The Big 5

5

It was a weight day for Johnny and this time around the weight cutting process had been a lot harder for him around. He walked to the scales and began stripping down to his underwear and took to the scale, it read 91kg, he made the heavyweight limit, and he got dressed. He was leaving with his teammates when he made eye contact with Thuto Mahinda. They had what seemed to be like a faceoff before Thuto said “Did I see Marko Hulk put hands on you in Budapest and make it to the final round and live to tell the tale? I hope we aren’t getting soft now?” he said patting him on the shoulder, “I guess if you make it to the final we will find out” retorted Johnny. A lot of people in the boxing community believed that if there was anyone to beat Johnny in a boxing ring it would be Thuto. Their styles already created an intriguing matchup with Johnny the slick defensive boxer who was 84-0 and Thuto the all aggressive brawler with a record of 97-2 the last fight he lost back when he was 15. All competitors had weighed in and the draws were done. The national tournament to crown the national champ

would begin the next day. Johnny would go to the gym and then sleep early, the next few days were going to be taxing mentally and physically.

The negotiations between Dwayne’s uncles and Rita’s family were rather straightforward. Mr. Molefe just stated that he wanted their family to treat his daughter well as he would treat their nephew like a son and that if anything happened to his daughter there would be trouble.

Judge Malema sat and listened to both the prosecution and the defense. The prosecution argued that the accused had a motive and even presented several testimonies of Brendan and Obakeng r****g girls. The trend looked familiar: the girls would be offered drinks and transport, pass out and wake up feeling sore down there. The defense however argued that the victims that had come forward were just a bunch of me too followers and that when you are rich like Obakeng and Brandon, girls will try to leech off them. The defense then pleaded for the case to be thrown out.

Mr. and Mrs. Talenyana watched in shock and horror as the judge dismissed the case citing insufficient evidence. Mr. Talenyana sat back deflated as he watched the boys celebrate with family. Before he knew it Mr. Talenyana was in Mr. Khatombela’s face screaming insults before he stormed out of the courtroom. On the taxi ride home, Mrs. Talenyana suggested that maybe it was time for them to see Varona. The idea made him sick but he wanted justice for his daughter and assured his wife he would go about it first thing in the morning.

The next morning Johnny was in the changing room with his team. His team for today’s fight consisted of his coach, Prince as his cut man even though Johnny had never been cut and Ludo who was there for moral support along with the fact that she enjoyed being around her boyfriend regardless of what was happening. Johnny himself was stoic and very quiet. The entire team sat in silence with him. Johnny sat in a meditation-like posture working on his breathing. He was thinking about a lot of things ranging from the impending fight to his exams. He meditated for another 15 minutes before his coach whispered in something to him and they stood up and left. they made it to the arena. That had just made his ring walk. The referee was giving both fighters their instructions and the bell rang, Thuto rushed forward pinning his opponent against the ropes. Once he had him there he proceeded to unleash a powerful left hook that was disguised as a jab to the body. The force at which Thuto threw the punch was enough to not only knock his opponent out but it threw him out of the ring as his opponent fell through the ropes. That had won by knockout. Johnny went back to the changing room and began his warm-up. Throughout his warm-up, he was smiling and joking around with everyone. Once the warmup ended he went back to being stoic. He proceeded to make his ring walk. Once in the ring, he met the referee and opponent to receive instructions. It was at this moment that everyone noticed the size difference with Johnny in the unfamiliar position of the smaller man in the ring. The bell rang and Johnny opened the fight with a very high guard as his opponent looked to keep Johnny at bay with his jabs. This seemed to work as Johnny spent the first minute of the round blocking and ducking the jabs, however in a split second Johnny stepped forward instead of stepping back tilted his head to the side to avoid the jab, and unleashed a powerful overhand right that sent his opponent tumbling to the canvas. Johnny proceeded to go into his corner and motioned for his gloves to be removed. He was announced the winner by knockout.

Mr. Wallace was in a meeting when all of a sudden Thomas walked in and asked everyone to leave. After everyone had left Sean, Themba, Brutus, and Mr. Molefe walked in and sat down. “What do you want us to do with the journalist? '' Mr. Wallace looked puzzled. “What Sean is saying is do you want him gone quietly or do you wanna send a message!''Mr. Wallace stated that he wanted it dealt with quietly. The discussion then changed to p*****t. It was at this very moment Thomas came alive and took over arguing that the family did not want a 3 Million cash p*****t but instead they should be given 3 Million worth of company stock. Mr. Wallace quickly agreed to the p*****t terms and everyone left.

Sean had a meeting with Dwayne about how he was under the microscope with the Molefe men himself included. “I’m going to be blunt with you, we don’t like you, s**t we feel you aren’t good enough for little Rita. f**k we expected her to get married to someone from a prominent family but alas we got you. And I’m wise enough to accept that we don’t always get what we want in this life. However we will accept that whilst you’re an aunt s**t guy, my sister loves you and that means you are one of us now. Look my father will make some moves to put you in a position to provide for your family.” Both men stood up before Sean lunged at Dwayne and put his forearm across his throat. Dwayne was as big and probably equally powerful as Sean but he didn’t fight “if anything happens to my sister, you're going to learn firsthand that everything they say about us is true.”

Mr. Talenyana had been waiting in line to see Mr. Molefe for over 4 hours. The offices had been locked at that time and Mr. Talenyana was on the verge of giving up when a black Maybach and a Bentley pulled up. He saw Themba, Brutus and Thomas emerge from both cars. Mr. Talenyana observed to see if Mr. Molefe was with them and he saw a man similar to his age come out of the Maybach. Mr. Molefe began walking and in a split second, they were flanked by 2 bodyguards as everyone went into their respective offices. Tom walked out of his office and into his father’s office; after a few minutes he came out and said “Rrarona will start with whoever is in front”.

Brutus and Themba parked riverside. They both got out and stood on the banks of the river. “Get him out” as Brutus instructed one of his men who had accompanied them. They brought the body bag to them, Themba then knelt down and sipped the bag. He grimaced at what he saw and said “Ghostalways makes a mess” “Toss it into the water” instructed Brutus again. The men then proceeded to throw the body into the river. They all watched the body of investigative journalist Thabang get taken away by the current until it was barely visible.

Johnny got home; he was surprised to find no one home. He then proceeded to get an icepack and iced his right hand down. This tournament seemed to be taking more out of him physically than in previous tournaments. He thought to himself he’ll continue boxing up till the Olympic Games and then leave the sport because by then he should have a degree and a job. He proceeded to make himself something to eat before he went into his room and began meditating.