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He said: "How old are you? Oh, yeah? I need to ask you a question. Do it ever get old? You know, chasing pussy. Cuz I'm a lot younger than you and it is already getting old. I mean, some of these women just don't value themselves. And even some of the ones that do, don't."

He wrapped my hands in red.

In the mirror: jab jab cross hook jab jab cross hook jab jab cross hook.

He said: "Don't punch the bag, slap it and pop your arm back quick like you're whipping a child."

A light in the back of the ring signals rounds. Green yellow red. The round lasts three minutes and yellow means the round is almost over. It stays red for thirty seconds and flips to green and everyone in the gym punches or skips rope or runs stairs.

Cone drill. He said: "Pick up this cone put it in that corner pick up that cone put it in that corner. Like that. You'll figure it out."

He said:  "It's not so easy now, is it? You started off like a jackrabbit, now you're the sandman."

Punching drill. He took my in the ring with another guy, smaller but in good shape. He told us to throw jab cross jab cross jab cross jab cross jab cross jab cross and hit the other guy's glove, skip to another corner, do the same thing again, and keep doing that the entire round. It was the first time another glove came at me. It was unexpectedly scary. It was hard to get the timing down at first. His punches hit mine with more force. He would kick my ass unless I landed a lucky shot. It was instant realization that even if you are bigger than someone else, the endurance and speed it takes to land combinations and wear someone down is what this is all about.

Tap the lowest rope on the ring with your toes : left right left right : the whole round, keep your gloves up, do another round.

He said: "I fought at one-twenty-six and gained twenty pounds right after the fight. I've walked around at one-eighty. Yeah, me. But I can get ripped." I hit the bag and he comes back with a glossy picture of him flexing, fists in the air. He was ripped and smiling.

He said: "I like to take trips. I went to Argentina by myself. Man, the beef! And the women, papi. What are you, Irish? Oh, Irish and German? I like challenges. I hope I challenged you today."

Towel. Piss. Coconut water.

A morbidly obese woman with a cane sat next to a thin woman with nice legs on the train. One kept huffing, one fluffed her hair.

I stank at every stop.

Another fat woman. Bottle of hand sanitizer hooked to her belt with a key ring. Gold fingernails. Everyone on the train was a thin or a fat.

A guy begged for money at the end of the car. He held a sign. I could not understand what he was saying even when he got closer, but something about almost losing his life. His face was melted off.

I wanted another coconut water.