Last Warning

Danys Vités, The Viking, Mostafa and Ramatla are lined up in their training gear, facing the rings. It's almost like back when they were all trying out. The mood was so much more uplifting then.

"How long are they gonna take?" Viking grumbled.

"Are you in a hurry to get yelled at some more?" Mostafa asked through his teeth.

"I just want to get whatever they've got in store for us over with," Viking replied.

"Honestly, same," Vités added, bouncing as he stood, "Getting scolded isn't fun, but better to take it and keep moving, you know?"

Ramatla stood straight and stared ahead unblinkingly. Simon was wandering about looking around and checking the entrance to the building.

"Whining about it isn't making them come out faster," Mostafa quietly reprimanded.

The door to Fatima Gamal's opens. The coaches all make their way put and down the stairs, followed by Gamal herself.

"I stand corrected," Mostafa remarked, under his breath before straightening.

The group of veteran wrestlers turned authority figures came around and past the rings so that they could stand face-to-face with the rookies.

Tonye stood with hands behind his back, Alex with her hands held in front and Daniel with his arms folded, no claymore in sight, thankfully. All of them wore stern expressions.

Gamal stood with her arms at her side, her Burqa doing a poor job of hiding her aggravation. She rapidly tapped her index fingers against the sides of her legs and bore her gaze into each of the four rookies. She spoke slowly and deliberately,

"You have a long day ahead of you, so I will be brief. What happened last night was irresponsible and idiotic, luxuries you have not earned," She widened her eyes in anger, "The next time I speak to you, will be to say 'Goodbye.' Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Ma'am!" The rookies all said in unison.

Simon was still looking at the entrance expectantly.

"Thompson!" Gamal called out, urging him to around, "My office. Now,"

He sighed and followed her, leaving the four rookies alone with their coaches. Alexa took a deep breath and with a loud clap, switched on her usual enthusiasm,

"Okay, let's start with a warm-up!" She pointed at them with both ringers, "Remember that 100-kilometre run you were gonna go on last night? You know, the one you were saved from?"

The rookies nodded, earning glares from Tonye and Daniel. They quickly corrected their mistake,

"Yes, Coach," They answered in unison.

Alexa pointed upwards, "Well..." She suddenly ran around all five rings twice at the speed of sound before coming to a sliding halt and holding up two fingers, "... We decided to double it!"

Mostafa, Viking and Vités looked at her with wide eyes. Ramatla remained stoic.

"Isn't that great?" Alexa asked, grinning ear to ear with her hands on her hips

"Yes, Coach," The rookies replied in disjointed and subdued fashion.

Tonye's and Daniel's glares intensified. Alexa adjusted her glasses, which shone bright enough to completely cover her eyes as they did last night. Her sweet voice was now laced with poison, "I don't think I heard you,"

"Yes, Coach!" They responded, with feeling this time.

"Awesome!" She gave them all a double thumbs up, then pointed again, "Out you go! The bus is waiting,"

"Yes, Coach," The four rookies answered again before making their way to the entrance. As soon as they were outside, Alexa's smile vanished and she followed them out with Daniel and Tonye in tow.

Meanwhile, Simon sat opposite Gamal in her office. She stared him down while tapping her fingers on the desk. Simon shifted and looked around uncomfortably before breaking the silence, “Is there… a reason for this meeting, Ma’am?”

“Suzanna,” Gamal said, “Where is she?”

Simon shrugged and frowned, “I’ve looking for her all morning,”

Gamal stopped tapping her fingers, “So you don’t know where she is? Have you spoken to her since last night?

He shook his head and frowned in confusion, “No…?”

(How would I do that if she isn’t here?)

Gamal’s eyes widened, “Have you called her?”

He shook his head again.

“Emailed her?”

Same response.

Gamal held the edge of the table with both hands, “Sent a text? A letter? A smoke signal?”

He shook his head each time.

(What is she getting at?)

“Have you had any communication with her at all?” Gamal asked, standing up with her hands on the desk.

