Wrestling Against Myself (5 page)

“We girls have ways to find out about one of our own.”

Dave and Ted started humming the theme to Mission Impossible in unison.

“Quit that,” Tracy protested.

The rest of lunch went seamlessly until the warning bell that first lunch was about to end sounded and the student body rushed to get rid of their empty trays.

As Antonio dumped his tray he noticed that Courtney waited until the cafeteria was nearly empty before she got up and took care of her tray.

Tony eyed the girl, standing behind a brick pillar outside of the dining area, trying to look as if he were waiting for the next wave of students to go to lunch. He might be late for his next class by a minute or two, but teachers normally gave him that leeway.

Courtney opened the door leading outside, pushing it open as if it weighed a ton. She poked her head out, looked left and right, and then scampered away like a frightened mouse.

Antonio frowned. It didn't seem natural to be so afraid at school and he wondered who the girl was hiding from. Perhaps some boy who had mistreated her. If he only knew who, he could put an end to it right then and there.

He watched as the small girl darted down a side hallway, not exactly running, but moving at a decent speed. He would've followed to see if he could discover the source of the problem, but as frightened as she was, thinking someone of his build was stalking her could terrorize the poor flower.

Tony tried not to think about Courtney as he strolled through the halls, but he was quite bothered by the whole thing. Perhaps not bothered that she was scared, but because, as of then, there wasn't anything he could do about the situation. In the next day or two he would figure something out.

The first day of school went as expected, not too much work and Antonio found himself weighed down with textbooks that he might or might not need. It happened every year, in every class that wasn't gym or an elective; the first day of school you got books and in a week or two you learned which teachers used the books and how. Some teachers had you read from the textbooks at home, and you didn't need to lug them around. Others used the textbook during class and would hassle you if you didn't have it.

Antonio walked to his locker. Outside of his math book, he didn't need to bring anything home with him. Until he found where the books would be spending most of the semester he stored them for the time being.

In the afternoon he only had three classes, but those few hours were spent agonizing over the new girl, Courtney, and what she could be afraid of. He thought he saw her in the hall before the last period, but after someone blocked his view she was gone. It wouldn't have mattered much anyway, there were too many people engaging him in light banter that would keep him from reaching her anyway.

Tony hung around the hallway, greeting people as they scurried to get away from school. He gave a nod to the chubby freshman he helped that morning but only got a faint smile in reply.

“Yeah,” Antonio thought as he watched the kid sling a heavy backpack full of all the books he received that day over his shoulder, “he could be my replacement.” He would have brought up the subject right then and invited the kid to go out for wrestling, but the first official practice was months away and he wanted to wait for Courtney to see what - or whom - she was so afraid of.

People shuttled back and forth, so eager to get out of school that the most they could manage to say was a quick “hey Tiny” as they flew by.

Courtney never made an appearance. Antonio waited until there were no more students in the hallways and figured the girl went home straight from her last class. He didn't know if she walked, took a bus or someone picked her up, but he was determined to find out what was bothering her.

“Oh well,” he tried not to be disappointed. “Tomorrow is another day, I can play superman then.”

Antonio laughed to himself as he walked down the empty hall, amazed at how many loose pieces of paper littered the floor. He hoped no one needed any of the sheets as he picked them up while walking out of building B2.

Antonio was never one to leave school in a rush. In a few months he would be heading for practice anyway and was used to leaving the school after five. It wasn't even three yet as he made his way to the boys' locker room.

He would need to get in a workout. The football team, all nineteen players, would be making their way from their locker room under the stadium to the open field and Antonio didn't want his run interrupted by football coaches pleading with him to come out for the team. Antonio didn't like disappointing people, but the players on the team were more interested in partying and going through the motions than winning games and Tony didn't want to have his time wasted for something like that.

The male gym teachers shared a large office inside the boys' locker room, and that is where Tony headed. Three coaches of various teams sat around drinking coffee and talking sports when the athlete walked in.

“Hey coaches,” Tony said as he walked to the scale.

“Looking good, Tiny,” Coach Pete, who ran the cross country and tennis teams, said.

“Too good,” Coach Williams, the basketball coach added. “And I thought he had an unfair advantage last year.”

Antonio set the scale at zero and made sure it was balanced. “We still wrestle by weight class coach.”

“I wasn't talking about
wrestling; I was talking about the ladies.”

The other two coaches laughed.

“He better make sure he doesn't have to start fighting off some of the guys,” Coach Pete added.

“Coach!” Antonio admonished as he kicked off his shoes.

“Are you sure you're still a heavyweight?” Coach Walker asked as he stood up from his desk and walked towards his athlete.

Antonio unfastened his belt and let his pants fall to the floor. “Should be.”

“Phil,” Coach Williams said loudly, “I wouldn't worry; he still has tree trunks instead of legs. God, look at those legs.”

