“Yeah, he’s a good boy, Harry,” said Albert. He lowered his voice. “But between you and me, I’m not sure a fight like this is right for him. This early, he could well come unstuck.”
Harry smiled knowingly. “I think the odds are stacked in your boy’s favour,” he said with a nod and a wink. “Know what I mean?”
Lenny pulled up beside Albert with a toot of his horn. Patsy and Danny were already on the back seat.
“I’d better get going, Harry. See you at the fight.”
Driving back to Canning Town, Harry’s words tumbled around Albert’s head. There had been something about the nod and the wink that made Albert uncomfortable.
He didn’t want to think too hard about what Harry had meant.
With the fight scheduled for the next day, Patsy wanted Danny to spar for the rest of the afternoon and complete a training session. Arrangements were made for the trip to York Hall the following evening. Lenny was going to pick them up at six, with the fight scheduled to start at nine.
“Good to get there early,” said Patsy. “Give you time to prepare and focus.”
They worked through the afternoon, going through Danny’s exercises. As Danny picked up his bag to leave, Patsy gave him some final advice.
“Try and get a good night’s sleep. And no argy bargy with Wendy, OK? It’ll weaken your legs.”
Danny had no problem agreeing with Patsy’s suggestion. After all, Wendy had only just returned from childbirth. Argy bargy was not an option.
The thought of getting back to Wendy and baby Ruby was much more exciting than the trauma of the weigh-in and the grinding training session.
Danny almost flew upstairs to see them.
Ruby had just woken up and was in Wendy’s arms, gurgling softly to herself. Danny looked at his wife and daughter with an overflowing sense of love. Taking Ruby in his arms, he looked at her beautiful little face, her tiny nose (a replica of her mother’s), her blue eyes blinking in the daylight. Looking down at this miracle strengthened his resolve for the fight to come.
“She’s got my ears, you know,” he told Wendy as he kissed Ruby’s tiny forehead. “Good job she ain’t got my nose.”
It was a moment to treasure. The three of them, there in their borrowed bedroom, away from the world of boxing and violence. Safe from the outside difficulties that surrounded a working-class life.
The night’s sleep was a decent one. Perhaps Ruby knew that Daddy had a big day coming, and apart from one restless night feed at two a.m., she left Danny reasonably undisturbed.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
IT was almost like Danny had wings as he ran back to the house after his morning jog in the grey, drizzly light. Wendy and Ruby were taking a late-morning nap, so as quietly as possible, he took a shower. As the warm water cascaded over him, he thought of the night ahead, and his rendezvous with the Dragon.
Patsy and Albert’s words went round and round in his head. Keep your distance. Don’t get involved in a brawl. Use your reach advantage. Keep moving.
Showered and changed, he sat down to re-watch the old footage of the Dragon’s past fights, on a fairly ancient projector that Albert had borrowed from his downstairs neighbour Simon. Once again, Danny analysed any possible weaknesses in the fighter’s armour. He could see very few. The power of the Dragon’s punches was formidable. His nerves were tingling as he watched his opponent floor a worthy contender. “Keep moving” was the answer. “Keep your distance” was definitely the tactic.
Ruby woke up. Turning the projector off at the sound of her gentle cry, Danny went upstairs. A tired but happy Wendy was changing the baby’s nappy. Danny had mastered a few nappy changes, but lacked the expertise of fixing the safety pin without a struggle. His nappy prowess was no match for the baby’s adoring mother.
Standing there watching his wife and daughter put everything into perspective for Danny. It reminded him of the importance of succeeding in this quest for a secure future for the two people he loved the most.
Nappy changed, Danny took Ruby in his arms.
“She smiled at me,” he said.
“It’s probably wind,” Wendy replied.
“No, she definitely smiled at me,” insisted Danny.
Wendy gave him a concerned look. “Are you feeling OK?”
Danny handed Ruby back and rolled his shoulders, trying to ease the tension. “I just want to get on with it,” he said. “Get it over with.”
“Be careful, won’t you?” said Wendy as she cradled Ruby against her shoulder. “We love you, don’t let him hurt you.”
Danny’s eyes filled with loving tears. It felt so safe to be here in their little room, safe from the battle to come, safe from the cuts, bruises and hostility. Part of him just wanted to stay here, cocooned with the people he loved. But, like his father before him, he knew he had to go into battle with his head held high and a brave heart beating in his chest.
“Don’t you worry,” he said. “It’s gonna be all right. I’ll tell you all about it when I come home.”
There would be life after this ordeal. It was a good thought. For months his focus had been on the fight and his powerful opponent. Now, knowing that his family would be waiting for him after the fight, Danny felt not only a sense of purpose, but a sense of security.
The Humber Hawk pulled up outside at six o’clock on the dot. Danny looked through the window at the car, and his boxing family waiting inside on the plush leather seats, and with a belly full of butterflies, kissed Ruby and Wendy a meaningful goodbye.
“Don’t look so worried,” he said, holding Wendy close. “It’s time to be positive now. I’m going into battle for the people I love, and I’m gonna win. All right?”
As Danny got into the Humber Hawk’s back seat, he could see Wendy and Ruby at the bay window of the house. Wendy was waving Ruby’s tiny hand as if she was waving goodbye. He blew them both a final kiss and the car moved off.
“How you feeling?” asked Albert.
“He’s feeling good ain’t he, ’cos he’s gonna slay the Dragon,” said the optimistic Lenny. “Just like St George, ain’t it?”
Danny was relieved that Lenny had answered for him. At that moment, he wasn’t really sure what he was feeling. He knew he had a job to do, and he had trained and worked hard for this moment, but there was still a part of him that wished he could just stay with Wendy and the baby, safe and secure and away from the battle to come.
The drive to Bethnal Green was dream-like. Danny watched the streets pass by without really seeing them, his mind well and truly on the coming fight.
The traffic was beginning to build as they turned into the street to York Hall. The fight fans were starting to arrive. The reality of all these people paying to watch and the lines of fight fans waiting outside the hall scared Danny more than he’d expected.
Patsy patted his shoulder. “Look at that, Danny,” he said. “They have all come to see you win.”
Danny nodded, his mouth dry, his hands ice cold, resisting the urge to come back with “Maybe they have come to see me lose.” Right now, that was what he was feeling.
They got through the milling crowd and the car made its way to the back entrance and the changing rooms. A small gathering of fight fans waited for an autograph or a photo, and Danny obliged, before Tony Costa scooped him up and led the way to his room.
In the hall, fight night was well under way, with the first scheduled contest already in progress. Danny had not wanted to arrive too early, as sitting and waiting was a recipe to stir up nerves and too much time to think was dangerous. But Patsy knew best. They all needed a little time in this place to properly prepare, and focus was important.
Costa was almost too upbeat. “It’s gonna be a night to remember, Danny boy,” he said jubilantly. “Every ticket sold out weeks ago, how about that?”