Wrestling Against Myself (53 page)

“That's good. My mom has strict guidelines for what guests are allowed to wear in the pool. Last year Dave wore a Speedo and my mom made him keep his jeans on.”

“You're not going to wear a Speedo?”

“My mom would kill me. No matter how good a wrestler I am, my mom can still whoop me.”

“My loss.” Courtney feigned being upset.

“My mom is going to get a kick out of you. She'll be home at 6; I hope you don't mind that dinner's going to be KFC.”

“Chicken is good. Are we going into the pool right away or do we to wait for your mom?”

“Pools open right away. My mom trusts me not to do anything immoral.”

“I trust you too,” Courtney said with a twinkle in her eye as she and Tony finally got on the road.

“I live a little further away than you do, but it won't take that long.”

“Cool!”

Tony took the most direct route home, keeping the turns to a minimum. He made his way to Alternate 19 and then cut through the side of Pirate's Cove Marina.

“I thought there was just water back here,” Courtney said as they popped out on the other side of the marina and into the subdivision where Tony lived.

“Nope. We got actual houses back here. There are some little channels that lead to the gulf, but most people don't realize there's a community. It keeps things quiet.”

“Must be nice living near the water.”

“It is. We aren't directly on the water. We're across the street from it, with a house blocking our view. But sometimes I go to an empty lot on the corner and there's the whole Gulf of Mexico.

“Cool.”

Tony pulled into his driveway and shut the car down.

“Here we are, home sweet home.”

Courtney looked at the home with its white exterior and pale blue trim. A wrought iron marlin hung on the shed on the side of the house, adding to the uniqueness. “Nice house.”

“It serves its purpose. We even got a fireplace.”

“A fireplace? In Florida?”

“Yep.” Tony made his way around the car and opened the door for his guest. “My mom's friend had one of those fake fireplaces and she wanted one. The thing about my mom is she doesn't go half way with anything. Once she got in her mind she wanted a fireplace, she wound up going all the way.”

“Cool.” Courtney followed behind Antonio as he led her into the house.

“Here is the fireplace,” he pointed out along the far wall of the living room. “My mom paid a ton for it, and we're not even allowed in the room unless it's a special occasion.

“No TV.”

“We got that in the den, over here.”
Tony led her to a side room that was an addition where the garage used to be. “We don't do much television watching.”

“Let me guess, sports?”

Tony smiled. “I love my Bucs and my Mets.”

“Mets?”

“New York's baseball team. I lived in Queens before we moved to Florida. Remember?”

“I remember. I just thought the New York team was the Yankees.”

Tony made a sour face. “I hate the Yanks.”

Courtney laughed.

“What's so funny?”

“My dad says the same thing, but about the snowbirds coming down for the winter.”

Tony grinned and led the way through the house. “This is my room,” he said as he opened the door. Though he never allowed the room to get messy, it was cleaner than usual.

“Are those all your trophies,” Courtney said as she eyed a shelf on the far wall.

“Those are from last year. The big one is school MVP.”

“I never won a trophy before.”

“Maybe you should go out for wrestling. It would make John Sharp real happy not being the smallest boy on the team.”
 

“I don't think so.”

Tony laughed and led Courtney elsewhere. “And out back here, we have the pool.”

Courtney took a peak. The water was blue and inviting. “Lucky.”

“You got that right,” Tony said. “Let me show you the bathroom so you can change and I'll meet you in the pool.”

“Awesome.”

Tony showed Courtney to the guest bathroom. “There you go. Take your time.”

“Thank you,” Courtney said and then disappeared behind the closed door.

Tony made his way back to his room and changed out of his school clothes and into a pair of red swimming trunks. As he expected, Courtney hadn't reappeared from the bathroom and he made his way to the pool. He jumped into the deep end, enjoying the sudden shock of cold water. He slowly made his way to the shallow end, giving his body time to adjust to the drop in temperature.

Even though he was in the shallow end and his feet were touching the bottom of the pool, Antonio still worked his arms side to side, moving water out of the way as he made it toward the side of the pool facing the house.

The teenager heard the patio door slide open, it's familiar metal on metal sound reminding him that he needed to oil the bearings. He was glad he was alerted to his
friend’s arrival.

Courtney walked toward the pool with a towel wrapped around her, making it look as if she was wearing a terrycloth dress that was cut higher on her thigh than what she wore to school.

“Boo!” Tony hissed playfully. “Boo!”

Courtney chuckled as she whipped her long light brown hair behind her. “Why are you booing me? You couldn't have heard me singing in the bathroom.”

“No, and I'm sure your singing was fine. I'm booing because you're wearing a towel and that's what we do in Dunedin to girls who cover up. We boo them. So, boo.”

