Jamie: The Road to Glory

Jamie shrugged as he glanced at the small watch on the desk in the guest room he was staying in. "Huh, it's only 6:30? I should go get some air."

He walked out the door and made his way up a small hill toward the slums of the town. As he approached, he noticed three boys—one aged 15 and the others around 5—playing nearby. Confused, he spoke up. "Eh, hello? I'm Jamie. What are you guys doing here this early?"

The oldest boy stepped forward. "I'm Jackie, the oldest at 15. We're here to steal the morning buns the baker makes. We sell them at half price down the street in the slums. It helps us make a little income for now."

"I see," Jamie replied, intrigued.

The 5-year-old chimed in, "Yeah! We take all the buns and baked goods from the bakery so we can eat well and sell some too. You wanna help us, Jamie? By the way, I'm Koko!"

"Eh, I suppose I could help," Jamie said, smirking.

The four boys snuck up to the baker's shop. Jackie approached the baker and innocently asked for three buns roasted in the oven. As the baker turned his back, Jackie and Koko stormed in, grabbing everything they could reach. Jamie joined in, snatching up as much as he could. Suddenly, the baker's furious shouts echoed in the distance.

Jackie turned to Jamie, laughing. "Hey, Jamie, you're not too bad at this! How about we do this more often?"

Jamie shrugged. "Yeah, sure. Not like I have anything better to do."

They continued their mischief, raiding more stores and taking small portions of food and other items to sell later on. Before long, they formed a small crime syndicate.

As the clock struck 11:30, Jamie realized he should have been at the boxing gym by now. He shrugged it off and kept hanging out with the other slum kids. By 1:30 PM, they had sold all their stock to the residents of the slums. Finally, Jamie showed up at the gym.

Dakam, waiting for him, grabbed Jamie by the arm and pointed to the clock, shouting, "THE HELL! DO YOU NOT KNOW THE TIME? YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN TRAINING TWO HOURS AGO!"

Jamie shrugged him off. "Shut up, old man! You're too controlling. I said I'd do this on my own terms. Boxing really isn't all that interesting."

Defeated, Dekam sighed. "Just get in the ring and start hitting pads with me."

Jamie followed the usual training routine, hitting pads and jumping rope. He struggled less than before, his physical shape improving significantly. Dekam couldn't help but theorize that Jamie had the potential to be a world-class boxer.

Suddenly, Jamie landed a jab directly into Dekam's face, snapping him out of his thoughts and sending him to the ground.

"THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, YOU IDIOT?" Dekam shouted.

"Ain't my fault you were dozing off! Are you still drinking or what?" Jamie retorted.

"I quit drinking because of my dedication," Dekam replied, rubbing his face.

Jamie nodded, continuing with his training. He felt tired and annoyed but pushed through, hitting the pads again. Just before he was about to head out for his run, Dekam spoke up.

"Kid, it's time you learn a cross punch," Dekam said, his tone serious yet calm.

Not particularly intrigued, Jamie rolled his eyes but went along with it. He looked at Dekam, who demonstrated the punch.

"Listen, kid, you want to jab first, then use your right hand to punch, creating a combination called 'jab-cross' or 'one-two.' You want to angle it perfectly—not too shallow. It should be powerful enough to land directly on your opponent's face. Now, try it," Dekam instructed.

Jamie hit the pads with a jab, then a cross.

"TOO SHALLOW AGAIN!" Dekam shouted.

"REPEAT!" he ordered.

"NOT GOOD ENOUGH!"

"AGAIN!"

"Better."

"THAT'S IT!"

Jamie hit the pads again, delivering a solid jab followed by a cross, shifting his weight perfectly into the punch. It landed hard on the pad—if it had been a real match, it would have hit an unguarded opponent squarely in the face.

Anyway, I'm off to run!" Jamie exclaimed.

Before Dekam could respond, Jamie was already out the door. Once outside, he barely did any running again. Instead, he found a quiet alleyway, sat down, and wondered what the hell was going on in his life.