Teardrops on My Drum by Jack Robinson

Author:Jack Robinson
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: General, Fiction
ISBN: 9780854492619
Publisher: Alyson Pubns
Published: 1986-06-14T14:00:00+00:00

Henry Tarleton, another schoolfriend, had a fight with me: just a silly schoolboy fight that turned into a boxing match in the schoolyard. We shook hands like professionals and he took me to his home in a small side street in Low Hill. We were reading comics and doing all the silly things that boys do, when his uncle came in. I had seen his uncle, Nel Tarleton, on the movies, in all the newspapers and plastered all over the city on hoardings. This was my first meeting in the flesh, so to speak, and I was quite surprised at his appearance. “How could such a small slim guy like this be the greatest boxer in the world!” I thought.

Henry worshipped his world-famous uncle and I think everyone in Liverpool did too because he had started in the gutter and fought his way to riches and fame. His friends and companions were all great boxers. Henry and I would sit and listen to them talk and they taught us many things.

The great Dom Volante, another famous boxer, used to spar with us, teach us the tricks of the trade and try and get us to join the boys’ boxing club but we did not fancy boxing as a way of life.

“A guy fights with his brains… not his body,” said Nel. “Watch out for the opponent’s tricks and try to out-think him. Speed and footwork will save you every time. Watch the guy’s eyes for signals. It’s an art. The art of self-defence.” Nel never knocked a guy out in his whole ring career, and yet he won all of his fights and fought long after all his contemporaries had retired.

I listened spellbound every evening… “If you have an injured right arm,” said Ernie Roderick, “then you must try and convince the other guy that you have an injured left arm. A boxer with a bandage on his left knee is probably weak from an injury on the other knee, and if he smiles at you -that means you have hurt him badly. If you wanna do something against the rules… make sure your back is to the referee.” It just went on and on until I thought that I could never believe anything any more.

However, my interest in boxing pleased my friend Eddie, so he bought some equipment and stepped up my boxing lessons. We fought in his garden, in his basement and in the spare room where he put me through all kinds of strenuous exercises.

It was great fun and usually finished up with a naked wrestling match. The good times we enjoyed made it all seem so beautiful and romantic, but there was another part of my life that was not so beautiful… the times when I could not see Eddie for days on end and went into the city feeling blue.

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