The Strongman
5
I’ll Have a Twist, Too!
THERE’S A GREAT SCENE with Steve Martin in the movie L.A. Story that Mom just loves. A bunch of Hollywood elite are sitting at a table and start one upping each other with their coffee orders. Martin finally says, “I’ll have a double decaf, half caf, with a twist of lemon.” Everyone immediately jumps in with “I’ll have a twist, too.” Mom just howls when she watches that movie and every morning, I end up presenting her coffee saying, “Double decaf, half caf.” She always responds, “With a twist!” That’s even though she just drinks black full caffeine coffee.
She really likes old movie classics, so we watch a lot of them at home. That one was from way back in the 1990s, last century.
Remember, even as a senior in high school, I’d never really dated. That one time I thought everything was going well and then Dana said she didn’t want to go out with me again. So, Saturday night family entertainment was often watching old movies in our home theater.
Tara and I had been working in the gym together for almost a month and were progressing pretty well. I could pick her up and hold her over my head as she took various poses. One of them that was working out really well was when I held her on one hand over my head with her lying back, completely stretched out and one leg crossed over the other. It’s not a pose you’ll find in many acts.
Anyway, we were finishing up on a Saturday afternoon at the gym and Tara just turned to me all of a sudden and said, “Want to try out that new Mediterranean restaurant over on Lyndale?”
“It sounds pretty good,” I said. “I might try it.”
“Let’s go.”
Call me dense, but I didn’t realize she was inviting me out when she asked if I wanted to try it. It was almost like my sister was there, telling me where to meet her. The more I thought of it, the more I thought my sister was probably the only person who had ever made that kind of suggestion. So, I just figured Tara wanted to talk something out or maybe go over a new pose and how to get into it. I just followed her to her car and got in as if we were going to the school for cheer.
I can drive, but I don’t have a car. Tara’s car is a little intimidating and I wouldn’t offer to drive it. For a small woman, she drives a big car. She can’t depend on the speed, accuracy, or pressure of her legs, so she has hand controls that are a little confusing. I suppose I could get the hang of it eventually, but she told me she nearly crashed every time she got in the car the first month she was learning it.
We parked in a handicapped space. She had Arizona DP plates which are for disabled persons. If she was just moving from one place to another, she usually used her crutches. If she was going to be in someplace for a while and needing to sit, she used the wheelchair. I got out of the car and ran around to get the wheelchair out of the back seat and open it up for her. She positioned it and slid over into the seat.
Unless there was a problem, like a curb or snow, I knew enough not to try to push her around. Tara was really independent and could wheel herself. I stood by and closed the car doors. She pushed the button to lock them.
The restaurant was nice, but not expensive. I was making a little money by giving toddler tumbling lessons on Saturday mornings, but at almost nineteen, I was still mostly saving the allowance my parents were giving me by tossing it in a drawer. They said they’d continue that as long as I was still making progress in school, and I was. I always carried a little cash, but most of my allowance for the past few years had been tossed in that drawer.
“It all looks so good,” Tara said. “What are you going to have?”
“Me? Well, I’ve always been partial to shawarma. I figure if I don’t pig out on it and go sparingly with the tahini, it’s a good meal,” I said.
“Oh, shawarma sounds good. With pita.”
“Yeah. I’ll have pita, too.”
“Look, they have hummus with raw vegetables.”
“Mmm. I love hummus.”
“With a twist?” she asked.
It took me a full beat to realize she’d quoted my mother’s favorite movie. I just stared at her.
“You know that movie?”
“Loved it. Jennifer introduced me to it. You can’t imagine how many old movies I watched when I was basically bedridden.”
“That must have been a really tough time,” I said.
“I was doing okay at first. Then Jackson killed himself. God damn him! We could have gotten through it together. Please promise me you’ll never do that. No matter what!”
Tears were in her eyes and threatened to spill if I didn’t make a definitive gesture.
“My sister said if I ever did that, she’d kill me,” I said.
Whew! Disaster averted. It was the right thing to say and Tara started laughing.
“I think I’ll like your sister. When do you think we can meet?”
“She’s in her first semester at the University, but I think the semester ends December 21 or 22. She plans to come home for the break. Will you be going back to Arizona?”
“No. I figure we’ll have a lot of opportunity to work during the break. We should be able to get some good workouts in.”
Our food arrived. The kitchen just served a platter of meat and vegetables with tahini, a platter of pita, and a bowl of hummus and veggies. We served ourselves from the middle of the table. That was pretty cool.
