Chapter 5 of the book Fear No Foe, please feel free to send me your thoughts via email about what you think of the story line.
CHAPTER 5
The following day there were some small articles in the national newspapers, but all they went on about was Gary Britain going to the Olympics. Shay thought the papers would have reported on how wrong the decision was, but it was all just about Britain being England’s big hope for Olympic gold. Shay wasn’t happy about this and to make matters worse, in the Boxing News a weekly magazine Shay gets had a 2 page spread about Britain. The head line read in big bold letters Gary “Great” Britain New Olympic Hope. The article went on about Gary’s quest for Olympic gold after winning the A.B.A British Title.
Shay was pretty down and didn’t really leave his house for the week after the fight. The only person he saw apart from his Mom and Dad was Emma, who came round a few times to see him. Near the end of the week Kenny came round to tell Shay that he was being called in front of the A.B.A committee about his behavior at the Championships.
Shay asked Kenny “Do you want me to come with you?” Kenny replied “No Son, best you stay out of this”.
Shay wished Kenny good luck with the committee.
Kenny just said “I’m going to take this chance to tell them exactly what I think of them”.
Kenny went to leave, but then stopped at Shay’s front door and said “Oh yeah Dexter’s clubs big opening is next Saturday, here is your invite” Shay looked at the invite and replied “I probably won’t go, just not in the mood”.
Kenny then said “Shay you’re a pro boxer now and I’m your Manager and I’m telling you to go out and enjoy yourself, that’s an order”.
Shay looked at the ticket again it the ticket had on it V.I.P, Shay pondered for a second then said “Well it is my 19th birthday next week, so I suppose it would be good”.
Kenny smiled and said “Just go Shay, because after that you are in training Son”.
As Kenny left a Courier came walking up the path to Shays house with an envelope for Shay.
Shay signed for it and went back into his home, he opened the envelope it was from Goldsten Promotions, there was a letter welcoming him to the Goldsten’s stable and also enclosed was a bankers draft as promised for £20,000. Shay’s eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw this, the most money Shay had ever had before was £1000 that he had saved for a holiday for him and Emma. This put Shay in a much better frame of mind, whatever had happened he was now a Professional Boxer and was signed to the biggest Promoter in Britain.
Shay went round to Emma’s to show her what had come in the post, as you can imagine she was overjoyed when she saw the number of zero’s on the bankers draft. Emma suggested that they should think about getting their own place together and Shay seemed to agree, but first Shay was going to take Emma shopping for some new clothes as she always went on about she never had anything to wear.
They went to the bank and put the bankers draft into his account, Shay asked “When will it be cleared?”
The cashier replied “It’s a banker’s draft Sir, the money is in your account now”.
Shay withdrew £2000 and took Emma on a shopping spree. He brought her all the designer clothes she asked for and he took her to the poshest restaurant in town for lunch and spent a bit on clothes for himself. They had a really nice day; it was the first time in Shay’s life where he actually had money to spend and not had to worry about the price. He spent over £1000 on Emma that day and when he got home he wrote his Mom and Dad a cheque for £2000 to say thank you for putting up with him.
His Dad wouldn’t take it and told Shay “Son keep your money, put it towards a house for you and Emma”.
Shay tried to make his Dad take the cheque, but he wouldn’t, even though his Mom and Dad didn’t have a lot of money they didn’t want to take Shay’s.
The same day Shay got even more good news. Gary Southan the Owner of Brumsdale came to see Shay at his house with a proposition. Brumsdale wanted to sign him to wear their clothes and sponsor him in his fights; they were offering him £20,000 for a one year contract with them. Shay accepted straight away and signed the deal there and then.
Shays life was going so well, he had made 40 grand in just a few hours and hadn’t even thrown a punch as a Pro Boxer yet. He was now really looking forward to his V.I.P invite to the opening night of Dexter’s new club.
