“Really? How long would it take you to read this book?” Mr. Nelson asked, reaching up and lifting a heavy, thickly bound book off the shelf. The book looked like it might be a history textbook.
“I don’t know. Probably a day or two,” Ely reasoned.
“You’re kidding.”
“No. I can basically skim the text and I remember everything,” Ely said.
“That’s incredible, Ely. I think we need to get you into the Running Start program.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a program where you get to take college classes during high school. You would be here for half the day and then go to the community college for the rest. And the classes you take there would count as college credits,” Mr. Nelson explained.
“I can’t do college stuff,” Ely said quickly, without really thinking. Over time he had become accustomed to not really believing he could do anything well, and it had just occurred to Ely that he was really good at saying he couldn’t do something, even though this was actually one thing that he believed he could do.
“Believe me, you could, and you will, very easily I would imagine,” Mr. Nelson said with conviction. “I’m going to call you out of P.E. tomorrow to take the IQ test, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Now, why don’t you get back to class,” he said as he reached over to write Ely a pass.
“Okay.”
Mr. Nelson handed him his pass and as Ely got up and headed for the door he added, “Hey, Ely.”
Ely turned around at the door. “Yeah?”
“Nice job. You should be proud of yourself. You have a gift.”
Ely smiled at Mr. Nelson. He liked the sound of that. Mr. Nelson believed in him. Now he just had to learn how to believe in himself. “Thanks, Mr. Nelson,” Ely said as he turned to leave, his mind a flurry of activity as he began to process what his counselor had told him.
That afternoon Ely was busy outside cutting down a large fir tree near their driveway. Bill had wanted the tree down before he got home so Ely had gone to work on it immediately after school. The saw blade was six inches into the two foot girth of the tree when Ely thought he heard a car horn through the noise of the chainsaw’s engine. He backed the blade out and turned around to see Jeff’s Honda pull up the driveway. Ely flipped the off switch and the motor sputtered to a stop. He wiped off his sweaty brow and walked to the driveway to greet Jeff.
Ely noticed something large sticking out the back of Jeff’s hatchback and the trunk lid had been tied down with rope. Jeff and Cisco hopped out of the car.
“Hey, Jeff, Cisco, what up?”
“Hey,” Jeff replied, greeting Ely with a firm handshake.
“Hey, man,” Cisco said, smacking Ely’s hand in greeting.
“Looks like you’re slaving away again. Dude, all you ever do is work,” Jeff said, indicating the saw Ely had set down on the ground.
“My dad’s a slave driver. If I don’t do what he asks he gets really pissed.” Ely glanced to the back of Jeff’s car. “What’s that?”
Jeff smiled. “That’s what I’m here for. Sel asked me to bring you some things.”
“What things?”
“He had an old dusty mat and weight set he wanted me to bring you,” Jeff answered.
“That’s cool you’re going to wrestle this year,” Cisco added.
“Wow, word travels quick,” Ely said.
“Sel told us right away. I knew he could talk you into it,” Jeff said smiling.
“Yeah, he got me,” Ely admitted.
“Good choice man,” Jeff said.
“I don’t know how it’s good news though, I don’t have much to offer.”
“Hey, we need some bigger guys. I’ll be at two fifteen this year and we always need more people to practice with,” Cisco said.
“Besides, that’s what all this stuff is for, to make you a better wrestler,” Jeff said.
“I think it will take more than that rusty weight set and that old mat,” Ely said.
“Stop being a pessimist and help us get this stuff into the barn,” Jeff said as he moved towards the back of the car.
“Pessimist. That’s Jeff’s word of the day. He’s been saying it every two seconds,” Cisco said laughing. “He learned it in Mrs. Meyer’s class and now he won’t shut up about it.”
“My new word is eat shit,” Jeff said as he smacked Cisco in the shoulder.
“That’s two words,” Ely said.
