Wrestling Against Myself (14 page)

They didn't say a word to each other until they made their way to the other side of the gym building. Each thinking about what had just transpired and why.

“Thank you,” Courtney finally said, her voice a little louder previously. “That was brave.”

Tony allowed himself to smirk. “It wasn't brave; it was the right thing to do. You would've done the same.”

“Like people pick on you, Tiny.”

Tony stopped and stood next to a metal handrail that led down to the basketball and tennis courts. Courtney stopped as well and stood in the shade of the towering teen as he turned towards her.

“I don't know if I like you calling my Tiny.”

Courtney frowned.

“I didn't mean like I didn't want you talking to me,” Tony said with a smile. “But it just seems so strange coming out of your mouth. It feels off for some reason.”

“What do you want me to call you?” Courtney appeared more relaxed than Tony remembered seeing her.

“You could try my name. Antonio.”

“Antonio?”

Tony smiled. “See, sounds better already.”

Courtney let out a light giggle.

“What's so funny?”

Courtney put her hand over her lips and composed herself.

“No, really, what's so funny,” Tony asked as he started walking again.

“I don't know. Something about the name Antonio. I say it and think I should be looking at a guy tossing pizza dough in the air.”

“I've been known to do that a time or two.”

The two made it to the gate that would lead to the way Courtney had been going home.

“You okay?” Tony said as he stood watching the football players run some plays.

“Yes,” Courtney said, her voice becoming soft again.

“Good. You know, we still have youth group tonight, it could be fun?”

Courtney looked down at the ground. “I think I'll pass. Like I said, me and churches don't get along.”

“Okay.” Tony frowned. “But it's an open invitation.”

“I better get home or my mom will worry.”

“Bye,” Tony said and then watched as the girl walked away.

Courtney crossed the back side of the football practice field as Tony looked on. There was a difference in her stride; she wasn't shuffling her feet and she wasn't constantly looking from side to side to see who might jump out of the shadows at her. When she got to the opposite side of the field, she paused and looked back. Tony was still standing where he had been, keeping an eye on her. She raised her slender arm and waved at him.

Tony felt foolish but he waved back. When the girl disappeared down the ditch he headed towards his car.

Tony was the first to arrive at church that night. It was usual for him to get there before the other middle and high-schoolers so he could spend time talking to Pastor Bob.

Pastor Bob was at his desk, looking over the notes for his Bible study when the hulking teenager walked in and silently sat in the chair. He finished reading his outline and put the paper down on his desk. “Good evening, Tiny.”

“Another good sermon I bet,” Tony said as he motioned to the stack of papers on the desk.

“It's all from the word of God, nothing from me,” Pastor Bob said. “The way it should be.”

“I couldn't put it together.”

“Some people preach the Word using their
voice; others preach the Word using their actions. You do a good enough job as anyone else.”

Tony smiled. “I try to do what's right.”

“And so do I,” Pastor Bob chuckled as he patted his sermon. “Should only take ten minutes.”

“Eight minutes pass the average middle-schooler's attention span.”

“Nah, that's why we hand out all those sodas. Get them hopped up on caffeine so they pay attention longer.”

Tony laughed. “I gave that girl the card you gave me the other day.”

“Ah,” Pastor Bob raised an eyebrow. “Hopefully she uses it if needed.”

“I just never saw anything like this before.”

Pastor Bob looked confused. “What? Bullying?”

“Not to this extent.” Tony said. “It's the worst I've ever seen. After school four boys were picking on the small girl.”

“And you stepped in,” Pastor Bob finished the sentence.

“Of course.”

“It's good that you want to help, Tiny, but she is going to have to learn how to deal with this stuff on her own eventually. What happens if you're not around?”

“I know. I did give her the business card, but you know me.”

“Yes, I do. You want to save the world, and not just in the Biblical sense.”

Antonio took a moment to think about that. “Is it wrong of me?”

“Not wrong. But, you can only do so much and it isn't good if people grow dependent on you for solving their problems. It would keep them from growing as a person. I'm not saying you're wrong for helping, but, try and not do too much.”

“I see your point. But how do I know if I'm doing too much?”

“That comes with experience. That's why it's important to have a good core group of friends that you can trust to be honest with you. I wouldn't worry too much about it though, you're doing great.”

“Trying my best to be my best.”

“I'll tell you this; Dunedin High School is going to be different next year when you're not around. I'm sure someone will step up as a leader, but you're special.”

Tony laugh. “Quit, or you'll make me cry,” he said jokingly.

