The Contender Chapter Summaries The next morning Alfred

The Contender Chapter Summaries

• The next morning Alfred lies to his Aunt Pearl about what happened to him. She tells Alfred that Henry carried him home the previous night. Later Alfred and Aunt Pearl talk about James, and Alfred tells her that he knew about the plan but tried to dissuade James. Alfred leaves the apartment to take a walk and someone tells him that Major and the others are looking for him. Alfred stops at Donatelli's Gym and finally goes up, ascending the three flights of stairs to the gym. Once in the gym, he sees Mr. Donatelli and tells him he is there to learn to be a fighter. Chapter 3 Chapter 2 Chapter 1 • The novel begins as Alfred, the protagonist, waits for his best friend James, with whom he has planned to go to the movies. James does not show up, and Alfred goes looking for him, eventually finding him with Major, Sonny, and Hollis. • The gang thinks about robbing the Epsteins' grocery store—the place where Alfred works. Alfred tries to stop them because he knows that on Fridays, the Epsteins leave all the money in the cash register. James and the hoodlums try to get Alfred to go with them, but Alfred refuses. • Alfred bumps into Henry, a nice man from the neighborhood who walks with a limp. Henry explains that he has been working at Donatelli's gym, where famous boxers train. Henry suggests that Alfred come up to the gym. In the middle of the conversation Alfred sees a police car and remembers that the Epsteins just recently installed a new alarm in their store. He rushes out to try and warn James but is too late. • He remembers when they were ten years old at a time when he and James sat in their special cave hideaway when Alfred's father left home. They hid in the cave again when Alfred's mother died of pneumonia. He remembers how he and James always used to be partners and is fearful of the prospect of James's potential arrest. • On the way home, Alfred bumps into Major and the other two hoodlums, who tell him James was caught by the police, and the three proceed to beat Alfred up. • Mr. Donatelli measures and weighs Alfred and then asks him what he hopes to accomplish. • Donatelli asks him if he is afraid and says that a "man must have some fear and learn to control it, to make it work for him. " • Donatelli explains the difference between fighting a man in the street and fighting a man in the ring, and then he shows Alfred the different punching bags and explains which fighting techniques they help develop. • Donatelli gives Alfred a rigorous training schedule: waking up at 5: 30 for a run; eating a breakfast of eggs, toast, and tea; doing sit-ups, push-ups and other exercises after work; eating a good dinner; and going to bed by 9: 00 pm. • Donatelli warns Alfred that even after much hard work, he still may not become a fighter. Then Donatelli asks Alfred how long he stayed in school, and Alfred reveals that he dropped out after the eleventh grade. Donatelli asks why he will not quit boxing in the same way. Alfred ponders the question, then responds by saying that he wants to be a champion. • Donatelli tells him that it is the process of becoming a champion that makes a man special: "Everybody wants to be a champion. That's not enough. You have to start by wanting to be a contender, the man coming up. " • Donatelli tells Alfred that he will always be there in the gym, and what happens next is up to Alfred.

• The next morning Alfred wakes up early to run in the park. He is stopped by two cops who want to know what he is doing, and he explains he is training to be a boxer. The cops eventually let him go but not before making fun of him. When he gets home, Pearl wants to know where he was. Despite her pressing, he only tells her that he took a walk. • At work Mr. Epstein asks about James and whether Alfred knew James was going to try and break into the store. • As he is sweeping he sees the alarm wires, and it occurs to him that he could yank them out and come back next Friday to rob the store, though not entertaining the thought for long. Before Alfred leaves work, Henry comes by and reminds him to go to the gym. Chapter 6 Chapter 5 Chapter 4 • The next morning on the way to church, Alfred passes a nationalist rally where people are getting riled up over the issue of black rights. The speaker tries to get Alfred involved, and when Alfred keeps going someone calls him a "[h]appy little darky. " During the sermon at church, he notices that Major and Hollis are standing in the doorway of the church. By the time Alfred leaves, Major and Hollis are gone. • After church they ride the bus out to Jamaica, to Alfred's aunt and uncle, Dorothy and Wilson's house. During dinner, Wilson asks Alfred if there is much opportunity for advancement at the store, saying that the world is "opening up for colored people. " Wilson continues to question him about education and trades, and Alfred tunes it out. Alfred's cousin, Jeff, is in college and is always winning prizes. Compared to Jeff, he had not accomplished much. That night Alfred thinks of what it means to advance and thinks of Mr. Donatelli and trying to become a contender. • Alfred returns to the gym. It is full of people boxing each other and punching bags. He notices a sign on the wall that says it costs $2 for amateurs, but Dr. Corey, the dentist from downstairs who fits all the fighters with mouth guards, tells him that paying is not important. Dr. Corey starts Alfred on some sit-ups, and some boys in the gym show him how to do them right—painfully slowly, all the way up and back down. Alfred does push-ups too. • One of the fighters demands that Bud, Mr. Donatelli's assistant, tape his hands. Bud tells the boxer to do it himself, and the two launch into a nasty verbal confrontation with the boxer screaming at Bud, telling him that Bud must do whatever he says. Eventually, the boxer slugs at Bud, and Bud effortlessly blocks the punch and delivers one of his own. After the confrontation, Bud introduces himself to Alfred and says that Mr. Donatelli has a ticket for Alfred to see a real fight.

