Right as Rain

Strange knew it was deeper than that between him and Janine. But he was a private man, and that was all he could bring himself to say.

Saiz issued a flagrant low blow to Mitchell, sending him to his knees. The increasingly raucous crowed booed loudly as the ref directed Saiz to his corner and deducted a point. At Mitchell's nod, the ref restarted the fight. Mitchell came out with fury, throwing a flurry of punches in a blur of speed and power.

'You're go

'Yeah,' said Strange. 'Sharmba's go

Mitchell decisioned Saiz unanimously. Janine and Juana walked up the stands carrying two beers each. An elderly couple on the end got up to let them pass.

'Damn, where y'all been?' said Strange, as they took their seats. He sounded mildly cross, but it was plain from the relieved look on his face that he had been worried about Janine.

'Juana wanted to see Sugar Ray,' said Janine. 'He's down at ringside.'

'You see him?'

'Mm-huh,' said Juana, and she and Janine laughed.

'Saw Don King, too,' said Janine.

'Must have made you hungry for some cotton candy,' said Strange.

'Wondered why my stomach was growling,' said Janine, 'looking at that hair of his.'

'How you doin'?' said Qui

'Janine's really nice,' she whispered.

'Havin' fun?'

'Uh-huh.'

He kissed her lips.

A tuxedoed man came into the ring, pulled down the hanging microphone, and began to describe, with flourish, the participants in the main event.

'Who's that guy?' said Qui

'Discombobulating Jones,' said Strange, with affection. 'Best ring a

'Here we go,' said Qui

'Hopkins took out Simon Brown,' said Strange. 'You know that?'

The main event had Hopkins in a rematch with Robert Allen for the IBF middleweight crown. Their first pairing, in Vegas, had been marred by Allen's shoves and holds, and ended as a no contest when Hopkins fell through the ropes and sprained an ankle.

'Allen's doin' it again,' said Strange, well into the first round. 'He's headlockin' him, man; he doesn't want to fight.'

Allen seemed to fake an injury, claiming himself the victim of a low blow. The spectators became angry, calling Allen a punk and a bitch. As they grew more boisterous, they moved en masse toward the ring. The fight continued, with round after round the same. The crowd's taunts became louder and more threatening.

'These people want blood,' said Strange.

'Let's get out of here,' said Qui

The four of them moved through the dense crowd. The young women in the crowd were mostly attractive, with shoulder-length, relaxed hairstyles that Juana called Brandy cuts. The oversized look was out for the young men. Many wore baseball jackets with leather sleeves and colorful sayings embroidered on the back. Someone bumped Qui

Out in the auditorium, as they walked down the carpeted lobby, a young man in a group of three made a comment directed at Juana, saying how he'd like to 'kick that shit deep.' Qui

Once outside, they walked down 10th. Strange and Qui

'Sounds like the man's got some kind of hang-up,' said Strange, a playful light in his eyes. 'Doesn't he know, Terry, that the world is changing?'

'Think I ought to go tell him?' said Qui

'Go ahead,' said Strange, with a small grin. 'I'll make sure your lady gets home safe.'

Juana and Qui

Strange bought a twelve-pack at a market and drove up Georgia. Janine sat beside him on the bench, her thigh touching his, while Strange messed with the stereo, popping in War Live and fast-forwarding the tape to a song he liked.

'What you lookin' for?' asked Janine.

'"Get Down." Here it is.' Strange turned the bass dial and put more bottom into the mix. 'What's Ron doin' on Monday, you know?'

'He's workin' a couple of jumpers, I think.'

'I could use his help.'

'We need the money he's go

'Yeah, you're right.' Strange turned up the volume and sang,' "The po-lice… We're talkin' 'bout the po-lice."'

Janine laughed. 'You're in rare form tonight, honey.'

'Havin' a good time, I guess.'

'Me, too. I like Juana. That's a together young lady right there. Going to law school down at GW, you know that? Might have her talk to Lionel about it, let him know in a backdoor kind of way that anybody can do anything, they set their mind to it. You know she didn't come from any kind of privilege or nothin' like that.'

'What about Terry? You think he's good for her?'

'They stay together, they're go

Strange nodded, looking in the rearview mirror at the black VW following his car. 'So do I.'

In the Bug, Qui

'How about Lucinda Williams?' said Juana.

'The chick on Laverne and Shirley?'

'You're thinkin' of Cindy Williams.'

'I'm fuckin' with you, girl.'

'Here, put this in, you'll like it.'

Qui

'This rocks,' said Qui

'Yeah, Lucinda is bad.'

Qui

'What's wrong with that?'

'Nothin'. I'm sayin' he's proud of it, is all. His age group, the symbol of success is a Cadillac. You know what I mean.'

'I guess I do.'

When Juana was a kid, she heard a white boy in her elementary school class call a Cadillac a 'nigger boat.' She had told herself from the start that Terry wasn't 'like that' in any kind of way. But how could you know what was really in a person's heart? He had downed more than a few beers tonight, and maybe this was him for real, loose and talking truly for the first time. Maybe what he believed was out of his control, that everything he had learned had been taught to him, and had been ingrained in him irreversibly, long ago. And maybe she was just being too sensitive. Once you started going in that direction, you could drive yourself crazy over something that was probably nothing at all.

'What's wrong?' said Qui

'Nothing, Tuh-ree,' said Juana, finding his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. 'I was just thinking of you, that's all.'