The War for Gloria by Atticus Lish

Author:Atticus Lish [Lish, Atticus]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2021-09-07T00:00:00+00:00

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But once he had fought, it changed things at the gym. Scott the fireman tried to rough him up and, while not his equal, Corey was relaxed and unafraid of him and able to neutralize much of what he did. Furthermore, he didn’t tire.

The fireman flopped on his back and groaned.

“What’s the matter?” Eddie asked.

“This kid’s annoying me today. Nothing’s working on him.”

“He fought on Saturday.”

“I should have known.”

He decided he would get his gear, his game, his life in order. Rather than taking his mother’s protein powder, he bought Gaspari and Xtend at GMC and set them in his room with his board shorts, bag gloves, rash guard, jump rope, mouthpiece, kneepads, cup and hand wraps—all laid out so he could see them day and night. He’d learn to box you on the feet, using timing and angles, punch his way into the clinch, hit his favorite takedown, work his knee-slide pass, his Leo Vera, punch you from the top, ride you, hunt a choke, use leg-weave passing. His life would be devoted to solving body puzzles. He saw future contests in his dreams. If he lost position, he’d shrimp his hips away or Granby and recover guard and immediately go to mission control or the London and work between an omoplata and a triangle. He’d learn to ping-pong between positions, stay one step ahead of his opponent—to never get guillotined again. It suddenly seemed possible to do everything in life the way it should be done. Sometimes Eddie stopped him as he left the gym and shook his hand.

He bought his own gear. Did his laundry. In October, he turned seventeen. Balanced job, gym, mother—even school—for a little while at least—in the lull after his first fight.

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