Jimmy was glad to get back to his haunts. Although there wasn’t a heck of lot of
difference between Redhook and Harlem, it was home to him. He was glad that he had
that talk with Mike. It sure relieved his mind and he was certain that Mike felt the same
way. Happy that now he had a friend instead of an enemy.
He felt free now. Free to pursue his dreams of becoming a great boxer. Maybe a champ, who knows. But that was too much to wish for. He was still a kid; still going to school;
still living with his parents.
Walking home from the subway. he was met by Joey and Franky. Usually met with a
smile and how you doin Jimmy, he was met with solemn looks on both their faces, and
where was Pissy. The three were always together. Sensing bad news, Jimmy asked,
“whatsa matter guys, whats wrong, where’s Pissy?”
Franky was the first to speak, “we got bad news for ya Jimmy, Pissy’s moving away.”
“Moving, what do ya mean he’s moving, moving where?” “He’s moving to
Chicago,” Joey said, “his fathers gotta new job and they have to leave by next week.”
Jimmy was flabbergasted. The four of them had known each other since they were old
enough to shed their diapers.
Gee, Jimmy thought, here I leave for just a few hours, and thinking that everything is all
okay, and I come back to this bad news. Doesn’t anything work out? Why can’t I get
some good news once in a while.
It was the day before Pissy and his family were to move to Chicago. The moving van was
already loaded, and they were to spend the last night in Harlem at a friends house, then
take a train in the morning. Jimmy, Franky, Joey and Pissy had spend most of the evening
together at the corner candy store drowning their sorrows in milk shakes, ice cream
sodas, and not really knowing what to say to each other. Pissy didn’t want to leave, he
didn’t know what he would do without them, but he had to go, he had no choice.
In the morning, the boys gathered together to say a bon farewell to Pissy and his family.
They saw them leave in the taxi cab, taking whatever personal belongings they could
carry. They saw Pissy looking back at them in the rear window of the cab. They knew
that he was crying. They also could not hold back the tears. It was the last time they
would ever see Pissy. They would miss his frequent trips to the bathroom to pee.
Franky and Joey were lost without Pissy. Actually they were alone now, just the two of
them. About the only time that they saw Jimmy was in school, and their occasional trips
to the gym to watch him work out. But they knew that this is what he wanted. They knew
that he couldn’t hang out with them as they used to. They missed him and they missed
Pissy, and this is the way it was.
Jimmy’s whole world was changing. Pissy was gone. He would miss him terribly. In all
of their 16 years, they had never been separated. He would miss the togetherness, the
times together, good and bad. He rarely saw Franky and Joey. The occasional times that
they had together were much too short. He knew that they wished it was the way it was,
but this couldn’t be anymore. He was completely absorbed in his boxing career. He lived
and breathed boxing. He was at the gym every day, rushing home from school, doing
what he had to do, then off the gym for another training session.
The training sessions were getting more intense, and when Jimmy got home at night, he
was so tired that he just flopped on the bed, sometimes without taking his clothes off,
and was immediately asleep. Jimmy relationship with Max was intensifying. He not only
thought of him as his trainer, but as a mentor, a good friend and sometimes a father. He
felt that he could at any time go to Max and shed his problems to him. Something he
hadn’t done with anyone since his father passed away.
It was three weeks since Jimmy had his bout with Mike, and he wondered when he would
have his next fight. Although he was anxious to get into the ring again, he didn’t want to
bother Max about it. He knew that when the time was right, Max would tell him so. He
didn’t have long to wait.
Jimmy was skipping rope when Max called, “hey Jimmy come here a minute will ya?”
Putting the rope down, Jimmy walked over to where Max was, and before he could ask
Max, what up? Max said, “How ya feeling Jimmy, feeling okay?” “yeah Max, why do
you ask?” “Oh, I just wanted to make sure, because I’ve got something to tell ya.” Again,
before Jimmy could say anything, Max excitingly said, “How do ya feel about fighting
again real soon, eh?” “It can’t be soon enough for me Max. when?”
“I want you to be sure that you feel you’re ready. I know you’ve been working hard, and
that you’re anxious to get going again, but I don’t want to rush you. You’ve got plenty of
time, but.......” Jimmy didn’t let Max finish, and interrupted with, “I’m ready Max, I’m
ready. I’m getting stale here and I need some action. I’m ready to go.” “Okay, Jimmy.
I’m working on a bout for you at this big arena in Queens, you know, St......It’s a far cry
from Barneys, and it’s a step up. You’ll be boxing in front of hundreds of people, maybe
thousands, not just a few dozen. Do you think you can handle it?” “Sure Max, whatsa
difference, a dozen or a thousand. “Okay,” said Max, “just remember that you’re still a
novice, and you will be for a few more bouts, and depending on how it goes, we’ll step
up to the open class. Think ya can handle it?” “No problem,” replied Jimmy, “I can’t
wait.”
Jimmys training sessions took on another dimension. He wasn’t just training. He was
training for a darn good reason. He was going in the ring again. His second official bout.
A far cry from his street fights with the boys. His disastrous fight with Johnny, and the
bout with Mike. He felt that in spite of his inexperience in the ring, he was on his way up.
He wondered how far.
Jimmy’s match at the St......area was scheduled in two weeks. This is all he thought
about. When he told his boys, they were elated, and promised him that they wouldn’t
miss it for love or money. The only problem was that this time it was not free. They
would have to buy tickets to get in. Their immediate thought was that maybe they could
work a deal with some of the pushcart vendors. Some sort of a backing thing, like them
representing Jimmy or something like that. They would work something out.
As the fight date approached, Jimmy began to get a bit nervous, and he wondered why
he felt this way. He had never been nervous before, whether it be one of those street
fights of a seemingly long time ago; the fight with Johnny and then with Mike. He
thought of how he would act in front of a large crowd, would he be nervous then? He
wondered who he would be fighting, and did it make any difference? He was thinking of
the future. What if he lost this fight, would his fighting days be over?
He had to stop all these screwed up thoughts, and concentrate on his training, and on
fight night when he piled in Max’s old station wagon, along with Izzy and all his boxing
gear on the drive over the Queensboro bridge, and the short drive to the arena, he felt that
his mind was clear, and he was already to fight, whomever he was scheduled to fight this
night. Would it be a shoo- in or would he have his work cut out for him. He would soon
find out.