All three of the boys laughed as they started to unload the gear from Jeff’s car. It didn’t take them too long to get it all set up. The mat was old and not as soft as it should be, but the size was perfect for two wrestlers to practice moves. It was six feet by six feet and was torn in several places, but it would do. The weight set was pretty minimal. There was a bench that could adjust from flat to incline and it included one bar with two forty five pound plates, two thirty five pound plates, two twenty five pound plates, all the way down to five pound plates. There was also a small set of dumbbells starting from fifty five pounds and going down to twenties in five pound increments. They were old, but weights were weights and age did little to hamper their effectiveness.
After they got everything all set up Ely thanked them and went right back to his chores and the boys took off. His dad would be home in an hour and he had to make sure the tree was down and limbed, so he set to work doing just that.
The hour went by quickly and Ely was nearly finished with trimming the tree when his dad arrived in his beat up truck. Ely turned off the saw as his dad approached from the driveway.
“You almost done?” Bill asked as he got out of the car and surveyed Ely’s work.
“Yeah, about ten more minutes,” Ely mumbled as he wiped the sweat from his face.
“Good. Tomorrow I want you to start cutting it into eighteen inch logs and then chop it. We need to get two more cords before winter,” Bill added as he turned to leave.
“Hey dad, ummm, there are some weights and an old mat in the barn. Do you mind?”
“What do you mean? Where did you get those things?”
“Mr. Seljin gave them to me. He asked me to wrestle,” Ely said.
“Really? After your pathetic attempt in eighth grade?”
“Yeah, even after that,” Ely said softly.
“Shit, I don’t care. Just make sure it doesn’t cost us anything.”
“I’m sure it won’t. He’ll take care of it. What about the weights and stuff?”
“As long as that shit is not in my way, I don’t care. It might do you some good. Now hurry up and get that wood done,” Bill said as he turned to leave. “Your mom home yet?”
“No, I think she works ‘til nine tonight.”
“Dammit,” Bill mumbled to himself as he made his way to the door. “Get your ass moving then, I need you to cook me something to eat.”
“Okay,” Ely whispered as he turned back to the saw.
“What! Don’t go mumbling at me, boy!” Bill yelled as he turned back towards Ely.
“I said okay!” Ely said louder, picking up the saw.
Bill glared at Ely briefly before he slammed the door behind him.
“And let the drinking begin,” Ely muttered as he pulled the cord on the saw, the loud rumbling engine unable to drown out his angry thoughts.
That night Ely was deep into a book when he heard his mom pull up. He was almost done with the first book in the new Brent Weeks series and he was excited to get into the other two. He would check first thing if the local library had them as he knew his school library did not. Ely wanted to start looking for a job but his dad wouldn’t allow it. He said he had too much work for him to do around the house. If he could work then he could afford his own books. He thought tonight might be a good time to approach his mom about getting a job.
The front door opened and Ely got up from his bed and walked through the kitchen and into the living room. The television was on and his father was lounging in his typical spot with a bee
r in hand.
Mary set her purse down on the kitchen table and without a word went to the refrigerator to get Bill another beer.
“Hey, Mom,” Ely said as he sat down at the table.
“Hi, hon,” Mary said as she kissed him on the forehead. “How was your day?” she asked as she walked over to her husband.
Bill took the beer and looked up at her. “Dammit, Mary, I don’t like you coming home so late. Who the hell is going to cook me dinner?”
“Bill, I had leftover lasagna in the refrigerator. I told you that last night.”
“I don’t remember that. Shit, I had to have Ely make me something and that boy can’t cook worth shit. I thought I was eating pig slop,” he said bitterly as he took a long drink of his fresh beer.
“Well, I’m sorry. Did you even look in the fridge?” Mary asked.
“Don’t get sassy with me, girl,” Bill said as he grabbed her hand roughly. “When I get home from work I want a good meal, you got that?” Bill let go of her hand and turned his attention back to the television.
