Wrestling Against Myself (16 page)

“Something still tells me she brought this on herself,” Tracy said.

“All I know,” Tony said, “is she didn't do anything wrong to me. I'm not going to stick around and watch someone so helpless is bullied.”

“Don't get so riled up,” Stephanie said. “Once she starts, um, blossoming, the boys will be after her for an entirely different reason. If she thinks she has problems now.” Stephanie broke into a fit of giggles.

Tony saw Courtney in line and watched as she made her way up front.

“But Tiny has a plan for before that happens,” Dave said.

“I bet he has an outline with bullet points and everything,” Ted Continued.

Tony grinned. “I do have a plan, but nothing that requires the Battle Star Galactica.”

“Millennium Falcon would be better,” Dave interjected.

“Star ship Enterprise 1701-E.” Ted countered.

“Guys!” Carl said strongly. “What's the plan, Tiny?”

“I plan on being her friend, that's the plan.”

“Popularity by association,” Carl said as he rolled his eyes.

“That's the only reason we have friends,” Dave said sarcastically.

“You guys are too much.” Tony watched Courtney head towards the table she sat at with a tray of food. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm putting my plan in action.”

“He really needs theme music when he walks away,” Shannon said. “Maybe the workout theme from Rocky.” Shannon couldn't keep himself from thinking of his idea. “Flying high now,” he sang and tried to mimic the instrumental parts of the song with his voice.

“Tiny would much rather something from Vision Quest,” Carl said.

Shannon looked at Carl in confusion.

“It's one of the few movies about high school wrestling,” Carl explained. “Tiny and I watch it every year the night after our first practice. It's tradition.”

Tony made his way to the front of the cafeteria where Courtney was sitting. “This seat taken,” he asked politely while placing his tray down anyway.

Courtney looked up and gave a faint smile. “It is now,” she said lightly.

Tony squeezed in the bench seat as the girl picked at her food. “I wasn't sure if you were coming to school or not today,” he finally said after an awkward moment of silence.

“Why not?”

“I thought after yesterday you would stay home for a day. You know, after what those jerks tried to do.”

“My mom would never let me get away with that,” Courtney spoke softly, causing Tony to lean in to hear her. “She always knows when I'm faking sick too.”

“Does your mom know what happened though?”

Courtney frowned. “I let her know some of the big things, but it doesn't change stuff. I have to go to school no matter what.”

“Hmm,” Tony stalled for time. “Good for you anyway. You can't let bullies think they're winning or it'll never end. They'll get tired of picking on you sooner or later and go to the next person. A shame really.”

“Yeah, someone needs to pick on them,” Courtney said bitterly.

Tony smiled nervously. “It's not going to be me.”

Courtney looked up in surprise. “Oh! No! I didn't mean you. I just meant someone in generally. Like an ogre or something big and smelly.”

Tony lifted his arms and put his nose towards his pits. “That wouldn't be me either.”

Courtney let out a gentle laugh.

“Besides,” Tony said as he lowered his arms before he attracted unwanted attention from other table.  I have a philosophy to never wish bad on anyone, because I wouldn't want bad being wished upon me.”

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” Courtney recited from rote.

Tony smiled. “Hey, that's pretty good. I didn't know you knew scripture.”

Courtney let out a strained smile herself and shrugged. “My mom and dad took me to church all the time,” she said quietly.

Tony could tell church was a sore subject with the girl and figured that if he brought it up further it would make her uncomfortable. He wanted to ask, wanted to know what a freshman could do to be asked never to come back to a church. “But you don't go anymore?”

Courtney shook her head no but remained mute on the subject.

A few awkward moments of silence passed by as they silently ate their meals.

“Their loss,” Tony finally broke the tension. “There is more than one church in the area though. You missed out on youth group last night.”

Courtney stared at her tray. “I wouldn't fit in,” she said to her chicken patty.

“You never know. Anyway, Pastor Bob, he's the guy that runs the youth stuff, he likes it loud but his lessons are pretty good. Last night he spoke on being a new creation.”

Courtney raised her eyes. “I'm a new creation. “Not everyone likes it when it happens.”

“Oh.” Tony thought perhaps she let in a little insight onto the dilemma for why people seemed out to get her. “I guess congratulations.”

Courtney peered at the older teen, a confused look came upon her face but she looked back down at her tray before Tony could get a read on her.

“I remember when I came to Christ and was saved. Before that, I used to curse and fight and be really mean to people. It took some time for people to get use to the new me.”

Courtney peeked upwards. “You used to curse?”

Tony nodded. “Oh yeah, I'm completely different than what I used to be like.”

“Me too.”

