A Vow to Love. Sherryl Woods

he asked.

      The aging boxer regarded him with regret. “Hey, I don’t want to go telling tales.”

      “Come on, Johnny. What’s going on?”

      “The kid’s got these friends, okay?” He shuddered. “I gotta tell you, Sammy, they give me the creeps. I don’t want ’em hanging around.”

      Sam could see how much Johnny hated making the admission. And coming from an old boxer who wasn’t afraid of much, the fear had to be taken seriously. Besides, Sam knew exactly which friends Johnny was talking about. They were precisely the reason he’d gotten Randy the job at the gym. He sighed.

      “I don’t blame you,” he told Johnny. “Thanks for trying. I’ll talk to Randy, but if he doesn’t want to make the break from this gang of his, I’ll try to figure out something else.”

      Johnny regarded him worriedly. “I hope to hell he’ll listen. He’s a good kid. I can see that. But those friends of his are real trouble.”

      Back in the gym, Sam pulled on his gloves and started warming up at one of the punching bags. Randy, trailed by the two-bit criminals he considered his pals, finally showed at five-fifteen. All of them were wearing black jeans and black T-shirts with the logo of some rap group that thrived on violent lyrics. They all had haircuts that could break a mother’s heart. Most of them had diamond studs in one ear. Probably real, Sam thought, wondering which jeweler they’d ripped off.

      He shot a disapproving frown at Randy. “You’re late.”

      “Sorry. We were tied up.”

      Sam could just imagine what had detained them. They’d probably been staking out a business to rob. He bit back a suggestion that Randy send his delinquent buddies on their way. Maybe he could do something to get through to all of them. Okay, so he suffered from delusions, but it was worth a shot.

      “Any of you guys want to go a few rounds?” he inquired.

      “Nah. We’re just fixing to watch Ran-dall,” Tank Landry informed him. The scrawny, dark-haired kid with mean eyes already had an impressive rap sheet for someone not even out of his teens. All pretty tame stuff so far, but it was only a short leap from burglary to armed robbery.

      Sam read the anticipation on Tank’s face. He was probably hoping Randy would pound the cop into the ropes. Fortunately, Randy wasn’t that quick on his feet yet. With a little practice, though, Tank and his associates could get their wish. Tonight, however, maybe it would do them some good to see that one of their own wasn’t nearly as tough as they imagined.

      Before they entered the ring, he pulled Randy aside and nodded toward the onlookers. “I thought we had a deal.”