Read Escape! for Free Online Page B

ringside ringing.
    “Okay Romano,” the teacher called from the doorway.
“It’s your turn.”
    The head protector felt heavy, and clumsy. The
mouthpiece tastes funny, like a new automobile tire might taste,
Danny thought.
    As he entered the gym a big cheer went up. Danny
started to smile, but then saw that the cheering was for Lacey, who
was coming toward the ring from the other side of the gym.
    As he walked toward the ring, boys hollered at
him:
    “You’re goin’ to get mashed, Romano!”
    “Sock it to him, Danny!”
    “Hey, skinny, you won’t last one round!”
    Dr. Tenny was standing at the ringside steps. His
jacket was off. He was wearing a shortsleeved shirt with no
tie.
    “All set, Danny?”
    “Yeah.”
    “I’ve checked with the medics. They’re not too happy
about you fighting.”
    “I’ll be okay.”
    “Did you take a pill?” Joe asked.
    Nodding, Danny said, “Two of ‘em. Before I left my
room.”
    “Good. If you need more, I’ve got some right here in
my pocket.”
    “Thanks. I’ll be okay.”
    Joe stepped aside and Danny climbed up into the ring,
with Ralph right behind him. The crowd was cheering and booing at
the same time. Guess who the cheers are for!
    The referee was one of the gym teachers. He called
the boys to the center of the ring and gave them a little talk:
    “No hitting low, no holding and hitting, no dirty
stuff. If I tell you to break it up, you stop fighting and step
back. Just do what I tell you, and don’t lose your tempers. Let’s
have a good, clean fight.”
    They went back to their corners. Danny stood there,
alone now, and stared at Lacey. He seemed to be all muscle, all
hard and strong.
    The bell rang.
    Danny couldn’t do anything right. He charged out to
the middle of the ring and got his head snapped back by Lacey’s
jab. He swung, missed. Lacey moved too fast! Danny tried to follow
him, tried to get in close. But Lacey danced rings around him,
flicking out jabs like a snake flicks out his tongue. Most of them
hit. And hurt.
    The crowd was yelling hard. The noise roared in
Danny’s ears, like the time he was at the seashore and a wave
knocked him down and held him under the water.
    Lacey slammed a hard right into Danny’s middle. The
air gasped out of Danny’s lungs. He doubled over, tried to grab the
Negro. His gloves reached Lacey’s body, but then slipped away.
Danny straightened up, turned to find Lacey, and got another
stinging left in his face.
    It was getting hard to breathe. No, don’t! Danny told himself. Don’t get sick! But his chest was
starting to feel heavy. Another flurry of punches to his body made
it feel even worse.
    Danny finally grabbed Lacey and pulled himself so
close that their heads rubbed together.
    “You want to dance, baby?” Lacey laughed.
    Then, suddenly, he blasted half a dozen punches into
Danny’s guts, broke away, and cracked a solid right to Danny’s
cheek. Danny felt his knees wobble.
    The bell rang.
    Ralph was angry. “You didn’t do nothing I told you
to! You got to get in close, hold him, butt him!”
    Danny gasped, “You try it.”
    He sat on the stool, chest heaving. His face felt
funny, like it was starting to swell. It stung.
    The bell sounded for the second round, and it was
more of the same. Lacey was all over the ring, grinning, laughing,
popping Danny with lefts and rights. Danny felt as if he was
wearing iron boots. He just couldn’t keep up with Lacey. The crowd
was roaring so loudly that it hurt his ears. He tasted blood in his
mouth. And Lacey kept gliding in on him, peppering him with a
flurry of punches, then slipping away before he could return a
blow.
    Danny’s chest was getting bad now. He was puffing,
gasping, unable to get air into his lungs.
    It seemed as if an hour had gone by. Finally, Lacey
backed into the ropes and Danny made a desperate grab for him. He
locked his arms around Lacey, wheezing hard.
    “Hey, you sick?” Lacey’s voice, muffled behind the
mouth protector, sounded in