Mary didn’t say a thing. She just walked slowly back into the kitchen. Ely was looking at her intently. “Why do you let him talk to you like that?” Ely whispered as he joined her in the kitchen.
Mary poured herself a glass of water and sat down next to Ely, sighing heavily. “Son, I’m tired. I don’t want to talk about it. How was your day?”
Ely shook his head in resignation. He hated to see his father treat her like that. It hurt him worse to watch his mother be the brunt of his abuse than feeling it firsthand himself. “Fine, but you don’t deserve it.” His mother put her hand over his, smiling weakly at him as if she had no energy to respond. “My day was pretty good. I saw Mr. Seljin today. He asked me to wrestle again this year.”
“I thought he taught at the middle school,” Mary said.
“He did, but he got a job at the high school this year and he is going to be the new coach.”
“That’s great. Are you going to wrestle?” She asked.
“I think so. He sort of talked me into it.”
“Well, what do you want?”
“I think I want to give it a try.”
“Might be good for him!” Bill yelled from the living room
The two just ignored him. “We don’t have much extra money, son.” Mary leaned in and brought her voice to a whisper. “But if you need some, I’ve stashed a little aside. I might be able to help.”
“Thanks, Mom, but I think Sel will take care of me. But I wanted to ask you about me getting a job. I’d like to look for some part time work. You know, so I could have my own spending money.”
“I don’t know. You know what your father thinks about that,” Mary said.
“Thinks about what?” Bill yelled from the living room.
Mary shrugged her shoulders to Ely and turned to face Bill. “Ely was asking about maybe getting a side job for extra spending money.”
Bill looked over at them. “I don’t want anything interfering with your chores, boy!”
“You mean I can?” Ely asked excitedly.
“Shit, I don’t care, as long as you get your work done around the house,” Bill growled.
Mary gripped Ely’s hand tighter, happy in her son’s excitement. “Where do you think you’ll apply?”
“You know the book store in town, Gig Harbor Books? I’ve already talked to the owner and he said he could use some evening help a couple times a week. It’s just minimum wage, but I should be able to get fifteen hours a week and that should be enough for spending money.
“What about when wrestling starts?” Mary asked.
“I don’t know, maybe I can work weekends then. I’ll have to talk to Mr. Clawson about that. He’s really nice so maybe he’ll work with me for those few months,” Ely said hopefully.
“How will you get to work?” Mary asked. Ely didn’t have his driver’s license as they had no money for the extra class. Besides, what would be the point considering they had no car that he could use anyway. Mary often worked late, and driving Bill’s crappy truck was out of the question.
“I mentioned the job thing to Jeff once and he said he could probably take me to the bus stop.”
“Oh, okay. That’s nice of him. Well, I’m proud of you. That will be great. And plus, you’ll be around books. I imagine you’ll get some discounts or something.”
“Yup, thirty percent off everything. It’s perfect for me.”
“Good for you. How is school?”
“Fine. Guess what?”
“Ummm…I don’t know, what?”
“I was called down to the counseling office today and Mr. Nelson, my counselor, told me that I scored a perfect score on the WASL test,” Ely said.
“Wow, that’s great. Was it a hard test?”
“Not for me,” Ely said with a smile.
“He must have got my brains!” Bill yelled from the living room.
Mary looked at Ely and they silently laughed together. “Yeah, sure,” she whispered.
“He wants me to take an IQ test tomorrow. He thought that maybe I should be doing Running Start,” Ely continued.
“What’s that?”
“It’s a program where high school kids take college courses early, and they earn college credit while they do it. I’d be at the community college half of the day.”
“Wow, but will it cost anything?” Mary asked, not wanting to put a damper on her son’s news. College was expensive, and she knew there was no way they could afford it.
“I don’t know yet, but I don’t think so.”
“Better not!” Bill yelled, burping loudly.
“I should find out more later,” Ely said, ignoring his father.
“I’m proud of you, hon,” Mary said as she gripped his hand with her own. “But I’m tired. I need to take a bath and go to bed. Good night, my dear.”
