Abacus

hiding for me? My Robert would have.”
    Randall smiled. He thought it was funny hearing the old lady talking tough. “Don’t worry, ma’am, we will give him what he deserves, won’t we, Detective?” Randall said, throwing his car keys to Hobbs.
    As Hobbs walked Mrs. Campbell towards the hall, he turned and called out, “Oh yeah, boss, and don’t forget our little appointment this arvo at the gym.”
    “Don’t worry , I haven’t forgotten, just make sure you’re there,” he said confidently.
    * * *
    Maybe I’m getting too old for this , Randall thought as a big right hand from Hobbs glanced his headgear and caught him on the side of the nose. He shook his head and backed away to gain his composure. A small trickle of blood meandered out of his nose into the crease of his cheek. Wiping it with his right glove, he smeared the blood across his face. He didn’t like to bleed, it was a sign of weakness.
    “You right ?” Hobbs asked.
    “You worry about yourself , sport. You’ll need God in your corner today, my friend,” Randall garbled, defiantly biting down hard on his mouthguard. Randall was no slouch with the gloves, and had an imposing muscular six-feet frame, but today it appeared Hobbs may have had the better of him. For a big man Hobbs was quite agile as he danced around the padded ring, peppering Randall’s head and body with neat, sharp blows. Randall could feel the blood-flow from his nose increase as the fight went on. Trying to hide the injury, he continued to wipe the blood with his gloves. Seizing on a concentration lapse by Hobbs, he got in close and checked him with a couple of short lefts to the head. Hobbs took the blows in his stride and slipped away comfortably.
    Randall, being a competitive bastard by nature, just didn’t want to survive the encounter nor did he want to give a good account of himself, he wanted to win. Ducking a couple of menacing swings from Hobbs, he realised his only chance was to get in nice and close and take Hobbs’s long reach out of play. As he skipped in to get closer, he was hit with a big right hand across his left temple, which sent him spinning into the ropes and onto the canvas.
    The old Police B oys Club gymnasium was spinning as he lay face up. He momentarily forgot where he was until he looked to his left and saw Hobbs’s size fourteen shoes busily jogging on the spot. Extending his gloved hand, Hobbs asked almost apologetically, “Need a hand there, boss?”
    To save face , Randall sprang to his feet. “Listen, you worry about yourself, sport,” he said, still trying to deal with the spinning room. Shaking his head and stretching his neck from side to side he did his best to refocus. A cocky Hobbs stretched his chin out a number of times to entice Randall to hit him. Randall saw this as the ultimate insult to his ability as a wave of anger overcame him. With anger came power and strength, and with a plan in mind, he held his gloves up and peered over the top to see a determined-looking Hobbs march towards him. He danced and skipped around the ring a little to entice the giant to come in for the kill.
    As Hobbs moved in close, he feigned a left jab, which drew the giant’s guard up to protect his head and left his midsection open. Seizing the opportunity, he delivered the killer blow through a punishing short right to the ribs. The crack of the blow echoed through the gym and sent the giant staggering backwards onto the floor in the corner of the ring. Holding his mid section, he lay moaning, totally finished.
    Randall bounced and skipped around the ring , pounding his gloves together as he looked down at his opponent with a look of total satisfaction. “C’mon now, up you get,” he urged. Seeing that Hobbs was no longer in the contest, he spat his mouthguard into his glove, which left a long string of saliva. Wiping the spit with his left glove, he reached out with his right to help Hobbs up.
    “Looks like you’ve had enough for one day , big fella,” he said, pulling Hobbs to his feet.
    Spitting out his mouthguard with a pained expression, Hobbs said, “You got me good. Real good.”
    “Respect goes a long way, ” Randall said patronisingly. “And remember, you are only as good as your last punch… and mine was bloody exceptional.” Hobbs raised his eyebrows in agreement. Being the quintessential sportsmen, Randall helped his injured opponent from the ring to collect his bag and then onwards to his car. Reaching the driver’s