We talked and I found out a lot about Tara I didn’t know before. She’d started training as a gymnast when she was four! I guess maybe some of the kids I was teaching on Saturday mornings might grow up to be like her. It boggled the imagination. Her entire life she’d been tutored instead of attending school, because she loved gymnastics so much; she wanted to be in the gym all the time. That part sounded familiar. I guess when the bug bites, you get infected fast. Her parents were pretty wealthy and lived in Scottsdale. A gym there took her on until she was twelve and then she moved to Frisco, Texas where the US National Gymnastics team trained. She was selected for the under sixteen team.
That was where she’d been encouraged to try mixed pairs acrobatic gymnastics and met Jackson. They’d trained and competed together for three years, getting to the Worlds just after they turned sixteen. Then the accident cut everything short, ultimately including Jackson’s life.
“That really sucks. Tara, I can’t tell you how happy I am that you’ve recovered this much, and that you came to Minneapolis, and that you chose me,” I said.
“Before you get too enthused, there’s one more chapter you need to know about me,” she said. “Um… a week before our accident, Jackson and I became lovers. It was a natural culmination of our relationship with each other. But it affected our performance. We paid more attention to our lover relationship than to our routine. That’s why Jackson killed himself, I think. He could probably have stood injuring his partner, but he couldn’t stand having hurt his lover. That’s what I tell myself.”
“Oh, geez, Tara. That’s terrible. I mean, not that you became lovers. I think that’s great, but that it impacted your performance and your lives that way. I’m just so sorry.”
Now I was about ready to cry. I could just imagine the horrid impact that would have had on them. Not just the accident, but the thought that he hurt the one he loved.
“That’s why I want you to know right now that we aren’t going to be lovers,” she continued.
What? She couldn’t know I’d fantasized about that, could she? I was floored and about to bolt from the restaurant. She kept going.
“We can date and do fun things. I’d like that. We can even kiss sometimes and hold hands. We need to keep it out of school, but other than that, I like it when you put your arm around me and when you help me in and out of the car. I like it when you spot my exercises and when you look into my eyes. We just can’t be lovers if we’re partners. Are you okay with that?”
I was in way over my head! I had no idea how she expected me to respond. Sure, it was okay. I never thought there was even a possibility of becoming lovers. That was just something in the back of my overactive imagination. But dating? We could actually date each other?
“Please say you’ll still be my partner, Paul.”
“Y-yes! Of course, I’ll be your partner. That’s what I signed up for. I never thought about… We could date?”
“Um… What do you think this is?”
“It’s um… We’re um… Wow! This is a date?”
“I didn’t think it would take you that much by surprise.”
“I’ve never really dated. I just… Yes!”
“I’ll try to be a good girlfriend, but I really don’t have much experience dating, either. And I kind of have this baggage,” she said, tapping her wheelchair. “But before I decided for sure that I’d ask you to be my pairs partner, I spent a couple of weeks coaching you with the cheerleaders to be sure I really liked you, you know? We wouldn’t have had the first meeting in the gym if I didn’t.”
I laughed.
“I went straight from that meeting and had dinner with my sister. I needed to talk out whether I was making the right decision to partner with you. She started teasing me about having a crush on you and then said I should go for it. Honest, I never thought of anything other than being the partner you needed.”
We didn’t have any plans, but neither of us was eager to have our first date end. We ordered a piece of basbousa cake and a cup of coffee for dessert and kept talking for what seemed like hours. Finally, we each contributed our part of the check and tip and I opened her door when she unlocked the car.
“You can lift me in if you’d like,” she said.
I’d lifted her out of her wheelchair on other occasions, so I knew the basic routine. Instead of rolling the chair up tight against the car so she could swing herself in, I got between the chair and the car while she locked the wheels in position. Then I bent over her and slid my hands under her legs while she put her hands around my neck. I lifted her, swung around, and carefully lowered her into the driver’s seat.
Once she was in position, though, she didn’t let go of my neck. Instead, she pulled me toward her and placed a long gentle kiss on my lips.
Oh, wow! A crush? Infatuation? I’m in love!
I folded her chair into the back seat and went around to the passenger side to get in the car. I looked at her and grinned.
“You know, a guy never forgets his first,” I said.
“I thought that was the girl’s line!”
We laughed and went for a little drive around all three lakes before we got to my house. By my sister’s criteria, it was still early for a date to end. She never got in before midnight. But we’d both worked hard all day before going out and it was likely we’d be asleep by the time our heads touched our pillows—even with the coffee we’d drunk.
She pulled into our driveway—still with the carport in front of the garage, though Dad had been saying it was time to close up the garage gym and move the cars back inside.
I turned to Tara and she held out her arms. I folded her in mine, across the console, and we enjoyed another, longer and more loving kiss than the first.
“I wanted you to remember your second, too,” she whispered. Then she let me go and I said goodnight.
“Who was that who brought you home?” Mom asked as soon as I entered the house.
