Driving home with an empty K-5 was boring.
I pulled up to the house, ran inside, and changed my clothes. Ramon and I had training today. No one was inside the house to question what I was doing. I had slipped on my flip flops and carried my wrestling shoes with me as I walked across the gravel to the barn.
Ramon must have gone back to the Cave to grab some gear. He had focus mitts for his hands, training gloves for me, a set of padded headwear, a jump rope, and a large foam body shield set up and ready. Ramon stated this was not going to be a strictly "boxing exercise." Ramon stated that boxing has rules, occurs in a ring, and a referee is there to monitor the fights.
Ramon stated "we are learning to street fight. I know you know how to tackle or attack a person. I have seen you wrestle." I was by no means a world class wrestler, I had been at varsity level since I was in middle school at every weight class, and I had done well in state and multi state matches.
Ramon stated, "moving your head, body, and legs away from strikes or grabs is more important than landing a strike to your opponent."
I secured my headwear, pulled on my gloves, and Ramon handed me a mouth piece. I was very familiar with mouth pieces from my years in football. Ramon continued to talk as we walked over to some red pads he had laid out on the floor. The area was approximately 20' by 20'. We were in an unused dirty garage where feed pellets for the cows were usually parked. Other farm implements were sitting idly collecting dust. Large concrete barriers lined the open garage doors blocking off any machines from coming or going while we trained.
Ramon had me skip rope for 5 minutes, do hundreds of burpees, and throw "shadow" punches into the air to gauge my ability, stamina and speed. I felt like the greenest of rookies as Ramon circled around me looking at my footwork, hips, shoulders, head and lastly my hands. Ramon walked over and picked up a large 4-foot-long rod we use to scare/move cattle through the pens.
I continued to shadow box while he walked within range and flipped it at my face. I did not duck as it made a loud "thwack" sound which echoed throughout the makeshift gym. Ramon stated "you are supposed to duck that. Don't stand so rigid. You have great form, speed, and power. But you need to learn balance that allows you to duck, retreat, or move left or right when a strike is coming."
Ramon silently glided around me flicking the rod at my shins, thighs, stomach, and head. I blocked or evaded 1 out of every 10. Ramon flicked me one last time with the rod aimed at my head. I ducked it cleanly, kept my fists up guarding my face/jaw, and threw a real punch that stopped a millimeter from his face. Ramon smiled broadly.
Ramon commented, "if you had been born Cuban you would be a great boxer. Too bad you are white" as he laughed. Ramon was always joking around, cutting jabs at me, and treated me like a kid brother.
I heard giggling and looked over to see BJ sitting on the concrete barrier with my baby sister Miranda in her arms. I had not expected BJ to be there laughing and playing with Miranda.
Miranda is the baby on the farm. Just over a year old she was never out of my mother's sight. Miranda had brown hair, dark brown eyebrows, and round cheeks. I think she was my mother's miniature twin.
I asked as best I could through my mouthpiece 'break?'
Ramon nodded. I walked over to BJ with a sweaty smile. I had been training for a short time, but I was covered in sweat. My white shirt was clinging to my chest and abs. My shorts were tight and riding up my thigh. BJ did not even look at me. She had only eyes for the cute little Miranda in her arms. I don't know why I was surprised that BJ was playing with my little sister. I realized I knew very little about BJ.
BJ stated "I moved my things into your bedroom. I parked my car in front by your K-5."
I had no idea what she was talking about, "her things" in my "bedroom." Did Ramon hit me in the head when I was not looking. I told BJ to be good until I was done training. She smiled and rocked Miranda back and forth in her arms gently.
Ramon put me though 45 minutes of punching, ducking, and drills.
I was tired and sweaty when Ramon told me "Nice start. A few more of these workouts and Martin is toast. I picked up my belongings, pulled a $100 bill from my wallet and handed it to Ramon. Ramon smiled and thanked me. I learned from my dad that all employees deserve to be paid for their work, overtime, or extra duties. I could not expect Ramon to train me for an hour or two and did not expect to be paid extra.
It was now 4 pm. BJ was still seated on the concrete barrier. Miranda was asleep in her arms. I gathered my items, returned the boxing gear to Ramon, and whispered to BJ 'follow me.' I did not want to wake Miranda and what I had to say to BJ was for us only. I intentionally did not introduce her to anyone at the farm. Not yet.
BJ and I stood outside between the garages and the house. We were 150 yards or more away from the nearest set of ears. Miranda's did not count. I asked BJ, 'what is your name? What will I call you? BJ? Sloan? Or something else."
BJ did not seem fazed and stated "You can call me anything you like. You own me. Name me, call me, or don't. I am yours to command."
I told her in a firm voice, 'your name is Sloan. No more BJ. Anyone who refers to you by that name is not my friend, does not know me, and you will not answer.'
BJ was now permanently renamed to Sloan. She nodded in agreement.
I asked Sloan, 'what are your talents? What do you like to do? What are your hobbies? What can I ask you to do and be 100% sure you will carry it out correctly.'
Sloan never looked up from the baby Miranda in her arms as she stretched and slowly woke up. Sloan stated, "I can cook, clean, bake, create arts, crafts, paint, draw, sew, crochet, create leather works, farm, ride, grow any plant, and do damn near anything else. I'm an only child. My parents have been useless since I was 5 years old. I have had to look after myself as long as I can remember."
I asked Sloan, 'and your physical abilities?'