Chapter 5 - Phoenix Was For The Gym
Nora listened with me.
Tournament counsel joined by video.
Jake sat across the room.
Mason refused to attend until his own attorney could join.
Fine.
I pressed play.
The first twenty-eight seconds were exactly what I'd heard.
Mason:
“Carter cannot go tomorrow.”
Jake:
“Then tell her the truth.”
Mason:
“I am trying to keep this contained.”
Jake:
“You said Phoenix was over.”
Then the woman's voice.
Nora recognized it.
“That's me.”
I stared.
“You were there?”
“On speaker.”
Of course.
Mason had called Nora first, then accidentally called me afterward with the conversation still continuing.
The recording moved past the part I'd heard.
Nora:
“Rachel is properly entered. You cannot remove her without a valid reason.”
Mason:
“I’m her coach.”
Nora:
“That doesn't make her your property.”
Silence in the room.
Then Jake on the recording:
“Leah's already here. You can't put that back.”
Mason:
“Phoenix was supposed to save us.”
My body tightened.
Jake across from me closed his eyes.
The recording continued.
Nora:
“Save who?”
Mason:
“The gym.”
Not me.
Not my career.
The gym.
Mason sounded angry now.
“We were six weeks from missing payroll. The sponsor wanted a national winner. Rachel was the only one with a real shot.”
Jake:
“She still had to win the final.”
Mason:
“I know.”
Nora:
“What did you do?”
Mason:
“I opened the path.”
My hands went cold.
Opened the path.
I thought of Phoenix.
Leah withdrawing.
Me advancing.
Cameras.
Sponsor photos.
The new bags that appeared in the gym a month later.
The renovation.
The second training room.
Mason telling us a backer had finally believed in what we were building.
The voicemail continued.
Jake:
“You told me Leah was hurt.”
Mason:
“She was.”
Jake:
“You told Rachel it was personal.”
Mason:
“Because Rachel would've refused the walkover if she thought I had anything to do with it.”
That hurt differently.
Because he knew me.
At least he thought he did.
Nora stopped the audio.
I stared at the phone.
“Keep going.”
She looked at me.
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
Play.
Mason:
“Then St. Louis happened.”
Jake:
“You can't keep calling it happened like weather.”
Mason:
“St. Louis was different.”
Jake:
“You told Alexis that Rachel refused the fight.”
I sat up.
Alexis.
Alexis Warren.
The opponent supposedly missing weight.
Mason:
“She couldn't make the number safely.”
Jake:
“Then say that.”
Mason:
“She wanted to fight up. Rachel would've agreed.”
Nora:
“So you told each fighter the other one wouldn't take the match?”
Silence.
My stomach dropped.
In St. Louis, Mason had told me Alexis failed to make weight and the match was canceled.
Apparently he told Alexis I refused an adjusted bout.
No bribe.
No forged bracket.
Just two athletes never speaking directly.
Mason finally answered on the recording.
“Yes.”
I looked down.
One more match I'd accepted without asking.
The recording continued.
Then came the part Jake had warned me about.
Nora:
“Why Rachel?”
Mason's answer came immediately.
“Because Rachel wasn't enough yet.”
Everything inside me went quiet.
Jake shifted across the table.
On the recording, Mason continued:
“She was talented. She was also inconsistent. The sponsor didn't want potential. They wanted a result.”
Jake:
“So you manufactured one.”
Mason:
“I manufactured an opportunity.”
Jake:
“For her?”
A long pause.
Then Mason said:
“For Reed.”
The gym.
His name.
His payroll.
His coaches.
All the people who needed the place to survive.
Me included.
But not first.
Nora ended the voicemail before the final minute.
I looked up.
“Why stop?”
“Because the rest moves from old events to last night.”
“That's exactly what I need.”
Counsel's voice came from the laptop.
“Nora.”
She paused.
Then nodded.
“Continue.”
Mason's recorded voice:
“Leah needs to leave.”
Jake:
“I’m not asking her again.”
Mason:
“Then I will.”
Nora:
“No, you won't.”
Mason:
“If she puts this in front of Rachel five minutes before competition, Rachel blows up.”
Jake laughed bitterly.
“She has a right to.”
Mason:
“She slaps me in public, walks out, whatever. I need her off that mat before anyone starts asking why her record looks the way it does.”
The room went silent.
Nobody looked at me.
Because that prediction had come true almost exactly.
I had slapped him.
Publicly.
He had known me well enough to count on my temper.
Maybe that's why he'd humiliated me in front of everyone.
Not because he believed I wasn't good enough.
Because he needed me angry enough to remove myself.
The recording ended with Nora saying:
“You don't get to protect the gym by making Rachel the problem.”
Then nothing.
I stared at the dark screen.
Jake finally spoke.
“Now you know why I panicked.”
I looked at him.
“No.”
May you like
My voice sounded unfamiliar.
“Now I know why Mason did.”
