Wrestling Against Myself (2 page)

Antonio smiled at himself after reading the article. There would be no 'slimmer heavyweight winning the title' article written this year. His wish was that the author of the article would be forced to write an even lengthier article after this year was over and be forced to eat crow.

Antonio shook his head at himself. “We're not going there,” he spoke out loud, putting his pride and bitterness in check. “That is not who we want to be. The article was a good thing.” He tightened his chest and shoulder muscles so he could appreciate his physique. “It was the perfect motivation for getting off your butt and doing something with your summer instead of wasting time playing video games and sleeping in late.”

He smiled at the mirror- he had been checking himself out a lot lately. He worried about getting a big head. He was concerned that with his new physique he would grow arrogant and he desired to remain humble. Other students saw him as a role model. It was not just the kids at his school that looked up to him, but from other schools in the county as well. It was a role that he relished and he set his standards much higher than theirs. He made a habit to not curse and he never went to parties where drinking was involved, but instead professed his faith in Christ whenever the opportunity arose and encouraged others to live a moral life; insisting that they would be happier and healthier if they did.

The first day of school was an occasion for dressing up. Instead of going with the regular pair of jeans, a clean t-shirt, and a pair of sneakers, which was his standard outfit most days, Tony put on a pair of khaki pants, which didn't do much to hide the fact that he had powerful legs underneath, and a striped collared shirt that flowed around him until he tucked it into the pants and fastened the dark brown belt to keep everything from flailing about. Instead of his new pair of Asics, he put on a pair of black Rockport’s and tied them tightly.

Tony checked himself in the mirror once again. The transformation was complete and even though some of the student body saw the beginning parts of him getting into the shape of his life, he couldn't wait until they all saw the finished product. “Yes,” he said to his reflection with a grin. “I'm going to own this year.”

Instead of appreciating himself in the mirror more, the high school senior decided he was getting too full of himself and made his way back to his bedroom. His mom already left for work while he was in the shower, fighting the commute to the main headquarters of the Home Shopping Channel where she did something called “letters of credit”. All Tony really knew about the job was it related to the financial department and it kept the bills paid.

Sitting on Tony's desk was his Bible, left open from the night before when he read the sixth chapter of Matthew. He read the sixth chapter of Matthew every night, it called to him and he figured if he read it often enough that he could start applying the principles without even having to think about it. In the mornings he read a proverb and kept notes in a small spiral-bound book that he kept with his Bible.

Though he had the ability to read through the short chapter quickly, Tony took his time, making sure he processed every word, jotting down notes as he went along, asking himself questions. He was far from being a Bible scholar and never ventured from reading the Word, to look at commentaries or what other people thought the passages were saying, he only cared about what the passages were saying to him. Perhaps, when he was older or wiser, he would venture into deeper understanding, but he understood that just as his physical development went through stages, so would his spiritual. He was fine with that.

The hulking teenager put his elbows on his desk and clasped his hands together before bowing his head and closing his eyes. “Father,” he spoke the words aloud, but barely above a whisper. “I thank you for this day and for this new school year. I claim it for You; use me to be an example of Your love and grace. Keep me humble and eager to help those who are in need or are oppressed, even in the slightest. In Your son's name I pray, Amen.”

With the prayer over, Tony felt his confidence soar even further as he was about to conquer a brand new school year. He left his Bible and notebook open and stood from his desk. He was ready for anything, as long as his mom left him some money for gas.

The house in which Tony lived in was modest, though his Mom had done some upgrades that he thought were questionable. Instead of keeping the garage intact, she converted it into a sitting room and put up a new wall where the garage door once stood with a big bay window that looked into their driveway. His mother also had a fireplace built in the living room, though it seemed a bit out of place for the gulf coast of central Florida. No matter what his mom did, the house was home, and with each new change, Tony learned to accept it and get used to it. The house did have a formal dining room, just off the living room, but most of the meals were eaten at a table that was just outside the open kitchen.

Tony grabbed himself some yogurt and cottage cheese mixed together, a concoction he picked up from one of the fitness books he had read (but couldn't remember which) and took it with him to the table. As luck would have it, right under the salt shaker was a twenty dollar bill and he wouldn't have to push his car the three miles to school that day.

After eating his meal, Tony rinsed out the plastic container and placed it into the dishwasher. Since it was just he and his mother, the dishwasher was only run once or twice a week, but was always filled up before running. He glanced at the bronze and glass clock- it was almost seven o'clock and if he had to stop for gas, he better get going.

Though it was still summer in Florida and the temperature was going to be in the low nineties, Antonio grabbed his varsity jacket. It was red with white leather sleeves, his large varsity letter D was sewn onto the right breast of the jacket along with the brass safety pins from the victories of the prior season. Every time you pinned an opponent, it was tradition that you placed a brass safety pin on your jacket. Tony had fifteen such pins from a year ago, but planned on doubling that number this season. Once practice started, he planned on removing last year's accomplishments and to start from scratch. The only thing that would remain on the jacket would be his gold wrestler's pin that had his nickname, Tiny, engraved just underneath.

