl. She had averted her eyes as Zachary had locked into her quick gaze because she was already becoming uncomfortable with the notion of being stuck with him for the rest of the day.

The moment was informational but brief as Melody directed Hannah into the seat between herself and Zachary. The other boy, Devan, sat next to Melody.

As much as the boys planned and attempted selection of the girls, the ultimate decision was always in Melody’s hands. This wasn’t her first rodeo, and when she saw Devan’s black hair and tall stature, a natural stimulant for Melody, she confirmed her choice long before Hannah had arrived.

She had told Hannah to arrive half an hour after the group, regardless of Hannah’s previous shy request to arrive together instead. Melody wanted to show up to the illegal ring with two large boys in tow on each side. If they had let her, she would have taken both of them for herself the entire day. Melody was a strong force with an even stronger ego. If she was to pick a movie character to be, she would surely be the Don of the Italian mafia without a second thought.

Melody did love to spend time with Hannah, but Hannah was never really ‘true’ Hannah when Melody pushed her into these events. Hannah would feel shy and reluctant to do anything extra once she arrived because most of her energy was aimed at dealing with having to be there when she didn’t want to be. That worked well for Melody, using Hannah mostly as a prop to drag around. It was equivalent to when people take their dogs on a walk, so they don’t have to go alone.

Melody needed Hannah to complete the group of four today. Taking one boy to a dangerous location would make Melody seem like part of a long-term relationship couple. She had hoped to keep her wild and free spirit by darting between the two boys, holding no commitment to her final call, or if there would be one at all. If an interesting enough stranger crossed her path, Melody would leave Hannah to awkwardly sit by the original boys as she enjoyed herself with the new option.

Hannah really didn’t want to go at all today. She didn’t like new places and she definitely had no interest in dating a boy pulled from a lucky dip. Hannah liked to be sure of what to expect and only spend time with people she knew she was accepted by. She was never forward the way Melody was, but she had admired the trait viciously. Even if deep down, she knew she would have hated to look the way Melody did as she pushed herself onto boys that way.

The noise of the crowd began to rise as they sensed the match time moving closer.

Devan leaned back behind Melody’s seat and reached behind the girls to pull on Zachary's shirt.

"Did you get the bet down or what?"

"Yeah, yeah" he responded nonchalantly, flipping his long blonde hair from his face.

"You sure?"

"YEAH." Zachary snapped, trying to avoid any further conversation about it.

Hannah looked to her friend Melody and leant on her affectionately while the two boys went back and forth behind them. The girls had a sister-like relationship for the entire length of high school. Melody had a range of friends, but no one could stand her for long periods. Hannah was always her solid, passive, and reliable friend, which was why Melody loved her.

Hannah on the other hand, just truly loved Melody for no reason at all.

"You need to stop talking about it" Hannah heard from Zachary as the conversation ended.

Zachary then moved his attention to Hannah.

She was willing to try and make interesting conversation, be polite, keep him in a friendly space so she didn't have to protect her personal space until the end of the evening. Some boys would feel a bold move was in order when a girl was shy. All in an effort to ‘get her out of her shell’, while her ‘shell’ was a layer of protection from people like him.

She had hoped, as he introduced himself and gave her goofy looks, that he might do something notable for her to use as a solid excuse to keep him at bay. She could say ‘he talks about cats too much’, or ‘he’s got weird breath’ to Melody. The exterior hurdles would be acceptable to Melody, while ‘I just don’t like him’ would beg for Melody to tell Zachary to try harder. As long as he chased her politely-enough, Hannah would feel obligation looming. Boys that looked like that didn’t just expect a kiss at the end of a date…

Devan hadn't bothered acknowledging Hannah existed while he gave Melody lustful gazes and cracked small, flirty jokes. Melody was entranced to him quickly, running her fingers through her dark blonde hair and holding her face on its most attractive angles. Melody lived the feeling of being wanted. She could feel the craving in a man for her building as she weaved her web. She layered cute aspects of her personality by pointing out an animal, any animal, picture or real, phone or telegram, and squeal like a small girl. She would ask for help with small tasks to make them feel valuable. She would treat them like the first man to tell her that her smile was beautiful. Little had they known she eagerly smiled at every opportunity to entice catching that particular compliment.

Most of her ‘look’ was her large smile and bright teeth. Melody knew what to do and what to say. She had charisma lined with manipulation, spiked with need for more, more, more. If this boy didn't want to sleep with melody by the end of the night, her world would feel wrong until the void would be filled, days later, by another boy just like him. By the look of Devan though, as he swooned over her interest in him, it was a welcomed game.

