The Legend of Joe Massimo

Joe Massimo was born in an ethnically diverse and impoverished neighborhood in a major western city. Like so many of his peers, he never new his father and was raised by his mother.

Joe's mother loved him very much, doing the best she could. It just did not go far enough. At a certain point, as with all boys, Joe began to need male guidance and an outlet for his awakening masculinity. He found it in the local gang culture. Joe might have met his most likely destiny, that which is common to such boys, had he not the good fortune of meeting Lester Rincoon first.

Lester spent his days at Tonk's Gym, where he'd been a fixture for longer than most of the young men there had been alive. Many of them only knew him as The Coon. He was old enough for most of them to consider ancient. Yet, no one ever said a disrespectful word to him, or about him. This is where he and Joe Massimo first met.

Joe had come in one day to collect a debt for the local organization, wearing their uniform. He was confronted by Lester before taking ten steps inside the room. Joe straightened to his full height, but The Coon stood firm, looking directly into his eyes. Every head in the room turned to watch. Joe had already begun to gain a reputation as a junior thug in the neighborhood. The gathering silence added to the tension.

Lester spoke first. It was only a few words, and none heard them except Joe. Everyone saw the reaction. Joe drew a quick breath and glared. Lester's expression softened, almost to a smile, before speaking again. These words seemed to entirely disarm Joe. He looked away, finding with his eyes, the one he'd come to see. When he turned back to Lester, he searched him closely. The Coon showed no weakness. He had not changed, either in posture or countenance.

Joe Massimo retreated to the street. Lester turned and gestured the boy Joe had come to see, instructing him to take his business outside . The boy reluctantly complied. Everyone in the gym returned to their own affairs.

Weeks passed and the incident was forgotten, until Joe Massimo walked through the door of Tonk's Gym. All eyes were on him as he strode directly over to where Lester Rincoon stood. They regarded each other shortly, in a moment slightly less tense than their first. Then, Lester turned and walked towards his office, which was nothing more than two old easy chairs facing one another in the corner of the gym. Joe followed. Once they were seated, Lester began to speak. No one dared come close enough to hear.

Lester would sometimes stop to let Joe answer or talk, but mostly he spoke. Joe mostly nodded his understanding.

This went on for some time before The Coon rose and went into the locker room. When he returned he carried an old duffel and an envelope. He handed them to Joe. They shook hands and Joe Massimo left. Those who had been there long enough knew that the deal had been struck. Joe Massimo was not the first challenged youth Lester Rincoon had taken on. He had his terms. They were understood.

Another week went by before Joe returned to the gym. He carried the duffel he'd been given and wore civilian clothes. After that point, Lester and he were seen together more often than not. Lester found Joe a part time job at the meat packing plant across town. The work suited him well.

When Joe was not working, he was in the gym or at his second home, where he grew fond of Mrs. Rincoon's cooking and Lester's stories. Regarding physical training, Lester was both intolerant and merciless. In everything else he exhibited the patience of a saint. Joe's life became a routine of discipline. He thrived.

More than a year passed, and shortly after his seventeenth birthday, Joe Massimo was set upon the world. His career started humbly. Lester assembled a team and a hired promoter. Joe kept his job. Arrangements were made to accommodate his fights, which were many. Lester worked every one, no matter where they had to travel. After three years, Joe had assembled a very respectable record and gained a reputation that earned him the moniker of Joe Massacre.

Fights became harder to get, but paid much better. This allowed Joe to quit the packing plant and dedicate himself to his career. In less than a year later, Joe Massimo stood poised on the edge of the top ten, and on the verge of getting a title match.

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The grim reaper came for Lester Rincoon one early morning. It turned Joe's world upside down.

Negotiations were under way for a very important fight, and so the rest of the organization was sent into a tailspin as well. Lester had set up contracts that for all intents and purposes made him the soul proprietor of the principal interest; Joe Massimo. A large sum of money and several careers were at stake. A mad scramble began to settle the legal issues and keep the juggernaut on track. Every one, except for one person, lost track of Joe.

Young Mr. Massimo and Mrs. Rincoon huddled together and wept, and talked, and wept some more. Then sometime in the midst of the melee, Joe Massimo quietly slipped away. If anyone knew where he had gone they weren't saying. News of the disappearance soon reached all interested parties. Negotiations broke down. The remaining organization tried to revive interest, but it was pointless. They had no fighter. Until it was proved otherwise, everyone in the business assumed that Joe Massacre was no more. The opportunity passed, and in the years that followed his memory faded.

The name of Joe Massimo would come up in conversation from time to time; in bars, gyms, and at parties, but he was largely forgotten. Only Mrs. Rincoon and his own mother knew Joe had taken a job on a dock in a small town in North Dakota, where he attended college.

Lester had set aside most of Joe's earnings as a fighter. Joe used them to help support himself while earning a degree in social science. His return to the city six years later went almost unnoticed. He began his second career humbly, opening a counseling practice where he specialized in troubled boys.

Joe's reputation for success grew in the following years. As a result he began receiving referrals from juvenile probation. His excellent work there gained him respect among private professionals and those in government.

Joe Massimo used this as a spring board to heighten awareness in the community. He started local programs promoting the best interest of boys and young men. He wrote books and articles, and spoke publicly Not only had Joe had reestablished himself as a hero in the city, his story grew wide. He began to introduce his successful methods in other cities.

Then tragedy struck, headlines in the morning paper,"Joe Massimo Is Dead" The heart of the city fell.

The papers reported the initial finding of suicide, and gave a short but glowing biography of his life and times. For the entire day the city speculated on what could have possibly happened. It ended the next day when it was leaked that Joe Massimo had apparently been under investigation for sexual misconduct with one of his charges. There was no indictment. Joe Massimo never stepped into a court room to face his accusers.

This did not prevent him from being tried in the papers, convicted in every tavern, home, and office. The verdict was announced and accepted. Consider it a good thing that Joe Massimo Is Dead.

It was as if all of the achievement and sacrifices of this extraordinary man were overshadowed by the mere perception of evil. In the eyes of the public, they were shed of one more Big Bad Wolf. Except in the hearts and the lives of the people he touched, the world was a better place now that Joe Massimo Is Dead.