Chapter Seven
It’s the same limousine I first climbed into two years ago.
It’s the smell I remember first. The sticky leather… it makes me feel sick instantly. It’s a wet smell, something that coats itself to the inside of my throat. Something I can almost taste.
I guess I’m just not used to luxury.
Glass hasn’t changed a bit. He’s still got those crooked, smoke-stained teeth bracketed by gold ones, the gold watch, the completely bald head, the hard, mean eyes.
I don’t let my guard down for an instant, and I won’t ever around him. I didn’t trust him as a kid, I just didn’t know it at the time.
Now… now I understand the trepidation I felt when I climbed into that limousine. I was faced with the choice of taking something given to me, and then finding out how not to be controlled by it. Glass is a serial controller.
Or I could have returned to my life as it was… destined for nothingness.
I hate the idea of being nothing, of being worthless. I have worth.
They used to say that every human being, inherently, had worth. But even as those words left the social worker’s mouth, I could sense that they were empty. She couldn’t hide her true, sad thoughts behind that well-practiced smile. A warm smile in the winter wind. She may as well have said nothing.
But bless her. Bless all of them. They stand in the way of the storm, try to block it with words and compassion and sometimes, in rare cases, even love.
It won’t work. It will never work… not in this God damned world.
But rare is it that the cards you’re dealt can be exchanged. That’s why I climbed into that limousine. That’s why I followed a man like Glass who just stank of something rotten.
I got to turn my cards in, get dealt a new hand. How many times can people say that?
“I’ve set up a gym for you in the back of the house. It’s my old one, but I’ve got all-new and modern equipment. We’re going to get you on a proper diet. I’ve got the best supplements, some experimental ones too, testosterone boosters, everything.”
I nod at Glass, lick my lips.
“And I’ve got a trip set up, we leave tomorrow. We’re going to talk to Jim McNamara in Omaha. You ever heard of him?”
I shake my head.
“Well, he trained some of the best boxers this country has ever seen, and he owes me a favor. He’s got a compound a ways away from the city. You’ll live there, train with him and the other boys. I’ll stay with you, spar with you, show you the ropes, show you my best moves.”
“Got it,” I tell him. “For how long?”
“Around six months. You’re going to be the best, boy,” he says, gripping my shoulder, squeezing it tight. “A man like you is welcome into my family.”
“Thank you,” I tell him.
The truth is, I do feel gratitude, but I also recognize the tongue of a snake. That was my education; learning how to tell the good people from the bad. I suppose that’s everybody’s education, really, but in my life, when you see bad people all the time, you start to notice patterns.
It’s always the promises… the promise of greatness, success, money, whatever. You learn to tell that they aren’t promising you these things… they’re promising themselves these things.
You’re just the tool, the instrument.
Well, I’m no tool, though I’ve been called one before.
“We’re fighting strictly underground in the beginning,” he says. “Nobody will know you. They’ll think you’re easy pickings, bet against you. I’ll sell it. Don’t worry boy, I’ll play my part.”
“Your part?” I ask.
“Yes. We all have a part to play. Life is a stage, don’t forget that, and we all have roles. All my men understand this. My daughter understands this. Play your part, I’ll make you rich. I’ll make you the underdog nobody wants to back. I’ll sell you short.”
I don’t say anything.
“Does that bother you?”
“No,” I tell him truthfully.
“Good. You’ll be the guy who is supposed to lose. You understand, Duncan, you’ll need to sell it. Look like you’re getting beat, then wham!” He claps his hands together. “Then you fucking take them down and submit them.”
“So you want me to take a beating,” I say.
“Precisely. I knew you were smart the moment I saw you,” he says. “You got a good head on your shoulders, Duncan. You’ll go far in this business.”
“What happens when everybody knows who I am? What happens when you’re no longer taking bets against me?”
“We shut it down. Nothing lasts forever. You go pro.”