The night of the big opening of the new club, Shay had splashed out on an Armani suit for himself and he had paid for Emma to get her hair, nails and everything else a woman could get done at one of the top salons in Birmingham. Emma as always looked stunning and Shay was looking pretty sharp for once.
Shay called a taxi and they headed off to the city centre where the club was, they pulled up outside the club, there were hundreds of people queuing outside to get into the club. Shay and Emma got out of the taxi; Shay looked up at the big neon sign on top of the club’s front doors. It read ‘The Squared Circle’.
Shay said to Emma “What a wicked name for a club”.
Emma just looked at the queue and said “Well I’m not waiting in that cue to get in”.
Shay smiled and said “We don’t have to Babe, we’re V.I.P’s”.
They walked up to the front doors, Shay showed the very smartly dressed doorman the tickets, the doorman said “Welcome to The Squared Circle, here are your passes to the V.I.P area; I hope you enjoy your night”.
The welcome really shocked Shay, any other time he had been to a club the doormen were usually rude to him and 9 times out of 10 he would end up knocking them out. Shay and Emma walked though the entrance, there were lots of boxing memorabilia and signed pictures of famous boxers all over the walls, they walked into the main room and they couldn’t believe their eyes. In the centre of the massive main room was a full size boxing ring, the D.J was in the centre of the ring mixing up the top dance tune of the time. There were also scantily dressed female dancers in the ring around the D.J to whip up the massive crowd already dancing the night away. Shay and Emma just looked at each other in complete amazement, the place was packed and the music was pumping.
Shay went up to one of the doormen inside and asked him where the V.I.P area was, the doorman didn’t tell them, but led them though the packed room to the V.I.P area. Shay noticed as they walked though the crowds of people dancing and enjoying themselves, there was even more boxing memorabilia on the walls. The doorman led them up some stairs to a room overlooking the main room.
The doorman turned to Shay and Emma and said “Welcome to the V.I.P room, I hope you enjoy your night”.
They were just stunned at how amazing the club was, the V.I.P area was rammed with local celebrity’s and football players from Aston Villa and Birmingham City.
In the corner of the room Shay spotted Dexter entertaining some of his V.I.P guests, Dexter saw Shay and called him over; Shay walked over and Dexter shook Shay’s hand. “Alright Shay welcome to The Squared Circle, what do you think of the place?” Dexter asked.
Shay replied “its amazing Dext, truly amazing”.
Dexter just smiled and said “Well it has had a million pound refurbishment so it should”.
Dexter saw Emma standing next to Shay and said “So who is this lovely looking lady with you?”
Shay replied “Oh sorry Dext, this is my girlfriend Emma”.
Dexter smiled at Emma and said “Well I’m pleased to meet you Emma and may I say you look stunning tonight”.
He turned to Shay and said “You’re a very lucky man Shay, she an absolute knockout”.
Shay replied “Yeah she’s a diamond”.
Dexter offered Shay and Emma a drink, the champagne was flowing, Dexter called over one of the waitress’s all of them were dressed as ring girls in short skirts and revealing tops. Dexter gave Shay and Emma a glass of champagne and asked Emma what she did for a living, Emma told him she worked as a receptionist, but was trying to get into the modeling business.
Dexter smiled and replied “Well Emma you defiantly got the look for it, all the girls here are models, I hired them from one of my good friend’s agency”.
Dexter called over this elegant looking lady and introduced her to Emma. “Emma this is Samantha she has got her own modeling agency, have a chat I just need to have a chat with Shay”.
Dexter asked Shay to follow him to his office for a chat, they left Emma and Samantha chatting and Shay followed Dexter to his office. On the way to his office Shay noticed Gary Southan the Brumsdale owner partying away. Shay taped him on the shoulder to say hello.
Gary was the worst for wear from the drink and said in a slurred voice “Alright Shay how you doing Son, it’s a great party isn’t it?”
Shay replied “Yeah its bang on Gary, Dexter wants a word with me; I’ll chat to you in a bit”.
Gary just replied “Nice one Shay chat to you later”.
