The Girl Who Made Good in America Read Online Free PDF Page B

Who knows?”
    Zelda said, “I’m sorry I brought you here, Theresa. I just naturally thought you knew. Now, I feel real bad. I hope I haven’t upset you, you know, with the baby on the way and everythin’.”
    Theresa smiled and said, “Don’t worry, Zelda, I’m glad I know now. There’ll be no trouble with Callum. He must love me very much. I see the caption reads Mickey Ford. That was his fighting name?”
    “Yeah, that was my idea”, said Maxie, “Man, he was really somethin’.”
    “I don’t get it, Maxie. I mean, Callum’s so handsome – no cauliflower ears, no broken nose, in fact, no bruises at all. Is it really as dangerous as people make out?”
    “Honey, he’s so clever and so fast that they couldn’t lay a glove on him. He’s got more chance of gettin’ injured in the steelworks than in the ring.”
    With much food for thought, Theresa arrived home. “What have you been up to when I was at church, Callum?”
    “Oh, I just went for a bit of a run. It was a lovely morning to be outdoors.”
    “What are you training for, my love?”
    “Training? No, I’m just keeping fit, Theresa.”
    “I’ve been down at the Globe, Callum. I know about the boxing – why all the secrecy?”
    “Oh, I didn’t think it was all that important. It’s just something I was doing for a while.”
    “Now, tell me the truth. Do you miss it?”
    “Well, it’s something I was good at. I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t miss using my skills now and again.”
    “Did you worry about getting hurt and being unable to look after me, Callum?”
    “Does your father worry about going down the pit? He risks his life every day down there but it’s the only job he knows. He just does what has to be done to put bread on the table.”
    “Maxie told me you were pretty good. He said the steelworks could be more dangerous than the ring.”
    “He could be right but I hope to get out of there and start up on my own some day – maybe buy my own truck.”
    “Callum, I want that too and I don’t want to hold you back. Let’s have the baby next month and we’ll see how things are. Keep training. Be ready, because babies are expensive and I won’t be able to get a job for a while, so perhaps you can get back in the ring soon. Besides, Maxie will be pleased.”
    “Oh right, I get it, the main thing is Maxie’s happiness.” They both laughed and relaxed after the talk, agreeing that there would be no more secrets.
    On her seventeenth birthday Theresa gave birth to a baby boy in Pittsburg General Hospital. She meant to have the baby at home like they did in Scotland but the midwife, sensing complications, rushed her to hospital. After a long and painful labour, the doctor’s forceps finally produced a healthy child. Theresa was as weak as a kitten and needed a full week of recovery and care in the hospital. The birth of Martin Michael Rutherford was duly registered.
    “I’m in a bit of trouble, Maxie,” said Callum. “I’ve had to borrow money from the sharks to pay the hospital bill. I reckon it’s time for me to get back in the ring.”
    “You told me you were through, Mickey. You had no killer instinct – remember?”
    “Jesus, Maxie, I thought you’d be pleased. Anyway, desperate men do desperate things. I’d go through a brick wall for my wife and kid. As for the killer instinct, you set ’em up and I’ll knock ’em down.”
    “O.K kid, I’ll get right on to it. First, I’ll contact the press and tell ’em that Mickey Ford is back in town. That’ll guarantee a good gate and a good purse for your comeback fight.”
    The sports writers, knowing that Maxie Mosquito was always good copy, crowded round him at the Globe Gym. “What about the glass jaw, Maxie?”
    “The doc’s given him a clean bill of health. The kid’s ready to go again.”
    “Who’s he gonna fight first up?”
    “I’ve lined him up against Bushman Dempster, the wild man from Australia.”
    “Gee, Maxie, he’s got a punch like