Jeff threw a handful of fries at Ely. “Not when it’s your parents, you jerk!” But he joined in Ely’s laughter.
After they settled down Ely asked Jeff, “Why did you tell me about your parents?”
“I don’t know. You’re my only friend that would understand.”
“You never know. Your other friends might surprise you.”
“Yeah, maybe. But I consider you my best friend, Ely. I know I’ve never told you that before, but you are. I can trust you. I also know that we don’t hang out that much, but I plan on changing that.”
Ely looked up at Jeff. “Thanks, Jeff. But I understand. You’re the popular kid. I’m not. You have lots of friends. I don’t. You don’t have to make time for me. I get it. I’m used to it anyway.”
“Ely, shut up and stop the self-pity,” Jeff said as he tossed another fry at Ely’s face.
“Knock it off.”
“You knock it off. Don’t you get it? People do like you. You just have to give them a chance and stop pushing them away like you just tried to do with me.”
Ely smiled at Jeff. “Since when did you become a psychiatrist?”
“That’s what my mom does for a living.”
“Which one?” Ely laughed.
“Shut up,” Jeff said, laughing.
They continued to laugh and joke around as they finished the last of their meal. There were several moments of silence as they cleaned up their mess before Ely spoke up.
“You know the guys would think it’s hot.”
“What?” Jeff asked warily.
“That your parents are lesbian milfs.”
Jeff kicked Ely under the table and they both laughed together again. “Shut up, you perv!”
***
It was five minutes before first period when Ely walked into Mr. Seljin’s room. He found him sitting at his desk correcting papers and sipping a cup of coffee. Mr. Seljin, seeing Ely, smiled invitingly and leaned back in his chair.
“Hi, Sel. Do you have a minute?”
“Of course, come in. I’m glad you’re here, I wanted to talk with you as well.”
“I just wanted to thank you again for helping me,” Ely said, obviously a bit uncomfortable about bringing up the subject.
“Ely, you don’t have to thank me. I’m just glad I was there. How are things at home?”
“Pretty good, I guess. Mom’s working really hard so I don’t see her much. Dad hasn’t come back.” Ely sat on the edge of a desk facing Mr. Seljin.
“How do you feel about that?”
“I don’t know. I’ve spent so many years hating him that it’s weird not to have him around. I don’t know if that makes sense or not. It sounds sort of lame.”
“I think it does. It sounds like you were so accustomed to feeling that hatred that when the object of those feelings was no longer around, it sort of made you feel like a part of you disappeared.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“You know your mom cares a lot about you. She’s going to need you now more than ever. You look after her, okay?”
“I will,” Ely replied, then hesitated a moment. “I also wanted to talk to you about wrestling.”
“What about wrestling?”
“I don’t think I can finish the season,” Ely said quietly, looking down at the floor before bringing his eyes up to Sel.
“Why is that?” Sel asked gently.
“I’m just no good. I’m sick of getting beat all the time. Why would I want to continue to do something that’s seldom fun for me?” Ely asked, almost pleading for an adequate answer.
“That’s a good question. Would you like me to try and answer it?”
“Please do.”
“Well, I want you to think about something. When I was a wrestler I was pretty good. I think you know that, right?” Sel asked.
“Yeah. You were like a two time national champ or something. Weren’t you like a three time state champion in high school as well?”
“Yes I was,” Sel answered with no hint of arrogance. “I lost three times my freshman year and I went undefeated the rest of my high school career. Wrestling was fun for me because I won matches. But let me tell you something. There were guys on my wrestling team that were tougher than I was.”
“Come on, Sel. That’s impossible. Did you have a four time state champ on your team or something?” Ely asked in disbelief.
“Nope.”
“Okay, I’ll bite. How were they tougher than you?”