“Oh. That was Tara. She’s um…” It was at exactly that moment that I realized I’d never told my parents I was working with a partner in gymnastics. Dad stood in the doorway with an eyebrow raised. “Well, you see, she started as a volunteer coach for the cheerleaders because she’s very experienced in pairs, where the guy lifts a girl. You’ve seen the routines I do with Penny. She coaches those.”
“And?” Mom persisted.
“She’s a gymnast, and we’ve been working together on a mixed pairs routine that we plan to perform as an exhibition at the Gymnastics for All Gymfest in June. It’s not a competition. They don’t do mixed pairs for the competition. This is a special performance to show that she is still a performer, even though she was injured a few years ago.”
“And is kissing part of your routine?” Mom asked.
“No… um… She became my girlfriend tonight. We were out on a date.”
“My son has a girlfriend,” Dad said, nodding his head.
“I don’t know about this,” Mom said. “How was she injured and why are you doing an exhibition at Nationals instead of competing?”
I sighed. There was no way around things. I pulled off my coat and shoes and went into the living room where Mom was sitting with a book and a clear view out the front window.
I started to explain things from the beginning, taking them through the whole story of the injury, her rehab, the extent of her injury and why she thought she could still perform. I had to explain why I’d been working with her for close to two months without telling my parents. Of course, they wanted to know how old she was and I think they breathed a sigh of relief that I wasn’t dating a twenty-something, even though I was almost nineteen.
“We’d like to meet her,” Mom said.
“Um… sure. You could come over to the gym anytime.”
“I think we should have her company here for dinner. Let’s plan on it after your sister gets home. I’m sure Michelle will be surprised to hear about this.” Mom paused. “She already knows, doesn’t she? I must have words with my own daughter.”
“She knows we’re partners in gymnastics. She doesn’t know we’re dating,” I defended her.
“I’ll bet she’s already figured it out,” Dad laughed. “Probably knew it long before you did.”
I couldn’t respond to that. Knowing my sister, she probably did.
At the gym Monday, I asked Tara if she thought having dinner with my family would be too uncomfortable or moving too fast. She giggled and blushed when I told her my mom had seen us kissing in the driveway.
“You know, if I was ashamed to be seen with you or to meet people, I wouldn’t have asked you on our first date,” she said. “I’d love to have dinner with your family.”
“That’s great! My sister will be home for the winter break. I talked to her yesterday and she’s dying to meet you,” I said.
“Maybe we can at least get another date in this weekend before we jump in the fire. Okay?”
“Yeah. I don’t know much about what to do on a date other than have dinner and maybe go to a movie.”
“Okay. I’m happy with that. Let’s have dinner Friday night and see what’s playing,” she said. I had no idea dating was so easy!
“Paul, I need you tonight,” Penny said at practice the next Friday.
“What do you need?” I asked. Tara and I had a date planned. We’d been riding to and from the gym together and I’d been helping her in and out of the car now that we’d had some snow. Of course, that usually involved at least a little kiss as I got her settled, but we kept it outside the school.
“I need you for a double date.”
“Uh… Maybe. I’ll ask…” I said.
“No, I have a date for you. You just need to show up.”
“But… I have…”
I looked up at Tara and she was laughing and shaking her head. I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I’d never been asked out before and twice in two weeks I was being asked for a date.
“We’ll leave from here after we get showered and dressed.”
She turned abruptly and headed to the locker room. I went immediately to Tara.
“What do I do? I can’t go out with her!”
“I can’t say I’m not a little disappointed. I was looking forward to this evening.”
“Me, too! I don’t want to go out with Penny. I’m going to march right down there and just tell her I don’t want to go,” I said, turning.
“No, wait. Let’s have some fun. Find out where they’re heading and tell her you’ll meet her there. We’ll just show up together and see what happens.”
“You don’t mind being open and declaring that we’re dating?” I said.
“Is there any reason I should mind?” Tara asked.
“No! Absolutely none at all.”
I came up with the idea of going home to change clothes and shower instead of using the school locker room. I hardly ever went in there. On the way home, I texted Penny and asked her to send me the address and I’d meet her there.
She was upset that I wasn’t at school and I just said I didn’t have any date clothes at school and needed to go home.
Of course, at home, I didn’t want to leave Tara in the driveway, so she parked behind Mom’s car and used her crutches and me to get up our walk to the door. I called for Mom and introduced them.
“It’s lovely to meet you, Tara,” Mom said. “It’s nice that Paul started dating someone so well known. I was able to Google you and find out all about what happened. Would you like a cup of tea while Paul gets showered and dressed?”
“That would be lovely, Mrs. Bradley. I was looking forward to meeting you. I didn’t mean to crash in before the dinner on the twenty-third.”
