Dangerous: an Intimate Journey into the Heart of Boxing by Ian Probert

Author:Ian Probert
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pitch Publishing
Published: 2016-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

Session #5

‘YOU’VE not been here for a long time?’ a Chinese accent says.

‘I know... I’m sorry... It’s not been... Convenient.’

‘Convenient?’

‘Yes. I should have told you really. I should have phoned. I’m sorry about that... I apologise.’

The usual herbal tea and notepad: It’s as if she’s been frozen in position here for all these weeks waiting for me to return. She might even be wearing the same clothing. In fact, everything is exactly the same: the walls, the clock, the desk, the chairs. Everything is as it was. Particularly the silence.

‘It’s a bit of a long story,’ I say, before launching into a lengthy explanation for my absence. I tell her about Sofia, about the hole in her lung, the pneumonia. And she just sits there expressionless. Except for the very slight hint of a frown that creases her brow for a nanosecond there is no reaction whatsoever.

Then she says, ‘I am sorry to hear this. Your daughter is better now?’ Neither a statement nor a question.

‘Yes... Well no... She’s on the mend but it will be several months before she’s completely well... She’s only been out for a couple of weeks.’

‘Couple of weeks?’

‘Yes. Discharged. Let out of hospital.’

That familiar silence stifles the air. She stares into my eyes almost accusingly. The silence spans several long seconds and I find myself smiling back at her. ‘Is there something wrong?’ I ask.

Still silence. Then it suddenly dawns on me: she wants me to tell her why I haven’t come to visit her since my daughter left hospital.

‘Ahhh...’ I say. ‘I understand.’

More silence.

‘I never really left the hospital,’ I say. ‘Literally the day after Sofia was let out I discovered that somebody I knew was in the next ward.’

‘A friend?’

‘Friend? Well, not really. I met him probably five or six times in the past... He’s a boxer actually.’

‘A boxer?’

‘Well... In actual fact ex-boxer...Yes, it’s a coincidence really because I’ve been doing what you suggested... You know, writing about boxing... I even had a piece published in a trade mag.’

Silence.

‘But the boxer – Herol – has been very ill so I’ve had no choice but to give him some support.’

‘Support?’

‘Well not really support. I’ve just been visiting him as much as I can... Buying him a few magazines to read... Some food... That kind of thing.’

‘But he is not your friend?’

‘Sorry?’

Silence.

‘Ahh... I get what you’re driving at. Laura’s been asking me why I’ve been visiting him so often, too. I told her that in initially going to see him I’d made a commitment to him. I couldn’t really visit and say, “Thanks for the interview Herol. See you later – hope you don’t die.”’

‘But he is not your friend?’

‘Well I guess he is now. In actual fact I’ve gotten pretty close to him.’ Images of Herol squatting on that commode flicker into my mind. ‘Too close in fact.’

She takes a deep breath that might almost be a sigh. She stares at her notebook. ‘You spoke about another friend in hospital,’ she says.

I think for a moment.

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