“Let's not take the Lord's name in vain,” Tony said as he peeled off his shirt. “Wouldn't want to be struck by lightning.”

“Sorry Tiny.”

Antonio stood on the scale as his coach played with the weights. “No problem. Besides, I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

“I'd say,” Coach Pete said. “I wish I had that physique when I was in high school.”

Coach Williams laughed. “Heck, I'd take it now.”

“Two thirty-eight, Tiny,” Coach Walker said.

“Not bad.”

“Why don't you drop to two twenty?” Coach Walker suggested, referring to the next weight class down.

“Because heavyweights are the people who get remembered coach,” Antonio said as he hopped off the scale and began dressing again.  “No one talks about the greatest light heavyweight or flyweights do they.”

“We need to get you a fat-comp test anyway. If you fall below seven percent we're going to make you hit the buffets.”

Due to a rash of weight loss related deaths, the Florida High School Athletic Associated instituted a rule that if an athlete fell below seven percent body fat they would be disqualified for the year, no exceptions.

“I won't let you down coach,” Antonio said as he put his shoes back on.

“That's our Tiny,” Coach Williams said. “Mister dependable.”

“Just dial back the workouts a little bit, will you?” Coach Walker implored. “We don't need you burning out during the season.”

“Okay coach. I'll take it easier before the season starts, but I won't stop working out completely.”

“There's a first,” Coach Pete chimed in, “telling a student not to work out. Boy Phil, I wish I had your problems.”

Antonio laughed. “Okay Coach, Coach, and Coach, I'm going to go home and get in a light jog. Not too hard,” he said pointedly. “Too much sitting today. I don't want to use the track, watching the football team is depressing.”

“See you Tiny,” Coach Walker said as he patted his athlete on the shoulder.

Antonio made his way out of the office. “This season is going to be magical,” he heard Coach Walker say as the door closed.

By the time Antonio made it to the student parking lot, his car was the only one that remained. The football players with cars already moved theirs up by the locker room under the stadium bleachers.

As usual, his car was left alone, even though it was unlocked, with the keys in the ignition. Antonio opened the passenger side door and put his math book on the seat and then rolled down the window to let the
Florida heat escape. He closed the heavy door and walked around the rear of his car. He opened the driver's side door and rolled down the window, it would take a few minutes to air out the classic car.

Antonio stood with his hand on the window sill of the open car door and watched as the football team ran through drills. The coaches were too busy yelling and cursing to bother him about joining. “Nineteen players,” Tony said to himself as he counted those on the field, “they can't even scrimmage.”

The sun was beating down, causing Antonio to sweat just by standing in the heat. He was about to get into the vehicle when something caught his eye. On the north end of the field, along the fence that separated the practice field from the playing field, a small figure walked swiftly with her head down.

“What the,” Antonio said, but stopped himself before a euphemism could slip from his mouth.

He watched Courtney make her way to the far side of the field. Tony knew there was an opening in the fence somewhere down there but it only led to a ditch. He had half a mind to run after her to see what was going on, but thought better of it. He trained his eye on the girl, as she took long strides causing her blue skirt to flare in her self-created breeze.

Though it was hard to tell, the small girl found her way outside of the fence and in a few seconds disappeared into the ditch. Antonio watched in confusion. “Why in the world?” he asked himself but didn't finish the question. “What? Is she homeless?””

He saw the small figure reappear on the top of the other side of the ditch. The only thing there was a wall of a gated community, but he was certain that there was no entrance into it and he doubted the small girl could scale the eight foot concrete wall.

Antonio shook his head. Something about the girl bothered him. He didn't know what it was, but he didn't like it. Somehow, some way, Courtney was in trouble. He would get to the bottom of it as soon as he could.

Antonio ducked into his car, turned the key, and listened to the engine roar to life. “God,” he said as he bowed his head. “Be with that girl; protect her from whatever demons she is facing. If it be your will, let me help. In your son's name, Amen.”

Antonio was up and out of the house early the second day of school. He knew he had responsibilities that he took on and that meant a few compromises. Instead of staying up late as was the norm with many teens, he was in bed and sleeping by ten o'clock.

He had woken up, went to the gym at 5 am and returned home to shower and get in Bible reading. He read the familiar passage, had the verses all but memorized in the hopes that they would be an automatic part of his life that he didn't have to struggle with.

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them,” Tony read the words slowly, absorbing each one individually. “If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in Heaven.”

Antonio sat back in his chair and thought back on the two guys that pushed the chubby freshman kid down the day before.

“Did I intervene because I wanted people to think that I was more righteous than they were?” He asked God while looking at his ceiling.

He went through the scene in his own mind. Would he have done the same thing if people in the school would've thought that he was a jerk for doing so?