THUG (part 2)

Tom draws some tough boxers and earns his bread and butter.

 

 

THUG (part two)

 

 Out of high school, bent on claiming a slice of the world, Tom Clary sat around at home for a few days, wondering, worried sick about what was going to happen to him. What was he going to do with his life ?

He walked down the street of Faith, his little home town of 350 people, talking to the old, broken down cowboys, tilted back in their chairs along the store fronts, reading the local newspaper which touted the career of the latest home town boy , a hero in the boxing ring , of course.

 

 On one of his excursions downtown, Tom heard the great news, a carnival was coming to town. What did this mean to Tom ? It meant a chance to pick up a few bucks.

 

 On the day of carnival, Tom was first in line at the 'office' . As they started to unload, he asked for work at the office trailer and was put to driving tent stakes .

 

 This was a 'two bit' , one nighter for the carney`s , many of them had not arrived, some were in 'big town' getting drunk and one of the main features, the boxing exhibition, would not go on, their world champion, as advertised, had been severely injured at the last town they played.

 

 As Tom swung his twenty pound sledge, hour on end, he was watched closely by Big Jim , the carney boss. After several hours , Big Jim approached and asked Tom if he could fight. Tom`s answer, "try me". With that, Big Jim poked his stick at an imaginary target and remarked, You`ll fight tonight, you`re our new carnival champion.

 

Tom, secretly elated, inwardly quaking, scared, unsure of himself waited for the magic hour. About 7:PM , he was escorted to the boxing tent where a little side room had been arranged for this 18 year old 'Champion'. It consisted of a chair, some bandages for his hands, several sets of boxing gloves and a card table.

 

 Soon the tent started filling. Locals, farmers, ranchers and maybe a few tourists, all with a yen to see blood spilled. The pitch man , in front proclaimed Tom as probably unbeatable, but he Clary would fight all comers. Any man who could stay with Tom for three rounds would be paid $15, if he knocked out the Champion, Clary, he would be paid $20. This was easy money for a local ranch hand and it would be impressive to beat up the Champion

 

. In short order the tent was full, Tom entered the ring to be confronted by a local man , about 30 , 6`2, 220 pounds and looking hard as nails. All Tom`s old fears about hurting another man suddenly vanished. In place of hesitancy was a sudden terrifying fear for his life. A little insecure to begin with, he suddenly felt like running for cover. Of course he did not , he grinned slowly, flexed his muscles, did a little dance in his corner, to loosen up and at the bell he came out slowly, feinted with a left and knocked the cowboy cold.

 

 Well ! That felt pretty good. Little did Tom know that his secret fears, his concealed terror had filled his blood stream with adrenalin and other hormones that made him in to a ticking time bomb. Where an experienced fighter might have parried with him and worked through the adrenalin rush, this cowboy had no knowledge of such things and paid for his ignorance.

 

 For several hours, Tom Clary, recent high school boy, now 'World Champion' , according to the carney barker, fought all comers, anyone who wanted to fight

 

. After the origninal adrenaline rush, Tom had a little more trouble, he carried a couple of really dumb kids that he could probably have knocked unconscious, but one middle aged man was a total surprise, this guy knew what was going on and he carried a lethal punch. Tom fought for his life in the first round, then shedding his complacency, tired of using his head for a target, he started thinking again. Discovering a vulnerable spot just below his oponent`s sternum, he uncorked a couple of rights in to the challenger that brought the guys knees to sag. At the end of three rounds this challenger was paid $15 for staying with the champion, but Tom and a few bystanders knew this poor guy would not be able to keep his food down for a week.

 

 At the end of his first night, as a professional fighter, Tom Clary felt pretty good about himself. As he walked down the main drag at closing time, Tom was very aware of the smiles of pretty girls and he thought how nice it would be to maybe dance with one of these cuties. But, reason returned and Tom continued on to his room. You see, without knowing about testosterone build up or any of the reasons, Tom knew that he was not allowed to have romance, not when he was fighting .

 

 Tomorrow was another day, they would set up in Billings, Montana, big town, with bigger cowboys and smarter fighters and Tom knew that he would have to be very , very smart just to stay alive. 

----- Eagle Cruagh  

 

 

 

Reviews

[Norma M Sutton]

This is my favorite paragraph.

Tom, secretly elated, inwardly quaking, scared, unsure of himself waited for the magic hour. About 7:PM , he was escorted to the boxing tent where a little side room had been arranged for this 18 year old 'Champion'. It consisted of a chair, some bandages for his hands, several sets of boxing gloves and a card table.

[Brittany]

Good chapter and set up for more to come. I like the description, helps me 'see' the scene.

[Laura Nikkinen]

Well, the state of mind changes pretty fast towards the end, I think. This is just my opinion for what it's worth...

I would love to see for Tom to be drawn in the mindset that he actually is doing well, and he is a good fighter (stress on that word), and you did point that out with saying the carnival night was his first night as a professional fighter indeed. And I saw that little moment of panic there... to fight for his life, to make it through the night, and he does.. knocking people out very fast, right? And then the dumb kids, I wanna hear more about that, why didn't he just go for the kill? Was he amusing himself with carrying on the fight, because he could? And I like the change of roles too, it's Tom who's being carried by another man, forced to be smart, because he is being challenged by better skills. Nicely sets the next chapter(s)...

The only thing... For me as a reader, I would like for Tom to be more oblivious about the dangers of the smarter fighters in Montana at the end of this part, for him not to really 'know' any better yet (even with the incident in the beginning), make the reader think he has a very good knack for what he's doing... make him a little stupider, young blood.. and testosterone, like you said in the beginning of this part, he has everything to prove to the world, he wants to claim a little piece of it. And then when he is actually faced with the fact he is challenging smarter people/fighters in the "ring"in Montana, it dawns on him... he might be doing something wrong after all. but that's just me.

[Tracie Skarbo]

I like this guy...I like that he is a fighter that doesn't know how to fight. I like that he is as unexperienced as I am...I can relate to him. I can feel his terror. I wonder how they think it is fair though to let him fight all these guys one after another. He is already a champion in my thought because he went through with it. I would never have stepped in the rink, such a scardy cat I am. Going to read more....

Tigra

[Sound]

Good way continuing the story. It gets a little more interesting, but the narration is very dry and still gives the reader no real reason to start liking Tom. Regardless, it's an interesting read.

[JessicaPatton]

Yes, this should continue. I wonder how Tom became such a good fighter if his Senior year was his first year fighting. I'd like to find out.

[IMOGEAN]

please continue