“I don’t have her contact details,” Simon stated, matter-of-factly.

Gamal’s eyes were ready to jump out of their sockets and leave. She twitched and turned her head in every possible direction, before looking at him again, “You… You don’t… You don’t have her contact details?”

He frowned, “Am I supposed to?”

Gamal squinted, her voice resembling air escaping a tyre, “Are you… supposed to?”

Simon continued to swallow his foot with immense vigour, “The only time we ever see each other is when we’re both here. So, I don’t see a reason-”

“Simon!” Gamal snapped, finally having enough, “I gave her time off to recover from her ordeal with Moolah,”

“Oh…” He said.

(Why the hell didn’t you just tell me? Wouldn’t have wasted a trip coming here.)

“Which you would know about if you were actually interested in doing a good job!” She added.

“Excuse me?!” He exclaimed, standing up and towering over her.

“You’re excused,” She said, looking up at him with wide, expectant eyes.

“Respectfully, I’ve been putting her through her paces since day one,” He declared, “I was the one who saved her from Moolah and took her to the Doctor to get patched, then I gave a right talking to-”

“Oh, you gave her a ‘talking to’?” Gamal asked, with a faux-enthusiastic nod.

“Yes, I did,” Simon bit back, “Then I dropped her off at the magic school bus, safe and sound. I have been doing my job,”

Gamal countered, her eyes becoming ruby red, “If you don’t know where she is and what she is doing, you are NOT doing your job!”

He backed down, slightly and she pounced,

“While we’re on the topic, let’s talk about the job we pay you for,” She narrowed her eyes, from the tone of her voice, he could tell she was gritting her teeth, “What happened last night?”

He sat down and looked away, “That… That wasn’t my fault,”

“Really?” She probed, “So it wasn’t you who threw the match with Wiley Morton, opening the door for those two rookies to indulge their stupidity? It wasn’t you who tried to pick a fight with Coach Daniel?”

“I did not try to pick a fight with him,” Simon argued, “He tried to pick a fight with me, as he often does and frankly-”

“I don’t know how else to explain this to you!” Gamal stated with her hands making a strangling motion, “The ice under your gigantic feet is so thin, a feather could shatter it,” She punched her own hand to emphasise her point, before pointing at him, “One more incident. One complaint–Someone tells you coughed without covering your mouth and you are gone,”

She looked at him sideways, “And I will see to it that as long as I am alive, you will see the inside of the wrestling ring again! Not here, not on the Indies, not even at a mud show in a random village in Uganda. Do you understand me?!”

His frown deepened, but he kept his eyes low, “... Yes, Ma’am,”

Gamal sat, pulled out her notebook and furiously wrote down on it, before tearing out the page,

“This is Suzanna’s number. Call her. Today, tomorrow, the day after and so on, and so forth until she comes back!” She ordered, “Because when she comes back, I am going to ask her how many times she spoke to you and how those conversations went,” Her eyes became a deeper shade of red, “Heaven help you if I don’t like her answer,”

Simon let out a loud exhale through his nose, “Yes, Ma’am,” He said, taking the paper gingerly and standing up to leave as she buried her head in her hands from the stress.

“The match… with Morton,” Simon said, causing Gamal to look up at him, “It… The way it went down…”

His eyes darted about, his thoughts briefly shifting to the old woman in the crowd with those evil red eyes, “It wasn’t… my intention to ruin the show, I-”

“What?” She asked, impatiently, “Spit it out,”

He sighed and looked Gamal in her now normal eyes, “It won’t happen again. You have my word,”

Gamal’s eyelids drooped from exhaustion, “Your word is worth absolutely nothing,” She pointed at the door, “Get out of my sight,”

Simon exhaled through his nostrils again and left.

Gamal, once again, held her head in her hands, her fingers wanting nothing more than to tear through her burqa so that they could pull her hair from her scalp.

“Damn you, Moolah,” She growled, “Damn you to hell,”