Two narcissists in a pod.

"Why did they bring us somewhere so dangerous?" Hannah whispered to Melody, after waiting for a moment clear between her and Devan flirting.

"It's not that bad, Hannah".

Hannah slumped back into her seat as Melody turned her body away from her, blocking her chance to whisper displeasure again before Melody had her fix.

"Are you worried? I'll protect you" Zachary queried, leaning into Hannah like she hadn’t noticed how handsome he was, and needed a physical reminder.

“Why are we the only girls?” She asked him.

He simply pointed ahead, the dodgy boxing ring with a need for heavy maintenance sat in front of them. Across from it, in the direction of his finger, a few rough women sat with another group. They had a few tattoos, heavy makeup, and crop tops that seemed to have began as normal tops and met a pair of scissors.

Melody had worn a crop top too, but as usual her clothing was always brand new and from the latest store. She had always acted like a wild girl with no parents, while she went home at night to a big warm home with four sisters and a cute little brother. Her Mom and Dad loved her intently, and other than not being able to understand her, they supported her every idea in life.

Melody had been an average achiever at school, too busy keeping up with boys and parties to make a real academic dent. Yet, when she graduated, she was awarded a car to celebrate her hard work. It was annoying to Hannah, but Hannah was unusual. She could still find the good in Melody past the jealousy, even at her brattiest. She knew Melody had more opportunities and support, but she loved Melody too, and would often spoil her emotionally. More than Melody had deserved.

“Okay, so who’s fighting?” Hannah asked Zachary after seeing the trashy women at the other end of the ring and consciously choosing not to be hypercritical of the women.

“Billy the Boss and Jake”

“Just Jake? Why doesn’t he get a cool name too?”

“Doesn’t really matter little lady, Billy is going to kill it out there”.

The ‘little lady’ comment made Hannah squirm inside, but she couldn’t blame him too harshly. This was the usual language for boys that looked the way he did and lived in their own protected life of privilege. Their Moms would congratulate them on being polite if they had heard the way these boys attempted to flirt.

“You seem confident” she commented.

Zachary simply sent her an obvious wink, which could have been flirtation or a hint to something more.

A loud bell chimed, saving Hannah as Zachary had just began to start another monotonous conversation with her. He had planned to work into a story that he had his own jet ski. His next plan was to melt her heart by telling her how much he loved his cat. Both of these items of conversation would have made Hannah feel like running home right there.

All of the burly men around the group began to pour into the seats. No formal arrangements were made as the overcrowded function encouraged people to stand and sit wherever they could fit around the ring.

“You girls be sure to stay seated, okay?” Devan yelled across through the chaotic noise of the crowd around us.

Melody smiled with cheek, “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“I’m serious guys, its safer to be in the rows. I saw the biggest fight last week. If it gets too rowdy, I’ll get us out quickly.”

Hannah’s face became hot for a second as her nerves began to tingle at the possible danger. If the person shielding her from these monstrously large men was Devan, a spindly young adult whose favourite exercise was probably flexing at himself in the mirror, they were in trouble.

Melody, sensing Hannah’s alarm, grabbed her hand and squeezed it hard.

“You look really pretty in that jacket!” She complimented loudly. Melody knew all about Hannah’s quirks, she knew how to move her from nervous to comfortable as she had dragged her to each new place unwillingly over the years. Melody had been so versed in Hannah’s peculiarities that she could push her into almost any situation. Even if they had a terrible time, Hannah would never blame her dear friend Melody.

Everyone in the crowd began to jeer and yell loudly as a large white man made his way through the crowd. Unlike the robe and coach details Melody expected to see on the fighter, with big red boxing gloves and a satin pair of shorts, the fighter walked in a small group of men, wearing only trackpants and some tape around his hands. His bare gut slightly muscle and mostly fatty mass.

“Bare knuckle!?” Melody yelled to Devan excitedly. A man ahead of us turned and looked her up and down suspiciously before turning back. It was obviously an illegal fight to begin with, adding bare-knuckle boxing to the mix had only increased the criminal aspect. Which had ultimately increased Melody’s elation.

Devan ignored her and yelled out encouragement to Billy the Boss as he made his way to the ring. He threw his huge leg up on the ring and hauled himself up behind the ropes and paused dramatically. The group of supporters around him patted him on the back as they pulled the ropes up for Billy to enter.

Briefly, Billy looked frightened before he stood tall on the inside, flexing his huge, hairy arms for the crowd to see. Large segments of the crowd roared in response.