• Hollis and Major tell James that this Friday night they are going to try and rob the Epsteins' store again and that James is going to help them by disarming the alarm system. Alfred refuses, and Major pulls out a knife and threatens him. Alfred keeps saying no, and Major gets angry, saying he will wait a few days for Alfred's decision. Alfred, still refusing, goes inside. Chapter 9 Chapter 8 Chapter 7 • Alfred and Henry go to the Madison Square Garden to see a fight. One of Mr. Donatelli's most promising boxers, Willie Streeter, is fighting an important match. Another one of Donatelli's boxers, Jelly Belly, joins them, and they talk about Willie Streeter's fight is last, and as they watch the ones prior, Alfred finds himself thinking about when he and James pretended they were boxers as youths, giving each other tough boxer names. • Willie Streeter's fight begins. During a bout of punches Streeter gets cut right above the eye. Mr. Donatelli stops the fight, and Streeter's opponent wins by TKO. • They all go into the locker room where Jelly talks to Spoon, one of Donatelli's assistants. Spoon tells them that Streeter is not taking the TKO well at all and is angry with Donatelli. • Streeter says that he would have won the fight, and Donatelli tells him that the risk of serious injury it was not worth it. Streeter threatens to get a new manager. Bud jumps in and tells Streeter that he better appreciate that he has a manager willing to save his hide. • Later, Jelly Belly says that Streeter cannot go all the way now, because he "showed some dog. " On the way home, Spoon explains that he quit fighting because he was getting hurt too often. Spoon says that Donatelli encouraged him to quit and go to school. • Alfred gets up and runs in the park for over an hour. Aunt Pearl questions him about where he has been, and he tells her he was running. Finally, he tells her he is training to be a boxer and that he was at Madison Square Garden the night before watching a fight. Aunt Pearl asks him if he is going to quit his job, and he assures her he will not—at least not yet. She says she is not crazy about the idea, but Alfred tries to persuade her that Donatelli is a great trainer. Aunt Pearl says that they will talk to the Reverend about it and tells Alfred that she is happy he is so excited, she just wishes "it was something else. "

• Major offers Alfred a drink, but Alfred refuses. Major's girlfriend introduces Alfred to her cousin, Arlene. • Major tries again to get Alfred to take a drink, and finally Alfred agrees when Major gives him half an orange soaked in vodka. Alfred asks about James, and they tell him James will come later. A marijuana joint gets passed around the room, and Arlene convinces Alfred to take a drag. • Alfred drinks and smokes until he is barely able to walk. He goes out into the alley for some fresh air then goes back down to the clubhouse where the party has started again. • James arrives, looking sick. He calls Alfred a fool forgetting about the alarm. Hollis shows James a packet of white powder. Alfred tries to get James to stop, but James ignores him. Chapter 12 Chapter 11 Chapter 10 • The first week is "all pain. " The second week of training is even harder, and Alfred falls asleep right after dinner. • After a Sunday church service Aunt Pearl takes Alfred to Reverend Price, and the Reverend tells her that Alfred will most likely "grow tired of this meaningless pursuit. "One afternoon at work business is slow, and Alfred practices boxing moves in the storage room. Mr. Epstein walks in and gives Alfred a pointer, and Alfred realizes that Mr. Epstein is "Lightning Lou Epp, " an old boxer that Bud and some of the others talked about. • Coming home from the gym one night, Alfred runs into Major apologizes for the "misunderstand" they had earlier, and he tells Alfred to come to the clubhouse sometime, mentioning that James still hangs out there. Alfred begins to get impatient with his training —after six weeks of brutally hard work he has punched only a bag and at his own face in the mirror. He gets discouraged, especially watching some of the other fighters preparing for bouts and some even preparing to box professionally. One day Major comes into the gym to invite Alfred to a party that James will be attending. Later Donatelli asks Alfred if something is wrong. Alfred says no, and Donatelli tells him he must work harder. Alfred leaves and decides to stop at the clubhouse. • Alfred sleeps in past his alarm, waking only to answer the phone. Aunt Pearl gives him a message to relay to Dorothy, but Alfred forgets. He sleeps through an entire day and night, and then Major calls him, telling Alfred that he has a car and that they are all going out to Coney Island. • Major picks Alfred up, and when they arrive at Coney Island they send some of the boys to get food. Only Alfred and Major are in the car when police officers start checking licenses and registrations. They jump out of the car and run, and Alfred realizes that Major stole the car. Away from the police, Alfred buys a load of food and a few minutes after eating it throws it up. He goes to see a movie and eventually gets back to Harlem. • Work drags and Alfred avoids everyone— Henry, the clubhouse, and the gym. • A few days later, he decides to empty his locker. He apologizes to Mr. Donatelli for quitting and asks if he would have been any good had he continued. Donatelli says he does not know—the only way to know is the first time a boxer gets hurt.

