Surprise Win

Keith surprised me by winning his match during Friday's boxing show at our fieldhouse. The surprise comes because Keith has not been in to workout often. He threw some very wild punches, yet the ones that connected really hurt his opponent.

Steve, Barry, Nate Sr., and myself worked the corners that night. I think Diego was the only Loyola boxer who did not win that evening. Sadiq and Kevin won extra trophies for the extra effort they put in over the past year in the ring. I took a lot of pictures with my ancient 35mm camera. I hope all of them turn out.

Some people just don't take hints or direct statements well, and Tony appears to be one of those people. He had been bugging Steve about where I was before I got to the fieldhouse. Steve caught me rolling my eyes when he told me Tony was looking for me. All that evening, Tony kept following me like an piece of toilet paper stuck to a shoe. I told him that I was not interested in being a stepmom to his kid, or dealing with his baby's mama drama (which he keeps claiming is non-existent). Nor did I like the fact he is a 35 year old man still living at home with his mama. "When are you going to call me?" he asks, instead of taking the hints and moving on. "I'm busy," I said drily. Maybe when he notices I'm not calling him or taking his phone calls.

"I'm working on that," was his response to my complaining about him living at home. Tony has two jobs, or so he told me. What is there to work on? Is he waiting until he turns 40? I don't sense any urgency on his part to get his own place. Not that I'd be interested in dating him even if he did. Someone that old usually is too comfortable to get up off their behind. My parents were wishing out loud for my 18th birthday to come and using road maps as place mats on the breakfast table when I was home. Maybe his mama is not pushing him or his brothers hard enough to hit the road.

His conversation was just idiotic. Bad impressions of famous boxers, complaining about the pizza that had been ordered for the coaches and officials, making fun of the fieldhouse, griping about the north side of the city, and numerous inane jokes. Tony was talking silly to a teenaged girl who he knew. I also heard him talking about going to a club. Now there's a difference between people under and over 30 talking about club-hopping. Most of us over 30 no longer view always hanging at the clubs or bars, for that matter, as a lifestyle. Tony sounded as if he hadn't gotten to that point in his development.