A few minutes passed of Billy the Boss soaking up the glory before the crowd began to steer their attention to the back door again.

The two girls gasped when they saw the man walking in with just one other man, pushing through the disgruntled crowd.

“That’s Jake?” Hannah asked Zachary, surprised by the boxer’s thin stature.

“No weight class in underground boxing sweetheart” he chimed back arrogantly.

Hannah was perplexed as she struggled to trace him through the crowd. He was tall enough, but Billy the Boss was at least three times the size of him. He seemed to look fit to Hannah, but he had a slender frame like the muscles were from running marathons or swimming. He had a beanie on, and a loose singlet paired with an average pair of active shorts with an unknown label on the edge. Like most of the people around the stage, Jake didn’t seem to have much behind him financially.

Hannah was usually unimpressed with tattoos, but the tattoos spreading across the boxers’ arms infrequently caught her attention deeply. A snake tattoo wrapped around his right calf seemed as if it had been branded on him since birth.

Small segments of the crowd who seemingly knew the small-time bare-knuckle boxer cheered across the space while others who had just seen Jake for the first time snickered at the sheer lack of mass in the man compared to Billy the Boss. Even Billy seemed to crack a smile in the ring between his steroid induced rage.

Devan leaned forward to catch Zachary’s attention.

“Is that the right one? No way those were his stats!”

“I’m telling you, Devan! Just shut up, your big mouth is gonna’ get us into trouble here”.

“I didn’t say anything particular!” He yelled back.

Devan stood in anger at Zachary for speaking down to him in front of the girls. Their egos were constantly on the defence when females were present. Melody held onto Devan’s arm and directed him the sit back down and ignore his arrogant friend.

Jake, the boxer, met the ring and climbed in without assistance. The man with him seemed to be an informal coach as he made a quick speech to Jake out of earshot of anyone in the crowd. More roaring of the crowd as Billy spent his time riling them up while Jake sat calmly by the corner until it was time to begin.

Hannah stared intently at Jake as he rose from his stool and stretched upward quickly. He swiftly grabbed the bottom of his singlet and pulled it off with one motion, revealing an unexpectedly chiselled eight-pack on his slim figure. Because of his lean size, each muscle had intense definition, his tattoos painted along them randomly. Hannah squinted to attempt a clear look at of one of the designs, but he was too far, and they were too small for her to make them out.

Jake ripped off his beanie, light brown shaggy hair fell untidily onto his face. He simply whipped it back, not showing an ounce of vanity in the style it landed. Hannah’s heart fluttered as she watched him closely. He threw his mouthguard in with a rough push and stretched his arms to each side quickly, shaking his body before he hit a different mode. Now the look on his face went from relaxed to determined.

It was driving Hannah wild.

“Check him out!” Melody whispered to Hannah, elbowing her side with a giggle.

Hannah nodded, knowing that if he were anywhere near her, Melody wouldn’t be far away. Hannah had become accustomed to being the clouds by the sun. Melody was always brighter and bigger in every situation. And when Melody really wanted to shine bright, the clouds would naturally be expected to go away.

Hannah hadn’t much minded being in the background until she saw Jake. He made her want to eclipse the sun.

The two boxers met in the middle of the ring and bumped their fists, covered in white tape to offer minimal protection, at least, to their knuckles.

The referee was a big hairy man with a long white beard. He had a red t shirt on with permanent marker scribbled ‘REF’ on the back.

A loud ‘ding’ sounded from the dodgy speakers around the crowd and the two boxers began to move lightly on their feet, moving strategically around each other, planning their first move.

Billy the Boss made a big swing for Jake, missing the top of his head as Jake ducked the hit and jabbed Billy quickly in the neck. The hit seemed like a tap, but the aftermath showed Billy had felt the attack, hard, as he stumbled slightly and recoiled.

Jake moved forward quickly, then ducked backward as Billy attempted to block a punch that Jake hadn’t thrown. Jake threw another fake punch and laughed as Billy fell for the trick, hoping not to receive another jab to the neck he had become oversensitive.

The crowd jeered and Billy boiled with the rage of embarrassment.

Zachary, Hannah, Melody, and Devan were fixated, mouths wide, pupils dilated with excitement.

The essence of testosterone in the crowd turned quickly into a shared group of adrenaline.

Billy and Jake danced lightly on their feet, Jake changing angles repeatedly, keeping Billy guessing which fist would jab him next. The men starred intensely at each other as they each had moments of swinging and ducking, lightly hitting each time.

The two seemed surprisingly matched in skill when the first-round bell rang.

