Something was off. I put my hand on his shoulder. "What's going on?"
He shrugged me off and walked toward the showers. "Just a little nervous is all," he called out.
I finished showering before he did.
I walked over to our lockers and proceeded to get dressed. He stupidly left his locker half open...and that's when I noticed it.
A tiny bottle of something that wasn't labeled...along with a needle.
It didn't take a genius to figure out what it was.
Steroids.
I swiped it from his locker and waited for him to come out. "What the fuck are you doing, Mike? Are you trying to ruin your career before it even starts?" I screamed.
He looked around the locker room. "Keep your fucking voice down. What if coach hears you?" he hissed as he reached for the bottle.
I pulled back. "Over my dead body. No way am I letting you ruin everything you've worked so hard for. What the fuck is the matter with you? I never thought you would do something like this!"
He punched the locker beside him. "Everybody in the sports industry uses, Jackson. I'm going to stop after I win the next few fights...it's just enough to put me on the map."
"You're an idiot. You're about to sign a deal with a big sponsor! You don't think they're going to test you for roids? Even more than that, you're ruining the integrity of the sport. All sports. Passion is what should be flowing through your body...not this shit."
"Look, some of us don't have it like you do. Some of us need a little help from time to time. And I’m not the only athlete to ever try it, most have. It’s just a little pick me up."
I shook my head and glared at him. "This isn't a 'pick me up', this shit will send you straight to hell in a hand-basket. Train better, work harder...don't do this shit."
He sighed and slumped down on the bench. "You're right. I fucked up, I've just been so nervous and I'm second guessing myself. I don't want to lose."
I sat down next to him. "I understand. What makes you think I'm not feeling the same way? This is a huge deal for us, and it's normal to be nervous. Use that nervous energy as positive fuel. This shit will ruin your life."
He nodded. "Don't tell Lilly about this, please."
"I won't. Besides, if she knew, the fight next week would be the least of your worries. I'm pretty sure she'd kick your ass so bad you wouldn't be able to train for weeks."
He grinned and began changing into his street clothes. "Yup, you're right about that. God, I love that woman."
Blood.
So much blood. Everywhere.
That's one of the things that I remember most about that fateful night.
To this day, I can still close my eyes and recall every single surface marked by blood. The metallic smell of it permeating my nostrils, the way it smeared the walls, the way it pooled on the floor—the large bloody hand print on the wall.
The night my entire world changed, was also the night of the big fight.
I had won. It was a close match and I was definitely swinging for the fences like my life depended on it. My opponent ended up tapping out after a hard uppercut to his jaw that sent him staggering, followed by an axe kick which finished him off.
I looked out into the crowd expecting to see Lilly's smiling face...but I didn't.
Even more alarming...Mike never showed up for his own fight.
Some guy named Tyrone ended up taking his place and won after 3 minutes of conducting an intense ground and pound on his opponent that was brutal enough to make me wince.
Something was definitely wrong...I felt it in my bones. I hightailed it out of the arena while dialing their numbers repeatedly.
I hopped in my truck and headed straight for their apartment.
When I walked in I had to take a step back.
My worst nightmare couldn't have conjured up what was waiting for me on the other side of the door.
Everything seemed to play out in slow motion while I tried to take in and process what I was seeing.
The first thing I noticed was the large bloody hand print against the stark white wall of their small kitchen. My eyes dropped down and my heart squeezed for dear life when I saw the large pool of blood on the floor. It expanded and rounded a corner leading up to the living room.
I didn't want to know where it was coming from...but I knew I had no choice but to find out.
I closed my eyes and took a few tentative steps forward until I rounded the corner.
There on the floor beside the couch...was where my heart turned into dust and my world as I knew it, would cease to exist.
My small, fragile, baby sister's pale, cold, lifeless body was laid out before me.
Her shirt was torn and bruises covered most of her limp, frail, body.
The image still haunts me in my darkest moments.
I dropped down beside her and willed her to wake up.
How could someone do this to her? My innocent baby sister. The greatest person I'd ever known.
I shook her, I shouted her name. I begged and I pleaded harder than I ever had in my life.
“Who would do this to you, Lilly?” I whispered, as I held her. “Come on baby sis, wake up. Please,” I continued to beg as I felt the first few tears start rolling down.
My thoughts went wild. I thought up dozens of different scenarios in that moment. Everything from a burglar, a secret stalker at the college she attended, to a drug dealer who had the wrong house looking for his money.
Mike. Where the hell was he?
Shit, maybe whoever did this was holding Mike hostage somewhere?
I looked back down at Lilly and my chest felt like it caved in. Something deep within me had severed in that moment. Nothing would ever be the same again.
I looked up to the ceiling and screamed with tears streaming down my face.
I heard some kind of rustling in the distance, near the bedroom down the hallway before a tall shadow loomed before me.
I knew that shadow well. Almost as well as I knew my own.
I gently let go of Lilly's body and rose from the ground.
He had the makings of what looked like was going to be a black eye. He also had a fairly large scratch across his cheek.
I quickly looked down at Lilly's pink nails and noticed some dried blood caked under them.
She fought like hell.
I lifted my head and glared at him. I looked him right in the eyes...and I knew.
He did this.
He killed her.
He murdered my baby sister...the girl he swore he would love and protect.
Suddenly everything made sense...like why she never showed up to watch us at practice anymore. Why she seemed so distant. Why she didn't seem as happy anymore when I talked to her.
He was abusing her...and I ignored all the signs.
I didn't protect my sister...the only person in the world that I loved more than anything.
He bowed his head and teetered back as I advanced toward him. He held up his hands. “Just let me explain. It was an accident. It was her fau—”
Rage filled my blood, and it burned through my veins. I punched him hard. Hard enough that I heard the satisfying snap of his jaw dislocating. “Don't you dare try to blame her. Did you give Lilly a chance to talk before you beat the shit out of her and killed her!” I screamed as I punched him again, even harder. This time, sending him to the floor.
He tried to get up but I sent a sharp kick to his ribs. “I told you what I would do to you if you ever hurt her,” I sneered before I picked him up by his hair and bashed his head into the nearest wall.