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.If I recalledcorrectly, yeah, that was Austin s modus operandi.I closed myeyes, rehearsing his moves, the position of his feet, his shoulders,envisioning me out there, instead of Johnny, fighting Tony.He d come at me; I d dodge and hit him with a sucker punchfrom behind.Hey, it was fair.Winning the Tough Guy title took50TOUGH GUYmore than brawn.It took brains, and I d be the one to prove it.I cringed as,  Ohhh! bellowed from the speakers whenAustin s fist connected squarely with Johnny s jaw, sending lastyear s runner-up onto his back in the dirt and the man s hat a goodfive paces behind him.Before the clowns could take to the field, Johnny was on hisfeet and charging at Austin.Tony held up his arms.But Johnny kept at him, fists swinging.When the bell clanging over and again went ignored, theannouncer did nothing but crank up the circus music.The entirescene seemed surreal.Tony backed away; Johnny took a couplepunk shots.Tony shoved Hart back; Hart got one or two more hitsinto Tony s chest before the man could again back out of reach. Goddamn it.Hart! What the fuck s gotten into you?I backed up as Johnny slammed Tony against our cage. The fight s over, man.Give it up, Austin shouted, blockinganother swing. Johnny, stop!Fist raised, Hart met my glare, panting heavily, his pupilsdilated.He swallowed, his chest heaving as he looked back atAustin. You hurt him  he pointed over Tony s shoulder, straightat me  and I ll hunt you down, personally, you sonofabitch.He released Tony and looked at me once more before stalkingout of the arena.I watched Johnny walk away with only onethought on my mind Johnny Hart was good people.Tony Austin stood there, catching his breath.After a minute, heglanced at me over his shoulder with an expression I couldn t read. You d better be ready for me, kid.That s the only warning you llget.51TOUGH GUYThe announcer introduced my entrance, and I took my spot inthe arena.Jerry, you old betting fool, I hope you re watching.* * *Hart had worked the crowd into a frenzy with his last move andleft them for us to deal with.For a good ten minutes, the rumblefrom the stands was deafening.Rocking from one foot the otherlike a bull on edge, Austin held his position, ten feet in front of mein the center of the arena.I smirked, imagining him striking oneboot in the dirt twice before charging with a snort and a grunt.He pointed at me.The crowd quieted with a chorus of  Ah.His next attempt at psyche-out-the-newbie left me only moredetermined to win.Having grabbed the audience s attention,Austin pulled his pointing finger back and made a slicing motionacross the front of his neck, saying to me without words, You redead.Oh, what the hell.With the attention back on me, I stretched tomy toes, held my arms high above my head, and twirled in amocking pirouette, probably the most buff ballerina anyone therehad ever seen.The crowd roared to life once again, this time with achorus of laughter.Tony glared.I curtsied.Was he tough enough to handle me? I doubted it.Somethingabout anger and stupidity going hand in hand came to mind.At thispoint, Tony Austin looked really, really angry.I adjusted my pinkbandana, hoping to draw a final chuckle from the audience.My52TOUGH GUYantics worked.At the sound of the bell, Tony barreled straight at me, fistsclenched and held tight to his body.I swept out of his sure chargeat the last second with a move I can credit only to my agility andstyle.The crowd cheered. Why don t you fight like a man, you fucking pussy? Austinspat to his right, then brought his fists up in front of him. What makes a man? I asked, forming fists, taking a fightingstance. Do you even have a clue, Tony  I ll Make a Man Out ofYou Austin?He charged again.Again, I shied out of his reach, turned around as he whizzed by,and readied my footing, anticipating his next move.I kept an eyeon his chest, the movement up and down that would let me knowwhen he struggled for air.He d get tired soon, and when he did, I dhave him right where I wanted him.This time when he came at me, I let him land a body shot.Though I thought I was ready, nothing prepared me for the forcebehind that balled up fist, the bone on bone crack as his knucklesmet two of my ribs, or the span of time it took me to catch thebreath he d taken away.I did slow him down, however, as heloped by [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]