CHAPTER THREE

Eddie lifted himself from the car. "Let’s do this over there," he said pointing to an empty spot in the lot. "My brother would get pissed if I put a dent in his car with your head,"

"I don’t think he has much to worry about, but if you want your ass kicked over there that’s fine with me," Logan said apathetically. The two combatants walked to the designated spot. Eddie trailed slightly so that he wasn’t walking shoulder to shoulder with his newfound rival. As soon as they arrived at the spot a ring of people formed around them. To the kids watching this was like a clash of giants. They had seen how good this new kid could fight. With the stone cold glare of confidence that constantly covered his face, he seemed untouchable. Then there was Eddie, their fearless leader. There was no way some punk could just waltz in to their town and take him out. No way. Still doubt plagued everyone’s mind. Everyone except the two combatants. Each fighter was absolutely sure he would win.

After a brief stare down the fight began. Logan lost his patience and attacked with a strait, right hand punch. Eddie sidestepped the attack, allowing it to sail over his shoulder. Seeing an opening Eddie countered with a left hand punch to Logan’s face, connecting with astonishing power. Logan stumbled for a few feet but amazingly did not fall. Eddie charged quickly in an attempt to keep his advantage. Logan saw an opening and pounced. When Eddie was upon him Logan stuck a devastating sidekick under his foe’s chin, knocking the boy down hard.

Logan circled his prey for a moment thinking that the fight was over. A kick like that would take any normal person out, but Eddie wasn’t exactly normal. Eddie saw his opponent’s stupidity and took advantage. Eddie waited until Logan was at his feet and then took him down with a quick, powerful leg sweep. Logan landed hard on his back with a groan of pain. Eddie jumped to his feet quickly and then raised his right foot high in the air intending to burry it in Logan’s face. Logan saw the attack coming and caught his opponent’s foot inches from its mark. Logan was obviously the stronger of the two, but Eddie was slightly faster with a more refined technique. It wasn’t hard to see that Eddie had been trained well. Logan, with no training at all, shouldn’t have stood a chance.

Logan pushed with all his might, sending Eddie stumbling back. Logan did a backwards somersault and jumped to his feet from that position. The boys circled each other for a few moments, both now fully aware of the other’s skill. The crowd was roaring. Originally it was only about five or six people, but many others had now joined them to witness the colossal fight.

It was Eddie who made the next move, spinning around backwards and thrusting his leg like a sidekick (Commonly known as a back pivot kick). Logan countered by sidestepping and then cutting in deep so he was behind Eddie. While there Logan delivered a hard punch to Eddie’s kidney. Ignoring the pain in his lower back Eddie swung a wild left elbow at Logan’s face. Again, Logan saw the attack coming and caught his foe’s elbow in his hand, again showing his superior strength. From there he put Eddie in a half nelson hold and delivered another devastating kidney punch. Eddie threw the other elbow only to get the same result. Logan now had Eddie in a full nelson. Eddie fought with everything he had, but the hold was too strong.

Eddie, now seeing that he wouldn’t be able to break the hold, decided to go to plan B. The short haired martial artist flung his legs high in the air and then brought them down quickly, throwing off Logan’s balance. Now, back on the ground, Eddie bent his knees and gave a hard thrust. Logan stumbled backward into the crowd, but still held his opponent tight with the hold. Logan quickly regained his balance and was in position to attack when suddenly something hit him hard, very hard, across the back of his head. Unable to ignore the pain Logan released the hold and fell to one knee. His head was bleeding badly, but his thick hair soaked up most of the blood. Logan climbed slowly to his feet. His vision was blurred and he was very dizzy. Logan stumbled forward determined to finish the fight, when he was struck again, this time in the side of the head, by what felt like a boot, knocking him out instantly.

* * * * * * * *

Logan woke up about ten minutes later on a bench in front of the music store. His vision was normal and his balance had returned. The only sign of the fight he could feel was a throbbing headache. His head had stopped bleeding and the wound had left his hair clotted with dry blood. "You all right?" came a man’s voice from behind. Logan turned around to see a longhaired, middle-aged man in a black Kiss t-shirt. "I saw your fight. They hit you in the head with a pipe," the man said.

"Yeah I’m fine," Logan, grunted embarrassed that he had lost the fight.

