The Fight Within Read Online Free Page B

all.”
    “You make me sound like a real selfish son of a bitch!”
    “You are, just a nice son of a bitch.” Kyle laughed.
    “Look, I got a big heart but I won’t be taken for a ride. People knock you around, mistake kindness for weakness ’nd shit. I gotta do what I gotta do.”
    “Excuses…”
    “Fine, I tell ya what, Mr. Humanity, the next person that asks me for somethin’, I will give it to them and just focus on what they want, no questions asked.”
    “Oh, what complete bullshit!” The guy chortled.
    “No, I’m serious. I won’t ask them for anything. I won’t even discuss myself and what I need back, none of that. My entire time talkin’ to them will be all about them. Good ol’ Sean won’t even enter the picture.”
    “I bet you can’t do it,” Kyle blurted, catching his words on the toe of an urgent dare.
    “I bet you I can!”
    “Honor system? No bullshittin’?”
    “Yeah, yeah, yeah! I wouldn’t have offered if I was going to lie about it, man!”
    “Hey, that old collection of baseball cards you found that you gave me wasn’t worth shit. I only got like ten bucks for all of ’em.”
    “I already told you that and there is even more proof right there that I do give you shit without you askin’!”
    “That doesn’t count. You got it free and it’s from the fuckin’ trash.”
    “I don’t give a shit if it’s from the inside of an alien’s pussy. It counts!”
    “An alien’s pussy? Where the hell do you come up with this stuff, man?”
    “From your mother. Anyway, the price of the stuff has hit the shitter. Number one, baseball cards aren’t worth what they used to be, and there was nobody in that collection anyone gave a damn about nowadays, and the condition was poor on the grade. Don’t you watch Pawn Stars?” Sean teased. “You think ya know everything though…probably wasn’t even worth the cost in gas!”
    “It wasn’t.” His pal laughed. “I have you covered on the game though. Did you get finished with your training last night?”
    Sean popped the refrigerator door open, exposing two freshly purchased cartons of eggs, a half emptied jug of Manta brand orange juice, an unopened package of maple cured bacon and three heads of lettuce, one of which was wilted. Cradling the phone under his chin, he reached inside with one hand, kicked the damn thing shut and placed a carton of eggs on the crowded counter space, shoving junk mail out of his way.
    “Fell asleep on the damn couch, man. I’ve been exhausted. Between school, both jobs, trainin’ for this match at both gyms and other shit, I just barely got my paper finished. Oh, and check this out.” He snorted as he reached above his head, removed a small white bowl from an overhead cabinet, and cracked three eggs, tossing the shells inside of his trashcan over his shoulder like he was a damn Globetrotter. “I got this notice from this hot piece of ass online, right? Like two or three in the fuckin’ morning.” He grinned as he recalled her face, then poured the eggs into a hot pan over a thin layer of melted butter.
    “Tell me more.” His friend said in a silly singsong voice fit for an infomercial. The lively traffic outside of the partially opened window almost covered the sounds of the morning news as the resident reporters on WABC-TV New York declared the high temperature for the day. On the ticker popped up headlines of the local Manhattan crimes and a ‘feel good’ story no one gave two toxic pigeon shits about.
    “So, she gives me like a compliment or two, right? I knew she was a bobble head though, man.” He grinned as he took the handle of the pan and forced the eggs to run from side to hot side, coating them just so before he fried them to his liking. “And then, she did the shovel move, Kyle!”
    “DUN! DUN! DUUUUUN! GOOOOOLD DIIIIIGGGGGUUUHHHH!”
    They both yelled out at the same time, putting on a star performance of synchronized laughter.
    “Gold digger I do deeee-clare!” he said