Blood On The Floor

The ring in the gym is flat on the floor. Behind that is a exercise mat. I was laying on that, doing crunches, while Michael and Ben were sparring. Michael comes by and stands over me, saying something about blood, but I couldn't make out exactly what he said. His mouthpiece was in. I thought he meant he was bleeding. Then he said, "No, Ben is bleeding." I sat up to see Steve attempting to stem the flow of blood from Ben's nose. Emmmauel, who had come into the gym that night, was spraying cleaner on the various spots of blood that had been splashed on the floor of the gym.

Blood is not uncommon in the gym, but it was a little shocking to me last night. Ben has sparred before, but he had never been cut open. I didn't see the punch that produced the crimson, but others who did said it wasn't that hard. However, it was damaging, as Ben had to go out to the men's room to clean up. When he came back in, I noticed he was checking his face in one of the long mirrors in the gym. I thought, "He's going to be swollen tomorrow." I asked him, "Are you okay?" while looking at a streak of blood on his dark T-shirt. "I'm good," he said, but his face was red.

Michael told me he had a headache ever since he took those punches from Saddiq on Wednesday. "The school's clinic is closed until Monday", he told me when I suggested that he should see a doctor. Michael is a college student. "Try one of the city's free clinics," I said. "That may be a slight concussion."

Steve announced that his son will officially be two weeks late in being born as of this upcoming Tuesday. If the boy doesn't come out this weekend, Steve and Ellen's midwife has suggested they induce labor. "I thought it was going to happen the other night because she was having a lot of contractions," Steve said, "but I went back to sleep. I thought, 'We've been through this a few times, so I'm not going to get excited.'" "You would have woken up if you suddenly felt wetness and found her water had broken," I joked. I hope their baby is born this weekend. I can imagine that Ellen is not comfortable.

Junior and Mike (the other Michael who is married to a Swede), went more than five rounds in the ring during their sparring session. Mike is in good shape; however, at the end of it, he was more tired than Junior. I understand that Mike works out very hard, but Junior, who is about ten years younger, has energy to burn. I sparred with Junior once, and I was tired as a big dog afterwards. "You are too fast for me," I gasped.