Take it on the Chin

 

 

- 1 -

 

 

Lenny was an East-end boy, and in the East-end there were certain standards to uphold, and certain traditions to go by.   Their area was considered a battlefield.  There were gangs taking sides, there were loyalties to uphold.

 

Lenny did not belong to a gang.

 

He had his own private battles.

 

Every day after school he visited the local library.  It was his secret.  Lenny never took a book home.  Whatever book he was reading Miss Hedges kept it on the rack for him – waiting for him on the shelf.  Therefore, Lenny could just continue where he left off.  His bookmark was a tattered bus ticket.  No-one read in his household so there was nothing else to use. Miss Hedges always left it in the right place.  Miss Hedges did not approve of turning down corners in books; in her opinion it destroyed them and destroyed the fabric of them.  She said this once to Lenny and he thought that they were such wise words, he resolved that he would never do this.  Because Lenny liked wise words.  Lenny wanted to preserve books and he wanted to preserve the respect of Miss Hedges.  That was what he aimed for.

 

If truth be known, he already had her respect – but she would not have let this be known.  There were certain standards to uphold and certain traditions to go by.

 

 

 

 - 2 -

 

 

Eddie had set up the local boxing club a couple of decades before.  It was his intention to establish somewhere the local lads could release their tension, the tension of an environment of battles and hostilities – of gangs.  Eddie wanted to establish a place where young lads could get rid of their aggression in a healthy way.

 

The school, the local church encouraged it, so all the local lads went. 

 

Lenny had no interest but he did not want to appear different, although he knew that he was.

 

The problem that Lenny had was that he did not have an aggressive side to him; he simply was not angry, although all his contemporaries seemed to be.  Lenny found solace and escape at the local library – in books that had imagination and dreams.

 

Lenny did not have any aggression.  Apparently, aggression was what a fighter needed.  In that respect he stood out from the crowd, the crowd he inhabited.

 

Lenny did not want to stand out.

 

So, he pretended.

 

 

There was never a chance of Lenny running into any of the others because it would never cross their minds.  The library was therefore his haven, his safe haven, his safety net.

 

 

 

Lenny went three times a week with his mates to the boxing club.  That was what was expected of him.

 

Three times a week he dreaded it because Lenny had no aggression, he had no anger and he had no ambition to box.

 

But that was what was expected of him.

 

Being tolerant was in his nature.

 

 

 

- 3 -

 

 

Eddie said that he was light on his feet, that he was nimble-footed.

 

If truth be known, Lenny just wanted to avoid being hit.

 

Despite, or in spite of this, Lenny got himself a bit of a reputation.  It was not the reputation he desired or had asked for.  Everyone at school, at home, at church even, admired him for his adroitness.

 

However, you only value something that is of value to you, something that is precious to you.  This is often something that you find difficult to achieve.  Lenny was apparently a natural in the ring; that held no value to him.  He much preferred the approval Miss Hedges gave to his selection of a book.  A slight nod was all that it took.

 

Lenny did not want to be taken out.

 

 

 

- 4 -

 

 

Is avoidance a weakness or a strength?  That had become his style and he won by default – always outlasting his opponent; light on his feet, nimble-footed.

 

Miss Hedges was perhaps the only person that he did not consider to be an opponent, although he had come to think of her as a sparring partner.  She questioned his choices of books and asked his opinions.  Each book was a new round. 

 

Seconds out.

 

This was breaking ground for Lenny.  Lenny, as is the way with young people, never questioned her age; she was just older.

 

In reality there was a five-year gap.  Not much in the scheme of things.

 

Lenny never questioned it because he never thought about it.

 

Lenny only ever thought about books.

 

 

 

- 5 -

 

 

His trade-mark bus ticket of a bookmark was gone.  It had been replaced by a poem.  It was self-styled and was not a particularly good poem; even Lenny could recognise this.  However, it was well-intentioned and its intentions were plain.

 

Miss Hedges had written Lenny a love poem.

 

 

For once, the placid Lenny was consumed with anger.  She had violated his private place.  That building had been the only place he had been safe – and now that was gone.  It was the only time that Lenny had experienced confusion, embarrassment but ultimately - rage.

 

Aggression.

 

Lenny had never been an aggressive type.  He had not had to deal with emotions; they were as lacking as books in his household.  Lenny had never felt anything real, except in books.

 

He did not look her in the eye as he stormed out of the library – so he did not see the look of hurt in her eyes.

 

 

 

Lenny only looked towards this evening.

 

It was his first professional fight.

 

 

 

- 6 -

 

 

It only took one punch. 

 

Lenny never realised he had the strength.  Lenny had never been aggressive, except for tonight.

 

And there was a young lad lying on the floor.

 

And Lenny was the cause, the perpetrator.

 

And Lenny vowed he would never do this again.

 

 

The ambulance came and the young lad was in a coma for three weeks.

 

Managers lined up to sign Lenny but Lenny refused to sign

 

Any contracts.

 

His word was his bond and he had given his word to himself.

 

It was a waiting game and no-one was in his corner.

 

 

 

When the young lad came through, he showed no malice.

 

It was all part of the game to him.

 

It was a game Lenny had vowed that he would never take part in again.  It was a game Lenny did not want, and had never wanted to play.

 

Sometimes it is the stronger man that stands down.

 

So, he was determined to throw the towel in on boxing – but not on his life.

 

 

 

 

 

Lenny was a man of his word and Lenny realised that he did not want to fight because he loved words more.

 

The pen was mightier than the sword.

 

He had his own battles to fight and it was just the opening bout.

 

 

 

- 7 -

 

 

Inside the borrowed library book there was no bus ticket and the poem had been removed.  There were no book-marks in his household.  His family and friends did not read books.

Yet, despite his interest in words, Lenny was not a writer, just as he had not been a fighter.

 

At heart.

 

 

 

On the back of a till receipt from Sainsburys, marking where he had read up to, he placed the book on the library counter.

 

There were two words written.

 

 

 

Let’s try.

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