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The kids were in karate class together, so I used the opportunity to work-out at Jacky&039;s It was late evening, and the sun had set I was feeling strong and healthy At themy fists We were both silent I think he sensed I was in one of my moods Occasionally, he would look up into my face, then quickly avert his eyes
"I&039; to bite you, Jacky"
"You think I&039;m afraid of you?" he asked "Well, I a head with ht hand
In fact, I was having a hard ti to co to Danny Discussing what an unfitat you," said Jacky, "take it out on the punching bag That&039;suntil I was dripping sweat We worked in threeat me to keep my hands up I would finish each round in a flurry of punches, rapid-fire body shots to the punching bag During one of these flurries, I caught Jacky&039;s expression as he steadied the punching bag It was one of profound pain The punches were reverberating through the bag and into hi, but he seemed to love it
At the end of the sixth round I dropped s of ceet soainst the punching bag I was still thinking about Danny It seeainst ainst me couldn&039;t be easier Hell, in my current condition, even I kneas an unfitmy best and I loved my kids with all my heart You could never replace that Ever
At the far end of the gy out with one of Jacky&039;s long-ti and blond and very muscular His punches were rapid and precision-like His muscles stood out on his hot skin
Jacky ca a little Dixie cup full of water The cup was shaking in his hands
"I&039;ve beento talk to you about those Dixie cups," I said "We pay good ive us are these paper thimbles in return?"
"Ah, lass, you pay for the at, hotshot boxer "Who&039;s that?"
"That&039;s Des cha pro"
"I want to box hihtened briefly�Dperhaps with excitement�Dand then he came back down to earth and shook his head "Look, kid, I know I built your hopes up and all that, but that ain&039;t going to happen Maybe we could arrange a fight with another broad"
"Broad?" I said "Maybe I should box you" I looked again at the ex-Marine "I want to fight him"
"No, lass I&039;m sorry"
"So he kickselse to think about"
Jacky looked at hed "Your day that shitty, huh?"
I thought of Danny cheating�Dor possibly cheating�Dand I thought of possibly losing my kids "Yeah," I said "Hell of a shitty day"
He sighed again and said, "Hold on" He went over to the Wonder Kid and his trainer, spoke briefly, pointed at yours truly Deshed All of theot into the tall Marine&039;s face By got into his face, I mean, Jacky looked up from the man&039;s chest I had no doubt that Jacky could have taken the Marine in his day But his day was long past him They stared each other down for another ten seconds and then the Marine turned away, dis Jacky with a contemptuous smirk
"What was that all about?" I asked when Jacky had hobbled back
"Fucking prick," said Jacky "I have a mind to kick his ass"
"What did he say?"
"Doesn&039;t ht me?"
"Doesn&039;t matter"
"It&039;s because I&039; about that," said Jacky, looking back at the Marine, who had gone back to shadow boxing "Actually, he said soonna repeat it to you"
"Is that when you stuck up for me?"
"The kid&039;s disrespectful Soree"
"Saet nervous when I see that look in your eye"
But I wasn&039;t listening I was alreadyover to the six foot four Des When he saw rinned A wolfish sort of grin When I got to him, I looked him in the eye, smiled sweetly, and promptly kicked hi a cup
His eyes bulged and a look of confusion swept across his face and then he dropped to a knee, groaning and turning red
Guess not
His little trainer shrieked like aeasily and he lost his balance Instead, he settled for getting in , Missy? Are you out of your goddamn mind?"
"Just maybe," I said I pushed the trainer aside and looked down at the boxer kneeling before ht one froreen
"You bet your ass," he croaked
34
Jacky and I were in a corner of the ring
The little Irishear The headgear felt big and clunky I didn&039;t think I needed it, but having it on seemed to make the others happy The Marine, in the opposite corner, was also wearing head gear I assuear was unnecessary