41

I got back to our cell and Harry came in.

‘Harry –’ I began.

‘Stop right there. You’re going to fight Costello.’

‘How did you know?’

‘You started with “Harry” and I knew something was coming and the only thing at the moment is Costello wants to kill you, so I reckon your only option is a yard fight because he won’t go for the ring; it has too many rules.’

‘You can fix it for me, Harry?’

‘Yes. Weapons, and when?’

‘No weapons. Normal prison clothing and boots at next association with his wing.’

‘Why no weapons?’

‘Loose clothes and boots are all I need and neither of us spends life in here if the other one dies.’

‘Area?’

‘Twenty-five to thirty feet square, marked with seats to prevent encroachment.’

‘That’s big and will favour you. Will he agree?’

‘Tell him it will let more people see and it will also look more acceptable to the screws.’ Harry nodded. He accepted the logic. Anyway, it was only a bit bigger than a boxing ring.

‘You only have four days.’

‘I’m fit, Harry. Not sure Costello is.’

Harry sat and looked at me. He was thinking and I could detect concern. He was working through the options and he clearly reached the same one as me.

‘Okay, Jake, we start training tomorrow. Now I’m going to talk you through a load of stuff you already know but as you don’t handle this stuff often I think you may need to be reminded. Remember, Costello has massive street-fighting experience. He does it for a living and he’s killed doing it.’

‘Thanks, Harry. I really needed cheering up.’

‘Jake, he’s pissed off with you but he won’t want to kill you, just beat you to a pulp, cripple you a bit, maybe. You won’t be pretty when he’s finished with you.’

‘Why won’t he want to kill me?’

‘He wants to get out of here one day, as you said. Let me give you an overview of what I think will happen.’ He walked to the window, looked out and then came back and sat down on his bunk. I was sitting on the chair. ‘It’ll be fast and explosive. He’ll just go for you. No feeling you out like in boxing. It’ll be unpredictable, ugly and brutal, and there’s likely to be a lot of blood. I know you like blood.’ He smiled at his reversal of my dislike. ‘He’ll target your head and in particular your face. He’s unlikely to use kicks; it isn’t the way he fights. He’s a fist man. Street fighters tend not to use kicks. Well, not the way you use them. They just swing a boot in an arc, and kicks are your main weapons. You’ve an advantage there with your ability to kick. If you go down he’ll come down on you. He’s more experienced than you at fighting on the ground and he outweighs you, so he has a double advantage there. How we doing?’

‘Can I go home now, please?’

‘No, you bloody can’t.’ Harry smiled. ‘Remember there are no rules. You’re used to using Eastern, unarmed combat techniques and boxing. Both these can be useful but remember there are no rules here.’ He paused to let me understand his message. ‘He goes down you kick him in any vulnerable place you can. Not once, but as many times as you can and hope, just hope, he can’t get up.’ He stopped to let what he’d said sink in.

‘You know all about the centre-line theory: on which are some of the most vital targets that you must protect, like your eyes, nose, chin, throat, solar plexus and groin. They’re also the areas you must attack. Use a stance that best protects your centre-line. Create an even balance that will enable you to move in any direction and will give you the stability to withstand and defend against strikes. Speed is another advantage you have. Carry your hands high. Okay, anything there you need more information on?’

‘I don’t think so, Harry. A good reminder so far.’

‘Now: range. He’ll not be used to fighting anybody who can use kicks. So keep your distance from him. This will do three things. One: it will keep his punches out of range. Two: it will cause him to come to you so increasing the power of your punches. Three: enable you to use kicks. If he closes into punching range move in close to again nullify his punches or skip back out of range. Up close, you must use elbow and knee strikes, head butts, gouging and biting; biting is a fantastically good weapon.

‘You’re fitter and faster than him so mobility is important. Move quickly and freely and stay balanced. This will require using your footwork skills and will set you up to be able to use the unarmed combat stuff. Evading his attacks will be much better than parrying them. He’s big, strong and knows how to punch from a whole range of angles – hooks, crosses, straights, uppercuts used in a variety of patterns – but he’s slow and when you’re in doubt attack. You get no points for defending in this game.

Tomorrow we’ll start training and I’ll get some little helpers like Arthur and Big Fred. Okay?’

‘As long as neither of those two little helpers hit me I’ll be fine.’