"You’re the kid from that knew family in town, right?" the man asked. Logan nodded his response. "I thought so. I called your dad’s office. He should be here soon," the man explained. "My name’s Jeff,"

"How’d I get on this bench?" Logan asked in a stern voice.

"That boy you were fighting, he had a couple of his buddies put you on the bench."

"Oh," Logan grunted as he felt the wound on the back of his head. He wondered why Eddie had put him on the bench. It didn’t make sense. Logan was guessing that he had just given Eddie the best fight of his life. It was surely the best fight Logan had ever had. So why did Eddie put Logan out of harm’s way? Just then a thought crossed his mind. Maybe Eddie had developed some sort of respect for him. That made even less sense. But Logan didn’t have much time to think about it, because just then his father pulled up in his brand new Cadillac El Dorado. Logan had a lot of explaining to do.

* * * * * * *

Surprisingly Logan didn’t get in any trouble. His father was just happy that he didn’t have to pay medical bills for someone else’s child. Tomorrow was Friday and Logan had to go back to school. Logan would soon find out if his theory was true, but for now he had to prepare incase Eddie wanted to go again. This time Logan would have to make sure that Eddie’s friends wouldn’t get in the way. He’d have to do it quick to get it done before the teachers broke it up.

"Oh well." Logan thought to himself. "It won’t be hard," Right now Logan needed to clean himself up and then he needed to rest. It would be best for him now. The sooner he healed the better. He wouldn’t lose to Eddie again.

The rest of the day came and went like any other day. By nightfall Logan’s wounds had become numb and he could hardly tell he had any unless he looked in the mirror. When he did he had a swollen right eye and a few small cuts and bruises in various spots on his arms and legs. He could feel that he had a large bump on the back of his head, but the thickness of his hair hid it from view.

Logan had showered by now and it was time for dinner. His father was at the table with a can of Budweiser and an empty plate in front of him, waiting to be served. His mother was standing at the oven adding some finishing touches to the meal. It was hard to believe that Logan could have come from these people. Logan’s father was a bout five feet, eight inches tall with a crown of black hair and glasses. He had very round facial features and was a little chubby. His mother was a very beautiful woman, or at least that’s what his friends had always told him, although not in quite the same words. She was about an inch taller than his father with long, shiny, blonde hair. She had a curvy, but skinny body with large, round breasts. How she had ended up with a guy like his father was worthy of being one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

"Hey son," his dad said with a tone that made Logan think he was in trouble. "I found something in the refrigerator that I don’t really like," he said with his voice more and more resembling a low growl with each word.

"What is it?" Logan asked almost fearing the answer.

"I’ll give you a hint. It’s not last night’s lasagna," growled Logan’s father with words that would strike fear into the heart of anything that lived… and maybe even a few things that didn’t.

"What could it be?" Logan asked silently. There was a time back in Miami when Logan and a few friends shared one of his dad’s six packs and Logan’s dad had used almost the same exact words then. "Oh shit!" he said out loud. His mother giggled a little from the stove. She wasn’t nearly as hard on him as his father was. "The note," Logan told himself. "I left the note on the beer," He was really in for it now.

"Oh shit is right," his father said almost shouting. "I found the note. You went in town just to fight him didn’t you? You picked that fight. You wanted to fight today. What the hell is wrong with you!?! You’ve been here less than a week and you have already broken one boy’s nose and beat the crap out of two others. I don’t know what your problem is, but you had better get your ass straight or I’ll straighten it for you! Do you understand me!?!" his father yelled so loud that the entire neighbor hood should have been able to hear him.

"Oh lighten up honey," Logan’s mother chimed in at just the right time. Logan really got scared when his father yelled at him like that. He knew the man couldn’t do anything to him physically anymore, but he was still his father.

"I know you’re going to fight him again tomorrow," the man said in a calm tone now. "Just take it easy on him, okay," Logan’s father was well aware of his son’s ability to gain strength through injury, and he knew that that kid wouldn’t stand a chance by morning.

And morning came all to soon for Logan, but then again school always came to soon for Logan. About the only thing that got Logan up in the morning was the thought that in just a few hours he would be beating the crap out of that kung fu punk Eddie. There was no way he would win this time. No way.

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