Hannah held her chest, feeling all kinds of adrenaline coursing through her body. Her face felt heated while she sweated lightly in her jacket.

Before anyone in the crowd could relax the men were called back and the bell rang to signal round two had begun. Nothing in the bare-knuckle boxing world was quite timed or expected.

Billy the Boss sneered at Jake through his mouthguard, hyped from whatever the group of coaches had been drilling into him while he guzzled down some water during the break.

Jake had the same disposition as the first round for a moment, before a charming smile spread across his right side. Billy seemed confused about it as both men began to move around the ring in their boxing stances. Jake landed his first jab into Billy’s gut, followed by three more across his body as Billy covered each landing blow too late. Jake skipped backward as Billy swung hard in anger, missing Jake, and causing him to lose his balance for just long enough for Jake to drill a hard hooked punch into Billy’s jaw, sending him barrelling into the ring floor with a thump.

The noise was solid evidence to the crowd that he was knocked out cold before he hit the floor.

“Let’s get a closer look!” Melody yelled to Hannah, grabbing her hand, and dragging her off her seat. Melody noticed the lack of resistance in Hannah as the girls ducked through the big crowd of men ahead of them. Before long they were right by the ring, close enough to see the beads of sweat pour off of Billy the Boss as he woke himself and heaved his body back up.

“He’s going to fight with a concussion!” Hannah yelled to Melody in the loud chaos. Men called out to the boxers past them from all angles, immersed in the match.

Round two ended and the men returned to their corners.

Uncharacteristically, Hannah grabbed Melody’s hand and worked through the crowd toward the corner of Jake.

“What’s gotten into you!” Yelled Melody “I love this!”

The girls could both hear Devan in the near-distance yelling for them to come back to the seats. Hannah and Melody cheekily ignored the request and arrived at the corner where Jake sat on a stool, his longish hair wet.

He had his head crooked down while holding a drink bottle and listening to his coach.

“You nearly knocked him out you idiot. The THIRD! Do you know what could have happened to the both of us?”

Jake leant back, wrapping his elbows over the rope calmly. He flicked his soaked hair from his eyes and turned his head down toward the two girls like he had felt the burn of their stare.

Jake saw Hannah first, and her nervous, big, green eyes glaring at him. The space around her blurred as his focus narrowed on her. His adrenaline had already spiked its peak during the match, but more managed to flow through at the sight of her.

Melody, as usual, piped up instantly.

“Hey boxer- OUCH!” Hannah had rammed her elbow into Melody’s side, hard. She wasn’t sure if she meant to hurt her that much, but it had the effect she hoped for.

Deep inside, Hannah knew this was the moment where she didn’t want Melody to have what she wanted. This was the first guy that Hannah had ever been so obsessed with so quickly. Watching Melody fall all over him, and probably end up getting his attention, would kill Hannah this time.

“What did you do that for?” Melody yelled at Hannah, who didn’t realise it would be so obvious to everyone else what she had done. Jake raised his eyebrows then smiled at Hannah, letting out a small laugh before his coach pushed him up off the stool and back into the ring to start round three.

As he walked toward the centre of the ring, he looked back again at Hannah with a smile consisting of his bulky mouthguard, wondering who this girl was.

Hannah had lighter blonde hair than Melody, with lighter eyebrows and pale skin to match. Melody was tall and longer than Hannah, she showed it off every opportunity by wearing short dresses and skirts. While Hannah was shorter, she was perfectly petite and would have looked much better than Melody did if she had the same confidence to risk her clothing choices.

Hannah had jeans in all different shapes, sizes, colours, and only one pair of shorts that she would specifically save for the hottest months of the year. She would only even do that much to avoid the comments of ‘why are you wearing long pants? Aren’t you hot?’. Avoiding any extra attention was always a priority because Hannah was terrible with her memory whenever a comment would hurt her feelings.

By terrible, she would remember every bad thing any person has ever said to her. She remembered the one time in grade two where a boy called Mickey told her that her toes looked fat. Or the time when she was nine and her cousin said, ‘you aren’t that much fatter than me’ while they were playing on a seesaw. She even remembered that one time when she had done really terribly at an easy test in school and Melody made a joke to the teacher that she had a learning disability. Which was painfully recorded in her memory because the teacher believed it and asked her about it after class. All of these specific recordings to her long-term memory, while her mom would constantly have to remind her to just remember her house keys when she left. Which naturally, she never would.

The third bell rang indicating round three…

>>> What happens next? Like, share, tip, and get ready for part 2!