The tournament was to commence the next day after arrivals. Timi got settled in quite nicely as he found the accommodations very satisfying. The rooms were well furnished and the food looked delicious.
A tour of the building was about to start and participants and their adult escorts were expected to take part.
The tour started with a guide leading the group to different parts of the huge estate and telling them about it.
"This is the cafeteria where all meals will be served for the remainder of the tournament." The guide informed as he led the group.
"And here, we have the gymnasium where all physical training and preparation activities can be carried out by the contestants."
It was a very large gym, Timi thought to himself as the tour continued.
The guide showed them more and more rooms and parts of the estate which had a fascinating and rich history behind them.
"And finally, to conclude our tour, the Tournament Room." The guide said as he opened a huge door to an even larger room. It was by far the largest room Timi had ever been in.
"This is where all fights will be fought. Over there are seats for spectators and there's the judges' area. Fighters will be sent a schedule arrangement brochure informing them of who they are to fight against and what time the fights will take place."
"Please feel free to use the gym and I hope you all have a wonderful time here."
The tour was over and Uncle Kayode asked Timi to join him in the gym for a workout session to prep for the tournament.
Uncle Kayode held up a punching bag and Timi hammered away at it in the gym.
"Uncle, I just thought of something!"
"What's that?"
"Does Mom know about this, I mean this tournament and that I'm participating?"
"Of course she does, although I may have left out a few details."
Timi stopped punching. "Like what?"
"Well, you know, the fact that it's a fighting tournament." Uncle Kayode said with a guilty tone.
"So if I was to get beat up and return home with bruises, she'd be mad at you?"
"That's true. So don't get bruised and don't break any of your bones."
"Tell that to my opponents."
Night fell and they had their dinner. In the bedroom, Timi had difficulty falling asleep. He kept thinking about the fight tomorrow. A fight. Tomorrow. He couldn't believe he was going to fight someone. He was both excited and anxious. He decided to go to the gym in hopes of relieving himself from his stress with a workout.
He got to the entrance of the gym but was disappointed to find it locked up so he decided to take a stroll through the gardens. As he walked, he saw someone but the person had his back turned so Timi couldn't see his face but his clothes looked very familiar, yes indeed. The unknown person began to walk away and Timi followed behind him.
Who was this, what was he doing and where was he going? Timi's head was filled with these questions and he intended to get answers.
He followed this person until finally, he backed him into a corner with nowhere to go.
"Who are you?" Timi asked the stranger who still had his back turned. The stranger started to turn around very slowly until his face was out in full view. Timi was in shock and he felt like he was standing in the presence of the Devil himself. The stranger was Ayo's killer, the man with the scar on his left eye.
"No, no... How are you here? You can't be here." Timi was panicking. The killer reached into his jacket and brought out a gun. He had to run and so he did, but before he could even take a second step, Timi was surrounded by seven men all wearing karate uniforms and they all held him down. He struggled and struggled to get free but it was all pointless. The killer smirked, raised his gun, pointed it at Timi and pulled the trigger.
Although the room had an AC unit installed in it, Timi was completely covered in his sweat. He was on the edge of his bed breathing frantically. He had had dreams about Ayo's killer before but never had it been this real or scary, never had he felt so helpless. How was he to keep living like this, having endless nightmares about that horrible day? Something had to be done, yes, something definitely had to be done.
The next morning arrived with bright and beautiful sunshine and the promise of victory for Timi. He rushed to his door and found an envelope at the foot of it. This envelope had the details of the first round of fights today and boy, was Timi excited? Timi went into Uncle Kayode's room which was directly opposite his.
"Uncle, I have the schedule arrangement brochure for today's round of fights."
"Good, open it then." His uncle jumped out of bed.
"I'm so excited right now, I could burst." He opened the envelope.
"Ok, it says I'm to fight an 18-year-old boy named Steven. He's 5'12 in height and weighs 162 pounds."
"Oh that's a lot," Uncle Kayode said teasingly to Timi
"Our fight is to take place on the number 5 labelled mat in the Tournament Room and it starts at 1:00 pm. That's five hours from now, I have to start preparing."
Timi ran back into his room, brushed his teeth and took a shower. He made his way to the cafeteria and had a quick breakfast and he and Uncle Kayode made their way to the gym.
As they trained and sparred, Timi noticed that the time was moving faster than normal, of course, it wasn't but he felt like it was, probably because he was very nervous.
It was 15 minutes until his fight so he and his uncle made their way to the Tournament Room. Uncle Kayode took a seat by the mat on Timi's side of it. There was a blue Karate uniform on one side and a red one on the other. Timi put on the blue and waited anxiously for his opponent to arrive.
The judges were seated and the door opened with Timi's opponent, Steven coming in. Boy, was he big? Timi was washed away by a wave of panic but managed to put on a brave face. Steven looked ready to beat the daylights out of him and Timi was intimidated.
Steven put on his red uniform and stood in his corner waiting for the Tournament bell to start the fight.
"Don't worry about him, Timi. Just remember your training, know when to strike and when not to, be patient in your attacks and always keep your guard up," Uncle Kayode gave him some last-minute tips.
"Fighters, to the centre of the mat!" The umpire called out.
Timi was face to face with his adversary, a potential hindrance to his mission for revenge, an unknown enemy, a fellow warrior. How does he move? How fast is he? How heavy are his punches? He was about to find out.
"This fight consists of three rounds with each round lasting five minutes. The goal would be to incapacitate or immobilize your opponent to be unable to stand up for five seconds. There will be no cheap shots, no trash talking, no pinching or eye-poking, no grabbing, no pinning down your opponent and no bone breaking. I want a clean and sporty fight. Break any of these rules and you will be disqualified. Alright, shake hands!"
They shook hands and the umpire had his hand between them.
The tournament bell rang and the umpire said, "FIGHT!!"