THUG ( part 4-A)

Tom is rescued by Angela, training begins

THUG   (part --4 -- )

 

"Need rest, got to sleep",  all Tom Clary`s poor pain wracked brain could manage,  "just need to lay down somewhere".   

Following his fight with Jess Logan, he wanted to put this whole carnival boxing scene behind him,  but with his hand broken, bones in his face fractured, no money,  pain tormenting him, head aching, sick to his stomach,  he could not think.

 

Staggering out of the boxing tent, through the crowd, he saw her, two large loving sympathetic eyes, like the blue of Montana lakes, deep,

deep loving eyes a pretty face with red lips,  but those eyes, he wanted to drown in those eyes, brushing past her, he continued across the midway to the sleeping trailer, collapsed on his bunk and slept.

 

The sun streamed through the window.   In the morning light his hand was a poor dismal sight,  swollen until the skin was bright and shiny,

almost black to his wrist, swollen nearly to the elbow, unable to move his fingers, to move his arm was the ultimate agony.

 

Knocking on the trailer door continued,  Tom knew that no one wanted him, but he raised himself and opened the door anyway.

She stood there,  more radiant than the night before,  Tom, speechless , only stared.   The tall , rugged looking man next to her finally spoke up and informed Tom who they were.   The man introduced himself as Ben Harlow and he introduced his sister , Angela Harlow.   Tom still unable to speak stood and stared at the girl, mumbling apologies about his appearance.  

 

It did`nt take a lot of coaxing,  they had gotten Tom`s few belongings together and were on the way to a doctor to have him checked out .

On the way to the doctor`s office they explained the deal.

Ben and Angela had a nice ranch thirty miles out of town.  This is where they were born and had lived their entire lives.   When Ben was in the service he had become enamored of the fight business and at the moment , watching Tom`s fight with Logan, had decided he would be their first fighter, if they could convince him to let them manage him.   Tom readily agreed, in so much pain he would have agreed to nearly anything.

 

Doctor  Orland took X-Rays, gave Tom something to take for pain and instructed them to have him back in the doctor`s office soon as the swelling was reduced, only then could he set the bones.

 

On the long , thirty mile, country road, Angela wrapped Tom`s hand and arm in one of her jackets, then held his hand in her lap to keep the bouncing pick-up truck from causing him any more pain than necessary.

 

At the rambling old ranch house Tom was made to feel at home.

Angela put an ice pack on his hand and another on his face and he was encouraged to sleep.

 

The following morning the swelling had reduced noticeably and the swelling of his cheek was down until his eye was again open .  One more day they agreed  they would take Tom back to the doctor to have his broken hand set .   They took Tom on a tour of the immediate ranch, explained to him that he could work at ranch duties when he was able, until then he was to make himself at home and relax.

 

Tom was introduced to several young men who came and went as their ranch hand duties required.   Of these men,  one stood out in Tom`s mind as being of particular interest, a small fellow with black hair and striking blue eyes, but his face was different,  it only took a moment for it to sink in to Tom`s struggling brain,  this young man was a fighter.  But,  he had such a thick Irish accent that Tom had difficulty following the guy`s speech.

 

Billy Cavan was Irish all right,  born and grown in county Cavan in

old Ireland.   He had only been in this country for about eight months,

had fought professionally in Ireland and was only a couple of fights away from the British lightweight championship contention when he was taken with severe pneumonia.  He would not stop fighting , but severely debilitated, he was beaten badly in his last fight and decided to seek his fortune in the United States.

 

The bones of his right hand set and the hand in a cast,  Tom was told by Doctor Orland that his facial fractures had not been displaced and

they would heal without further treatment, however he would probably have a large dimple in his left cheek for the rest of his life.

 

Immediately following the doctor visit, Tom started working,  he could not sit still and he realized that he would have to keep in good physical condition.   He started loading fence posts and bales of barbed wire in the old pick up with his one good hand and it seemed the harder he worked the better he felt .

 

Billy Cavan was Tom`s constant companion from day one,  he saw something special in Tom , as only one fighter can see in another.

He started training Tom from the very first day.   He would coax Tom to try to hit him and of course, since Billy was a lightweight he was incredibly fast,  Tom couldn`t hit him , even if he really tried and when Billy made him mad he really tried.

 

One of Billy`s goals was to increase Tom`s speed.   If he could get Tom to hitting as fast a lightweight he would be unbeatable.   One of the tricks that Billy used to increase speed was to strap a brick to each of Tom`s forearms and have him shadow box.  Soon Tom became accustomed to hitting with the bricks stapped to him, hitting nearly as fast as without them, so Billy then increased the load to two bricks on each forearm.   It took a long time ,  but now Tom was hitting with two bricks as easily as with one.   Billy increased the load to three bricks,

now Tom was working really hard, tiring easily and on top of this, Billy was increasing his road work.   Angela drove alongside Tom in the pick up and clocked his running speed,  when he slowed she honked the horn and he ran faster.

 

Tom was worn out each day, between Angela and Billy,  he was constantly urged on to faster speed and greater endurance.

Angela cooked sumptuous meals filling Tom`s frame with muscle.

He became heavier,  but at the same time,  much faster and with greater endurance.   Without Tom realizing what was happening , he was being driven, goaded, coaxed into becoming the next -----

Champion of the World.                        -----to be continued

 

---- Eagle Cruagh

Reviews

[Norma M Sutton]

Interesting. Sounds painful. Necessary I suppose though in a painful business.

[x]

Ok, brilliant. The imagery was spot on, done with a brutality that was felt along with the pain Tom was going through.
Hmmm, saved....saved by drowning, drowning in the beguiling eyes of the temptress. Poor Tom, pummeled senseless and not able to 'see' what looks very much like...a set up. Why does the reader think this....because of what happened when he opened the door. It was the silence, that was a dead give away right there. The silence while the damsel, Angela, did her work and worked defenceless Tom over....then the conversation started. Very telling, very telling indeed.
This whole write is full of Tom being lead with stealty cleverness and his admirable, deepset courage is being used against him.....

[deeps]

Wow! Quite the write here. Full of things to think baout really. I like it. If there is more to this I would
like to read it. I found it quite interesting.

[Tracie Skarbo]

Oh my god....bricks? Three bricks? Man you must have been fast after that! I love a man with dimples. :) Another great chapter in this amazing story...I am off to read some more.

Tigra

[emmajoy]

Bricks strapped to arms? Is that true? Guess it makes sense, though how incredibly savage on the body.

This is really building up, I'm a pacifist by heart and nature but, there's something about the power behind the story that's getting to me

[IMOGEAN]

Please continue, this is first rate.