“Come on, how about a quick game of ping pong before we lose the table and the quiet.”

“You're on.”

Tony was beaten soundly in both games he played against the youth pastor. He suddenly didn't feel so invincible, but at least it was at a game of ping pong and not wrestling. The problem, he discovered, was he hadn't played a game since losing all the weight and all of the shots he hit were harder than he intended, traveled way too far and missed the opposite side of the table. He shrugged it off, if the only downside of him getting in the best shape of his life was he could no longer win at ping pong, he was willing to make that sacrifice.

During the second game, more and more tweens and teens began to show up and Antonio handed his paddle off to one of the middle-schoolers and went off to mingle.

The night, as was the norm, was loud and entertaining. Pastor Bob was training a rock band that played old Petra and Stryker hits. There was an entertaining, yet sloppy game that the middle-schoolers and freshman high school students were eager to participate in and then Pastor Bob gave the lesson of the night.

              Being the first week of a new day of school, Pastor Bob preached on being a new creation in Christ. Though it wasn't a sermon Tony heard before, he was familiar with the themes. Still, he took out a small notebook that he kept alongside his Bible and took notes. It was common for him to do so, thinking that one day he might go into the ministry and be glad he had been meticulous.

The youth group ended a little after nine. Most of the kids left right away to meet up with waiting parents, while a few lingered behind to get in one last game of pool or ping pong. Tony stayed behind in the large meeting hall to help clean up. It was one of those things he preferred doing alone, out of the lime light. He kept going back to Matthew 6:2 “Whenever you do good,” the teen paraphrased out loud, “don't do it before others so they can tell you how good you are. If you do, then you have already received your reward. But when you do good, do it quietly and to yourself, this way, when God, who knows everything, sees what you do in secret, he will give you an even better reward.”

Tony picked up the last of the paper popcorn bags that littered the room. Much of his life was out in the open, and he didn't mind that. But, he felt better about himself when no one else was around and he just did things because they were the right thing to do. It was one of the paradoxes of being a popular athlete and a Christian at the same time.

By the time he was done cleaning, the upstairs portion of the church where the youth activities took place was all but empty. Pastor Bob was the only one left and he stood by the stairs as Antonio was about to leave. He flipped a breaker, and everything but the stairwell went dark.

“What did you think?” Pastor Bob asked as he followed Tony down the stairs.

“Good message. It gave me things to think about.”

“After all the hard work you put getting your body in shape, I thought you would appreciate all things being new.”

Tony shrugged. He was getting use to the compliments on his body, but was hoping people saw him for something more than his muscles. He was sure that the people who knew him before did, but wondered about the new class of freshman or the people meeting him for the first time.

“I'll catch you Sunday,” Tony said and then shook the youth pastor’s hand.

“See you then, Tiny.”

Antonio went off to find his car and then headed home. He kept thinking about being a new creation just because he fine tuned his body, but was sure there was something more to be gleaned.

The next day followed a familiar routine. Antonio got up early, did a light workout, made himself breakfast and headed to school. He had prayer meeting in the morning. The same people showed up as the first day but he knew from experience that in a few weeks half of the people would quit coming regularly and it would be a hodgepodge of individuals coming whenever the mood suited. He figured he could count on a core group of people and that was fine with him. It was nice to know there were people in his small circle that were consistent, but understood why others were on again, off again. It wasn't an issue, just an observance that he had made.

Instead of heading towards his locker and trying to meet Courtney before school, if she even bothered to show early after being traumatized the day before, Antonio headed to the front of the boys locker room. The door was still closed, but he knew the person he was looking for would be around soon.

Like he expected, after five minutes John Sharp came strolling around the corner.

“I've been waiting for you,” Tony said, not trying to sound either angry nor pleased.

“Hey Tiny, about time you gave up those Bible-Thumpers and wanted to have some fun.”

“Did you think that was funny yesterday?”

John looked confused. “Find what funny?”

“The thing between Peter and his little crew?”

“Oh that. It might have been fun if Mr. Fenton didn't break it up. Don't worry, Tiny, if they would've thrown a punch I would've had your back.” John put up his fist and shadow boxed his friend.

“I didn't think it was funny at all. Them picking on a little girl is not cool.”

“I got the same thing last year,” John said as he relaxed. “It's the way things go for us smaller people. I must have gotten into a dozen fight last year before people knew to leave me alone.”

Tony shook his head. “You got into a dozen fights last year because you started a dozen fights.”

John showed a toothy smile. “You want to be my first one this year,” he said as he got into his wrestling stance.

Tony scowled. “Do you?”