Wrestling Against Myself (28 page)

“Doesn’t it bother you that there are more cheerleaders than football players?” Carl asked.

“Ouch,” Tony replied.

“At least we don't forfeit games,” Shannon replied harshly.

“Down boys,” Tony held up his hands to break up an imaginary fight. “Down!”

“How about you Courtney?” Tracy got the conversation back on track. “You planning on going?”
 

“I don't know. I doubt any one is going to ask me?” 

“Freshman boys are the worst,” Stephanie said as she looked around to see who she wanted to ask her to the dance. “They're scared. They'd sooner wet themselves than talk to a girl. It gets better in a few years anyway.”

“You should think about going,” Tony said. “A lot of people go stag.”

“Even you?” Courtney said in surprise.

“Even me.”

“Yeah, but Tiny goes stag because he doesn't want to create a war between all the girls who want to go with him. It's embarrassing to see all that kicking and scratching and clawing.”

“Carl!” Tony said in warning. “I like to keep my dance card open.”

“Didn't you slow dance with two girls at the same time last year.”

Antonio grinned. “Yeah, and I still didn't win homecoming king.”

“That's because it's rigged. You're a sho
o-in this year.”

“At least it's not prom,” Tony said.

“What's wrong with prom?” Courtney asked.

“One word,” Tony said while looking at the others at the table.

“Tuxedo,” the guys all said in unison.

“Yeah,” Stephanie said bitterly. “The official uniform of guys for formal occasions, where we girls have millions of options to chose from and take hours to prepare, these monkeys spend 10 minutes putting on a tux and still complain about it.”

“In the future we'll all be wearing the same outfits,” Shannon said.  “Like in Star Trek.”

“You've been hanging around Dave and Ted too long,” Carl said with a laugh.

The rest of lunch was spent with idle chit chat as each wondered aloud what the theme of this year’s homecoming dance was going to be. It wasn't too long before the bell signaling lunch was over and the group got up as a whole and took care of their trays.

As they walked through the hallways, Antonio and Carl lost bits of their groups as they peeled away to make it to their classes. Before long, they were by themselves by D-wing.

“I didn't want to mention anything at the lunch table with everyone around.”
Carl pulled Tony to the side. “We may have a big problem.”

“A big problem with what,” Tony said as he could see the tension in Carl's face.

“Not a what, but a who. I don't like how things are going, but Peter isn't the only one spreading the rumor any longer.”

“More from his group?”

“If it were just them I wouldn't say anything, but I'm starting to hear the rumors from other people.”

Tony shook his head. “I don't know why people are on this kick. The rumor doesn't make sense.”

“All I know is what is going on, but the rumors aren't directed at her.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The rumors are directed at us,” Carl explained.

“What do you mean that they're directed at us? You mean, at me and you personally?”

“Not just the two of us, but the entire group at lunch. I've had more than one person ask me 'how could I eat with a transvestite at the table.'”

“A transvestite, really?”

“Their words not mine.”

“Between you and me, Dave and Ted had a conversation addressing some concerns. They told me Peter approached them.”

“I think Peter has been approaching a lot of people, but also telling them to get the word out. This might be the biggest rumor to ever hit the school.”

“Everyone loves a scandal,” Tony said bitterly.

“They're trying to black ball her, and since we've gotten in the way, they're trying to force your hand.”

“My hand? Why is it my hand?”

“Come on, Tiny. Everyone knows you’re the leader of the group. Heck, you're the leader of the whole school. If anyone wants to do a complete shun job so someone drops out, they know they're going to need you on their side or not involved.”

“That makes sense. So they think we're going to tell Courtney that she can't sit with us because of a silly rumor. People know me better than that.”

“I don't think that's their plan at all.”
 

“What do you think their plan is?”

“The way I was approached, it wasn't for me to convince you to ask Courtney to leave the table. They wanted me to sit elsewhere, and I'm sure the others have been offered the same suggestion.”

“They want to black ball me?”

“Only when you're around Courtney. I wasn't told not to be your friend, I was told not to be around you and Courtney together.”

Tony couldn't believe his ears. “And you made a decision.”

“I'm talking to you,
aren’t I? We're friends, have been since the first day of wrestling practice our freshman year. You aren't getting rid of me that easy. I just thought you should know.”

“Thanks for the heads up. Look,” Tony glanced at his watch, “you better get going or you'll be late for biology. We'll pick this up at wrestling practice.”

