Not a person in sight. Only crows picking scraps and cigarette butts out between the gravel. The old Ford turns left up the dark alley leading to the yard. It rumbles along the dirt road for several minutes before disappearing between the worn-out train cars and coming to a stop near the large open space between them. Two men step out of the van. The driver lights a cigarette while the other sends a text from a flip phone to a number that will soon be disconnected.
“Plaza is clear. Games are on!”
The man with the cigarette leans against the van while dragging hard on his smoke. His face is rough, and his beard is big and messy. The two fingers missing from his left hand were taken by a shark several years ago. The kind of shark that offers high interest loans to desperate people. The other man is walking around the area to check it out properly. He has already decided how to set up the area, when the flip phone in his pocket gives a short buzz.
“Players 1-4 confirmed. Set it up.”
The man nods to himself when he reads the text and then calls his friend to get the gear. The man with the cigarette opens the van and hauls out a large box. They start by setting up the corner polls for the arena. Then they tie a long rope between the corners to form a clearly marked square. Finally, one of them grabs a can of spray-paint and paints a second square on the ground around the first, marking off where the spectators can stand. They are only just finished with the ring when a brown Toyota rolls into the square and parks next to the van. A slim, bald man with small sunglasses exits the driver side of the vehicle and promptly walks to the rear passenger door. The driver opens the door and a short Asian man, wearing a suit, steps out. He has a large scar across his face, and his nose is crooked from having been broken several times. The driver walks to the man with the cigarette and announces that player one has arrived and is ready. The man with the flip-phone leads the driver and the Asian man, known as player one, to an open train car where they can sit and wait for the other players and the spectators to arrive.
Over the course of the next few minutes the area slowly fills up with people, arriving in cars, on bikes and on foot. They all gather quietly around the marked square, being careful not to cross the painted lines on the ground. Ten minutes later, a station wagon pulls into the yard. Two very buff young men exit the car. One has tattoos covering most of his body, from the tips of his fingers, up the arms, across the chest and back, and down the legs. The other has clean white skin. They are both wearing jeans and tight tank tops and generally look a lot alike, apart from the ink. The tattooed one announces the arrival of players three and four and the men are led to another train car where they can wait. Player two arrives a few minutes later, on a lime green motorcycle. She quickly parks it, walks to the man with the cigarette and demands the games start immediately. The man nods and grabs an old worn-out bowler hat from his box of stuff. He quickly throws four pieces of paper in there and shakes it. His partner pulls out two of the paper slips. Players three and four are up first. The players enter the square and for a few minutes they just stare at each other, while the crowd has a chance to place their bets. When all the bets are in the man with flip phone gives the players the signal to start.
The tattooed man throws the first punch that lands square in the chest of his brother who stumbles backwards, before launching his own punch. He passes a few perfect face shots before his tattooed brother manages to block him and fight back. They fight back and forth for several minutes, while the crowd yells and cheers. Both men are bleeding from the face, and the tattooed one clearly has a broken nose while the other has a swollen eye. They both refuse to back down, but they also seem to be equally good fighters.
Lots of low blows and dirty tricks later the tattooed man finally lands a punch that sends his opponent into the dirt. He lands on his back and doesn’t get back up. The crowd is yelling and screaming louder than ever when player four is declared the winner. A few volunteers drag the looser away from the arena.
During the short break between fights, all the bets are settled. Some won good money, while others lost even more. Less then five minutes later the next fight is prepared. The name-hat comes out again, now only containing three paper slips. The first one pulled is player two; the young woman. Next is player four. He has barely wiped the blood from his face, and now he has to fight again. The fighters join the square and another round of betting is started. When the fight starts the woman quickly sends a series of well-placed fist shots, but the tattooed man blocks them easily. He is significantly larger than her and the punches doesn’t seem to bother him at all. When the woman backs off, he returns the favour by punching her, first going for the face and then for the body. She blocks, but the hits push her backwards. This man is clearly hitting a lot harder than her and has about twice the weight. They dance around each other and trade punches, always with the same result. One punches, the other blocks. He always pushes her backwards several feet for each attack, while she barely makes him move an inch. The crowd is yelling and cheering every time one of the fighters makes a move. After a while the tattooed man decides to end the fight. He launches forward to strike the woman. He is putting his entire weight behind this one. As he extends his arm, with incredible force the woman ducks out of the way and pulls her knee up and forward with an equal amount of force. Her head only just gets out of the way of the fist, coming at her, but her knee is well placed and strikes the man square in the balls. He lets out a loud squeal and then the entire area goas quiet.
The tattooed man tumbles over, as in slow motion and lands curled up on the ground. The silence is long as the crowd realizes what just happens. Then they all roar at once. The tattooed man is dragged away, and the woman is declared the winner. Once again, the bets are settled, and the two remaining fighters prepare for the last fight of the day.
Players one and two are called to the arena. For the last time, the crowd has a few minutes to place their bets. Most people are betting on the Asian who is no longer wearing his suit. He is now only wearing a pair of shorts and tight fist wrappings. His bare torso reveals several large scars from knife fights and at least two from bullets. The fight begins with the Asian leaping forward with unbelievable speed and hammering on the young woman like lightning. His hands move too fast for people to really understand what is happening, and the woman has only a poor chance to block. She can do nothing but take the massively violent abuse from her opponent, until he finally backs off to take a breather. He expected the woman to be too tired and sore from the previous fight and from his own pounding to offer any real threat or resistance. But as soon as he steps away from her, she takes the short opening as an invitation to teach him a few things about street fighting. She starts by landing a few perfectly measured body shots, forcing the Asian to lower his guard to protect his stomach. The woman takes advantage of this slight opening, to send a single right hook straight to his face. The sound of his nose breaking almost outshouts the roaring cheer of the crowd. The Asian stumbles backwards. He never thought this chick would have had such power in her. He quickly collects himself and steps forward to deal his own damage, but every swing he throws, hits only air, as the woman dodges him every time, with incredible precision. He keeps trying, but no matter how fast he tries to punch, she keeps ducking out of the way or blocking him off, almost like she knows where the next punch will fall before he does. Before he is able to land a solid punch, she starts hitting him back. They trade punches back and forth, but although they are pretty equal in skill the Asian man is taking the most direct blows while the woman is taking a lot less damage. After ten minutes the woman delivers the final blow. A perfect wrist shot hitting the Asian in the throat. He stumbles backwards a few steps, with panic in his eyes, before finally tumbling over with a vague rattling sound. The crowd is louder than ever before, as the woman is declared the winner.
As the Asian is dragged away from the arena and the bets are being settled, the woman walks back to her motorbike. She swiftly hops on and turns to the game host with the cigarette. She gives him a small wink before speeding away from the old train yard.