Chapter 1
Max Howard is the fifth son, of six sons.
Aaron Howard has been a steel worker since he was old enough to work. It is a hard and hot job, but it easily supports his family. He was promoted to department manager for the last seven years of his employment.
Aaron was also the manager over all six of his sons at one point. He was very proud of how committed they were to making their own way in life.
Marie Howard was a housewife that worked hard for her family. A home garden provided a lot of food for the family, but she was also a good baker and seamstress, which she often sold to friends and neighbors.
Max lived a good childhood. He was an A student in school and played football all through high school. Hunting, fishing and football was the family's favorite pastimes. Even his mom enjoyed these activities.
He had a couple of fights at school, as most teenage boys did. He worked as a mechanic in his early teens, and drove an old beat up truck, that he bought with his earned money.
A guy he had went to school with came in for repairs one day, and was just talking about much of nothing, as Max worked on his car.
"Hey man, I remember you were quite the scrapper in school." the guy quips.
"Yeah,well, that was a long time ago. I have better things to do nowadays," Max replies with his head under the hood.
"You should come out to the old Casper's barn some weekend. They do bare knuckle boxing out there, it's a real hoot. And them old boys can make some good money some nights." the guys says cracking open a Coke.
"Oh yeah?" Max replies.
"Yeah, they do it on Saturdays at 7 pm. You can just come out and give it a look. Maybe pick up a couple of bucks on the side."
Max straightens up, wiping his hands on a rag.
"Well, that got it. It was a bad plug.That'll be seventy five cents." Max shuts the hood. The man hands him a dollar bill.
"Keep the change."
"Thanks." Max grins, dropping the money in the till.
"Seriously, you should come check it out. Saturday at seven," the guy says getting in his car.
"We'll see," Max waves at the man as he pulls off.
Saturday rolls around, and Max is just about finished cutting the grass. He's sitting on the steps drinking a soda, when a car drives by. The guy from school, hell, he can't even remember his name. Max chuckles.
"Hey son, looks good, thank you," his dad tells him stepping out of the house.
"Hey dad, thanks, just a bit more around the side there and I'm done," Max smiles up at his dad.
"I'm ready Aaron," Max's mother says coming out.
"I'm taking your mom out to see a movie and supper. What are you doing tonight?"
"Nothing, maybe some TV," Max stands dusting his hands on his pants.
"There are some leftovers you can heat up for supper," Max's mom says sweetly, kissing his cheek.
"Thanks. Y'all have a good night," He watches as his parents get in the car and back out, he waves as they leave.
He quickly finishes off the mowing and cleans the mower before putting it away. He goes up and has a shower, then finds some cold Chicken Fried Steak in the fridge, grabbing the mayonnaise and he makes himself a sandwich.
He flips through the channels and can't find anything worth watching, so he turns it off and finishes his dinner, just sitting there relaxing, he remembers what the guy said about the old Casper's barn. He looks at the clock, 6:30.
"What the hell, I'll give it a look," he cleans up his mess, grabs his keys and heads out.
It's been a while since he's been out that way and has to really look for the old dirt road, finding it, he turns in. There are cars scattered about in the field around the old barn.
When he walks in, there are a bunch of guys yelling and holding money in their hands, it's like a mob scene. He nudges his way closer to have a look.
There are two men knocking the hell out of each other in a makeshift ring. Max stands on the edge, watching the men duke it out. Damn, these guys are good, he thinks to himself, nodding in appreciation of their skills.
Suddenly one is knocked into him, and Max grabs the man so they don't fall. The man turns around, blindly swings at Max, hitting him in the mouth. Max returns the favor, knocking the guy out before he thinks about it.
The crowd goes wild. A man pushes his way through the crowd and hands Max some money.
"Here ya go boy." he says smiling wide.
"What's this for?" Max asks confused.
"It was a fight for anyone who could knock the guy out!" The man laughs. Max shrugs and counts the money, three hundred dollars!
"Next round!" someone says over the speakers.
