Wrestling

"Alright. Let’s go."

The words were full of restless energy. Jey stood by the door, dressed in the attire he had pulled from his gym bag.

He retreated back inside, bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet, shifting his weight from his left leg to his right. The wood floor absorbed the soft impact of his socks. He felt like a coiled spring. He had a surge of adrenaline that demanded physical exertion.

Bambietta did not share his urgency.

She remained on the bed, sitting cross-legged atop the tangled duvet. She blinked at him. She reached up, slowly rubbing the sleep from her eyes with the back of her hand. She let out a long, exaggerated yawn, stretching her arms high above her head until her joints popped quietly.

"So full of energy," she muttered, dropping her arms and staring at him.

"I’m ready," Jey replied, continuing to bounce. He threw a quick, shadowboxing jab into the empty air. "I told you, I feel incredible. The swelling is gone. The stiffness is gone. Let’s hit Lifestyle before the afternoon rush gets there."

Bambietta swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She didn’t stand up immediately. She let her bare feet rest against the floorboards and stared at her toes, deliberately taking her time.

"The facility will likely be empty this late in the morning, Jey. Nobody in their right mind is rushing to do anything at this hour, we will be in-between the morning and afternoon rush."

"Exactly," he said, pacing a quick circle around the foot of the bed. "Which means we get a lot of things to ourselves. No waiting. Nobody asking for advice. Just us."

She sighed, finally pushing herself up from the mattress. She walked past him, her pace agonizingly slow, dragging her feet slightly as she made her way into the bathroom.

Jey followed her, leaning his shoulder against the doorframe. He watched as she picked up her toothbrush, applied a precise amount of toothpaste, and began brushing her teeth with a very annoying type of slowness.

"You’re doing this on purpose," he observed, crossing his arms over his chest.

She met his eyes in the mirror, her mouth full of foam, and offered a completely innocent shrug. She took a full two minutes to brush, spit, rinse, and dry her face with a hand towel. She folded the towel neatly, adjusting it on the rack until the edges aligned perfectly.

"A rushed morning is a ruined morning," she said, walking past him again to head toward her open closet.

Jey groaned, tilting his head back against the doorframe. "Bam, I am literally vibrating. My blood is moving too fast. If I don’t stretch this out, I’m going to start running laps around the kitchen’s island or worse."

"Go ahead," she called out from inside the closet. "Billy might join you. He likes running in circles."

She emerged a minute later holding three different plain black t-shirts. She held them up against her torso one by one, looking at herself in the full-length mirror attached to the closet door.

"Oh my God! They are all identical," Jey pointed out.

"They have different necklines," she corrected him without looking away from the mirror. "This one is a crew neck. This one is a slight V-neck. And this one is a scoop neck."

"You’re wearing them to the gym to sweat."

"I still have to look at myself in the mirrors," she reasoned, tossing two of the shirts onto the bed and pulling the V-neck over her head. She paired it with a pair of dark athletic leggings, taking her time to smooth out the fabric over her hips and thighs.

Jey resumed bouncing on his feet, his patience wearing hilariously thin. He watched her walk over to her dresser, open the top drawer, and begin rummaging for a pair of socks. She examined three different pairs before finally settling on plain white ankle socks.

She sat down on the edge of the bed to put them on. She smoothed them over her heels, ensuring the seams were perfectly straight across her toes.

Then, she reached for her sneakers.

As soon as it was remaining her shoes, Jey had seen enough.

Before Bambietta could even grab the laces of her left sneaker, Jey leaned down, wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, and hoisted her up into the air. She let out a sharp yelp, her hands flying out to grab his shoulders to steady herself.

Jey shifted his grip, ducked his head, and lifted her off the ground, settling her securely onto his shoulders.

"Hey!" she shouted, her initial shock instantly giving way to a burst of bright laughter. She slapped her hands lightly against the top of his head. "Put me down! Are you crazy? Your ribs!"

"What ribs?" Jey laughed, spinning in a slow circle in the middle of the bedroom, proving that he could easily support her weight without a single twinge of pain in his torso. "I told you. It’s like I’m brand new. Now, are we going to the gym, or am I carrying you all the way to the car like this?"

"You are a child," she giggled, gripping his forehead to keep her balance as he took a step toward the bedroom door. "If you drop me---"

"I won’t drop you," he promised, adjusting his hands on her thighs to secure her. "Hold on tight."

He carried her out of the master bedroom, walking steadily down the short hallway that led to the main living area. He didn’t feel a single strain in his neck. They emerged into the open living room, Bambietta still laughing and lightly drumming her fingers against his back.

Jey came to a sudden halt. Linda was awake.

She was sitting in her wheelchair, positioned right next to the marble kitchen island. The electric kettle on the counter behind her was whistling softly, a steady stream of steam rising toward the ceiling. Billy was sitting obediently beside one of the wheelchair’s wheels, his tail giving a soft thump against the floor as he waited for a piece of whatever she was preparing.

Jey instantly became self-conscious. Given the grief-stricken mood that had consumed his mother just hours prior, he hadn’t expected to see her out of the guest bedroom this early. He certainly hadn’t expected to parade into the kitchen acting like a hyperactive teenager while carrying his girlfriend on his shoulders.

"Morning, Mom," Jey said cautiously, preparing to lower Bambietta to the ground.

He bent his knees slightly to help her slide down.

"Oh, don’t put her down on my account," Linda said.

Jey paused. He looked closely at his mother’s face. The exhaustion that had aged her a decade the night before was still present around the edges of her eyes, but the weight of grief seemed to have lifted slightly. She wasn’t smiling or joyfully grinning, but the corners of her mouth were turned up in a soft, genuine expression of contentment.

She was looking at them, taking in the easy affection, the laughter, and the absence of tension.

She was happy seeing their dynamic.

The atmosphere in their home wasn’t poisoned by the looming shadow of the wrestling industry or the bitter resentment of her eldest son. The apartment was just a home again.

"Good morning, Mrs. Ray," Bambietta said from her perch on Jey’s shoulders, looking unfazed by the audience. She patted Jey’s head again. "Your son is refusing to let me put my shoes on."

"He always was impatient," Linda noted, reaching over to turn off the whistling kettle. She poured the hot water into a ceramic mug containing a teabag. "When he was seven, he used to put his winter coat on over his pajamas because he didn’t want to waste time getting dressed before going outside to play."

"It would have been a waste of time to change," Jey defended himself, finally bending down to let Bambietta slide smoothly off him and onto her feet.

"You were very impatient," Linda corrected him mildly, taking a slow sip of her tea. She looked him up and down, her gaze lingering briefly on his left side where she knew the bruising was hidden beneath the tank top. "You’re moving well this morning. No pain?"

"None," Jey confirmed, walking over to grab his car keys from the ceramic bowl.

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