Bald New World by Peter Tieryas Liu

Author:Peter Tieryas Liu [Liu, Peter Tieryas]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-1-78279-507-0
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
Published: 2014-05-29T16:00:00+00:00

II.

“What the hell happened to you?” Dan asked.

He’d taken me up to his place, a hotel room with a king-sized bed and a single bathroom. The room smelled of tar and nicotine. There were tons of hooker cards scattered next to the bed stands as well as empty beer bottles. Eleven different knives hung on the wall.

I was about to answer, but he stopped me. “It doesn’t matter. All I care about is the fights. The favorite this season is a brutish little bastard we all call Zhou because of his short master. The pilot is a kid who calls himself Tolstoy.”

“Does he like Tolstoy’s books?”

Dan ignored my question and explained, “His little bugger has gone undefeated in fifty fights so far, favored to win every match a hundred to one odds. He’s just a kid and he’s beating everyone. But he ain’t ever fought a soldier before.”

Kid fighters worried me. They had less mental clutter, more focus that allowed them a purity in their connection that adults struggled with. Still, he was right. I represented the army in cricket battles. With practice, I could fight against the best.

I had to be honest with him. “I’m not in the best condition right now. I—”

“I called a nurse for you. I see those scars. Don’t know where you’ve been, but we’ll get you patched up. I have the night shift anyways so I gotta get back. Get some sleep and we’ll start tomorrow.”

“I need a few days of practice.” More like a few months.

“We set up a match for you against the kid. Not a real one, just a warm up. He’ll probably kick your ass, but it’s a feint.”

“A feint?”

“Throw everyone off their guard and dismiss you when you lose.”

And then when I came back for a rematch a few days later, naturally, everyone would bet against me. It was one of the oldest cons around.

“Heidi will be here in a few minutes,” Dan said.

“The nurse?”

He grinned. “She’ll treat you.”

I wanted to understand the terms that we were arranging. “What’s the deal?” I asked outright.

“You beat him, we make a boatload of money. You take 5% and go wherever you want.”

“If I fail?”

His eyes tightened. “Don’t,” he answered, and left. I followed behind him and tried to open the door. It was locked to prevent both entry and exit. All I needed was a phone call, and now, I couldn’t get out of the room.

As a natural habit, I checked the mattress. There were blood stains everywhere and legions of moving critters. Bed bugs. An infestation of them. I was tired and I knew they would have welcomed my presence. Try some fresh meat, suck on new blood. There was an armchair next to the bed that appeared safer on inspection. I was about to take a seat when I heard a knock.

“Who is it?”

“Heidi.”

A redhead in a tight nurse’s outfit awaited. She had enormous breasts that were accentuated by the revealing low cut of her uniform. She had puffy lips and fake brows.

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