Red Hook Road (2010) by Waldman Ayelet

Author:Waldman, Ayelet [Ayelet, Waldman,]
Format: epub
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2011-01-14T19:07:52.406000+00:00

The only time Iris ever saw Daniel box she had come prepared to be outraged, prepared even to walk out in disgust. In fact she was there in the stands of the smelly gym in Rahway, New Jersey, only to refute Daniel’s argument that there was a beauty in boxing, that it served to civilize rather than enhance or exploit man’s essentially violent nature. But as she watched the first bouts on the card, she found herself fascinated by the sound of the fighters’ leather gloves pounding against muscle, by the play of force across the muscles of their backs as they flung their fists, by the sprays of sweat lit up by the bright spotlights.

She tried to resist these feelings, to dismiss them as internalized vestiges of oppression. It was a simple physical reflex, she told herself, one that could and ought to be conquered. But watching Daniel walk up the aisle to the ring for his bout she felt awash in a strange sense of pride. The pride of ownership. That body—those long legs striated with muscle, the bulging band of deltoids connecting his shoulders and neck, the ropy veins crossing the muscles, the flat hard belly disappearing beneath the wide elastic of his shorts—was hers. All that strength and grace had been bestowed upon her, laid at her feet. He belonged to her.

As he climbed into the ring, Daniel caught her eye, and a flush crept across her face, down her belly, and settled like an itch between her legs. He winked at her and she jumped as though he’d touched her. When he turned to duck under the ropes, she shifted in her seat, clenching her thighs together.

When the bell rang Iris leaned forward in her seat, gripping her knees so tightly that her fingers turned white. There was something about Daniel’s expression, something she had not noticed in the faces of the fighters in the prior bouts because she had been so much more interested in their bodies. Daniel and his opponent looked hungry as they leaped toward each other. They sized each other up the way you would gaze at a hamburger immediately before sinking your teeth into it. It seemed so obvious, but it had not occurred to her until that moment that to be a boxer a man must enjoy hitting people. He must in some way enjoy the sensation of causing pain. Iris knew that this introduction of violence into her life should repel her. And it did. It horrified her, she told herself. Yet she felt faint, and not with repulsion, at the thought of being fucked by the man who was so competently demolishing his opponent.

By the third round there was not a person in the gym who would not have agreed that Daniel was winning the match. The other boxer had a few pounds on him, but Daniel was outfighting him. He moved faster, his jabs and hooks had more power behind them. He followed up every well-placed punch.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.