The possession Tony was most proud of was his 1974 Firebird Formula 400, and though it was maroon instead of black, it was otherwise perfect. When his aunt purchased it as a gift for him the year prior for winning districts, all people could say was how well it matched his personality. He was asking for something practical that got good gas mileage, but his aunt knew him well and that this was the car he would be happiest driving.

Tony settled in the black vinyl bucket seat, looked at the faux wood grain dash with its speedometer and tachometer and smiled. Yes, this car was much better than any two door hatchback that would get more miles per gallon but wouldn't look as cool. He turned the key and the small block v-8 roared to life. He pushed down on the gas a few times and revved the engine. Most people assumed that he revved the engine to show off, but he knew that if he didn't warm up the car properly it would stall and not run right for a while.

He turned on the radio. It was permanently tuned to the local Christian station, the Joy FM, and people learned the hard way not to touch the dial. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate other music- coming from an Italian-American family whose parents once owned a bar in New York City; he had an affinity for Billy Joel, Barry Manilow, and Neil Diamond. In his car, however, he stuck to the praise and worship music of the Morning show so he wouldn't have to hear the crass jokes of other stations.

Dunedin High School sits on a few acres of land in the center of the city. It is a school that is known for a few things and its athletic prowess is not one of them. Outside of winning the state football 4a championship back in 1987, it hadn't accomplished much in the sports arena. It consisted of twelve separate light tan buildings that housed its numerous classrooms, a large cafeteria that could hold half of the student body at one time during lunch, a gym, a football stadium, a small weight room that stood off to a far corner of the school's property and was painted in the school colors of red and white, though black always made it into the mix. The school's main claim to fame was its Highland marching band, complete with bagpipes and kilts.

The high school is like a thousand others, it has its little quirks, and it has its cliques. Though the sports programs haven't been successful, there are the jocks. There are also the band nerds, the role-playing geeks, the skate boarders, and the loners who always seem to hang together in a crowd. The one thing that maybe isn't as common at other high schools was that Dunedin had a clique of born again Christians that made it a point to stand out and be vocal. The teens in that group didn't all go to the same church, but they did have their own prayer meeting in the morning and ate lunch together at the same table mid-afternoon. Though two of the cliques tried to claim Antonio as their own, he tried to rise above that and befriended anyone he could.

There was plenty of time before the opening bell of the new school year was going to ring when Antonio pulled his car into the large parking lot. He didn't have to look for a spot, he knew where his car was going to sit for the day and so did the rest of the school. He wasn't so presumptuous as to take a spot close to the school building where it would be a short walk into the outdoor hallways of the school, but his spot was closer to the practice football field. There was a wooden pole that held a bank of lights so the football team could get much needed nighttime practice later in the season, when it got dark earlier. That is where Tony always parked and no-one dared take his spot; even though he never made it known that he considered it his own. It was just one of those things that were understood and he enjoyed that particular perk of being popular.

Tony grabbed his books and pens and his class schedule for the first semester. This was it, the first day of his last year at school and he was excited to get it going. He got out of his car and started strolling towards the first open walkway he had available to him. It was the walk that would lead him past the locker rooms and then towards the regular classrooms.

“Hey, Tiny,” John Sharp, one of the wrestlers who was on last year's team greeted him. “Looking good.”

“Hi John,” Tony didn't correct the nickname. He spent a few weeks contemplating if he was going to put an end to the 'Tiny' moniker, swaying back and forth on his decision. Now that he was presented with an opportunity to raise an objection, he figured why bother. Too many people knew him as Tiny any way, and what started out as a joke, now stuck. Even the teachers and other parents referred to him by the nickname. When he went to the mall, kids from other schools knew him by that name as well, so if he started correcting everyone, he would spend most his time doing so and that would get tedious. He figured he would lose the nickname when he went off to college and that would be the end to it.

“You ready to harass some freshmen?” John asked eagerly as he rubbed his right fist with his left hand.

Tony found the remark amusing, considering who it came from. John Sharp was all of five foot three and had trouble making the minimum weight in order to compete his freshman year on the junior varsity squad. “You know I don't do that?”

“Come on Tiny, it's just for fun. Besides, it's tradition.”

“No-one did it to you last year, if I remember correctly,” Tony said, trying to suppress the urge to laugh.

“That's because I would've bopped them on the nose,” John said as he balled up his other fist and started dancing in front of the large senior as if he was a boxer. “Pow!” he said as he threw a phantom punch.

“You're too much. Leave the freshmen alone, we might need a few of them, so don't scare them off.”

“Who needs freshmen?”

“The wrestling team,” Antonio said as he checked his schedule to see where his locker was going to be this year. He knew he would use it for the first few weeks and then abandon it like he did every other year. “Would be nice if we had a full squad and didn't have to forfeit half our matches.”

“Oh yeah, that.” John wasn't as wrapped up in the team concept as Tony would have liked.

“You're still coming out for the team this year, right?”

“You know it. I got a couple of scores to settle.”

Tony laughed. “Okay, Mr. Bad-to-the-Bone.”

“Catch you later Tiny,” John said in a huff. “I'm going to find me some fresh meat.”

“Behave, being suspended isn't going to help things much,” Tony called out as the smaller student quickly made a bee-line in search of trouble.