The Baby Kisser
I ran into Javier at that little coffee shop on the boulevard just after the season ended.Coaching American football in Tijuana was an enlightening experience,but it didn't do nothing for my bank account.The pay stunk,but I was getting as much as anyone else that worked there as a coach/teacher.Cetys was a private school for the rich mucky mucks in TJ. The students' parents were loaded.At that time it was dough made mostly on the up and up.The money came from big business enterprises in Mexico,and the U.S. The cartels were beginning to flex their muscles,but the word was that none of their kids were at the school.
I had decided that I couldn't make a living pretending to be Vince Lombardi below the border so I took my teaching credential and my skills north,but before I made the move I went back to the school in TJ to square away a few things-clear out my desk,say my goodby's,and look over my shoulder knowing that I'd never go back.It was a nice run,but I couldn't stay.Also, I wanted to have one last look at the coffee shop on the boulevard where we'd all go after practice and sit around drinking 20 cups of coffee and swapping lies.Sitting at the counter,drinking coffee,was Javier,one of the players on the team.I was happy to see him.
Because the school catered to the aristocracy of the town,The students seemed more grown up.They didn't act silly or pretentious.There wasn't the big generation gap between student and adult.Everyone called each other by their first or last name.Javier fit the mold of the typical student.
"Roger,what are you doing here?"Javier said to me as he saw me walk in.He also looked happy to see me.
"Having one last cup before I go. Mind if I join you?"
"Of course."
Javier was a good looking kid. Like the other students, he looked and acted older than he was,but maybe that assessment was derived from my American paradigm.Light skinned,blue eyes, and sandy brown hair that he cherished because it denoted his European side,Javier was smoking a cigarette as he drank his coffee.Like most of the kids and staff at the school,he spoke very good English.
"So you're giving up on Cetys?"he asked wryly.
"Javier,the kids that go here have parents that are more loaded than in the States."
"Too bad that Fimbres pays everyone so little. More than the public schools,but not that much more."
"He owns the biggest chain of supermarkets in Baja."
Jose Fimbres was one of the wealthiest people in Mexico. Owning the three Cetys schools(Tijuana,Ensenada,and Rosarito)was like a hobby .He wanted to show the people he had a moral compass.
"I have to admit though that I've never seen such a dedicated staff,"I said sincerely.
"My grades will transfer to the university schools in California. That's how prestigious it is around here."
The waitress brought me a cup of coffee. The coffee shop on the boulevard was upscale,but the waitress was getting the minimum in wages and the way Mexicans tip,she probably lived in one of the barrios on the outskirts of town.
"Javier,how is your wife's father doing with Jibaro?"
"He's hard to control. Now that he's got the title it's gotten worse."
"Perez married his daughter.How's that working out?"
"There's the problem."
"I'm sorry to hear that,"I said.
"You know that guy has to make an 'X' to sign his name.The old guy made him a champion."
Javier crushed out his cigarette in the ashtray in front of him.
"Remember when Ali was going to put on a workout at the auditorium down the street?"I asked him.
"That was when he fought Norton."
"He pulled out of that."
"It would have been a disaster,"said Javier.
"You still have that poster I gave you about that exhibition?"
"I got it in my room. The way this memorabilia thing is going it's probably worth something. Why?You want it back?"
"No,of course not.But there must have been hundreds of those posters,in Spanish and English,nailed on every lamp post in TJ.I only took one."
I finished my coffee.The waitress came over and refilled my cup.
"Ali would have really got it stuck in his a-- if he'd come down here,"said Javier.
"Mexicans don't like guys that are into themselves like that."
"That 'I am the greatest' crap would have backfired.They would have run him out of town."
"I think he sensed that,"I said."That's why he didn't come down."
"But didn't he come to Tijuana to buy some gear?"
"He went to Deportes Viking to buy a Reyes heavy bag.I think he donated it after the fight," I said.
"Ali was the toast of the continent in Africa when he fought Foreman,but here it's different,"said Javier finishing his coffee.
"In Zaire, Ali won the people over with his charm,and he was with blacks.He ran through the villages stopping along the way to kiss babies."
"Foreman was holding on to his chain trying to control his Dobermans."
"And doing his Sonny Liston impressions.'I want to kill you' ",I said with a smirk.
"Having the people with him helped a lot,"said Javier.
The waitress came over again holding the coffee pot. I held up my hand.
"Roger,what did you think about none of those other coaches ever picking up a tab in here?"
"They probably thought that they were getting away with something."
"Coach,it's on me tonight."
"Thanks pal."
As we moved from the counter,I saw that Javier didn't leave a tip. I took out a dollar and left it on the counter.As we walked out the door Javier stopped momentarily.
"Roger,you know Ali could have kissed every baby in Mexico and it wouldn't have done him any good."
