Hi, I'm Joe, Joe Vincelt. I'm 22 years old now. I know I've got to live my life, but I don't know what to do yet.
4 years ago - Glasgow
Joe had just turned 17. Life was almost too good for him. He always went to school, he always came to school, he always ate the delicious food his mother made, he always sat down to his lessons, he never got into fights, but he was always in trouble with the bullies at school. They were always mean to Joe, but Joe never minded it, but it still hurt.
One day, Joe was on his way back from school when the bullies under the bridge saw Joe and called out to him.
"Isn't that our Joe?"
"Yeah, call him over."
One of the bullies shouted:
"JOE!!! GET THE FUCK OVER HERE!"
Joe slowly comes to them.
"Joe...have you eaten today?"
"Yes, I did."
"Well, well, well...what a coincidence I didn't eat today, and if you give me some money, maybe I'll eat. What do you say?"
"Come on, you always do that. No, I won't. Please, leave me alone."
"Look at our Joe...I thought we were friends." He punches Joe and Joe falls to the ground.
Joe's face hurt.
"Why do you always do this to me?" Joe said with a tearful expression.
The bullies didn't listen and kept beating him.
At that moment, someone was passing by. He was a big guy, medium height. He realised someone was being beaten under the bridge. He slowly walked up to them with his hands in his pockets.
"Hey, someone's coming, boss."
"Huh?"
The guy came up to them.
"Let the kid go."
Joe looked at him in surprise.
"What happens if we don't let go, old man?"
"Did you say old man?"
The bullies started to attack the man, the man took his guard and dodged all the attacks and came to Joe.
"What the fuck is this guy?" The bullies are scared.
"Hey...fuck off." He said with a serious expression.
The bullies got scared and walked away.
The man took a band-aid out of his pocket and started to help Joe.
"Do they always do this to you?"
"Yes, but this time they crossed the line." Joe replied.
"You shouldn't let anybody bully you, no matter if they're stronger or weaker than you. Understand?"
"Understood, sir. Thank you."
The man walked slowly away without saying a word. At that moment Joe looked at the newspaper next to him. And what was that? The man who had just helped him was a well-known boxer.
"Stop!"
The man turned round.
"What is it?"
"Are you... Miles Quinn?"
"Yeah, what's up?"
Joe, fed up with all the bullying, approached Miles:
"Can you...can you teach me how to box?"
"Huh? Hey, you think boxing is easy?"
"No, sir. But, I have to be strong for myself and my family, eventually. So please...will you teach me boxing?"
Miles thought for a long time:
"Boxing is not as easy as you think, but if you really want to, come to the Ashyard gym, but you have to pass our old man's test to box there, do you think you can do it?"
Joe smiled as he looked at the leaves scattering in the breeze:
"Yes, I can."
Miles looked at Joe and smiled:
"I like the determination on your face, Joe. Tomorrow, come down to the gym quick, I'll teach you the basics. Don't show up unprepared for the old man, and talk to your parents about it."
"Okay, Miles. Thank you."
Miles smiles and walks away. Joe picks up his bag and heads home.
Joe talked to his parents about it in the evening, and although they were not comfortable with it, his parents gave their permission.
It was morning. Joe came to the hall at the time Miles said. He went in. Although it was early, there were a lot of people practising. The atmosphere of this environment was a little heavy for Joe. Miles saw him at that moment.
"Joe, you're here when I said you'd be. Well done, man. Everybody, this is the kid I was telling you about."
Everybody came up to Joe and gave him motivation, they met him. Joe loved the atmosphere. Miles looked at Joe and said:
"OK, Joe. I'm going to teach you the basics before the old man gets here, so please give me your full attention."
"Okay."
Miles slowly started to teach Joe the basic movements, and Joe was happily trying to do all the movements exactly the same.
"Well done, Joe, you're learning."
Miles continued to teach. After all the movements were finished, they sat down for a while, rested, and just then, the Old Man stepped in.
"Who the fuck is this?"
"Hello, old man. This is the kid I told you about. He's talented, you'll see."
"Let's see if he's as good as you say, Miles."
The old man got closer to Joe and started examining him.
"What's your name, son?"
Joe asked in surprise:
"Joe...Joe Vincelt, sir."
"So Joe...you've got a good physique for boxing, but you're too raw. Let's see how your punches are. Miles, hang the punching bag."
Miles sets up the punching bag, Joe gets in front of it.
"Come on, Joe. Take your stance like I taught you and land the punch." Miles whispered softly.
"OK, Joe. Punch the bag in front of you...with all your might."
Joe was a little awkward at first because he'd never hit anyone in his life, but he landed a slow punch on the bag.
"What is this, son? Are you fucking kidding us?! I said hit it with everything you've got."
Joe took a deep breath. The whole place went quiet. He started to think to himself, thinking about what Miles had taught him.
"First we take our stance...and we don't break it." He said and took his stance.
"Then one foot forward, and I'm gonna kick." He put one foot forward and hit hard and the bag went up in the air.
The whole arena was shocked, Joe's hit had shocked everybody. Even Miles was shocked. The old man looked at Joe and started laughing under his breath:
"All right, Joe. You passed my first test.Your power is really amazing. Now you're going to have a one-on-one match with someone of my choosing."
Joe was stunned, but still determined.
"OK...I'm ready."