People tend to spend a lot of their time aimlessly, but every person tends to find a different way to waste their time. Time can be wasted in many ways, from sitting idle, procrastinating, or just choosing not to partake in activities that take up time in our obscure lives. Then they are those that are willing to do pretty much anything to distract themselves from their existential existence. For some reason I was born the latter, which explains why I am currently participating in a betting match, centered around a pointless fistfight. Deciding to stop monologuing to herself, Raya rolls briskly on a concrete floor, narrowly dodging a stomp aimed directly at her face, picking herself up immediately after succeeding in doing so. “If that connected, I’m positive I would be unconscious.” Raya thought to herself breathing heavily as she assessed her situation. Fighting a 5’8 and 180lb wrestler who exceeded her talent, Raya could already tell that the odds were against her in the general sense, being that she only amounted to 5’4 and 131 pounds. “I planned on keeping the fight off the ground, but she is too agile, if I get too close, she’s just going to rush me to the ground and then proceed with the ground and pound.” thought Raya. Just as she was lost in thought Raya’s opponent lunged straight for her legs in a spear motion. Raya was prepared for the assault, and once close enough to sweep Raya’s legs the contender was stopped by a sprawl then felt the sudden clash of a knee into her nose. Blood immediately began to spurt out of the opponent’s nasal cavity, causing her to fall to her knees writhing in pain. The contender could easily tell her nose was broken, out of instinct she attempted to retreat backward, but this action was halted due to her hair being entangled in Raya’s grip. Securing her opponents locs in hand, Raya yanked the woman’s hair downward with as much force she could muster, her opponent falling face first so as not to get scalped, Raya quickly mounted her back and swiftly secured her arms around the woman’s neck obtaining a rear naked choke. Beginning to panic the contender tried to stand herself upright, Raya still on her back in the process, “This tiny bitch really thinks she could choke me out?”, thought the contender as she struggled to loosen Raya’s grip on her throat. Before long the contender got to her feet completely, but it was short-lived given that she blacked out just as soon as she stood up, landing face-first on the concrete floor in the process.
“RAYA WINS BY KNOCKOUT!” shouted Ring King.
A mascot for the underground pit fighting arena, an amalgamation of parts from varying mascot costumes to most it looked like a stuffed animal jigsaw puzzle. Hearing those words Raya released her opponent’s neck and quickly made her way out of the pit, scaling the wall of planks that acted as an arena. Raya’s entire body was sore so all she wanted to do was get home as fast as possible, and rest; however, before she would leave, she made her way to Lorenzo’s office to collect what she was due. Raya made her way down a dark, dimly lit hallway until she finally got to the entrance of Lorenzo’s office. Raya stood in front of the dirty, stained, pane door before quickly barging in uninvited. Once she entered Raya was met with a very unsavory sight.
“Oh my gosh, Raya could you knock first!” screamed Lorenzo as he rushed to buckle his pants.
“Or you could...I don’t know just see a therapist to fix your chronic problem.” Raya replied rhetorically.
“Why are you here anyway?” Lorenzo asked bewildered.
“Obviously to collect my cut of the pot earnings, why else would I come to this rank-ass office”, answered Raya with enough disrespect to make Lorenzo question why she was a fighter for him. Before he could question her employment, Lorenzo threw Raya a bankroll of $1000.
“What the hell is this?”
“$1000, can you not count Raya?”, said Lorenzo sarcastically acting in a surprised manner.
“Of course, I can count, that’s why I’m aware of the fact that I made 5 times that last fight!”, responded Raya while attempting to keep her anger at bay.
“And your last fight lasted more than 3 rounds Raya. I hate to have to explain this, but entertainment is what brings in the big money Raya, you have to give the people what they want.” lectured Lorenzo.
“My last fight only lasted that long because the girl I fought kept running away from me, and besides I don’t make enough to drag out a fight when you can pay me enough to see a doctor about my injuries then I’ll consider playing by house rules, but until then the audience better look forward to matches feeling like a short-lived quickie,” said Raya very sternly while leaning menacingly on Lorenzo’s desk.
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“Which is why you make less money, you wouldn’t have even made that much money if it wasn’t for the house seats being so full”, said Lorenzo looking more serious than usual.
