After classes and practice, I took a walk through the city trying to get familiar with my surroundings. I stood in front of a gym called Fitness, Hit, & Lifting. I went inside instantly hearing shouting, boxing bags being hit and weight lifting. It was a big gym so I walked around, catching a few stares.

It was two guys in the ring fighting. I took a seat, watching them intently. One of the guys looked like he was Puerto Rican. He had tattoos all over, even his head. He was short, yet he was real muscular. He was almost too buff for his short frame. The other guy had a few inches in him. His frame was muscular. He was ripped. But, he was no match for Rican. He got his ass kicked.

I looked to my left, noticing a girl in here. She was punching the boxing bags furiously causing me to lift my eyebrows in surprise. She wore her naturally curly hair in a bun and the perspiration radiated off of her mocha caramel skin. She looked up catching my gaze, smiling. I gave her a head nod and she continued.

My focus shifted back to the ring where another challenger was presented to Rican boy.

"Fly like a butterfly, sting like a bee, Trent!" The white man said with a thick accent. It wasn't American. It sounded as if he was a German. "He's too quick, Trent! Defend yourself! Oh mein Gott!"

Definitely German.

He glanced at me, getting off the ring and signaled for them to continue. He walked over to me in long strides, swiftly. His tall stature could be intimidating. He wore his long dark hair in a ponytail. He was clean-cut shaved and had a savvy businesslike vibe to him. He looked mid-thirties, yet youthful. He had two different color eyes, one was sky blue and the other was grey.

He formed a grin on his face, extending his hand out to me. "Christoph Wilhelm."

I shook it firmly and nodded. "Khari."

"How may I help you, Khari?" He looked at me intently, pushing his hands into his pants pockets.

I shook my head. "I was just looking."

He let out a slight laugh. "Looks like you like what you see. You're into boxing, son?"

"No." I lied.

Truth was, I loved boxing especially when I was younger. My father and I would go to the gym to practice some moves everyday after school. I remember the day he'd left us, I got off the bus and ran into the house dressing in my gym clothes and waiting for him to come home from work. Once the time passed for him to come home, I waited two more hours.

Two hours turned into two days, two days turned into two years. To say that I was shattered was an understatement. Even though the boxing activity was just for fun, I never picked up a boxing glove again. That's when I fell in love with basketball. It was my ticket out.

Christoph's eye twinkled a little which unsettled me. I figured he was trying to read me and I hated to be read. I wasn't a book that wanted to be open. I wanted to be the book that was on the shelf with dust on it that people passed by daily.

"You from around here? You sure don't talk like it." He quipped. "I'm use to people saying 'b.' What the hell is that? He said laughing. "Slang, I suppose." He said more to himself.

"I'm from New Orleans, Louisiana." I said looking at him.

"Jazzy." He said as he started dancing. He was a horrible dancer and I prayed he never do that again. Once he realized that I wasn't enjoying the entertainment, he stopped. "How old are you?"

"19."

"Perfect. Right in my age group. You don't look like you trouble so that's a plus."

I didn't say anything. I only stared at him so he'd get to his point. Yet, he didn't say anything else. He cleared his throat, glancing behind him. The two guys had finished. Rican knocked Trent out cold causing Christoph to sigh slightly.

"The boy is gonna cost me money." He mumbled.

He motioned that they were done for the day and yelled someone name from the back. The boy ran to the ring and I figured he was the medics. Christoph turned his attention back to me. He reached in his pocket, grabbing a card and
giving it to me. I glanced at it realizing that it was his contact information.

"I'm the owner of this gym. It's open from 8am to 1am. You give me a call if you're...interested." He patted my back and walked away.

I stared at the card long and hard before sticking it into my wallet. I shook the thought of calling him out of my head. I wasn't doing it. Deciding that I had seen enough, I went to leave the gym. As I was getting ready to leave, Malia walked through the door with a gym bag. I furrowed my eyebrows in curiosity.

My eyes followed her as she sat and carefully tapped on her gloves. My eyes bulged out of their sockets. She was here to box? I watched as she adjusted a hearing aid in her ear. I hadn't noticed it before. She started hitting the bag and her eyes never left it as she continued to hit it. I was impressed. She had nice combinations.

"Don't stare too hard." I looked around to see the other girl looking at me with a grin on her face.

She took a seat beside me, wiping a towel on her face and neck. She looked at Malia then at me.

"Are you checking out Ms. Malia King? Beneath the classy and sophistication, she can get down too.." She quipped.

I looked back at Malia who still didn't look away from the bag then back at the Mocha beauty beside me. I hadn't got a good look at her face because she wore a protective head gear on her head. Her smile met her hazel eyes and she had small freckles on her face. She smelled nice too even through perspiration.

"You know her?" I asked.

