"Eric Flint - 1632" - читать интересную книгу автора (Flint Eric)

Abruptly, he shook his head, as if to clear his mind for other concerns. He turned to face Mike squarely.

"Give it to me straight, Mike. I'm graduating in a few months. I've got to make a decision. Do you think
I'm good enough to make it in the pros?"

Mike's reply came instant and firm. "Nope." He shook his head ruefully. "Take it from me, buddy. You'll
be right where I wasтАФthe worst possible place.Almost good enough. Good enough to keep hoping,
but . . ."

Tom frowned, stillhoping . "You made it. In a way. Hell, you retired undefeated."

Mike chuckled. "Sure did. After all of eight professional fights as a light heavy." He reached up and
stroked the little scar on his left eyebrow. "My last fight I even made it to the second card at the Olympic
Auditorium. Pretty big time."

The chuckle came againтАФmore of an outright laugh. "Too big! I wonтАФbarelyтАФon points. The kid
demanded a rematch. And that's when I finally had enough sense to quit. A man's got to know his
limitations."

Tom was stillfrowning. Stillhoping . Mike placed a hand on his thick arm. "Tom, face it. You'll get no
farther than I did. Realizing that you only beat the kid in front of you because you were a little more
experienced, a little savvier, a little luckier." He winced, remembering a young Mexican boxer whose
speed and power had been well-nigh terrifying. "But that kid'll learn, soon enough. And the fact is that
he's a lot better than you'll ever be. So I quit, before my brains got scrambled. You should do the same,
while you've still got healthy knees."

Again, Tom puffed out his cheeks and, again, blew out a slow breath. He seemed on the verge of saying
something, but a motion caught his eye. His brand-new wife was approaching, with people in tow.

Tom was suddenly beaming like a child. Watching that glowing smile, Mike felt his own heart warming.

Hell of a sweet kid, to come from such cruddy parents.

Rita arrived with her usual thermonuclear energy. She started by embracing her new husband in a
manner that was wildly inappropriate in a high-school cafeteriaтАФspringing onto him and wrapping both
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legs around his thighs. Wedding dress be damned. A fierce and decidedly unvirginal kiss accompanied
the semi-lascivious embrace. Then, bouncing off, she gave Mike a hug which, though it lacked the sexual
overtones, was almost as vigorous.

The preliminaries done, Rita spun around and waved forward the two people lagging behind her.
Outside of the accompanying grin, the gesture resembled an empress summoning her lackeys.

Sharon was grinning herself. The man next to her wore a more subdued smile. He was a black man
somewhere in his fifties, dressed in a very expensive looking suit. The conservative, hand-tailored clothing