Read Online Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Chris Crutcher
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shrugs. “You mean, like my mouth?” The answer is yes, but he doesn’t say it.
“Actually,” Chris says, “that’s a good question. I have three older brothers. Way older. I was an afterthought, though someone must have told my parents tothink again, because there’s Cindy, too…. Anyway, two of my brothers were state wrestling champs before I was even in grade school, and wrestling was the way they played with me. I learned takedowns before I was in kindergarten. Then in junior high I got into a fight on the playground with this kid named Max Ingalls, who was supposed to be some kind of hotshot wrestler. Took me about fifteen seconds to kick his butt good, just using stuff my brothers taught me, and the coach recruited me to come out for the team. They let me wrestle in junior high, but then they tried to stop me in high school because”—she looks down at her chest and blushes—“because of obvious reasons. At first I agreed with them, but my principal was such a butthead about it—he said if I stayed with it, I could make my parents proud and grow up to be a lesbian, crap like that—and I got stubborn. Next thing I knew, I got my parents to take it to court and there was no backing out.”
“Did you want to? Back out, I mean?”
Chris looks back toward the house. “Sometimes. I haven’t told anyone that; but I get teased a lot, and it gets real old. All kinds of smartass comments like your friend made the other day, and I got pretty tired of it. If the truth were known, if I wasn’t so stubborn and if I hadn’t gone all through the court stuff, I’d pack it in.Sometimes you get yourself so far in there’s no way out. That’s why I get like I got when you came to the door. But then you cried….”
Petey looks at the ground in embarrassment, partly because he cried and partly because he can’t get his mind off Chris Byers’s “obvious reasons.” All of a sudden the idea of rolling around on a wrestling mat—for lack of better opportunity—with this girl has become not such a bad one. He tries to wipe it out of his head because that’s just what Chris is talking about hating, but it does not go easily. He will keep it to himself.
“You know what I like about it?”
“About wrestling?”
“Yeah. I like how you use strength and balance. I love working against muscle—using someone else’s strength to my advantage. I like the intelligence. When I wrestled in junior high, I was as strong as anyone I wrestled, but not anymore. I mean, I still need strength, but I have to be smarter to score points.”
Petey knows what she’s talking about. He has beaten stronger opponents than himself with balance and touch, and other than fielding a red-hot grounder or gunning a runner down at home plate, there is no better feeling in the world of athletics.
“So, I guess part of the reason I’ve put up with all the bullshit is I like the way it feels. But like I said, I’ve had about enough. I mean, it’s not how I want to be remembered. Anyway, when I get really tired of it, I do what I did to your friend at the mall.”
Petey laughs, remembering. “Actually that was about the first time I ever saw Johnny without anything to say. Girls have had pretty bad reactions to his jokes before, but you’re the first one to put him on his butt. That was a great takedown. I think it was illegal, though.”
She smiles. “I’ll use a legal one on you.”
“You never know,” Petey says. “I’m tougher than I look. Wiry.”
“You’d have to be, no offense.”
Petey tries to think of a reason to stay; but he’s run out of words, and though it’s been a pretty mild winter by Montana standards, the chill of night creeps under his jacket. “So, I guess we just do it, huh?”
“I guess so.”
He stands. “Look. It was really nice talking to you. I feel a whole lot better than I did driving up here. If I can just keep this conversation in my head, maybe I’ll be okay. I’m glad you’re not
“Actually,” Chris says, “that’s a good question. I have three older brothers. Way older. I was an afterthought, though someone must have told my parents tothink again, because there’s Cindy, too…. Anyway, two of my brothers were state wrestling champs before I was even in grade school, and wrestling was the way they played with me. I learned takedowns before I was in kindergarten. Then in junior high I got into a fight on the playground with this kid named Max Ingalls, who was supposed to be some kind of hotshot wrestler. Took me about fifteen seconds to kick his butt good, just using stuff my brothers taught me, and the coach recruited me to come out for the team. They let me wrestle in junior high, but then they tried to stop me in high school because”—she looks down at her chest and blushes—“because of obvious reasons. At first I agreed with them, but my principal was such a butthead about it—he said if I stayed with it, I could make my parents proud and grow up to be a lesbian, crap like that—and I got stubborn. Next thing I knew, I got my parents to take it to court and there was no backing out.”
“Did you want to? Back out, I mean?”
Chris looks back toward the house. “Sometimes. I haven’t told anyone that; but I get teased a lot, and it gets real old. All kinds of smartass comments like your friend made the other day, and I got pretty tired of it. If the truth were known, if I wasn’t so stubborn and if I hadn’t gone all through the court stuff, I’d pack it in.Sometimes you get yourself so far in there’s no way out. That’s why I get like I got when you came to the door. But then you cried….”
Petey looks at the ground in embarrassment, partly because he cried and partly because he can’t get his mind off Chris Byers’s “obvious reasons.” All of a sudden the idea of rolling around on a wrestling mat—for lack of better opportunity—with this girl has become not such a bad one. He tries to wipe it out of his head because that’s just what Chris is talking about hating, but it does not go easily. He will keep it to himself.
“You know what I like about it?”
“About wrestling?”
“Yeah. I like how you use strength and balance. I love working against muscle—using someone else’s strength to my advantage. I like the intelligence. When I wrestled in junior high, I was as strong as anyone I wrestled, but not anymore. I mean, I still need strength, but I have to be smarter to score points.”
Petey knows what she’s talking about. He has beaten stronger opponents than himself with balance and touch, and other than fielding a red-hot grounder or gunning a runner down at home plate, there is no better feeling in the world of athletics.
“So, I guess part of the reason I’ve put up with all the bullshit is I like the way it feels. But like I said, I’ve had about enough. I mean, it’s not how I want to be remembered. Anyway, when I get really tired of it, I do what I did to your friend at the mall.”
Petey laughs, remembering. “Actually that was about the first time I ever saw Johnny without anything to say. Girls have had pretty bad reactions to his jokes before, but you’re the first one to put him on his butt. That was a great takedown. I think it was illegal, though.”
She smiles. “I’ll use a legal one on you.”
“You never know,” Petey says. “I’m tougher than I look. Wiry.”
“You’d have to be, no offense.”
Petey tries to think of a reason to stay; but he’s run out of words, and though it’s been a pretty mild winter by Montana standards, the chill of night creeps under his jacket. “So, I guess we just do it, huh?”
“I guess so.”
He stands. “Look. It was really nice talking to you. I feel a whole lot better than I did driving up here. If I can just keep this conversation in my head, maybe I’ll be okay. I’m glad you’re not
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