The dim glow of the television cast shadows across the walls of room 26 in the Seluna Grand Hotel. The room occupied by Jordan and Jamal.

Two empty pizza boxes and a few beer cans littered the table as the two of them sat on the edge of their seats, eyes glued to an old boxing match they found on ESPN. Namely, the first Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward fight.

They had just watched the ninth round, and were in absolute awe. Since becoming fans of the sport about two years ago, they had heard a lot about this fight and its legendary status, but had never had the chance to watch it. After an afternoon of checking out various babes and exploring the length of the beach, they had decided to indulge themselves and check out the fight on ESPN.

“Bro… did you see that?” Jamal finally asked, eyes wide with amazement. He leaned forward, rubbing his temples. “I mean, I was expecting it to be good, given all we’ve heard, but… that? That was a madness. A pure madness!”

Jordan nodded, still staring at the screen, his hand frozen mid-air as he held a slice of pizza. “I swear down, bro. That was crazy! They were trading bombs like it was a video game. And Gatti? Taking all those body shots and not crumbling? Damn! That man was built differently.”

“And Ward?” Jamal cut in, his tone rising with excitement. “The way he just kept coming at him! Like, who does that? I thought Gatti was done when he hit the ropes, but then, boom, man fired back!”

“Bro! They were not joking. That definitely was one of the greatest rounds of boxing ever.”

“Absolutely! Not a single lie detected in there.”

The two continued to watch on, totally enthralled by the battle before them. After the final round, they both applauded.

“Man, rest in peace, Gatti,” Jamal commented. “That was a true boxing match for the ages.”

“Damn straight. Pure, indelible boxing history,” Jordan agreed. “There’s a reason why they say boxing is not for the faint of heart. And this right here, is a reason why.”

“Can’t agree more, broski. Life ain’t for the faint-hearted. That’s why we roll together, coz by god, we live life on the edge!” Jamal laughed.

Jordan nodded. “Yep. We sure do. Remember the time we decided to live in that treehouse for a week just to prove we could?”

Jamal snickered. “Yep. Everyone in the dorm thought we were insane, but boy, was it worth a shot! Camping out there with just some snacks and our phones, pretending we were in some survival show. Good times, man.”

Jordan nodded. “Yeah, and then there was the whole ‘let’s see if we can make it across campus on those scooters without falling off’ challenge. We’ve definitely pushed the boundaries of what’s considered normal college antics.”

“Yep. And let’s not forget our mad escapades with the babes! Remember those four cheerleader hotties?”

Jordan grinned and shook his head. “Yasmin. Keisha. Zareena. And Fabiola. Man, I miss Fabi. We had a thing for sure.”

“Hehehe, you were obsessed with that Latina body, weren’t you? Sucks that y’all broke up. As for Yasmin… lawd have mercy, that good-good with her is beyond good! That girl deserves an award!”

Jordan stared blankly at him. “Whatever, bro. I know how good her throwback game is. You’ve harped on and on about it. No need to go further. So, what wild stuff do we get up to before we leave?”

Jamal put on a thinking expression. “Hmmm. Well, for one, I definitely need to get Daisy out of that bikini and have a taste of what’s beneath her beautiful…”

Jordan groaned and did a facepalm. Daisy was the girl he had hit up earlier on the beach.

“… and two, we definitely need to check out that palace thi–“

He was interrupted by the ringtone of his phone. He looked and beamed as he saw the number he had saved hours earlier.

“Hol’ up, hol’ up, that’s Daisy!” he announced, a hand up as he picked the phone and answered. “Hey you, wassup… yeah, I’m good. Just in the room with my boy, jamming out and all that… errmmm, not really… oh, you do, huh? That’s not a problem… nahh, don’t worry about him, he’ll be going out himself anyways… listen, you want me to come over, don’t you?… good. And I wanna come over. I didn’t spy yo sexy ass for nothing, you know. Lemme know where your room’s at…”

Jordan shook his head in amusement at his friend’s excited disposition. She obviously wasn’t wasting time offering him what he loved the most: that ‘good-good’.

“Awesome, gonna be there in the next 10 minutes, okay?… hehe, can’t wait to see you too, girl. Bye.”

Jamal ended the call and turned to Jordan, the most satisfied of smirks on his face. “Daisy wants me to come over!”

Jordan had the most deadpan look on his face. “I heard that, bro. Obviously. I heard it all. Including how you ditched your best friend for a babe you barely even know, and lied that he’s got somewhere to go himself.”

“Bro, chill! I’m with you till the end of our stay here, innit? We’re gonna be on the same plane together. We’re going back home together. You ain’t losing me, you still got me. This Daisy babe, on the other hand, lives in the Netherlands, so I definitely ain’t gonna see her again once we leave. And if she wants me over, I gotta go over. I mean, you saw that body, didn’t you? And that sexy lil belly ring?”

Jordan rolled his eyes. “Of course I did, Jamal. Of course I did.”

