Kelsie was imdiately displeased.
Looking at the program again, she sighed and glanced toward both her children.
Never did she think a children’s tournant like this one would be so violent. That’s why she’d never bothered to learn how it worked.
As the fight progressed, the ginger-haired kid, a blonde girl, Zade, and a brunette girl kept moving up the ranks.
"Do you see the brunette? That’s my baby girl. Isn’t she just stunning and amazing?" the man who claid to have trained his child for an entire year gushed proudly from the side.
"She is." Kelsie nodded.
The words had barely rolled off her tongue when others began chiming in.
"The blonde girl isn’t bad either."
"That ginger-haired kid scares ."
"Is it just , or does anyone else wonder how that skinny little boy has made it this far?"
"I find it odd he finishes them in less than ten moves. He must be the captain of the boxing team."
"No, that’s my daughter, and she’s already been eliminated."
"If you ask , he’s not strong. His past opponents were just weak."
Soone paused and turned to Kelsie.
"Which one is yours?"
She had just parted her lips to respond when the man with the brunette daughter chuckled,
"She hasn’t said a word this entire ti. Her kid must’ve gotten eliminated early."
A blonde woman leaned forward almost imdiately, a sneer tugging at her lips.
"Too bad. Don’t you worry, when my daughter wins, I’ll treat every one of you to dinner."
At this, the man scoffed.
"Don’t flatter yourself. Your girl could never beat mine."
"Why not? Your daughter is slow and small, and my daughter looks older. In what world does soone like that not beat yours?"
f.(r)eewe/bnov\ll
"That’s not how these things work! Though your daughter may be bigger and..."
And so the squabbling began, with the two parents throwing shade at each other.
Kelsie leaned back and picked up her bowl of popcorn.
Well, it’s not like she had anything to worry about.
Zade had been careful all this while.
Abroad, a gym had opened up across the street once her children turned two.
Because it was readily accessible, she spent an unhealthy amount of ti there. Eventually, her kids got used to seeing her kick and throw punches and naturally started doing the sa.
Just last year, her aunt signed them up for a tournant.
Keira had been matched with a girl in the female division but forfeited the match when she learned the girl’s parents had died in a shooting.
Zade, on the other hand, only joined the tournant after learning that the kid mouthing off to him at the playground was a two-ti decorated champion.
Since he couldn’t beat the boy up without being labeled violent, he caught up to him in the ring and beat him to a stupor.
Now her ’skinny’ and ’weak’ kid was paired with these so-called formidable figures.
Thankfully, he hadn’t shown any aggressive moves the entire ti, so she wasn’t too worried.
Returning her attention to the tournant, she watched as every other participant got eliminated.
Finally, Zade, the ginger-haired boy, and both girls were left standing.
When the two girls were paired to fight each other, their parents were livid.
"What is this? Why didn’t they pair my daughter with the skinny boy?"
"They’re being sexist! My girl could easily beat that little boy. She’s at least two years older than him after all!"
Realizing they were about to cause another scene, Kelsie leaned forward and calmly said,
"Think of it this way: which one of you wants your daughter to face off against the ginger-haired boy?"
Just like she expected, they went silent instantly, turning their attention to the match without saying another word.
Each round took a minute, becoming the longest fight of the day.
On the third round, the brunette was knocked down.
And the referee rushed into the ring.
"10,9,8,7,6..."
Her father imdiately shot up from his seat and yelled through clenched teeth, "Damn it, Jasmine, get on your feet!"
However, the little girl was frightened by the look on her father’s face and shrank her head even more.
"...4,3,2,1." The mont he counted down to one, the referee raised the blonde girl’s hand to indicate she was the winner.
"There we have it! Fiona Ball advances forward as a finalist!" The words had barely left the host’s mouth when the brunette drew her knees to her chest and burst into tears.
Her father was fuming.
"What do you think you’re doing? Do you think you deserve to..."
For the nth ti that day, Kelsie ca to the rescue again by gently cutting him off.
"Everyone whose child has been eliminated, how about placing a bet on which of the three kids will win the grand prize?"
Successfully distracted, the girl’s father sucked in his teeth, surprised.
"What? Why didn’t I think of that?"
Disgruntled and agreeing voices soon followed from every direction.
"Yeah, that sounds about right. We should at least earn money sohow."
"I didn’t win anything, so why should I spend money?"
"No one said to bet your entire fortune. A hundred or two is more than enough."
Nodding in agreent, the parents began reaching for their purses and wallets.
The brunette girl’s father took out a pen and drew three lines on a piece of paper.
"This side’s for the skinny, weak kid, this is for the ginger-haired boy, and this one’s for the blonde. You can start making your bets now."
Kelsie watched them place their bets with a straight face.
She already knew Zade would win.
But the bet was the only thing she could think of to calm the crowd and stop this man from screaming profanities at his child in front of the others.
Once the betting ended, she looked down to see a large number of signatures under the ginger-haired boy’s line.
Even the mother of the blonde girl wasn’t left out.
As the one who had made the suggestion, everyone naturally noticed Kelsie hadn’t placed her bet yet and turned to her in surprise.
Forcing a smile, she reached into her purse, counted out two thousand dollars, and dropped it on her thigh. Then she leaned forward and signed under Zade’s line.
Surprised gasps imdiately followed, but no one said a word.
The man with the brunette daughter, however, didn’t want her to make such a mistake and reminded her, "Everyone is betting on the ginger-haired kid. You’ll lose more than you bet with that amount."
Kelsie didn’t look up until she was done signing.
Capping the pen, she handed it back to him, a small smile grazing her lips.
"Who said I’m betting on the ginger-haired kid?"
"Who else would you be betting on?" The man was clearly perplexed.
Just then, the blonde girl’s mother suddenly laughed.
"Forget what I said about my daughter. She might beat the skinny kid and co second, but there’s no way she’s beating that ginger-head. I’ve already accepted my fate."
Kelsie’s lips twitched.
"Why would I bet on your kid when my kid is also up there?"
"Your kid?" The woman stopped laughing and repeated, brows furrowed in confusion as she glanced toward the ring. "But there’s no one else other than..."
The host’s voice cut her off at this mont.
"Ladies and gentlen, let’s now welco to the ring, Zade Sutton and Gerald Hoffman!"
Kelsie pursed her lips, her cheeks stretching into a broad smile as she watched Zade on the Jumbotron.
"I’m Kelsie Sutton. Zade Sutton is my kid."
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