Shay went into Dexter’s office with him and Dext asked him to sit down, Shay looked round Dexter’s office, there was even more boxing memorabilia on the walls.
Shay then said “I love what you have done with the club Dext, but what’s with the ring in the middle of the dance floor?”
Dexter smiled as he pawed Shay a drink and told him about his plans for the club.
“You see Shay this isn’t just a night club, it’s also going to be the main venue for boxing shows in Birmingham, that’s one of the reasons I was at the A.B.A championships. My aim is to hold Professional, Amateur and even Unlicensed shows here”.
Shay was well impressed with Dexter’s plan and asked him how many he could fit in here
Dexter replied “About 2000 give or take a few, I’ll be able to showcase all the new talent in boxing from Birmingham before the big boys get their hands on them”.
Dexter continued “Anyway that’s not why I got you here; Gary told me Brumsdale are sponsoring you?”
Shay replied “Yeah they are why?”
Dexter then said “well I would like to sponsor you as well I want 1066 entertainment on you shorts, how much are Brumsdale paying you?”
Shay replied “I can’t tell you that”.
Dexter just laughed and said “It don’t matter Gary told me 20 grand wasn’t it? Tell you what I’ll give you 20 grand for the year as well, how does that sound?”
Shay said “Yeah sounds good to me Dext”.
Dexter wrote Shay a cheque there and then for 20 grand, Dexter handed him the cheque and shook Shay’s hand and said “Now go and enjoy the rest of your night”.
Shay went back into the V.I.P room with a big smile on his face, Emma was there mingling with some Birmingham City players, he walked up to Emma and said “I’ve got some great news for you.”
Emma replied “Have you? Well I’ve got some good news myself.”
Shay asked “What’s your news then?”
Emma replied “That Samantha has asked me to come to her office; she wants to sign me to her modeling agency, what’s your news?”
Shay said “Dexter’s company have just sponsored me 20 grand for the year.”
Emma smiled and gave Shay a real loving kiss and said “That’s brilliant things are really seem to be going our way”.
As they were enjoying their good news one of the Birmingham City players who had been chatting to Emma butted into their convocation, he seemed to think Shay was trying to muscle in on the bird he was chatting up.
The City player said “Alright mate me and the young lady are having a drink, so go find yourself someone else to talk to”.
Shay looked at him with a smug grin on his face and said “Mate the young lady you’re talking to is my girlfriend, so you go find someone else to talk to.”
Shay went back to talking to Emma, but the City player was not having that this young lad was mugging him off like that. He taped Shay on the shoulder now with one of his team mates behind him and said “Do you know who I am, I earn more in a week than you make in a year son and if I want to talk to the young lady I will now fuck off”.
Shay just smiled at Emma gave her a cheeky wink turned to the City player with a deadly look on his face lent forward and whispered in his ear “Look mate I couldn’t give a fuck who you are, now I’ll tell you this once, take you and your fucking boyfriend over to the other side of the room or I will knock you spark out”.
The City player looked shocked at what had just been said to him by this young lad; Shay took a step back to give himself some room, just in case the City player tried to have ago.
Emma looking a bit concerned and said to Shay “Your hand Babes, remember your hand”.
The City player squared up to Shay, but before anything could happen Dexter who had seen what was going on from the other side of the room came over.
Dexter stepped between them then said “Everything alright here lads?”
The city player said “No Dext it aint alright, this young lad is giving it the big one, I think he needs to be taught some manners”.
Dexter who had seen what had been going on replied to the city player by saying “Really? And you’re going to teach him some are you? Mate he would snap you like a twig, he is a Professional Boxer you silly cunt”.
The city player went to reply but before he could Dexter continued “Oh and I’ve seen you trying to chat his misses up, I think you and your mates should leave now”.
The City player looked stunned and tried to apologize, but Dexter was having none of it and got 2 of his doormen to remove them from the club.
Dexter apologized to Shay and Emma and told them to enjoy the rest of their night and they did. They had a fantastic night and the opening of the club was a great success.