Tony grinned. “That's awesome.”

Courtney picked at her food some more. “You talk about church a lot.”

Tony didn't know if the girl was making a statement or an indictment. “Maybe not church, but Christ. He's an important part of my life.”

“But there's got to be more to your life than church,” Courtney said in a rash moment of boldness.

Antonio let out a soft chuckle. “There is. I got my family. I could tell you stories that my mom brings home about the Home Shopping Network. Do you want to hear about Tootie? I got tons of stories about her, none of them exciting. I got wrestling. Wrestling is important to me. I'm hoping to get a scholarship somewhere; I got several colleges already interested. But, normally, people get bored if I talk wrestling. Do you want to hear why a power half nelson is the best move ever?”

Courtney shook her head no.

“I got school like you do. Do you want to hear about what I learned in history?”

Courtney shook her head no again

“See, I'm limited to what I can talk about. I try not to be boring.”

“I didn't say you were boring.”

“Good.”

The bell rang to warn the students that first lunch was over.

Tony turned his head and saw that Peter and his group were filing toward the exit.

“You going to be okay?” Tony asked, letting Courtney know he was willing to act as her protector.

Courtney glanced to where Peter was heading, and saw that he was just about to the door. “I'll be fine,” she said over the din.

“Great, I'll catch you later.”

Tony got up and made his way out. Carl was standing there waiting for him.

“Hey Tiny,” Carl said as the two walked through the corridors together.

“What's up Carl?”

“Nothing. Listened to a fifteen minute debate over which was stronger ogres or Cyclops.”

“Dave and Ted?”

Carl rolled his eyes. “Who else?”

“So who won?”

“They both did, in driving me nuts.”

Tony laughed.

“Okay, so you spent two lunches with the girl and I saw you both talking. What's the deal?”

“You mean, why is everyone out to get her?”

“Yeah. Did she let you know? I mean, you did stand up for her yesterday, she owes you an explanation for why you're putting your neck on the line.”

“She doesn't owe me anything. I did what I did because it was right, not because I wanted to get something out of it.”

“Okay,” Carl said, knowing Tony stuck close to his code of honor. “But did she tell you anything?”
 

Tony stopped outside of building C-3, where he and Carl would part ways. “She didn't tell me anything directly. We did talk about Pastor Bob's sermon and she mentioned being a new creation too.”

“So she's a Christian? Then why would she be asked not to go to a church?”

Tony didn't want to go into his theory that he thought Courtney had an abortion, especially since he didn't have any proof and it was an extremely harsh claim. “Good question,” Tony said, deciding he would air out other theories. “What if her parents are Catholic and she became born again? Maybe she started asking too many questions or debated them on some of their rituals. I could see the priest getting frustrated. Maybe they didn't tell her to leave, like they didn't want her back. Maybe they asked her to find a church consistent with her new beliefs.”

“Possible.” Carl rubbed his chin with his fingers. “If she became a Christian, why would the other students want her out of the school?”

Tony smiled. “How many people wish that half of our group would go to another school? Sometimes we can come across as Holier Than Thou, even though we don't mean to.”

“Maybe.”

“Here is what I think,” Tony said, knowing that Carl was his closest confidant and what he said wouldn't go further than the two of them. “What if last year, when she in middle school, she spent most of the time running with the wrong crowd? You know, smoking, swearing, cutting class, being rude, the whole nine yards.”

“Okay,” Carl said. “I don't see it coming from her, but why not.”

“Sometime during the end of the year, she came to know Christ. She had a real Paul on the Damascus road experience. She tells her old group of friends that she can't hang out with them anymore because she is a new person and that ticks them off. Then they come to high school, expecting the religious thing to have worn off, but it hadn't. So her old friends think, oh you're too good for us, well we're too good for you and we want you gone.”

“Seems out there, but possible. How
do Peter and his group fit into all this?”

Tony shrugged. “I don't know. I'm still working on that one.”

The bell rang to warn the students that they had a minute to get to class.

“Catch you later,” Carl said. “I got Biology.”

Tony cringed. “Take good notes.”

Tony survived another day of school. It was near the end of the first week and being back at school was beginning to wear on him. It happened every year, and in another week or two he would be able to make it to the weekend with no problem at all. For the time being, he had too much knowledge being crammed into his brain and really wanted to think of something other than linear equations or why America had a two party system instead of five.

Instead of heading to his locker, and risk being delayed again, Tony went directly towards the parking lot. He wanted to see Coach Walker to ask about borrowing some wrestling technique videos and talk about the upcoming season's roster. It had been years since Dunedin High wrestling filled a full squad on varsity, but they were getting closer.