“There were guys on my high school team who never wrestled a varsity match because they wrestled on the toughest team in the state. They worked hard every day, went to every tournament, yet never wrestled a varsity match. Some of them rarely won matches on the junior varsity team. I still remember the guys that wrestled under me,” Sel said, leaning forward in his chair. “Mitch Wapner, Jack Sultan, and Mark Ladenburg. I could give you five other names from other weight classes that also fit that mold.”
“I still don’t understand what you mean. How were they tougher than you? I don’t get it.”
“Think about it, Ely. I was naturally talented, strong, quick, and very good at what I did. Don’t get me wrong. I worked hard too, but wrestling came easy for me. I can’t tell you all the state champs we had over the years, but I can remember the names of my fellow wrestlers who stuck it out every year with no foreseeable chance of ever having much success. They bled and sweat on the mat six days a week, three months a year, for four years, but rarely did they experience what it was like to win.”
Ely thought about Sel’s words for a moment. “Why do you think they did it?”
Sel shrugged. “Answer this…what does it take to be a man?”
“I’m not sure.”
Sel took a sip of his coffee. “Think about it for a moment,” he said.
“Ummm…strength, power…”
“Come on, Ely. I know you’re smarter than that. Did Gandhi have physical strength and power?”
“No,” Ely said immediately. Then the light came on and Ely’s eye’s flashed with understanding. “Honor, courage, tenacity…”
“Exactly!” Sel exclaimed. “These guys had courage, integrity, honor, and they were tough as nails. Not physically, but mentally. They were real men. It’s easy to do something that you’re good at. But it takes courage and integrity to stick with something you’re not. Oh, and don’t let me forget to tell you, that one of these guys I’m talking about was a state champ his senior year. Sometimes, if you pound on coal long enough…”
“…a diamond will appear,” Ely finished Sel’s famous phrase.
“You got it,” Sel said.
“I think I understand.”
“Ely, I won’t hold it against you if you don’t want to wrestle. But why don’t you think about what I said. You have more talent than many of those guys that I mentioned. You just have to believe in yourself.”
“All right. Fair enough. I’ll think it over some more.”
“Good. If you decide to continue, which I hope you do, then just show up for practice tomorrow. If I don’t see you at practice, then I will assume that you decided to quit. I won’t be happy about it, but I’ll respect your decision.”
The bell to go to first period suddenly rang interrupting their conversation.
“That sounds good,” Ely said after the ringing stopped. “Thanks, Sel.”
“No problem. Now get going so you’re not late to class,” Sel said as he stood up.
“Okay. Oh, before I forget, I wanted to thank you again for the mat and weights.”
“No problem. Get some use out of them. If you hit those weights on a regular basis you’ll turn into a gorilla,” Sel said with a laugh.
“Is that a good thing?” Ely asked as he moved toward the door.
“It is on the wrestling mat.”
Ely just laughed. “Thanks again, Sel. I’ll see ya.”
Ely turned to walk out the door when Sel yelled after him. “Hey, I almost forgot.”<
br />
Ely was at the door when he turned around. Sel grabbed a book off his desk and tossed it across the room to Ely. Ely grabbed it with both hands. “The next Drizzt Do’Urden book. It just came out. Thought you might want to read it.”
“Thanks, Sel,” Ely said, exposing his teeth in a wide grin. “I’ll bring it back when I’m done.”
“No hurry. Enjoy it. Now get to class.”
“Okay.”
Ely walked from the classroom with his head down, looking intently at the cool cover of the book. He was still looking down at the book when he turned the corner of the hall and ran right into a girl. Her books flew from her arms and she stumbled backward like she had hit a brick wall. It probably felt like that to her since Ely was more than twice her size.
“I’m so sorry,” Ely stammered. “Are you okay?”
“Jesus! Watch where you’re going. You’re big enough to actually hurt someone.”
She was petite, maybe five foot one, with short choppy blonde hair. She had a quirky look, wearing mismatched clothes that looked as if she might have bought them from a thrift store. Her large blue eyes were framed in thick black glasses. She was very cute, in a sort of ‘I’m not trying to be cute’ kind of way.
