Stu's Gym

Jim and Barret figured they’d had an easy mark. They’d heard about Stu’s gym a while ago. Sure he was known around town for being some legendary boxer but when they went to stake out the place Stu looked well past his prime. The 60 year man had been running the gym nearly 30 years. He seemed like a friendly guy but that would just make it all the easier to steal from him. 

They joined the gym and watched for an opening. But what they found out was that Stu closed the gym by himself every night. “There’s no way,” Jim told Barret. “He’d be too big of a fucking moron to do that.”

“You ever see him leave with anyone else?” Barret countered. “Huh?” He tilted his soda into Jim’s face as though he’d just made an unbelievably good point. But Jim didn’t know how to counter it. The old man seemed to trust everyone there. His friendly outgoing personality had even made fast friends with Jim and Barret. But a marks a mark.

“Alright… Let’s go,” Jim said as he jumped out of the car. He pulled his mask over his face and headed towards the boxing gym. Barret followed suit and the two walked up behind the old man. “Give us the money old man and no one gets hurt.”

“Huh?” Stu turned around and looked up at the two guys in masks. “Jim? Barret? What are you boys doing here?” 

They looked at each other. “Damn it,” Barret said. “I knew we shouldn’t have both joined. Now what the fuck are we supposed to do?”

“Dude calm down. It’s still two against one.” Jim’s attention turned back to Stu as he watched them bickering. “Give us the money and we won’t hurt you.”

Stu just let out a laugh. It cut through them. Both Jim and Barret were significantly larger than the man they were trying to rob. The job should have been that much easier to do. Yet he wasn’t the least bit intimidated. Right now, he was laughing in their faces. He was completely unfazed by the size that normally scared everyone. Plus he knew they knew how to fight. But there he was laughing like they were a couple of wimps. 

“Something funny old man?” Barret was trying to sound intimidating again. Something in Stu’s laugh had made him a little nervous.

“Sorry,” Stu apologized wiping a tear from his eye. “It’s just been so long since I’ve had a chance like this. Come in. Come in.” Stu turned the key to the lock and pushed the door open. Barret and Jim stood in the doorway. “Don’t go haunting doorways now,” Stu walked deeper into the boxing gym. He stepped up into the ring. “So you boys want a fight? Let’s at least do it right.”

“What are you talking about?” Barret was genuinely confused as he watched the older man punch the air inside the ring. He was throwing different three set combos and started dancing around the ring. 

“C’mon boys. You said you wanted a fight. Let’s have one. I do own a boxing gym after all…” Stu smiled over his shoulder as he climbed into the ring. He threw out a few fake punches to the air and tossed his feet back and forth. Despite his age he moved incredibly well.

“I said I wanted money,” Jim said as he clung to the rope standing outside the ring. 

Stu stopped for a second, his eyebrow cocked. “Oh? You want money? Then beat me in a boxing match. C’mon boys. Two against one you can handle those odds. Right?”

Now it was Jim and Barret’s turn to laugh. They couldn’t believe some old guy could possibly think he could take the two of them on. Jim pulled the rope up and slipped into the ring. “You sure you want this? You could just give us the money.” Barret followed him in. The two stood tall above the old man. “Like I said you could always give us the money.”

Stu leaned against the pole still unfazed. “C’mon boys. Rules are rules. I know I’m the one making them but you still have to follow them. Start over on your side of the ring.” The two guys take a few steps back standing in their corner. “Now I know you guys are new to this fighting thing but don’t worry. I won’t go too hard on ya.”

“We’ve been in fights before old man!” Barret shouted.

Stu let out another condescending laugh, “Probably didn’t win many of them. Based off yer size I can’t imagine them going too well.”

“Our size…?” Jim asked as he looked over him and Barret’s body. They were a good six inches taller and had to outweigh him by at least fifty pounds each. Sure they weren’t as tone as the older man but they were anything but small.

“Sorry,” he laughed. “Guess I’m getting a little ahead of myself. So you want money if you win. Right?”

“Yeah,” Jim said.

“Alright. I want your youth and size. Ready?”

Now it was Barret and Jim’s turn to laugh as they readied themselves for a match. “Whatever you say old man.” Jim was distracted as he heard a bell ring to start the match. He figured they were completely alone. Why would someone be ringing a bell. 

“Can’t get distracted in a fight. That’s one of the first rules!” somehow Stu was right up next to him. Jim tried to throw his hands up but was far too slow. He took one solid punch right to the chin. Stars filled his vision as he tried to figure out where the old man had gone. Only a blurry figure remained in field of vision. He tried throwing a punch, unsure where it’d land. “Nope. Not there,” Stu was mocking him. But it didn’t matter a second punch knocked in flat on his back. He couldn’t do anything about it. Everything just went black and then he woke up with a wet rag over his head. “Have a nice nap?”

Jim just groaned. His head hurt and he couldn’t think straight. “What happened…”

“We lost…” Barret said. 

“We lost?” Jim tried to get his bearings but fell over again.

“Well… You lost. After the one two I gave you Barret was just about to piss his pants. Didn’t have the heart to hit him as hard,” Stu was laughing at them again. Jim could feel his anger bubbling up inside him as he tried to sit back up. “It’s alright boy. I know it’s tough. But you’ll manage.” 

Jim let out a groan. His body ached. He’d never been punched like that but didn’t think it would cause his entire body to ache. With the last bit of his strength he finally sat up, rubbing the dazed feeling out of his head. “What are you talking about?” But then looked down at his body. “What the Hell?!” he had a burst of adrenaline as he looked over his arms. They were so thin and spindly. He stood up and staggered over to Stu. Each step he could feel even more of his strength draining from his body. His small hands gripped the shirt plastered across Stu’s chest. He paused, out of breath.

“You agreed to the match so I get to take what I like. Your friend was willing to give up so I didn’t feel like I needed to take as much from him,” Stu turned Jim around to see Barret. The 6’2” 250 pound guy looked to be about 100 pounds lighter. If anything he looked really good. Just a light bit of muscle while all the fat around his face was completely gone. He had a handsomely square jaw. Even though right now it was covered with facial hair, once it was trimmed up it’d look like he was some kind of professional. “And you? Well… I took a bit more.” 

Jim looked over his body. He could still see the size draining from his arms and chest. Turning back to Stu, he had to tilt his back ever so slightly more to see into his eyes. The age the old man had had was completely gone. Wrinkles that covered his face smoothed over while the dark circles under his eyes were gone again. The thinning white hairline had filled out again into its deep brown color. Jim’s body went weak again but Stu caught him and pulled him into his massive chest. “Don’t feel bad. It’s not the first time I’ve done this. Probably won’t be the last. But if you guys work hard, I’ll give you most of it back.”