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As she passed through the front doors of her gym, Evon Walsh couldn’t help but smile. The Walsh Stables, the gym she’d founded after her forced retirement from competitive boxing, was filled with the sounds of men, women, and non-binary members working through all kinds of routines. As her eye scanned the area, she felt a swell of pride building within her. Technically speaking, she might not have been able to step into the ring again. That didn’t stop her from training future talents in her preferred method of combat. Hearing the pops of leather-on-leather as people of various skill levels working away against the various bags, as well as other sounds of effort, caused her to straighten her back a little more and puff up her chest a bit.
She walked through the gym floor, returning greetings from various patrons as she made her way to the main office. The good feeling she got from entering the Stables was very much appreciated, considering how she needed to spend today.
Everyone talks about the joys of owning your own business. Nobody talks about how stressful it can be, even when it’s successful. Bills still exist.
Evon walked by the main boxing ring, looking around and taking in the patrons of her gym, when something unusual caught her attention.
Her eye fell on a young person working away at a heavy bag. Evon watched in interest for a moment. She crossed her arms, taking in this person’s appearance. Whoever this was, Evon didn’t recognize them. The yellow hoodie they wore covered any feature she could’ve used to identify them, and the yellow sweatpants didn’t help her any either. The Walsh matriarch did , however, notice that they chose to forgo any real padding with their training, their hands and feet being covered in tape. She also noticed that they had some kind of formal training. Their punches, Evon noticed, were targeted. There was purpose behind her strikes, every fist, knee and foot landing with a precision that only came with experience.
She also noticed that, whoever this was, seemed to be putting more into their hits than they should have. While heavy bags were good for conditioning and training up one’s power, whoever this was seemed to lose their balance after a few strikes.
Even though she couldn’t see their eyes, Evon knew what that likely meant. She wasn’t a stranger to the feeling, after all.
She waited for a moment, watching the new person continue to work their way on the heavy bag. It wasn’t until she saw them stumble after throwing a high roundhouse kick that she chose to step in.
“Hey there,” Evon said, smiling. The person in the hoodie didn’t seem to hear her, or if she did, they ignored her, continuing on with their workout, “‘Scuse me?”
The hooded person threw more punches, now with more power behind them. Their technique became sloppier, which confirmed to Evon what she’d initially thought.
“Hey, you should prolly stop before ya hurt yourself.”
“Leave me ‘lone.”
Evon blinked, having been caught off guard. The person she’d been talking to might’ve been a little shorter than her, but she didn’t expect her, as she now knew, to sound so much younger. She quickly recovered, though, and frowned.
“Uh-uh. Ain’t gonna happen. You’re goin’ too hard right now, and you’re just gonna end up hurtin’ yourself. Or didn’t ya notice how you nearly knocked yourself to the ground on your last kick?”
The young woman whirled around, green eyes directing a harsh glare to Evon’s.
“And who’re you supposed to be?”
“Evon Walsh,” she said, crossing her arms, “Owner and someone who’s worried about someone young as you ruinin’ somethin’ because you don’t wanna be careful.”
The young girl didn’t answer, instead continuing to glare up at Evon. The retired boxer could see her tightening her fists. She let out a sigh.
“Look, come with me.”
“Why should I?”
“I just wanna talk,” Evon said, keeping her voice calm, “If I’m honest, I’m thinkin’ that’s what ya need more than anything right now.”
The girl looked away from her. “Yeah, right. What makes you say that?”
Evon sighed again before leaning in close to the young girl. “Because. I’ve been where you are before.”
The young woman watched as Evon made her way to the office. She stood there for a few moments, debating on whether or not she should make the trip. Before long, she drew in and let out a deep breath, tracing the business owner’s path.
‘ Might as well get this over with. ’
The young fighter finally made her way to the office, where she found Evon waiting for her. The older woman wordlessly directed the young woman to take a seat in one of the chairs in her office, with her following suit soon after closing the door.
Evon took a moment to get comfortable, hoping her guest would do the same. When it was clear to her that it wasn’t going to happen, and that the young teen wasn’t going to do more than sit there with her arms crossed over her chest, Evon sighed.
