The Dog Fighter by Marc Bojanowski

ragmen fell back to the shadows grinning.
    The yelling men stood on the toes of their feet as Ramón fended off the sharpened teeth of the dog using the rug tied around his forearm.
    Mendoza trains his dogs to ignore the rug. Eduardo yelled. No one knows how he does this but his dogs are the most successful.
    The dog drove Ramón back stepping against the cold of the metal fence where a drunk stood laughing hot spittle into his ear. Ramón slipped and fell to the floor bringing a roar from the men that came down hard on my ears from the metal roof as the dog gaping went for the neck of the dog fighter. A stir of excitement fluttered through my groin. Down along my thighs and up into my abdomen.
    La lucha de los perros! Eduardo shouted. This is the fighting of dogs hombre!
    Ramón hurried to his feet. Pushing the dog from him. The eyes of the drunk behind bloodshot and mad. He rattled the fence of the ring as if he wanted to be the one on the inside. Fear twitched in the slender muscles around Ramóns mouth and eyes.
    As the yelling men cried for more Ramón swung wildly at the dog. Stopping only when he had fooled it into locking its jaws around the rug. Mendoza shook his head. But with the dog hanging from his arm Ramón shook the rug as if it were on fire. His eyes showing pain from the teeth. The dog hung limply with its eyes rolled back into its skull. Eyelids fluttering over pearls. Soon from under the rug a line of blood came to show on the back of the dog fighters hand. The sharpened teeth had gone through. When the blood lashed onto the concrete floor with each swing of Ramóns arm the ragmen stepped closer to the light from shadows wetting their lips. The dog weighed heavily from the dog fighters arm. He tried to make a fist of his gloved hand but ended up slapping the dog repeatedly on the head.
    Pendejo! Use the claws! Eduardo yelled. He fights like a woman.
    Trying feverishly to break from the dogs locked jaws Ramón stepped back and slipped on his own blood. The men cheered when he had fallen to the ground. Some of the businessmen stood in anticipation.
    Now the dog has him! Eduardo clasped my arm.
    Those businessmen who sat patiently watched the mistresses carefully from the corners of their eyes. Cantana seemed to not be watching the fighting at all. He brought his left hand from his pocket to light a fresh cigarillo. I did not understand then why he wore only the one glove. When Cantana finished lighting the cigarillo with great concentration he took his sunglasses down from his face and while keeping his eyelids closed cleaned the lenses of the glasses with a fine cloth from the inside pocket of his coat.
    The yelling men returned my attention to the ring. Embracing on the ground the claws of the dogs hind legs dug into the skin above Ramóns knee. The yelling men laughed and cheered. Ramón screamed in pain. The mistresses hid their eyes from the bone showing white through the loose skin. But those mistresses who had seen the bone began to cry. The businessmen wrapped their arms around the womens shoulders and over their sweet smelling hair they made eyes at each other.
    This was a small game the businessmen played. Waiting to see which of the women cried first and which would cry last because to put money only on the fighting of dogs was never enough for them.
    The teeth of the dog went deeper into Ramóns forearm. The muscles in his handsome face had tightened into a knotted bunch. But something passed over his eyes still. For as much pain as there was he was aware. The pain does this I would learn. Strengthens your concentration.
    The yelling men cheered as Ramón put his free hand under the dog and swiped at its neck. Stabbing it with the short metal claws. The dog snarled until Ramón tore free a fistful of throat. Then a loud gurgle came from within the dog as it unlocked its jaws and began to claw at the floor. Ramón dragged himself to the fence. His hands holding his