Blood Sport by Tash McAdam

Author:Tash McAdam
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781459824386
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2019-10-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Three weeks pass. Jason is on his best behavior. He’s been going to school, doing his homework and putting in hours every day at the gym. Soon the night of the tournament arrives.

Sunny is also competing in the beginners match, much to his uncle’s delight. Little Jay has been bragging around the place that Sunny’s going to take it, regardless of who shows up from the other local gyms. But Jason has heard X saying the smart money’s on Jason.

That simple statement made Jason feel amazing. And X wasn’t even saying it for Jason’s benefit. He meant it.

Jason warms up with Sunny. They stretch together and then spar lightly. X yells tips at them both. Maybe Jason shouldn’t be looking forward to beating his friend quite so much, but it’s all in good fun.

“Boys, get in here and sign the waiver,” Little Jay yells from the office. Jason and Sunny jog over, teasing each other. Jason ducks into the washroom on the way.

When he gets to the office, he sees a man he doesn’t recognize. Little Jay waves a hand at him. “Big Jay, give the dude your ID and sign the thing, then get back out there.”

Jason goes cold. He’s stuck on Little Jay’s words. Give them your ID. Jason’s ID still has his birth name and his F gender marker.

Sunny shoulders him, gives him a look. “You okay, bro?” He raises an eyebrow.

Jason wipes his face and then nods. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay.”

So what? So what if this dude finds out he’s trans? Maybe he won’t even notice or care. The contest is mixed genders, apparently. Jason hasn’t seen any obviously female names on the sheet. Preet would have entered if she could, he knows. If she was allowed. And she’s a better fighter than Sunny, maybe even Jason, from what he has seen.

Jason pulls his wallet out of his back pocket. He keeps it on him whenever he can. Old foster-care habits die hard.

The card feels wet in his hand. He puts it down on the desk.

“Sign here,” the man says, pushing a sheet of paper at him. Jason quickly scribbles on the line. The dude doesn’t even look up at him as he looks at the ID card. He takes the paper back from Jason. “Good luck.” His words are neutral, no feeling or emotion. He’s just a man doing a boring job. Jason breathes out in relief and grabs his card. He almost runs back out to the gym.

The ring looks cleaner than usual. There’s a lot of people in the room. Jason recognizes only a couple of others from the training sessions. He guesses that people from other classes are here as well. The beginners’ matches are first, but there’s time to kill. While Jason stretches a bit more, he does some people watching.

Little Jay comes out, carrying a large chalkboard. He hangs it from hooks on the bare brick wall. He looks at the sheet of paper in his hand and starts writing stuff on the board.

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