“Alright, let’s start with the basics,” she said. She leaned back against the backrest of her seat, “What’s yer name?”
The girl didn’t respond, instead glaring down at the ground.
“Where’re ya from?”
Still no response. Evon leaned a little closer to the girl.
“Look, I ain’t gonna tell anyone anything that’s said in here. I just wanna help.”
“Don’t need it,” the girl murmured.
Evon raised an eyebrow at that. “Pardon?”
The girl glared up at Evon again. “I don’t need your help. I just need to get stronger.”
Evon’s eyebrow elevated a bit. “And what makes ya say that?”
“What do you care?” the younger woman snapped.
“I told ya, I wanna help.”
“And I told you, I don’t need it! I just need to get stronger!”
Evon leaned back a bit. “Why’s that?”
“Because!” the anger in the girl’s eyes intensified, and Evon noticed the tiniest formation of tears, “I have to! I need the money! B-because my dad can’t work much! He can’t do it all, so I need to help him! I have to fff–freakin’ do this!”
“Why?”
Another flash of anger. “Because! I have to! If I don’t, who knows what’ll happen anywhere else? Home…school…out in public…” She then shook her head, “Look, just leave me alone. I know what I’m doing.”
Evon sighed, crossing her arms as she did.
“That so?” she asked, her eye’s gaze sharpening a bit, “That why you can barely keep yourself standing when you’re throwin’ kicks?”
When Evon had begun her questioning, the young girl had been starting to make her way out the office. The gym proprietor’s question stopped her in her tracks. She turned back to Evon.
“It’s fine.”
“No, it ain’t,” Evon fired back, “I know a thing’r two ‘bout lettin’ your anger get the better of you.”
“What do you think you know?”
Evon stood up. The young woman watched as the older of the two approached her. Evon brought a hand up, gently placing it on the hooded fighter’s shoulder.
“That you’re hurting,” she said, her gaze softening again, “I can tell ya know what you’re doing as a fighter. Not a whole lotta people can throw kicks as high as you were without some kind of trainin’. I also know that you’re not thinking things through when you’re throwin’ them. Means your head’s somewhere that heavy bag wasn’t. Hits that hard mean you were tryin’ to get some of that anger out on somethin’, didn’t matter what. All that tells me that you’ve got some fire in your belly, but it ain’t doin’ you any good.
“So, you wanna talk about it? You wanna talk about who you lost?”
The girl’s fierce green eyes glared at Evon until the last question. For the first time since their talk began, her eyes went wide with shock.
“...h-how–”
Evon’s hand tightened slightly on Sky’s should. “Told ya. Been there before.”
The girl stared up at Evon for a few seconds, unsure of what to do next. The room stood silent as the two women looked at one another before either of them made a move. The younger woman, after what seemed like forever, slumped a bit as she finally felt a bit of tension leave her body. Her eyes, once burning with anger, began to well up a bit.
“M-my mom…”
Evon sighed as the hand on the smaller woman’s shoulder tightened again.
“C’mon.”
She motioned for her guest to take a seat again as she sat down herself. The hooded girl hesitated for a moment before following suit. As she sat, she pulled her hoodie down, letting her long black hair flow freely as she looked down at her knees. The two sat in silence for a few seconds, Evon watching the younger woman closely. She could see her starting to shake slightly, and feel her own heart breaking as she watched.
“...I…” the girl said softly. Evon could see a tear or two fall as she spoke, “I miss her…”
“Can I ask what happened?”
The girl drew in a deep breath, trying to settle herself a bit.
“C-cancer…” the girl said, her voice shaking, “Sh-she was so…full of energy…next thing I-I know…”
Evon reached forward, putting a hand on the young woman’s knee.
“I’m so sorry to hear that,” Evon said softly, “I can’t say it was the same way, but I lost my mom too. I know it hurts.”
“I…I miss her…” the girl sobbed, tears now falling one after another. Her fists clenched in her lap, nails digging into her palms. Evon’s expression softened more than it had since the two first met. She let the younger woman sob for a few moments, waiting for her to work though her pain enough to become coherent again.
