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hotel. The fighters and coaches were on the road the next morning by 9AM. They stopped for coffee before leaving New Orleans. Julien caught a ride with Christian and a few of the other guys from the gym. None of them had been with them at Fast Eddie's the night before, so Julien gave them a recap on everything that went down. They all got a kick out of the guy thinking he could handle himself against a trained fighter in a street situation.
    "All I want is for someone to come up to me in a bar and tell me I couldn't take him in a street situation," Brett said. "That'd be like a fuckin' Christmas present."
    "It wasn't as gratifying as you might think," Julien said. "All I did was grab his throat, and he was done."
    "Damn, he didn't even take a swing?"
    "No," Julien laughed. "And he was holding a pool cue."
    "I'll bet he peed himself," Brett said.
    They each shared stories about people who thought they could fight better than they actually could. Most guys thought they'd know what to do if they got in a bar fight, but they never realize the amount of cardio you need to make it past throwing a few punches. It's one thing to watch UFC and be familiar with the sport, but another to engage. All three of the guys in the car had been in the cage and knew for themselves how hard it was. They got a kick of recounting examples of how other people assumed they could do it with no training.
    Everyone riding in Christian's car made it back to the gym at just after 11AM. They'd all left their cars at the gym the day before since there was no need for them to drive separately. Julien had an old Jeep, but he was always working on it, and knew it would have been fine to make the trip. It was his baby and he loved having it as a project, but it didn't have air or heat, and he was much more comfortable in Christian's car. None of them even went inside the gym. They just said their goodbyes in the parking lot and went separate ways. Julien's house was only a ten-minute drive, and he decided to go home to put his stuff away and take a shower before he had to be back to fill in for class.
    Julien had a small, Acadian style house nestled on a wooded lot. The house itself was verging on condemnable when he first bought it, but he'd been chipping away at it for almost three years, and while it was still rustic, it was now clean and comfortable. He loved to fish, and being able to access the bayou from his backyard was priceless.
    He laid his keys on the table by the door, unpacked all the stuff he'd taken on the trip, and took a quick shower. The house was quiet without his dog (a handsome, tan and white, fifty-pound mutt named Max) but Julien decided he would wait until he was done with work to go pick him up from his sister Nikki's house.
    He sent his sister a text letting her know what the plan was and she said Max was doing fine. She asked how his fight went and he told her he won. She congratulated him, but wasn't interested enough in the sport to care about how he won or ask any further questions about it.
    Julien's pantry looked about like you'd assume a single guy's pantry would. He didn't mind cooking, but didn't do much of it since he lived alone. He had a few slices of bread left, and he used them to make a turkey sandwich. Then he grabbed a banana for the road and headed back for the gym.
    ****
    "What are you doing here?" Julien asked Christina as he turned the corner into the main gym area and saw her standing there. He usually didn't work on Saturdays, but was filling in for Christina who wasn't able to coach her women's Jiu Jitsu class.
    "I had to come in for kids class, but I have to get outta here. Thanks for covering for me."
    "Not a problem."
    She reached out to give him a hug. "Congratulations on the win last night. I'm sorry I couldn't be there. Coach Tim said you won with the rear naked again. That's a good submission for you."
    Julien shrugged. " Hard to pass up when they give you their back."
    "Ain't that the truth," she said,