Friendly Faces Amid Neighborhood Drama

I was walking up to Loyola Park for their boxing show since that field house isn't far from my apartment.  Rodney, who is the coach at Trumbull Park, saw me as he was driving by.  "Girl, get on in this car," he said.  I was very appreciative that he gave me a ride.  "Did you go up to your gym first?" he asked.  "No.  I just go straight on to wherever the boxing show is being held on that day," I replied.

Henry and David did not show up.  I had already told Malik to sit out the show because of his non-attendance at La Follette Park, so I had no fighters.  As usual, there were youths in attendance they could have been matched with, but oh, well.  After the weigh-in, seven fights were made.  I served as a judge.

I introduced myself to Frank, who is the new supervisor at Loyola Park,  Frank's a nice, friendly guy who took over after Larry, whom I didn't get a chance to meet, retired not long after taking over from Mary, who retired late last year.  Mary was at the show.  "I miss everybody!" she said as she gave me a hug. There were a lot of other familiar faces in the place.  Of course, Alan and Barry were there as they are the boxing coaches at that park.  Shifty was on hand to referee.  Bill, Pat, Rico, and Johnny were a few of the other coaches present.

I hadn't seen Gary in a long time.  When I took the 'L more often, I would see him at one of the train stations.  He still works for CTA, but he's at another train stop these days.  Rojan, John, Mike, and Kevin -- all guys who train at Loyola Park -- were in attendance.  It was also good to see Sebastian, who told me he's still working towards his degree.  "Gabe still comes here," he told me, referring to his brother. 

I met Mallory and Csilla, two women who train out of Loyola Park.  They fought each other in an exhibition match.  Mallory is tall.  I told her later that she needs to utilize her long arm reach and long legs to gain an advantage in the ring.  Csilla, who is shorter, did well in fighting on the inside.  I told Csilla, who is an art teacher, that I used to fight out of Loyola.  "How did you feel before your first match?" she asked.  "I was beyond nervous.  I hung in there, but I didn't win.  But it gets better each time," I explained.  The person I had my first match with, Meg, is up for a captain's position with the Chicago Fire Department. 

There was some grumbling in the crowd during one of the matches.  The announcer responded with, "It's easy to box while sitting down."  "You ain't never lied,"  I thought as I chuckled to myself. 

There was a delay in getting a recording of the National Anthem started for some reason.  I initially told Barry that I would rather one of the kids get a chance to sing.  But after a few moments of silence, I told everyone, "Okay, I'll start it off.   But for some reason, this is the one song that I keep blanking out on the lyrics.  So everyone has to sing along with me."  With the encouragement of the announcer, I took the microphone.  The audience joined in and it was fine. 

Mike was matched with Solomon, who is in Barry's class.  Solomon keeps getting better every time I see him, and tonight was no exception.  Now Mike did pop Solomon good a couple of times.  But Solomon was the busier of the two, so he got the win.  Unfortunately, Kim, Mike's wife, got to the field house late so she didn't see Mike fight.  But I assured her that her husband did well. 

One of the guys who fought out of Hamlin is a lifeguard at La Follette.  I recognized him after I congratulated him on his win.  "I go into the boxing gym at La Follette and work out in the ring from time to time," he told me.  It's easy for him to do seeing how the door to the gym is often left wide open everyday way before I get there.  But now that I know the guy boxes, I told him he could go in and train whenever he has the time. 

John worked over the guy he fought with, who I believe was from Hamlin Park.  Hamlin people are hard to beat.  I know, because I've been in the ring with a few of them in the past.  But John stayed on the guy for the win. 

The boxing show was pleasant.  But the crowd wasn't as big, and it thinned out quickly.  There was a bit of a low vibe in the room.  Kevin said that it was probably because of recent shootings that have left the neighborhood on edge.  A couple of murders took place over the past few days; the incidents are thought to be the work of a serial killer.  Not the first time there has been that type of person in the neighborhood, but it's been years between then and now.  "You think they'll catch the guy?" Alan asked me as he drove me home.  Pictures of an alleged suspect showed a man dressed from head to toe in black with his face covered.  "It would be easy for whoever it is to change out of that outfit and blend in.  They may catch him, but they may not," I answered, shaking my head.