“How long ago?” Evon asked, squeezing the girl’s knee slightly.
“...couple months,” the girl answered, still looking down, “...’nd my dad’s been trying real hard to take care of us since…”
“But he’s hurtin’ too,” Evon said, less of a question and more of a statement, to which the young woman nodded.
“He’s…he’s trying, but losing mom really hurt us…”
A thought clicked in the back of Evon’s mind, and she acted on it.
“That why you’re takin’ part in underground fights?”
That got the young girl’s attention. She looked up, emerald eyes meeting a blue one in horror.
“Hhhhow–?”
Evon smirked at that, a bit of pride coming through. “Wasn’t that hard to figure out. I may not be in the game myself, but I’ve still got my ear to the ground. Long, black hair and green eyes ain’t exactly a common combination. ‘Specially when they say you’ve got more power to you than you look like you’d have. I hear ya go with a mask on to keep your face hidden?”
The girl took a hard swallow. “Yeah…”
The smirk on Evon’s lips faded, and she sighed. “Here’s my thing. I get it. I get what you’re goin’ through. Like I said, I lost my mom early on too. And just like you, I felt angry as all hell. I spent time throwin’ hands where I could. Lemme tell you, it got me into a lot more trouble than I thought it would. I made my fair share of mistakes. And, well, maybe one or two of those choices worked out for me, but a lot didn’t.
“Point it: you’re young. You’re hurting, but you don’t need to let that pain drive you. Not like this. I hear you’re good. Got a couple of wins under your belt, yeah?”
The girl nodded.
“Good. Now, remember, you can’t let your anger get the better of you. The second you do, you lose, and you’ll lose bad. Hard to keep this kinda thing under your hat if you look like you just came outta the meat grinder.
“Tell ya what,” Evon said as she stood up. She then bent over, putting her hand on the young fighter’s shoulder, “My door’s always open if ya need it. You need to talk? Punch a bag? Or maybe a live body? I’m here when you need me.”
The girl blinked, stunned by the offer. She didn’t speak for a moment, her mind trying to process what was happening.
“...why?”
“Dunno how many times I gotta say it, but I get you,” Evon said, “and I wanna help you work through this, that way you don’t have to take as many risks as I did. Whaddya say?”
Another few seconds of silence passed as the younger woman considered things. Then, she did something that Evon had hoped for, but was unsure would happen.
She offered the gym owner a small smile.
“Y-yeah,” she said, “I’d…I’d like that.”
Evon let out a little chuckle. “Good. Now, I never did get your name.”
“Oh, right. Sky. Sky Mitchell.”
“Evon Walsh,” the older woman said as she gently pulled the girl to her feet. Before Evon could even do anything, Sky darted forward, wrapping her up in a tight hug. The act caught Evon off guard, leaving her frozen for a moment. Before long, though, she found herself smiling and returning the embrace.
The two stood in Evon’s office, hugging for what seemed like hours. Neither one of them wanted it to end, however. For Sky, it was almost as if things were back to normal. She felt her broken heart starting to mend a bit. It would never be the same, of course, but knowing that there was someone who understood her current struggle was a greater relief than she could’ve imagined.
For Evon, being able to help someone in the position she’d once found herself was a welcome change to her life. Knowing she could help someone who still had so much of her life in front of her? That she could work with her to put her anger aside, or even toward something that could help her in the long run? That was the reason she’d opened the Stables to begin with. To give people a place to work things out, be it their bodies or their minds.
When the time finally came, the two finally released each other.
“Alright,” Evon said as the two parted, “I think you’ve got a workout to go finish, but if you need help with something, come get me. Arlight?”
Sky sniffed, drying tears that fell from her eyes as she hugged Evon, before nodding. “Y-yeah, okay.”
“And try not to hurt yourself, yeah?”
That one drew a small giggle. “Don’t worry, I won’t.”
With that, Sky turned to the office door, walking away as Evon made her way to the desk. She watched with a smile as Sky made her exit.
“...that girl’s gonna be alright. I’d bet money on it.”
She then looked down to her desk, seeing the paperwork that had been waiting for her all this time.
“...shit.”