It was just after dinner; guards came by and unlocked the cells; 1 by
1, all the men were lined up single file, in an orderly fashion, Eric, his
cell by the door, was 1st in line; somewhere along the lines of this,
Carson had disappeared. They were ushered across the coalfield, and into
the barn at the edge of the enormous barbed wire fence.
Carson was already in the ring; he was without boxing gloves, as was the foreman, situated in the other corner, as so, without gloves.
"Hey, new guy," came a voice from behind Eric, he turned around.
"Arnold?" he began "Arnold Rodgers?"
"Well, Eric Simmons! I'll be damned!" said the prisoner "Better get up there and coach him"
"Huh?"
"Carson," Arnold replied, "Pretty much goes without saying you're his new coach"
"Oh," said Eric "Of course"
He stepped up to the turnbuckle, and leaned in next to Carson, who was seated on a short stool
"Hey Carson," said Eric "You have a particular fighting style?"
"Damn straight" said Carson
"Well?"
"The sportin' art" said Carson, merrily
"That would be.?" replied Eric
"Pugilism!" shouted Carson
"Boxing?" inquired Eric
"Not JUST boxing," corrected Carson "Bare-knuckle boxing. Pops had a poker buddy by the name of Sullivan. John Sullivan, I think, quite a pugilist,"
"Cool," said Eric, giving Carson the thumbs-up
"Alright," said an officer, standing in the middle, "Let's get this party started!"
A group of men and women, young and old, dressed in street clothes and doboks, were seated in one of the balconies overlooking the giant 4-teired dojang of Rio-Grande Martial Arts; a man Albert's age, wearing a 3-piece suit, whose name was Martin Kayline, spoke first
"I think it pretty much goes without saying, with both the Simmons and the Masons gone, the first order of business is to put some people in charge!"
Then a black man in his early 20's, wearing a dobok with a blue belt, chimed in
"I nominate Miss Hennessey!"
Several others followed up
"Good idea!"
"Yeah, I second that"
The vote was unanimous. Judy Hennessey sat foreword in her seat; she was a dedicated student, one of only 8 of Rio Grande's over 7,000 students to be enrolled in Grandmaster Simmons' Shao-Lin program, she had been the one who organized the meeting, and was the 1st one there that morning.
She was wearing the finely done patchwork white with black trim dobok, standard for 1st Dan black belts and higher, and a black belt with 3 stripes, aside from the Simmons, and with Jack Mason gone, the highest ranking student in the school. Aged 34, believe it or not, with long orange hair, and your ordinary, average, run-of-the-mill, drop-dead gorgeous figure.
"All right then," she started "Now, for someone to be second"
Martin looked back at the black man
"I nominate Mister Palmer"
"Sounds good to me," said Judy
There were several other sounds of approval; unanimous again.
"Well, thank you kindly," said a surprised Harvey Palmer "But. I'm not even a black belt"
"Desperate times call for desperate measures" joked Judy "Now the second order of business is to get some instructors set up for some of the vacant classes"
Everyone spoke at once, and they were all swallowed by the noise.
"Early to bed, Early to rise, Fish all day, and make up lies!" -Herb Shriver
Carson was already in the ring; he was without boxing gloves, as was the foreman, situated in the other corner, as so, without gloves.
"Hey, new guy," came a voice from behind Eric, he turned around.
"Arnold?" he began "Arnold Rodgers?"
"Well, Eric Simmons! I'll be damned!" said the prisoner "Better get up there and coach him"
"Huh?"
"Carson," Arnold replied, "Pretty much goes without saying you're his new coach"
"Oh," said Eric "Of course"
He stepped up to the turnbuckle, and leaned in next to Carson, who was seated on a short stool
"Hey Carson," said Eric "You have a particular fighting style?"
"Damn straight" said Carson
"Well?"
"The sportin' art" said Carson, merrily
"That would be.?" replied Eric
"Pugilism!" shouted Carson
"Boxing?" inquired Eric
"Not JUST boxing," corrected Carson "Bare-knuckle boxing. Pops had a poker buddy by the name of Sullivan. John Sullivan, I think, quite a pugilist,"
"Cool," said Eric, giving Carson the thumbs-up
"Alright," said an officer, standing in the middle, "Let's get this party started!"
A group of men and women, young and old, dressed in street clothes and doboks, were seated in one of the balconies overlooking the giant 4-teired dojang of Rio-Grande Martial Arts; a man Albert's age, wearing a 3-piece suit, whose name was Martin Kayline, spoke first
"I think it pretty much goes without saying, with both the Simmons and the Masons gone, the first order of business is to put some people in charge!"
Then a black man in his early 20's, wearing a dobok with a blue belt, chimed in
"I nominate Miss Hennessey!"
Several others followed up
"Good idea!"
"Yeah, I second that"
The vote was unanimous. Judy Hennessey sat foreword in her seat; she was a dedicated student, one of only 8 of Rio Grande's over 7,000 students to be enrolled in Grandmaster Simmons' Shao-Lin program, she had been the one who organized the meeting, and was the 1st one there that morning.
She was wearing the finely done patchwork white with black trim dobok, standard for 1st Dan black belts and higher, and a black belt with 3 stripes, aside from the Simmons, and with Jack Mason gone, the highest ranking student in the school. Aged 34, believe it or not, with long orange hair, and your ordinary, average, run-of-the-mill, drop-dead gorgeous figure.
"All right then," she started "Now, for someone to be second"
Martin looked back at the black man
"I nominate Mister Palmer"
"Sounds good to me," said Judy
There were several other sounds of approval; unanimous again.
"Well, thank you kindly," said a surprised Harvey Palmer "But. I'm not even a black belt"
"Desperate times call for desperate measures" joked Judy "Now the second order of business is to get some instructors set up for some of the vacant classes"
Everyone spoke at once, and they were all swallowed by the noise.
"Early to bed, Early to rise, Fish all day, and make up lies!" -Herb Shriver