We broke and moved in an easy circle around the ring looking for daylight.
“I not a thinker like you,” Hawk said, “being the pro-duct of a racist ed-u-cational system.”
“This is certainly true,” I said and threw a lightning fast left hook which Hawk seemed to catch quite easily on his hunched right shoulder. He countered with a whistling right uppercut which I managed to avoid.
“But if I a thinker,” Hawk said. “I be thinking that
“That’s amazing,” I said as I circled him clockwise, bouncing on my toes to demonstrate that I wasn’t getting tired. “And you’re not even a licensed investigator.”
Hawk shuffled in suddenly and threw a short flurry of punches which I bobbed and weaved and rolled and ducked and mostly avoided. I countered with an overhead right which Hawk pulled back from. Hawk stepped back and leaned against the wall of the gym.
“You think we go fifteen and not get a winner?” Hawk said.
“Fifteen for real,” I said, “maybe we’d be trying harder.”
“Have to.”
We walked out of the boxing room and down to Henry Cimoli’s office.
“How long’d you go,” Henry said.
He was in his trainer’s costume, a very white tee shirt and white satin sweatpants. His small upper body looked like it might pop the weave in the tee shirt.
“Half hour,” I said.
“You need mouth to mouth?”
“Not from you,” Hawk said and put his hands out for Henry to unlace the gloves. When we were both glove free, Henry nodded at the small refrigerator next to his desk.
“Trick I learned when I was fighting,” he said. “Keep some good sports drinks handy so as to replenish the electrolytes.”
I opened the refrigerator and took out two bottles of New Amsterdam Black and Tan.
“You can use my office, you want,” Henry said. “I got to go suck around the customers.”
“You too teeny to run a health club,” Hawk said. “The same people come here year after year, since the place stopped being a dump. Nobody lose weight. Nobody put on muscle. Everybody look just like they did when they signed up to get in shape.”
“One difference,” Henry said. “They are a little poorer, and I am a lot richer.”
Hawk grinned at him.
“Maybe you ain’t too teeny after all.”
Henry jumped up and kicked the palms of his outstretched hands with his toes, and landed easily and laughed and went out to the gym floor.
“Agile too,” Hawk said.
“Easy to be agile if you’re the size of a salt shaker.”
“Almost beat Willie Pep once,” Hawk said.
“I know.”
Hawk sat in Henry’s chair and took a pull at the beer. He swiveled the chair so he could look out Henry’s picture window at the harbor.
“You getting anywhere on Susan’s friend’s stalker.”
“I got a guy I like for it.”
“Time for me to go reason with him?” Hawk said.
“No. I’m not sure he’s the one.”
Hawk shrugged. He put his feet up on the windowsill and crossed his ankles and took another drink of beer.
“Thing I like about Henry,” Hawk said. “He keep the sports drinks cold.”
“That’s a good thing.”
We were quiet for a moment. One of the big harbor cruise boats eased past, all glass and sleek lines, on a luncheon cruise to nowhere. It loomed close to the window. We could see the people, mostly couples, seated at tables in the main cabin.
“You think Robinson connected to the Lamont kid?” Hawk said.
“I don’t know yet. I hope not. That thing shows every sign of being a mess.”
“See any connection with Abdullah?”
“Nothing you don’t know,” I said.
The cruise ship had moved out of sight. For a moment the only activity out the window was the wake of the cruise boat and the gulls that swooped ever hopeful behind it. I finished my beer and Hawk reached over without taking his feet down and got two more out of the refrigerator.