“Good night, Mom.”
Mary got up and walked toward the bathroom while Ely left his seat and headed to his own room, excited to re-submerge himself in his book.
Seven
Wrestling is one of those sports that, when you are participating in it, you are constantly asking yourself, ‘Why am I doing this?’ It’s very demanding and it tests your resolve in many ways. One, you constantly have to watch what you eat if you want to do well. You need to make your weight, while at the same time maintaining maximum health and strength. Two, you are constantly sweaty and exhausted, the drain on your body being both physical and mental. Three, when you compete, it’s just you and your opponent. You can’t blame anyone else for what happens. Good or bad, you and you alone are responsible for your performance. Four, your body is confined in a tiny, tight, wrestling singlet and exposed to hundreds of people. And five, for me, since winning was a luxury, you have to continue to push yourself, both physically and mentally, with no tangible gain. That really is the hardest part. For someone who wins matches, they can say that all that hard work and dedication was worth it. But for the kids who don’t win matches, or win very few, they have nothing to hold onto at the end of the season to support why they just spent three months of their lives getting their asses kicked.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but it was these guys, yes, even me, who were the real tough kids. It took constant support from my few friends and from Mr. Seljin to motivate me to stay on the team. Now I understand what they were talking about when they told me that the means justifies the end, but I certainly didn’t then. Being tough is mostly a mental state. Combine that with physical toughness and you have a true warrior. There are very few people like that. Some are mentally tough, others are physically tough. But there are few individuals who possess both mental AND physical toughness. They are the ones who stand out in any sport. Jeff was one of those people, and so was Mr. Seljin. I certainly was not. But now when I look back at it, I understand what Mr. Seljin was always preaching to us. It’s not whether you win or lose; it’s the process that matters. It’s what you do. It’s the choices yo
u make. Mr. Seljin had a quote hanging up in his room that came from Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies, which I guess makes it a J.K. Rowling quote. It said, “It’s not our abilities that make us who we are, it’s our choices.” He always brought up that quote when referring to people he knew that were very talented in a particular field, but blew it because they made poor choices. He said he knew a basketball player who could have gone pro. He was gifted with natural ability and talent, but he was lazy. He worked out as little as possible, and he smoked a lot of pot. He was basically a loser who just so happened to have a lot of inherent talent. But his natural talent didn’t carry him beyond his sophomore year in college. Sel would go on to say that it’s the people who are hard workers, tenacious, and never give up that excel in life. No one cares how many wrestling matches you won back in high school, but they will notice someone who never falters, and who never gives up when they face adversity, which is a skill one can learn on the wrestling mat. And for me, adversity was not having the ability to win many matches. But what kept me going was hearing Seljin in my head say, “It’s not our abilities, Ely, it’s our choices. It’s the decisions we make that lead us towards success. Remember that.” And with his words ringing in my head, I stayed on the team and tried my best to win. It was an uphill fight, but the skills I learned on that mat are still with me today, and I will forever be grateful for them.
Ely Carter
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Sixty high school wrestlers were spread out over the mat, some stretching and talking while others used the peg board and rope hanging in the corner. It was the first day of practice and there was an air of excitement about as the athletes got ready for a new season with a new coach. Some of the wrestlers on the mat had gone to Key Peninsula Middle School so they were well versed on who Mr. Seljin was, but there were others that had come from the other feeder middle schools who had only heard rumors. But everyone was excited to start the year off on a positive note.
The ceiling of the wrestling room was high, probably forty feet, so climbing the complete rope, up and down, was not something that Ely could do. He was just too heavy and didn’t have the upper body strength to lift his two hundred and fifty five pound frame forty feet in the air. There were two other heavy guys on the team who could do it though. Cisco was one, and Adam, the asshole from middle school, was another. Adam was the varsity heavyweight wrestler and he had grown into a gorilla, with big beefy arms and powerful legs.
The Life of Ely Page 9