Courtney chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. “I don't want to disappoint you.”

“Nonsense,” Tony said as if offended. “You can't swim in a towel, so you might as well put it on one of the lawn chairs and be done with it. I haven't judged you yet and I'm not going to do it now.”

“If you say so,” Courtney made her way toward a row of wooden lawn chairs that had lime green cushions on them.

Antonio kept his eye on the girl. Though he would never say so out loud he was curious how Courtney looked in her swimwear. At school, when she was wearing loose, flowing dresses, her femininity was never in doubt. Would that illusion be dispelled once he saw her in a tight fitting bathing suit? He guarded himself to the possibilities that in a moment he might become aware that Courtney wasn't like other girls and he certainly didn't want to offend her.

Courtney removed the towel from her body, but kept it in front of her so it acted like a curtain blocking Antonio's view.

“You're stalling,” Tony called out as he held onto the ledge of the pool.

With a deep breath and closed eyes, Courtney cast the towel to the side, letting it drop onto the lawn chair. She let go of her defenses and allowed her body to be viewed; flaws and all. Her one piece suit was modest, but skin tight.

Antonio's mouth dropped open. Of all the things he was expecting, none came close to reality. He thought he would be disappointed and see evidence of masculinity, but he saw none. He could kick himself that his eyes went immediately to the place where he would find proof the girl was being truthful of her situation. The milky white skin of her thighs disappeared behind the navy blue swimsuit and nothing destroyed the belief that he was looking at a girl. The teenagers eyes moved up the swimsuit, the dark blue background gave way to lighter colors and a design of crisscrossing triangles of purple and pink danced around the small girl's body.

Courtney opened her eyes and saw she was being checked out. Instead of covering up, she put her arms behind her back and let her audience have an unobstructed view. She was worried about being judged, but was willing to trust in the kindness of her friend.

The girl's stomach was flat, Tony thought as he made mental notes as his eyes wandered upward. He was taken by surprise from what he saw next. Where he thought he would see evidence of Courtney's masculinity, he saw none, but he wasn't prepared for the additional signs of budding femininity as his eyes saw the two firm lumps. Though not the most endowed girl in the school, there was no mistaking Courtney was developing breasts and they were magnificent.

“Wow!” Tony's eyes finally came to rest on the girl's face.

“You're being nice.” A bit of red came to Courtney's cheeks.

“Nice, but honest. You're very girl.”

“Quit,” Courtney gushed as she pivoted away. “You really think so?”

“I know so.”

Bursting with a renewed sense of confidence, Courtney struck a few poses to the delight of her audience. Her smile warmed the teen that viewed her as she let down the last of her defenses with reckless abandon and allowed the totality of her personality be seen.

“Come on in, heart breaker. The water is fine.”

Courtney jumped in the water feet first.

“Cold!” The girl shouted out as she gasped for air. Her skin was covered in goose bumps and her teeth began to chatter.

“It'll get better in a minute.” Tony made his way to the girl and wrapped his arms around her.

A smile came across the girl's face. “It's better already.”

Tony laughed and led the girl to the steps in the shallow end where the two could sit and talk.

“It must be cool to have your own pool,” the girl lamented.

“It's nice on hot summer days, but a real pain to keep clean. See, you're lucky.”

“How am I lucky? You're the one with the pool.”

“You're lucky because you have a friend with a pool. You can come over and use it any time you want and you don't have to clean it once.”

“I would help, if you asked.”

“I would never ask.”

The two sat in silence, enjoying the water lap over them and being warmed by the sun.

“I liked meeting your parents,” Tony finally spoke after ten minutes of silence. “I think they're cool.”

“They're alright,” Courtney said as she tried not to look at Tony's rippling physique.

“I think they're awesome. I don't know many parents who would be so accepting of things, though I can see why.”

Courtney sighed. “They weren't always accepting, it was a process. Of course, in the beginning there wasn't anything to accept because I was fighting things within myself the whole time.”

“It's evident that you're a girl,” Tony said. “I'm glad your parents are supportive.”

“It took a lot of time and a lot of talking with doctors. It's was hard to explain to my mom and dad who I am. I don't even understand it myself and every time I try to figure it out it gives me a migraine.”

“Some things just are, I guess.”

“That's what my doctor says,” Courtney said with a chuckle.

“I'm still glad your mom and dad accept you for who you are. I bet it would be a million times worse for you if they didn't.”

“Maybe.” Courtney frowned as she thought about that scenario. “I understand that my mom accepts me, and I understand that my dad accepts me, what I don't understand is why you accept me when the whole school wants to burn me at the stake.”