• On the morning of Alfred's first fight Aunt Pearl is surprised that he is not going running and even more surprised to learn he has the day off work. She asks if he has been fired or if there is something wrong and he says no. • Around ten o'clock Henry shows up, and they go to the gym. Mr. Donatelli is waiting for him and makes sure they have Alfred's amateur card and the mouthpiece. Donatelli sends Alfred and Henry in a cab up to Spoon's place. Spoon says that he is going to school at night to get his masters degree and suggests that Alfred go to night school to finish high school. He offers to help Alfred find a program if and when he is ready. • At the ring, Alfred meets Donatelli who tells him that Henry will stand in the corner during the fight. Immediately, Alfred's opponent, Rivera, punches him in the mouth. Alfred comes to his senses and dodges the next punch. Finally, getting his rhythm, he dodges Rivera's jabs and lands his own. The fight continues, slowly and in the same dodge-then-punch manner, and the crowd boos. They fight until time is up and all the rounds are over, and Alfred wins by a majority decision. Just before the final bell, Rivera lands a punch to Alfred's groin that leaves him half-conscious. Donatelli whispers something to Henry about winning not being enough. Chapter 15 Chapter 14 Chapter 13 • Alfred spars against a more experienced boxer at the gym. Alfred keeps missing him, as the other boxer ducks away from his jabs. Finally, with ten seconds left in the sparring round Alfred lands a beautiful punch—the best he has ever thrown. Mr. Epstein comes into the gym to watch and compliments Alfred. Mr. Epstein pays for Alfred's lessons and on the way home mentions that Alfred did not take his advice to give up boxing. Epstein also says that Alfred seems much quicker and more energetic at work, and he offers to teach Alfred how to use the register. Alfred continues improving as he spars with others in the gym. Finally, Mr. Donatelli sends Alfred downstairs to Dr. Corey to be fitted with a mouthpiece. • Alfred comes home, and Pearl is shocked to see his face. She tells him that she found out from Mr. Epstein that he had a boxing match that night. He says that he did not tell her because he was afraid she would try to stop him. She says: "You getting to be a man, Alfred. I stop you from one thing, you'll do something else. " She says it is too bad he has to do something that involves men beating each other up, but he responds that he does not know anything else. • Aunt Pearl tells Alfred about a stage show she wanted to be in when she was seventeen. She could not sign a contract because she was underage, and her mother would not sign for her because "stage shows were sinful. " • Alfred is surprised to hear the story and asks Aunt Pearl what happened afterward. She explains that she met her husband had their children, but that he died before they were all born. Aunt Pearl is crying, and Alfred tries to comfort her by saying that her husband would have been very proud. He also understands that all she wanted was a chance to try to be something. At the end of the conversation Aunt Pearl asks Alfred if it felt good to win, and he says no. She asks if he is going to quit now, and he says no.