Ely quickly bent down to pick up her books. “Man, I’m such an idiot. I’m always doing stuff like this. I’m really sorry. I was looking at my book, thinking about stuff. I just wasn’t looking.”
“It’s okay. Really,” the girl said as she knelt down beside him to help gather her stuff. She had clearly calmed down. “You just scared me. What’s your name?”
Ely stopped what he was doing and looked at her closely for the first time. “What?”
“I said, what’s your name?” she repeated as they both stood up with her things.
“You want to know my name?”
“Yes, that’s what I said.”
“My name’s Ely.”
The girl extended her hand toward Ely. Ely looked at her hand as if it might bite him. He hesitated for a second, then reached out and shook it.
“I’m Amanda. I just moved here from California.”
“Really,” Ely stammered. “I know what that feels like.”
“You’ve moved around a lot?”
“Yeah, several times, six actually.”
“Really? Your parents military or something?”
“No, it’s mostly because my dad’s a drunk loser who can’t hold down a job.” Ely couldn’t believe he had just blurted this out.
Amanda laughed. “Really? Wow, tell me what you really think,” she said through her laughter as she looked up at Ely for what seemed like the first time. “Hey, sorry about the you being big comment. I just thought I was going to get flattened.”
“It’s okay,” Ely said with a smile. “I know I’m fat. No mystery there.”
“You’re not fat, you’re big…”
“…boned? That’s what all skinny people say.”
Amanda laughed again. “You’re funny, Ely. Look, I have to get to class. It was nice to meet you. I’ll see you around.”
“It was nice to meet you too. See ya.”
“Hopefully,” Amanda said with a lingering smile before she turned on her heel and moved down the hall. The bell rang, but Ely just stood there with his book in his hands and watched her walk away.
***
It was almost noon on Saturday and Ely had to get moving if he was going to make the twelve thirty show. He was reading a new book by Jim Butcher and had gotten lost in the story. Luckily he had just glanced at the clock and noticed the time. He knew his mom didn’t work until late so he hoped that her car was available. He quickly grabbed his coat from the back of his desk chair and raced out the door.
He found his mom at the kitchen table looking over various bills. “Hey mom, do you mind if I take the car for a few hours?”
“What?” she asked irritably.
Ely looked at her more closely and noticed that her eyes were brimming with tears. She was clearly frustrated and upset.
“What’s wrong, Mom?”
Mary wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, hon. I’m just trying to figure out how to pay these bills. When your father was here he was able to get unemployment when he wasn’t working. When he was working, we had a second check. Now it’s just me, and I don’t make that much money.”
“I have a little over two hundred bucks saved up from my book store job if you need it. You can have it, Mom.”
“Thanks, honey. But I need more than that. What was it you asked me?”
“Can I take the car to go see a movie?”
“Sure. Who are you going with?” Mary asked, hoping that he was not going by himself.
“No one, just myself.”
“Why don’t you call Jeff?”
“He’s on a date tonight.”
“Okay, well, have a good time. I need to leave for work tonight at seven o’clock. So make sure you’re back by six.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Ely leaned over her and gave her a hug from behind. “It’s going to be okay, Mom. I promise.”
Mary smiled and tapped his arm. “Thanks, hon.”
Ely let go, grabbed the keys off the table, and left his mother staring at the pile of bills, trying to convince herself that her son was right, that everything was actually going to be okay.
Ely got to the theater in good time, giving him ten minutes to spare before the movie started. Instead of going inside the theater, he sat on a bench near the bathrooms and continued reading his book. It was too dark to read inside the theater room and Ely was in a good spot in the book. That’s why he nearly missed the movie to begin with. The bench was located adjacent the concession stand where there was plenty of light.
He had only read several lines when an all too familiar voice shattered his brief moment of relaxation.
“Well, what do we have here?”