“But there is always the option for you to start throwing matches for the sake of profit.”
“Sorry I can’t fake getting my ass kicked, I’m just not as weak as you Lorenzo”, said Raya feigning innocence while mocking Lorenzo in the process.
Lorenzo by no means was a weak-looking man, but he stood at a staggering 5ft tall, according to sources Lorenzo was the one who created “The Pit”, so Raya just took it as he had never been in a fight in his life. However, even Lorenzo had to stand his ground sometimes.
“GET OUT OF MY OFFICE!”, screamed Lorenzo as he pointed to the door behind Raya.
Afraid of what she might have done to Lorenzo Raya sucked up her pride, and left without a word, snatching her money off the table Raya slammed the door behind her as she exited. Raya decided it was best to leave, so she quickly made her way home. After exiting the building that made up “The Pit” Raya turned around slowly to view the place she just left. The Pit’s interior was nothing lavish, but the outside just made it look like an abandoned building. An abandoned remnant of the city, poisoned by the company that occupied its interior, Raya couldn’t help but wonder how she got involved with such an illegal brand. Lorenzo always told her the outside looked rugged so that it wouldn’t draw attention, he paid taxes on the building and was the legal owner, but like any business, it meant the public was welcome, but that also meant officers were welcome to scope out his irregular work practices, so just to keep that to a minimum Lorenzo opted to never refurbish the outside. For extra security, however, Lorenzo did have a large asbestos-riddled basement installed into the abandoned building, which is where Raya’s place of employment was located. After a cold walk home in the middle of October, Raya finally got to the apartment complex she called home, unlocking the door to apartment 3A. Upon entering Raya turned on a light illuminating the dark apartment in a pungent yellow glow, wincing while walking through the door, unbothered by the blood that began to drip on the floor, after all, it was her blood. Unsure of where the blood was dripping from, Raya immediately rushed to the bathroom where she discarded her black hoodie to assess the condition of her injury. Turning her back toward the mirror Raya could see a visible blood splotch on the back of her plain white t-shirt, “Great now I need to buy seltzer water and a lemon.” thought Raya as she slowly began to lift her shirt up. Some of the blood had begun to dry itself on her skin, so the shirt lightly tugged at her skin as she removed it, Raya flinched at the slight pain it caused. It was a deep gash located directly above her glute in the small of her back, “I must have got this from when she slammed me down”, thought Raya to herself as she prepared her first aid and sewing kits. She submerged the sewing needle in liquor and doused a gauze bandage with the liquid before rubbing it against her wound, hissing at the light contact, before cursing heavily as it came into full contact. Raya then took a slow swig from the bottle, alcohol calmed her shaky hands and thus made it easier for her to sew, especially when it came to sewing her skin together. Slowly Raya lifted the needle out of the alcohol, riding off the buzz the alcohol provided, Raya threaded the needle through her skin, working tentatively and slowly as she pulled it through her flesh continuously. Once Raya was done with her crude stitch work, she poured the remainder of the alcohol on her stitches, wincing and cursing immediately soon after doing so. “Fuck!”, yelled Raya through ragged breaths as she doubled over her sink counter sweating profusely. The pain seemed to pass slowly, Raya could feel it with every heartbeat until it finally came to a throbbing halt. Raya looked up at her mirror taking in her appearance, “If someone told me 8 years ago I would be partaking in illegal fight functions for money, I would have laughed and called them crazy but look at me now.” thought Raya to herself in disbelief as she looked her features over. Raya had an almond tone of skin that was complimented by her muscular figure that sported multiple scars, she had a slim face with prominent cheekbones and short brown hair styled in locless dreads. “I hate how much these contacts dry out my eyes,” said Raya as she removed her non-medicinal contact lenses from her brown eyes, wearing them as a form of protection against eye-gouging that could have taken place during her matches. “What am I doing with my life?” said Raya quietly to herself as she slumped down onto her bathroom stool, “No use questioning that now huh? thought Raya to herself as she picked herself up and stumbled into the shower. Raya let the cool water wash over her, the liquid massaging itself into her skin as she basked in its comfort, although it did sting a little. When done Raya performed her usual nightly routine before turning in for the night, passing out in an exhausted heap on her futon, falling asleep as soon as her skin made contact with the plush, cool fabric.