"Who will it be? What's the bet?" the speaker shouts.
"I'm backin' this young buck!" a man grabs Max's hand and lifts it in the air.
"I'm not here to fight," Max tries to tell the man.
"I got one here!" another man shouts, standing next to a guy pulling his shirt over his head.
"Go on boy, we split the winnings," Max looks at the man across the ring. He's not that big. Max shrugs and smiles. I got this, he thinks to himself, removing his shirt.
The man he was fighting was small and wiry. Max walks around the ring slowly, sizing the man up, smiling all the while. He was quick and a lot stronger than he had thought, but with some effort, he knocked the guy out.
Max was still standing over him, breathing hard and fast, when the man that backed him, handed him a hand full of crumbled up bills.
"Here ya go boy, good fight. Wanna go another round?" the man says and laughs with brown teeth and foul breath.
"Nah man, I'm good," Max chuckles, shoving the money in his pocket and heads out.
Max looks in the rear view mirror seeing a busted lip and a cut above his eye. Great, mom will have a word or two to say about that. Max chuckles and starts his old truck.
The next morning at breakfast, his mother gives him a raised brow. He braces himself for a comment, but it never comes.
"Max, there's an opening at the plant, would you be interested?" His dad suddenly announces from behind his newspaper.
"Yes!" Max says quickly. His dad laughs looking at him.
"That was quick, you don't even know what it is." Max shrugs.
"Pays more than what I'm getting at the garage." Max laughs, shoving food into his mouth.
The next week, Max is standing at a machine with someone directing him on what to do. He doesn't find out until about a week later, that his dad is his supervisor. Max smiles at the thought, he wants to make his dad proud, and works that much harder.
A month later, Max finds himself back at the old Casper barn. He wins two fights and calls it a night. Counting the money, he made six hundred dollars, more than his wages at the plant in a month, but he likes working.
Leaving the barn, he heads for a bar downtown and has a couple of beers just to relax, let the adrenaline die down. Three men recognize him from the barn and offer to buy him a beer.
They talk shit about the fights and laugh about the guy that got his ass whooped. Max knows he's had too much to drink and needs to get home, he stumbles out to his truck and passes out.
This becomes his routine for the next year, work and fight. He gives his mother the money from the fights to put away. She has yet to say anything about him coming home busted up, nor does she ask about the money, she just puts it in a small vase in her bedroom. But he finally tells her.
"Mom, do you ever wonder where I get the extra money?" he asks picking up a towel to help her.
"Yes, but that's your business. You will tell me when you're ready," she says, washing the dishes.
Max leans back against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest, looking at his mom's face. She is tired, but she would never admit it to anyone.
"Mom. I fight on the weekends," she stops washing the dishes, leaning on her hands, she sighs deeply.
"I've heard talk. I just hope you are smart enough to know that there will come one time when you lose. I pray that you don't get hurt when that time comes," She looks at him with tears pooling in her eyes.
"I know mom," he hugs her tightly, resting his chin on top of her head.
That time comes three months later. He gets beat so bad, that it puts him in the hospital for three days. He decides then, that it's time to stop.
He works even harder at the plant, volunteering for overtime whenever it comes up. But he becomes restless on Saturday nights. He needs that release, so he hits the bars, getting as drunk as he can, often getting into fights and being arrested several times.
He calls his dad asking to be bailed out and his dad comes through, until one night, his dad refuses.
"Hey dad. I need you to come get me." Max slurs over the phone. The line stays silent for a few minutes.
"Dad, ya hear me?"
"Yes son, I heard you." his dad said softly.
"So? Ya coming?" Max laughs drunkenly.
"No son, I'm not. I've done all I am willing to do. You have to stop this, you're breaking your mother's heart."
"What the hell? You need to come get me, now!" Max shouts into the phone, the line goes dead.
"Dad! Dad!" Max yells.
"That's enough Howard!" a cop yells, yanking the phone from Max's hand.
Max swings, hitting the cop, hard. That stunt costs him another week in jail.
