“What do I have to do?”
“Start by telling the truth. Not a version that makes you look better. The truth. Then accept that the gym may still need distance from you.”
Bryce shook his head. “Everybody will laugh.”
“Some will. You can’t control that.”
He looked around at the mirrors. “You don’t know what that feels like.”
Marisol pointed to her crooked right shoulder, the one that had ended her professional career.
“I fought on television once,” she said. “I lost in ninety seconds in front of everybody I knew. People clipped it. People laughed for years. I survived the loss. The problem wasn’t losing. The problem would have been hurting somebody else so I didn’t have to feel embarrassed.”
Bryce lowered his eyes.
When he left the gym, he found Devin waiting beside his car with the gimbal case in his hand.
“Bro,” Devin said, “we got an offer. A real one. There’s a promoter who wants a rematch.”
Bryce glanced back at the darkened windows.
For the first time in years, the promise of another fight did not make him feel powerful. It made his jaw hurt.
Chapter 15 — The Letter With the Heavy Paper
The demand letter arrived five days after the holiday. It was printed on thick white paper with a firm’s letterhead and sent by certified mail. Owen read it once at the kitchen table and a second time standing by the window.
It claimed he had used excessive force against Bryce, caused significant injury and reputational damage, and should pay a substantial sum to resolve the dispute without litigation. It did not mention Caleb. It referred to the confrontation as an “unprovoked physical altercation,” a phrase that made Owen set the paper down carefully so he would not crumple it.
The amount demanded was one hundred thousand dollars.
Owen checked the figures. He had enough savings for ordinary emergencies, not enough for a prolonged civil lawsuit. His retirement income covered his house and daily needs. He had saved for June’s college fund and Caleb’s future, not for lawyers.
He called Megan.
“Don’t panic,” he began.
“Why would you open with that?” she asked.
He told her.
There was a silence, followed by a word Megan rarely used in front of her father.
“That about sums it up,” Owen said.
She wanted to see the letter. He emailed her a photograph, then called the legal-aid attorney he had consulted before speaking with Ruiz. The attorney referred him to Leah Park, a civil litigator who volunteered a portion of her time through the county’s veterans legal network.
Leah did not promise to make the problem disappear. She asked for documents, witness names, and the names of any insurance carriers that might need notice. She asked Owen to stop discussing the incident publicly and to preserve every message. She also asked him whether he could tolerate the possibility of strangers examining parts of his life he had kept private for years.