Ely looked up to see Adam standing above him flanked by two of his cronies. He hung out a lot with two other jerks, Cole and Nate, fairly big guys, but not nearly as big as Adam. Cole’s hair was jet black, shaved short, and he had a “wanna-be” gangster look. Nate was a mulatto kid with a pretty impressive afro. He rarely smiled and he had a hard look about him, like he was mad at the world. Ely didn’t say anything. He just looked back down at his book, hoping that they would go away.
“It must be discount night tonight,” Adam laughed, smacking Cole in the arm as if he was the funniest guy around. Cole laughed while Nate sneered at Ely.
“You here with your mommy?” Nate asked.
“Hell no, he’s by himself,” Adam said.
“No he’s not.” A voice came from in front of the concession stand. It was Amanda, the same girl that Ely had met the other day at school. She walked over, sat down on the bench, and slid over beside Ely, kissing him on the cheek. Then she looked up at Adam and his henchmen, smiled and said, “He’s here with me.”
Ely dropped his book in his lap and stared at her with an expression of complete confusion.
“You came here with him?” Adam asked, equally surprised.
“Of course. I love big guys.”
“If that’s the case, you should hang with me. He’s a fat ass loser,” Adam said bluntly.
“Oh, but his intelligence turns me on.” Amanda was clearly enjoying herself and Ely could still do nothing but stare at her as she leaned up against him, touching his leg and smiling at him like an adoring groupie. Then, she turned it up a notch, licking her upper lip seductively as she gazed into Adam’s eyes. “Are you smart?” she purred.
“Sure,” Adam said.
“Mmmmmm…can you quote Shakespeare?”
Adam’s buddies laughed as if that was the funniest thing they’d heard all day.
“No,” he said, “why would I want to do quote some stupid old dude?”
Amanda turned toward Ely, batting her eyes at him. He still had not taken his eyes off of her. “Ely?”
Without a pause, as Ely co
ntinued to stare at her, he spoke for the first time. “Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind: And therefore is wing’d cupid painted blind: Nor hath love’s mind of any judgment taste; wings and no eyes figure unheedy haste:”
“Ahhhhh….so beautiful,” she said with exaggerated passion, as she gazed at Ely as if he were the only one in the room. She was hamming it up big time and Ely didn’t know how to respond. So she quickly tore her eyes away from Ely and turned towards Adam and his friends. “You boys run along now,” she said casually, shooing them away with her hand as if they were pesky flies.
“Whatever. This is stupid. Let’s go,” Adam said as he turned to leave, his two buddies close on his heels.
Finally, Amanda lowered her charade and looked at Ely with her own eyes. “Very nice. I’m impressed. So the rumors are true?”
“What rumors?”
“That you’re some kind of genius or something.”
“That’s a rumor?”
“Yup. So what movie are you watching?”
“That Jason Statham action flick.”
“Cool. Me too. I’m here with my parents. My dad loves those kinds of movies. They’re sitting in the theater now.”
“I love them too, b…but I guess that’s obvious since I’m here to watch it,” Ely stammered,
“Yeah, pretty obvious.” Amanda giggled. “You’re a real comedian aren’t you?”
“I don’t try to be,” Ely said seriously.
“Which is why you are so funny.”
“Anyway, thanks for helping me out there. I hate that Adam guy.”
“No problem. That was so much fun. What an asshole. Every school has some; I can spot them a mile away.”
“Well your asshole vision was right on with this guy.”
“I’m rarely wrong when it comes to assholes…” Amanda paused briefly and smiled. “That sounded kind of funny.”
They both laughed.
“Yes it did,” Ely agreed.
“The movie is about to start. Do you want to sit with me?” Amanda asked casually.
“Ummm….well…I don’t want to impose,” Ely mumbled.
“Impose? Jesus, are we in England? What’s with the pomp and formality?”
“Pomp? Formality? Look who’s talking,” Ely laughed.
Amanda just grinned at Ely. “Touché’, my good man. You know, I think I like you. You’re fun. So how about it? Want to sit with me?” She asked again as she stood up from the bench.
The Life of Ely Page 12
