Mr. Jenkins
Mr. Jenkins is that neighborhood market owner everyone wishes they had….and rarely do. His father started up shop way back in the day and he only saw it right to continue the family business after his pops passed. Things also didn’t pan out for him in his previous career. So, everything just kind of fell in place and he’s been the face of the corner store ever since.
The Jenkins Family Market truly is a staple in the community. And Junior, as his dad always called him, takes great pride in that. He makes sure he learns everyone’s name and that everyone feels welcome. An active member of the neighborhood watch, Mr. Jenkins also is no pushover. The common thief has learned all too many times Mr. J’s nice guy attitude quickly changes when he has to protect his store. Indeed, at this point most people in the neighborhood know that his pleasant personality is only equaled by his feisty spirit, which he learned to control, for the most part, as a youngster through the local boxing gym…the same local boxing gym Tony “The Tiger” Mercado took over years later and still owns and operates to this day.
Mr. Jenkins is a huge contributor to Tony’s gym, always has been. But when he learned a local boy by the name of Fleet Blackwood was making a name for himself by way of Tony, Mr. J upped his support even more and has played a huge role in the development of the neighborhood’s boxing program ever since.
Whenever Fleet comes into the store it always brings a smile to Junior’s face, knowing his sponsorship has helped in some way. He and Fleet often go back and forth, trading stories. Ever the enthusiastic storyteller and supporter, Mr. Jenkins regularly has a hard time controlling his excitement as he details this tale or that memory of his own adventures, or recalls the fine points of one of Fleet’s past fights. It always cracks Fleet up how worked up the guy gets.
Mr. Jenkins is Fleet’s biggest fan. His sponsorship has helped the stoic boxer so much along his road and he remembers the happenings of pretty much every fight Fleet’s ever had. But what Mr. J doesn’t recall is that it was in his very market Fleet met who was to become his mentor, the man truly responsible for putting the once troubled boy on the path that made him the powerful man he is today.
