Tools of Ignorance: Lisa's Story Read Online Free PDF Page B

before.
     
     
    JULIE WHITE STOOD with her hands on her hips and said, “Brown Girl, you’re crazy.” Since Lisa’s last name was Brown, Julie called her ‘Brown Girl’ in fun, and since Julie’s last name was White, Lisa reciprocated by calling her ‘White Girl.’ It was their private joke with each other.
    Lisa didn’t look at her friend as she put ten more pounds on each end of the bar.
    “Lisa, you’re going to hurt yourself,” Julie pleaded.
    “C’mon, White Girl. Are you chicken? Let’s do this before Mr. Mullins sees us.”
    Julie shook her head as if she didn’t want to be part of it, but stood behind the bench by Lisa’s head. She put her hands around the heavy metal bar, without touching it, and waited. Lisa took a deep breath, and let it out. She wrapped her middle fingers around the bar a little more than shoulder width apart and then gripped it firmly with both hands. She pushed the 130 pounds up off the rack and held it with her arms extended. Holy Jesus, that’s heavy. She picked a spot on the weight room ceiling, so she’d know where to aim once she pressed the weight back up. She slowly lowered the bar to her chest.
    This one’s for you, Marlee, for breaking my heart. “Unghhh,” she grunted and pressed the weight back up slowly.
    “I’m right here, Lisa.” Julie leaned over the rack, ready to grab the bar if necessary.
    Lisa almost lost her concentration when she pressed the weights to their full height. It was so heavy.
    “I’m right here, Lisa,” Julie said again, but Lisa barely heard her.
    This next one’s for you, Susie, for stealing my girlfriend . Lisa lowered the weight, felt it brush her chest, and pressed it back up immediately. “Unghhh!” she grunted even louder, sure she’d attract Mr. Mullins attention with that repetition.
    “That’s two, Lisa,” Julie said.
    Lisa lowered the bar for a third rep.
    “Push it now, Brown Girl, push it!”
    Lisa thought about Susie holding Marlee’s hand in the backyard and used that to fuel the third repetition. She brought the weight back down, aware that Mr. Mullins and a few of the guys in the class had surrounded her and Julie. She couldn’t stop now. She had at least one more in her.
    What did you and Susie do behind that shed, Marlee? Lisa practically threw the weights up over her head.
    “Nice one, Lisa,” one of the guys in the class encouraged.
    “You got one more in you, Brown Girl. C’mon,” Julie pushed.
    Lisa considered racking the bar, but lowered it instead when she remembered the look on Marlee’s face after she and Susie came back into Christy’s house. It was so freakin’ obvious something had happened between them that Marlee could have been wearing a neon sign.
    “Ahhh!” Lisa yelled and heaved the weights toward the ceiling. Her classmates cheered and clapped for her, but she didn’t take any satisfaction in it. She let Julie guide the weights back on the rack.
    Lisa sat up, and the guys surrounding her clapped her on the back and told her how awesome she was. Weight lifters, Lisa had come to realize, were competitive, but they recognized individual accomplishment when they saw it.
    “Great job, Lisa," Mr. Mullins said. “One hundred and thirty pounds. I never would have thunk it.” He shook his head and pointed to one of her classmates. “Marcus weighs one thirty. You just bench pressed Marcus.” Marcus Ranley was a sophomore whose surfer blond hair made him look more like a California beach boy than a North Country weight lifter. Mr. Mullins waited until the boys had gone back to their own workouts before saying, “Honestly, I don’t think half the boys in this school can do five reps at one thirty.”
    Lisa smiled.
    “But, hey, next time? Ask one of the senior guys to spot you.”
    “Okay, sorry. Next time I will.”
    Once Coach Mullins was out of earshot, Lisa smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, Julie. I didn’t mean to get you in trouble.”
    Marcus slid back over and said, “Damn,