“Oh, don’t think a thing about it. Go ahead and shower, Paul. Tara and I will entertain each other for a few minutes until you’re ready.”
I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or bad, but I trusted both Mom and Tara to be nice. I hurried through a shower and dressing and downstairs again. They were laughing at the kitchen table.
“Did you find out where we’re going, Paul?” Tara asked. I checked my phone.
“Not far. Lago Tacos. We can eat pretty well there.”
“It’s nice that you’re meeting friends,” Mom said. We just smiled.
I helped Tara up from the kitchen chair and handed her the crutches. We got our coats and shoes and carefully navigated our way back to her car. I lifted her in and got a kiss for a reward.
“I hope that wasn’t too painful an experience,” I said.
“Oh, your mom is a sweetheart. She did absolutely nothing to dissuade me from dating you.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Now let’s hope we can survive our surprise coming out party at the restaurant,” I said.
I had absolutely no idea what Penny was thinking. She’d never expressed any interest in doing anything socially with me at all. I’d heard her make a comment that I had no personality. She must have been desperate to fix a friend up with a blind date and chose whoever was closest.
We consulted briefly and Tara decided she’d be most comfortable in her chair in the restaurant. I lifted her into it and rolled it through the slushy snow to the door. When we were inside, I told the hostess we were meeting friends and stepped around the corner to see if I could spot Penny. She immediately jumped up and waved me over to a table.
“Paul! You know Ethan, my boyfriend. This is Madison, my sister.”
“Hi. It’s nice to see you all. This is Tara,” I said as she rolled up behind me.
“What are you doing here?” Penny asked rather rudely. “I mean, um… hi.”
“Tara and I were going out tonight,” I said. “You kind of took over like it was an emergency.”
“It is. I needed you to meet Madison. You’re perfect for each other.”
I looked at Madison. The truth was she looked marginally older than Penny and I wondered if she was an older sister. She looked kind of familiar, too.
“Oh, I know you,” she said looking at Tara. “You’re the crippled girl who works out with Paul at the gym. That’s what gave me the idea to partner with him.”
“Uh… Tara’s my partner and my girlfriend,” I said firmly. We sat at the table, which only had four chairs. It was smart for Tara to wheel in.
“What? You’re dating? Can you even do that? Miss White is one of our cheerleading coaches,” Penny said. I noticed that Ethan was sitting back with a kind of smirk on his face. I knew who he was because he’d just gotten all-conference honors for football something or other. Nice that they could still honor players who were on losing teams.
“I think at a casual gathering like this you can dispense with the Miss,” Tara said. “It would be silly to have Paul be the only one who calls me Tara.”
“Why would you date her? Or you date him?” Penny persisted. “Like isn’t it even illegal?”
“Finally found one who couldn’t outrun you, hey Paul?” Ethan cracked.
“He found one who had no desire to outrun him,” Tara shot back. “I’m not a school employee and I’m about the same age as Paul. Why wouldn’t I want to date him? The girls in school can be pretty dense about such things.”
“I’m not,” Madison said. “I knew I wanted Paul from the first I saw him on the rings. I just assumed he was only into artistic gymnastics and not acrobatics. Not until I saw you working together. We’d be a perfect pair.”
“I’m committed to Tara,” I said.
“Well, we’re not actually married,” Tara laughed. “I take it you are trying to get into acrobatics?”
“Yeah. I had another girl as a base, but she’s decided I grew too much. I mean, I’m five-three and most of you tops are under five feet. Penny’s only four-ten.”
“Don’t rub it in,” Penny growled at her sister.
“I love my little spinner,” Ethan laughed.
“You’d better,” Penny shot back.
“That’s all great, but Tara and I are preparing an exhibition for the Nationals in June,” I said. “Between that and cheerleading and school, I don’t have time for anything else.”
“You mean you’re actually going to perform those stunts you’ve been doing?” Madison asked. “I mean, we could do the actual acrobatics together. Penny’s told me how strong you are. I’m sure you could lift me… and put me in about any position you want.”
“I’m not looking for another partner. I don’t know what might happen after our exhibition, but I don’t think I have time for anything else right now,” I said.
“We could probably work in a few practice sessions over the next six months. You wouldn’t be ready for a qualification run in time for the Nationals in June in any case,” Tara said.
“You said you’re preparing for it,” Madison said with a little pout.
“For an exhibition in the special athletes section. It has nothing to do with the selection competition.”
“I guess it will all depend on schedules and whether we can work together, then,” I said. I wasn’t sure I wanted to move on this at all. Penny could have arranged a meeting without going through the pretense of a blind date. It didn’t sit well with me.
“I’ll do anything,” Madison said.
That made me even more uncomfortable.
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
