GO FIGURE

By Roger Esty

I felt a tap on my shoulder as I was watching some of the kids workout. Hitting bags,shadow boxing.I looked around and see this old guy squinting at me. Right off the bat I knew he's Mexican.
"So who are you?",he asked still looking at me up and down.
"I sent a kid here who was interested in being a boxer."
I was trying to put him at ease. Why he was a little uptight,I couldn't figure.
"So where are you from?",he asked still not opening up his eyes all the way.
"I'm a school teacher in the South Bay. One of my students I sent over here. He was supposed to meet me here at this time."
"No student came in here,"he said shaking his head.
"He might be runnin' a little late."
I could see the old guy didn't trust me.
"While I'm waiting,do you mind if I take some pictures. I write for the BoxRec Forum. I talked to a fella a while back named Carlos. I took some shots of him. Want to give you guys some free publicity."
"Carlos is my son",said the old guy fronting me like he wanted me out the door.
"Yeh,I talked to him about three weeks ago."
"You have to talk to him now",he said.
"Is he coming in?"
"No. He went home sick."
"Ok if I take some pictures of the kids training?"
I noticed that the two trainers working with the kids couldn't have much into their 20's.
"No way. "
I could see the old man was starting to get frustrated.
"Well maybe some other time. I'll wait a little longer for my student to show."
"He hasn't been here. You need to come back when my son is here."
Now I wanted to exit. No warmth exuding from this sour face.

I waited out at the corner for 15 minutes. The kid never arrived. I walked across the street to my car. I must have arrived under a bad sign. Vibes were all wrong. On top of it all,I can't stand an old guy that has no wisdom.