“Good. I am not gonna fumble that body. Swore to myself I’d never fumble a body that sexy since I lost out on Keisha, so, yeah,” Jamal confirmed as he hopped off the couch and went to find some clothes.

“But… but Jamal! What if she just wants to get to know you?” Jordan probed jokingly. “She’s probably just looking for someone to talk to. What if she’s not looking for some… Vitamin D?”

Jamal looked strangely at him, then shook his head. “Broski, I know you’re trying to pull my legs, but that will never make sense. If a girl that sexy bites her lips and rubs her hand over your chest while talking to you, then goes ahead to call you and ask you to come over in the most seductive tone possible, then trust me, she does want some Vitamin D. And once it’s Vitamin D she wants, it’s Vitamin D she gets.”

As he threw on a vest, Jordan complained, “So what am I supposed to do?”

Jamal looked at him oddly. “Go get yourself some good-good too! Damn, man! Abryann’s not the only juicy mami around. Go down to the bar or something. Surely there’s some babe there that’ll want you.”

Jordan sighed in exasperation. Once his best friend was set on sleeping with a girl, nothing would deter him. It would take a critical life-and-death issue to take his mind off a planned erotic session.

Jamal came to stand before him, a cocky smirk on his face. “Well, I’m ready now. Time to go out there and give that Dutch babe that Scarface treatment.”

With an exaggerated gesture at his crotch, he yelled in his best Scarface impression, “Say hello to my lil friend!”

“Get out of here, man!”

Jamal laughed, then quickly sprung towards the door and made his way out.

Jordan sighed as he reclined on the sofa, letting Jamal’s words echo in his mind.

Go get yourself some good-good too!

He snickered as the suggestion lingered in his mind, tempting him with the promise of distraction. Maybe finding someone to make him forget about the sting of rejection was needed. And Jamal wasn’t wrong; there would definitely be a girl or two who’d happily say yes to him. All he had to do was make that move, and he’d get one.

But at that moment, the thought of actually getting up, dressing up, and facing the social scene again felt like climbing a mountain. His energy waned at the mere thought of it. Nah, not tonight, he thought, his body already preferring the comfort of staying in. He was packed with enough pizza and beer for the night, anyway; no need to stuff any more food or drinks in him.

While he relaxed, his mind wandered back to Abryann.

The memory of her turning him down was still fresh, and quite a bruise on his ego. He replayed the scene in his mind – her polite but firm refusal. And that parting shot about his immaturity. Of course, he knew he was younger than her, but she didn’t have to rub it in his face like that.

“Throwing it in my face that your boyfriend’s a man’s man and I’m a kid? How unnecessary,” he muttered.

And then, the way she had mentioned the curse of the palace ruins and literally flared up when they joked about it. Such a ridiculous reaction.

He scoffed again at the idea that a curse lay upon those ruins. “Bah! Curses are for fairy tales, not real life,” he snickered.

Then Jamal’s incomplete comment came to mind.

The one about the crazy things they could do while on Seluna Island.

Well, of course, a phone call from the Daisy chic didn’t allow Jamal to finish. But he knew what he was gonna say, and he sure did agree.

They would go to the palace ruins. They were not going to let superstition dictate their actions, not in the slightest. Heck, even college rules had been broken by them; how the hell was a dumb, mystical, and quite possibly unproven myth gonna hold them down?

“Yeah, that’s it,” he mumbled, shifting his body to feel a little more comfortable. “As we said, life ain’t for the faint-hearted, and we’re not faint-hearted, so we’re going… just… gonna… wait for Jamal to come back… and then… we’ll…”

In a matter of minutes, his mumblings came to an end, as he dozed off, snoring loudly.

***

It was about 5:30 am when Jordan stirred. He sat up, rubbing his eyes as he looked around.

The pizza boxes and empty beer cans were still on the table. The TV was off, and Jordan was not on his bed.

He picked up his phone and checked the time. “What? Bruh, I really dozed off,” he gasped, seeing how long his sleep had been. Looking at the empty bed, he smirked and shook his head. Jamal and that Daisy girl had definitely engaged in some wild lovemaking, and she had him spend the night over.

“What an absolute slut my man is,” he chuckled. “And after all this, he’s gonna get back into Yasmin’s undies when we go back to college. Proper slut, that homie of mine.”

As he stood up and stretched, the memory of their discussion on crazy things to do returned.

“Yeah, that palace thing,” he murmured to himself. “Bruh, I’ve been sleeping for over 10 hours now. I need me a walk. I’ll just… test the waters and see what’s good with the palace ruins. Hopefully, I can find a way past the guards there… yeah, should be easy. I bet they don’t believe all that bollocks themselves. Hehe. Let’s see. When that slut comes back, I’ll let him know what’s up, then we can plan accordingly…”

He wants to check out the palace? Hmmm, let’s hope Abryann doesn’t find out. I can’t imagine she’ll be very happy…