• Alfred's family has dinner at Dorothy and Wilson's house on Thanksgiving. Wilson congratulates Alfred on his second win. Alfred's cousin Jeff is home from college and says he would like to learn to box. Jeff says that he has been thinking of going to Africa, but has decided that he could do something positive in America. Jeff actually wants to change something in the world. Alfred says that he wants to go to night school to finish up high school. Jeff tells Alfred that Alfred has changed a lot—that he used to seem negative and "seemed to just drift along. " Alfred agrees and says that back then he did not know much about anything. Jeff talks about wanting to be involved in self-help or blacks' rights programs, and Alfred mentions the recreation center for kids. Jeff drops them off and says he would like to come up to the gym sometime. On his way into his home, Alfred sees a bum on the stoop. He stops to talk to the bum, and it turns out to be James. Alfred tries to bring James upstairs, but James wants money for drugs. James asks over and over, desperate, until Alfred gives him money. Later, Alfred is upset with himself for not bringing James upstairs. Chapter 18 Chapter 17 Chapter 16 • Alfred's second bout is against Griffin, who is much faster than Alfred's last opponent and strikes Alfred over and over again. A few rounds later, Griffin is getting tired, and Alfred knows his only chance is to deliver a knock out punch. Alfred dodges a punch and then delivers one to Griffin's jaw, knocking Griffin unconscious and winning by KO. Alfred tries to go over to Griffin, but the referee tells him to leave the ring. Henry congratulates Alfred on the hook, but Alfred says, "He just lay there like a dead man. " Donatelli replies, "It's happened, Alfred. " Alfred is haunted by the sound of his fist hitting Griffin's jaw. At work Mr. Epstein congratulates him on the win but comments that Alfred does not look so good. Twice Alfred makes mistakes on the register, thinking about the fight and its aftermath, and Mr. Epstein tells him to take the rest of the day off. On the street he bumps into Harold and Lynn, who are passing out flyers for a new recreation program. They try to recruit Alfred to be a part of it, saying that kids will look up to a boxer. Alfred says he has only had two fights, and he drops the flyer into the garbage and heads to a movie. • Alfred's third fight is against Barnes, who fights rough. Alfred is slow and hesitant, constantly remembering the punch he threw against Griffin. The fight ends in a draw. Donatelli takes Alfred to the gym and tells him that it is time to retire because Alfred does not have "the killer instinct" and that he can tell Alfred does not really enjoy fighting. Alfred says he knows Mr. Donatelli was referring to more than boxing when he talked about being a contender. Alfred begs Donatelli to let him "finish. " Donatelli tells Alfred that he did finish, and it is time to move on, but Alfred insists on one last fight "so [he] can know, too. "

• Within five seconds Hubbard lays Alfred out on the mat. Alfred gets up and keeps fighting. Hubbard continues to beat on Alfred, sending him to the mat again, and, still, sends him to the floor a third time in the next round. Donatelli comes close to stopping the fight, but Henry persuades him not to. • Alfred lasts till the end, and Hubbard wins by majority decision. After the round Alfred and Hubbard hug each other, and Hubbard congratulates Alfred on being so tough. In the locker room, Donatelli says, "Now you know, Alfred. Now you know, too. " Chapter 20 Chapter 19 (cont. ) Chapter 19 • Alfred is especially nervous before the fight. Henry tells Alfred how much he enjoyed training him, and Henry mentions that he is the one who bought Alfred his boxing robe. Alfred is touched and sad that he and Henry will not be training together anymore. Spoon comes home and mentions that a kid pulled a knife on him that day. Spoon told the kid that if he's scared to walk around without a knife he should see Alfred and Henry about learning to box. Spoon also tells Alfred that he knows of a narcotics clinic where James can go. Alfred says that he will tell Spoon if he sees James again. • When they arrive at the ring, Alfred finds out that he is matched against Elston Hubbard. Donatelli says to untape Alfred's hands because Alfred is not fighting. Hubbard is older, more experienced, and heavier than Alfred, and Donatelli is worried Alfred will get hurt. Alfred insists on fighting. Donatelli even threatens to leave, but Alfred tells him that he needs Donatelli in his corner. • Alfred comes home and apologizes to Aunt Pearl for being so late. He also says that he looks worse than he feels. She tells him that the police were there looking for James had broken into Epstein's again, through the front window and had gotten away. Alfred says he hopes James does not get caught, and Pearl says that James cut himself badly on the window and probably will not get too far. • He goes to Central Park, to a thicket of bushes where he and James used to play as children. James is there, and Alfred crawls inside. Alfred tries to convince James to go to the hospital, but James wants to be left alone. James asks Alfred for money for a fix, but Alfred refuses and says he wants to help James beat the addiction. Alfred tells James that he is going to stick by him, and that they are going to go back to school and that James is going to get a job. Alfred says he will help with everything. James refuses at first. The book ends as Alfred walks James to the hospital.