“Catch you at practice. We'll talk more then.”

“Yeah. Let me see if I can think of a way to put an end to this.”

Carl started walking away. “I don't think you can put an end to this one. We might need to ride it out until the bitter end.” 

Tony walked the opposite direction, knowing that once again it was going to be difficult to concentrate on school work while his mind tried to wrap itself around this problem.

Tony sat in class before the final period started. His prior class was a few yards away so he was the first student in. He was at his desk with his notebook open while the teacher busied herself with grading papers from an earlier class.

“Hey Tiny,” Roger said casually as he took a desk next to Tony's. “How's it hanging?”

Though Roger was trying to come across friendly, Tony expected another motive because the boy was consistently late to class his entire life. “Another day in paradise.”

“Is he worth it?”

“Is who worth it,” Tony said, knowing he had no choice but to play this game.

“Your new
friend, the freak. Is he worth it?”

“I suppose you mean Courtney,” Tony said through his teeth.

“Still believing the lie, I see. I'm surprised you're letting him get away with something like this. I mean, after all, you're Tiny, you're like Superman, you know truth, justice, the American way.”

“So ostracizing a little girl is the American way. I must have missed that memo from the president.”

“It's pathetic how much he has you snowed under. I use
d to think you were smarter than that.”

“Why can't you leave her alone? Is your life so small that you got to pick on someone half your size?”

“Quit calling that thing a her,” Roger said as other students began filling up the class.

“Quit spreading stupid rumors.”

“It's not a stupid rumor, it's the truth. I thought you were this big time Christian, this agent for God, why don't you act like it?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Very simple, Tiny, God hates queers and they're all going to hell.”

Antonio could feel his temperature rise and was in danger of blowing up at his fellow student. “God doesn't hate anyone and he doesn't want to see anyone go to hell. God loves everyone, He even loves you. Just let this one go.”

“Is there an issue, Mr. LaMano?” The teacher said from her desk.

Tony knew he was in danger of being in trouble when the teacher addressed him by his last name. “No ma'am, just a simple conversation.”

“I'm sure it can wait until after school then,” the teacher continued. “Maybe now is a good time to begin class. Since you are in such a talkative mood, perhaps you'd share what you wrote for your first essay answer.”

Roger sat back in his desk and smirked.

The school day ended and Tony was looking forward to getting some time on the mat to work off his frustration. The rumor about Courtney spread further and was making its way through the upper classes. It was bad enough that Peter and his group were doing their best to ruin the girl's life, but now they were gaining the support and assistance of others.

Tony was sitting in the locker room, getting ready to enter his sanctuary. It was still noisy, as the last of the freshmen funneled their way out of the locker room. Tony had on his shorts and was slipping on a red t-shirt when John Sharp walked beside him.

“Hey, John.” Tony took his wrestling shoes out of the locker and placed them on the bench beside him. “I think we'll skip live wrestling and do some drills and cover some technique. Carl wanted to learn the power half and he's going to show me his chicken wing deal.”

“Is that thing going to be around?”

Though Tony knew exactly what John was referring to, he was going to give the boy a chance to back out of it. “What thing are you talking about? We got robots at the school now?”

“You know who I mean?”

“If you mean Courtney, I suspect she is.”

“Does she have to?” John said in a little boy whine.

“At least you said she,” Tony said.
“I don't see what the big deal is; so she watches us wrestle?”

“Tiny, can I be serious.”

“I've always thought you've had it in you.”

“Listen. If she's around, I can't hang out with you. There's a lot of pressure being put on me.”

“By Peter and his little group.”

“Not just them. It's gotten bigger. If I hang with you and her I'm going to get picked on. And you know if I get picked on I'll pop someone on the nose. I can't get suspended, Tiny, my mom would kill me.”

“So you're going to skip wrestling to avoid being made fun of?”

“It's easy for you, Tiny. You're already popular and people know you can defend yourself. Once someone sees weakness in a little guy, it never ends. Trust me.”

Tony couldn't hide his disappointment. “These practices are optional, you could have not shown.”

“You deserved to know why. The heat is on, Tiny, and it's not going to let up. They're going to be starting something new tomorrow.”

“What are they going to do?”

“Every time anyone sees Courtney walking down the hall they're going to sing that song 'Dude Looks
like a Lady.' They are going all out on this one.”

“That's horrible. Why does everyone insist she is a boy?”