Becoming Muhammad Ali

On a hot Friday, Cassius sits on the porch with Lucky, trying not to think about the heat. The Clay family has one fan going, but the heat is still smothering. Lucky and Cassius get on their bikes. Rudy sits on Cassius’s handlebars, and they “took off / chasing / the breeze / and my destiny” (134). 

They stop at a bakery and then ride through town, passing the barber and the YMCA. They go downtown. Then it starts raining. 

In a single-stanza poem, Cassius explains that the storm rolls in quickly, and a downpour begins.

The boys bike away quickly, stopping at Columbia Auditorium, where they drop their rides. They run up the 14 stairs and see two things: thousands of people at the Louisville Defender Expo and Chalky, aka Corky Butler.

Corky comes over to the boys, dressed in a warm-up suit and shoes that Cassius thinks may be stolen from a kid Corky bullies. He steps on Cassius’s brand-new white shoes and purposely bumps Lucky. He also knocks Rudy backward.

He stands right in Cassius’s face, and Cassius tenses, making fists in his pockets. Then he says, “Nice sneakers,” before walking away, but he gestures with his fingers to indicate that he is watching Cassius (141).

The boys wander around the expo, getting tasting samples from the different booths. They all think about Chalky’s implied threat and how Cassius may one day have to fight him. Then Cassius runs into Teenie Clark.

Each poem goes back further in time in this poem, rewinding the events from the moment Cassius sees Teenie as Rudy is in the bathroom to back when he spotted her and her family right after Corky walked away.

Before Rudy went to the bathroom, the boys ate peanut brittle, making him sick. They said hello to a woman from their neighborhood who was explaining to others how to vote. They waited in line to meet Gorgeous George. Cassius had also earlier spotted Teenie across the crowd.

Cassius speaks to Teenie, keeping many of his answers short until Teenie says, “Cassius, you don’t like me. / […] / What I mean is you never have words for me. Always ‘Yup’ and ‘I don’t know’ and ‘Oh…Uh’!” (147). He says “Oh…Uh” in return (148). She points out that everyone knows she has a crush on him, and Cassius says that she’s nice.

When Teenie then challenges Cassius to a race, he replies, “Name the date and the time, and meet me on / the line. You may be fine, but I’m faster than / an airline” (149). Then she suggests that they race now, and while Cassius balks at first because of the rain, he agrees.

They don’t get a chance to race because Teenie’s parents won’t let her. Her father is particularly displeased, and the boys decide to leave. However, when they go get their bikes, Cassius’s isn’t there.

Cassius recounts the tragic events of that year, both nationally and among those they knew. The Lone Ranger—Rudy’s favorite show—ends. They have to hide under their desks because of a Russian bomb threat. An earthquake hits Southern California, and Cobb’s older brother isn’t allowed to play football for the University of Kentucky because he isn’t white.

He uses these events to say that nothing compares to how awful he feels when his bike is stolen.

Lucky points out that there was a security guard inside the building, and so they go back in. However, the security guard is so distracted that Cassius just asks if there’s a police officer around. The guard points downstairs.

The basement has a gym that smells terrible, permeated with the scent of boys practicing boxing.

The gym is not in good shape, with lights that look like they might fall from the ceiling. Posters of famous boxers hang on the walls, as do announcements and training checklists with motivational quotes.

It is filled with people practicing. Cassius immediately feels comfortable there. 

In the ring, Cassius spots two boys he knows from school. He also sees a man working a punching bag.

Watching everything is a white man who, when he sees Cassius, comes over.

The man asks Cassius if he is lost, and Cassius responds that his bike is, growing angry as he recounts that it was stolen and that he is going to beat up whoever did it. The man suggests that this is perhaps not what he should tell a cop, and Cassius realizes that he is the one they came to the basement looking for. The man says to come to the police station on Monday.

Cassius asks if the man is a boxer, and he replies that he is the coach. He is also the uncle of the two boys fighting in the ring. He knows that they aren’t doing well, but he sees the gym as a way of keeping the boys out of trouble.

When Cassius comments that the gym is cool, the coach suggests that he come down one day after school. Cassius doesn’t think his mother will let him.

Cassius learns that the man’s name is Joe Martin. He introduces himself in return.

Cassius begs his mother to let him go to the boxing gym. He promises to improve his grades and that he’ll bring Rudy with him. He feels like he has “been born again” (164). She agrees and also reveals that his father is going to get Cassius a motor scooter.

He yells excitedly, knowing that “Cassius Clay is gonna be a fighter” (165).