The First

by Glen Kenner

  -Alright, alright, alright…

  Maurice starts rubbing those huge paws together.

  -John mentioned doing a little weight training and some tips on street fighting. Right? Right.

  He looks Glen Ray up and down and then to Sarah.

  -We’re going to start with Sarah. You played sports in school, I’m sure.

  -Yeah. Just about every sport I could.

  -Any weight training?

  -None. Never needed it.

  -Ok. Let’s grab a bar and load it up for a deadlift.

  Maurice moves over to a bar already on a big mat on the floor and starts putting plates on as he talks.

  -We’ll start light-

  I interrupt him.

  -Just put on what you lift.

  -What I lift?

  -What you lift. And a bit more.

  -I once lifted fourteen hundred pounds, John. And I weigh 220. Your girl here can’t be more than 120 and has been a First for all of two weeks. Not to brag, but I don’t think-

  -Make it fifteen hundred pounds.

  -I don’t even have a bar here that will support that, John! That’s a crazy amount of weight.

  -Make it sixteen hundred and split it on two bars. Eight hundred on each. She can lift one per hand on either side of her.

  Maurice looks at Sarah and she just shrugs and says she’ll do it if I do first.

  Glen Ray lets out an long and loud awwwww yeah!

  -She called you out, boyee. You gotta step up!

  We all look at Glen Ray and I shake my head at him.

  -What?

  Maurice and Glen Ray load eight hundred pounds each on two bars and set them parallel to each other three feet apart. Maurice steps between the bars and without actually grabbing the weights, demonstrates proper form.

  -Bend at the knees, ass out, head up, eyes straight ahead.

  He does this a few times and then I step between the two bars. I bend down with my knees, stick my ass way out there, wiggle it, grab the middle of the bars and straighten up with both bars lifting up and coming to rest against the sides of my upper thighs.

  -They’re heavy. Really heavy. But I’ve lifted heavier.

  I put them down and step away.

  Sarah gives me a fist bump and then steps between the bars, bends down and gets a good grip. She straightens up with perfect form and both bars come up and rest against her upper thighs.

  Maurice lets out a sudden holler and then a laugh.

  -Holy shit, girl! Holy shit!

  Sarah then extends her arms straight out in front of her and holds sixteen hundred pounds vertically at arms’ length. No one says a word. Maurice and Glen Ray don’t even take a breath. But Sarah breaks out in a smile and suddenly laughs.

  -This is fun!

  Then keeping her right arm straight out in front of her, she curls her left arm up, brings it down and does the same with her right arm and then repeats it over again a few times before putting the bars down and stepping over to me.

  -I want to try heavier!

  Maurice and Glen Ray both stand staring at Sarah, their mouths open. Glen Ray takes a step back and falls over a bench and no one turns to look at him. I know I’m grinning like an idiot and I hug Sarah and whisper in her ear.

  -Amazing.

  I don’t know what more to say. I can’t think of the right words after tonight.

  -You’re amazing.

  She smiles and looks into my eyes and kisses me.

  -We’re amazing.

  -Yeah. I guess we are. You certainly are. But I still have a lot of explaining to do, though, don’t I?

  -You do. Yeah. You really do.

  She takes both of my hands in hers.

  -You’ve been fighting battle after battle for a long time, haven’t you?

  -I don’t know. I guess. But I’ve fought a lot of those battles on the wrong side.

  -That was then. This is now. You and me, we’ll fight together. Whatever comes next. Alright? Because there is still more coming, isn’t there?

  -Yeah. I’m sorry, Sarah, but I’m sure there is. This doesn’t end with Kingsley.

  -So, you and me. We fight together. Whatever comes next. Yeah?

  Again, I can’t think of the right words. Fight together, I think. Whatever comes next. For how long. Another eleven thousand years? If it’s together...

  -Alright.

  Sarah leans in and kisses me again and I hold her head in my hands and look her in the eyes.

  -Whatever comes next. Together. I promise.

  She smiles and steps back over to the bars as Maurice and Glen Ray add another hundred pounds on each side of each bar. Another four hundred for an even two thousand pounds. A literal ton. She squats down with perfect form, grabs the bars, and as smoothly as anything else she’s done tonight, she straightens up and brings the bars up to rest on her thighs, then out in front of her and then, with a grunt, up and over her head. Maurice and Glen Ray holler and laugh and Glen Ray falls down again still laughing and Sarah joins them.

  I close my eyes and picture myself back in the dark place, but in front of a bright column of sunlight reaching from the ceiling to the floor, dust swirling about in lazy circles, Sarah in her red dress on the other side, smiling and laughing. She steps forward with her arms stretched out to me and I take them and we pull ourselves together in the warm light. This is temporary, I know, this image in my mind, and these moments that are playing out in the real world, the last two weeks, tonight, whatever happens in the future. But I will grab on and hold them tightly for as long as I can. For however long this lasts. I have someone to fight alongside now, someone to fight the battles with together.

  Coming Soon & A Favor

  As THE FIRST goes to print, I am already working hard on the next John Smith thriller that will reveal more of John’s mysterious past while he continues to fight against unknown forces determined to stop him and his friends at any cost. I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I am enjoying writing it.

  Because I participate in the Kindle Direct program, I am excited to be able to offer future ebooks free for a limited time upon publication through Amazon. Please visit my website at http://www.glenkenner.com to sign up for my email list. It’s the best way to stay current with all upcoming releases and free ebook promotions of my novels. I only send a few emails a month and never ever spam or sell my email list. I look forward to staying in touch with you.

  A Quick Favor - if you enjoyed THE FIRST, please rate it and leave a comment on Amazon. Ratings and comments are an excellent free way readers can support their favorite authors. Ratings and comments help new readers find my books, which means I can spend less time marketing and more time writing. Thank you in advance.

  Your support means everything to me.

  About The Author

  I was born in St Louis, Missouri, in 1969, and raised in the small town of High Ridge, about 30 miles southwest of the city. I received a B.A. in English from the University of Missouri - Columbia and a M.A. in Media Communications from Webster University. Somewhere along the way, I married my high-school sweet-heart and we now live in a small house in the woods with our two cats, just a few miles from where we grew up. My hope is that you, dear reader, along with everyone you know, will happily purchase my books and enjoy them immensely so that I can do the one thing I’ve always loved and for which I’ve shown a modicum of talent: tell stories.

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