Mistaken Identity

“You got him, man!” Browning shouted as Star sat down in his corner. “You opened him up! When you get back out there, stay upstairs. Circle to the right. Look for a right cross behind your left!”

Star tuned out Browning. His thoughts were on that bitch. She better be dead. He spit his mouthguard into a hand covered in a latex glove while another glove wiped sweat off his face and squirted water into his mouth. A third set of gloves smeared Vaseline on his eyebrows, but Star waved them off. Harris wasn’t going to be landing anything in the seventh. Star would knock him out in the seventh.

Ring! It was the round bell. Star got off the stool and jumped to get his blood moving. Loosen up. A gloved hand popped in his moutlhguard.

“You know what to do, Star!” Browning started up again. “Finish him off, man! He don’t want no more. Can’t take no more. Finish him the fuck off!”

Star charged out of his corner, gloves up, light on his feet. He went straight at Harris, who backed off, his left high, tryin’ to protect his eye. Star waited for his moment. Harris didn’t throw anything, just danced back like a pussy, gloves in front of his cut eye. Fresh red blood drippin’ like tears in a line down his cheek.

The crowd screamed for the knockout punch. They smelled the blood. They knew it was comin’. Star had to throw it. Harris blinked blood out of his eye and backed into the ropes. The cut was so bad the ref would call the fight any second. Star pushed Harris against the ropes, throwing left jabs. Had to get Harris lookin’ for the left, so he could throw the right into the cut. Star stayed patient. It drove the crowd crazy. The TV cameras rolled.

Suddenly Star found another way. He caught Harris with a left uppercut to the gut. Harris dropped his right arm, covering up. His left was still high, but he was open. The crowd screamed as Star followed with a left hook to the temple. Harris took one step back, then slumped forward to his knees. The ref waved Star to a neutral corner, but Star didn’t move. It was too sweet a sight. Mojo Harris kneeling unconscious in front of him.

The ref shoved Star to the corner and started his count. By the time he got to three, it was over. The ref waved the fight off, a knockout, as Star threw his fists into the air and roared.

After the fight, Star gave interview after interview, talkin’ to the newspapers, Ring magazine, and even a guy from Sports Illustrated. There were so many reporters, Star couldn’t even make it into the locker room. He stood outside, jawin’ into microphones with white boxes showing the stations. USA, ESPN, KYW. Browning yapped more than Star did, actin’ like Don King while other managers sucked up. They was comin’ to Star now, but the boxer didn’t want to see ’em. Only dude he wanted to see was that squirrel with the hair plugs.

“Star, yo!” said a voice behind him, and Star finished signing another autograph and turned around. It was the squirrel wearin’ head bandages that made him look like a dothead. In his hand was a black Adidas gym bag. Make sure it got done.

“Get your ass inside,” Star said. He opened the dressing room door, shoved the dude, and shouted at his people to clear out. He locked the door behind them and faced the dude alone. “You do that bitch?” Star demanded.

“Man, you were unreal! I never saw a fight like that! You could take anybody! You could be the champ!”

“I am the champ, motherfucker! Answer me. Tell me that bitch is dead.”

“She’s dead, man. She’s history, and you just made me and my boss a shitload.” The dude was smilin’ like an idiot, but Star wasn’t.

“How I know you did her? You bring the proof?”

“Sure. I got it, just like you said.” The dude reached into the gym bag and brought out a crumpled paper bag with a greasy stain on the bottom. “Here, look.”

Star leaned over and peeked into the bag. The sight turned his stomach. In the bag was a mess of blond hair matted with blood and stuck to a bloody scalp. The skin on the scalp was so white it coulda been a doll’s. The smell was disgusting, like fresh road kill. Star pushed it away. “Get that outta my face, asshole.”

“You said, show me.” The dude closed the bag fast and stuck it back in the gym bag. “You wanted proof.”

Then Star realized something. “How’m I supposed to know it’s Co

“Shit, ’course it’s Co

“Get that shit outta my sight!” Star waved at the bag and watched as the dude put the bag away. It had to be Co

Finally there was an end to it. Star had gotten justice, for Anthony.

And he was on his way to the top.

97

Be

She cut the Saab’s headlights, leaving on the low beams as she drove closer. Rocks and gravel crunched under the car’s tires. A rusty red pickup stood out in front of the cottage, and Be

Be

“Ay? Somebody there?” asked a voice. Elderly, uncertain, even frightened. It touched her unexpectedly.

“It’s me. Be

“Wha?” There was the sound of a dry cough, then footsteps shuffling softly. In the next minute a long figure filled the dark door and opened it wide.

“Hello,” Be

“No!” he shouted, throwing off her arms and recoiling suddenly, knocking an astonished Be

“I’m sorry,” she said, flustered. She wasn’t even sure what had happened, his response had been so immediate, so violent. Be

“It’s all right.” Winslow patted his chest, over a buttoned-up blue workshirt, as if he’d just received a shock.

“I was only-”

“Quite all right.” His wrinkled hand fluttered against his shirt, then moved to right his glasses, though they weren’t crooked. “It’s all right. It’s fine. My. Well.” Winslow coughed again and focused on Be

“Yes. We do.” She was trying to recover from her faux pas. “Starting off on the right foot,” she said, laughing uncomfortably.