"I don't know her, know her. But, she's sweet. Just doesn't talk much here..I respect that boundary."

I nodded. I understood that boundary very well. I wasn't much of a talker myself. I rather observe because then I could choose my conversations wisely. Everyone didn't deserve one.

"What's your name, handsome?"

"I'm Khari." I said.

"Well Khari, I'm Karmen."

I'd noticed that no one up here says "nice to meet you." I'm guessing it was just a southern thing.

"Nice to meet you." I gave her a slight smile.

"Same to you. You're from here? I'm sure I would've remembered a handsome face like yours." She said giving me a flirtatious smile.

I shook my head no. "New Orleans."

"Wow. What are you doing way over here in DC?"

I cleared my throat. "Long story short, I go to Georgetown."

She nodded her head in understanding. "Okay. Well, do you like it so far? I know we don't have good food and whatnot..and it's cold!"

I chuckled a little. "It's not bad. I actually hate the hot weather. This is pretty refreshing to me."

"What? Boy you crazy! I rather be on the beach with a bad ass bikini on and sulking up some sun." She said laughing.

"Well I —" I started.

"Khari?" I looked up to see Malia walking over in our direction.

I didn't say anything because I was still pretty pissed off at her. She'd judge me without getting to know me. It's like she expected me to be some type of stupid ass person or something. I felt like she thought that I was beneath her. I didn't like that because it wasn't fair. She didn't know me well enough to come to that conclusion.

She looked at Karmen. "Hi Karmen, you're looking pretty as always."

Karmen smiled genuinely. "Thank you Malia. And you are too."

Malia waved her off and looked at me. "Are you okay from earlier? I'm really sorry. I didn't mean—"

"Yea. I'm cool." I said cutting her off.

She stayed silent for a few minutes, biting the inside of her mouth. She looked nervous. "You're into boxing?"

I shook my head again. "I'm just here. Kill the questions, aight?"

"I'm going to leave you two alone. It was great meeting you, Khari." Karmen said getting up, walking back over to her bag.

"You too."

Malia quickly took the seat, glaring at me. "Look, I really don't know what's your problem. But you're not going to talk to me like that."

"Or what?" I challenged.

She didn't say anything which made me chuckle in amusement. "You need to be careful on how you come at me."

She furrowed her eyebrows up in confusion. "Nobody is coming at you wrong. I came over here to apologize because I was sincerely wrong for judging you. However, you didn't leave a good impression. I made an assumption off what you gave me."

"Yo bitch ass friend had what's coming to him." I snarled.

Ignoring me, she looked at my hand, narrowing her eyes. I followed her eyes and noticed that my hand was swollen.

"This what happened after you hit Elgin??" She looked up at me.

I stuck my hands into my pockets, shrugging. "Why the fuck you care?"

She was taken back by my bluntness and choice of words. "Language."

She got up, disappearing for a short time and came back with an ice pack. She placed it on my hand, causing me to grimace a little. I tensed, but eventually allowed her to tend to my aid. For a while, we didn't say anything.

"If you don't mind me asking, what did he say?" She asked breaking the silence.

"I don't want to talk about it."

He hadn't said anything over the top, but I didn't take threats well. Don't tell me you gonna beat my ass and don't do it. I take people for their words. He disappointed me.

"Can I ask you something personal?" I looked at her.

Her hazel eyes fell back on me, and she nodded her head. I pointed to the hearing aid in her ear causing her to touch it slightly. She smiled a little before it quickly faded.

"I have progressive hearing lost. I'm just wearing these to get ready."

"It's progressive soo it's—"

"Yeah, it's going fast. Soon, I'll have to learn sign language. I've learned a couple so far." She half-smiled.

"I'm sorry to hear that." I said genuinely.

"Oh, no. Don't be sorry. One day it'll happen and I'll be ready for it." She shrugged.

I admired her strength. I mean I know it ain't the end of the world, but it is a lot to take in. To be born with hearing and to lose it was something I couldn't imagine. She didn't say anything else. For a while, she just observed me and I'd allowed her. I don't know what she was thinking in that head of hers.

"I don't know what happened, Khari. However, I feel like you're a great person with a pure heart. Don't allow this world to turn you cold." She looked at me with those piercing hazel eyes of hers.

"Too late." I said before I could stop it.

She shook her head no. "I don't believe so."

I tore away from her stare and cleared my throat. "You don't know me."

From the corner of my eye, I noticed that her mouth formed a smile. She bit her lip as if she was choosing her words carefully. "I think I got a pretty good idea."

I watched as she walked back to her spot and grabbed her bag, throwing it over her shoulder. She waved bye before walking out of the gym and my mind couldn't stop thinking about what she meant.

Watching her getting into her vehicle like she had made some type of discover, had me thinking.

I had to be careful with this one.

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