Early Sunday morning, my folks drove me and some friends to the start of the Argus Cycle Tour -- a 104 kilometer pedal around the Cape Peninsular -- while a teacher from school took our cycles on a trailer, plus some of the other boys in his car.
South Africa
Part 101
Even though we'd arrived early to avoid the traffic, there was still a whole bunch of riders and spectators already present. But that wasn't the only problem. Riders in my section weren't due to start 'til pretty late, so I had to cool my heels for fucking ages before we finally got going... with more than 30,000 cyclists' butts already ahead of us.
Kyle and his folks, plus Steph and some friends, had organized to be at a particular point during the tour, where they hoped to see me pass by. Yeah, right... one of over 35,000 riders? At some stages of the tour, cyclists were ten deep across the road. But as I neared the the spot where I figured Kyle and his folks would be, I saw them standing amongst the crowd of spectators and began shouting. "Kyle! Hey, bro! Over here!" Luckily, they all heard me and turned as one in my direction. They were waving and beaming big time, and so was I. Woohoo! How fucking cool! I'd been desperately wanting them to see me dressed in my killer cycling gear and wrap-around sunglasses. But within a few seconds it was time to return my focus to riding, and give my friends a chance to check out my bulging thighs as I sped past.
It wasn't long, though, before I'd begun to realize just how far 104 kilometers was. Whoa! By the end of the tour, I was totally fucked. My thighs were burning, and my legs could hardly stop wobbling like two sticks of jello. In the car on the return trip, I slept like a baby.
When we arrived home, I rocked over to Kyle's place to tell him all about the rest of the tour, but he'd gone surfing with Steph. Later, my folks told me that my bro had returned my visit but I was fast asleep. Oh, well...
Monday night, after supper, I breezed next door with my homework, and saw that Kyle was on the phone. It didn't take me long to guess who he was talking to -- Mark -- but the convo didn't sound too friendly. There was some kinda aggro thing going on. So I just waited patiently with my books until Kyle had hung up.
"Maybe I should come back later or something."
"No, it's cool. Let's get your homework done now. Whatcha got?"
"Math and bio."
We spent about an hour revising stuff 'cause I had tests coming up soon at school. "You've obviously been studying at home, Wingnut. You practically know all this stuff."
After homework, we talked about the cycle tour, and I really enjoyed that. Kyle seemed pretty impressed with my version of events, and told me that I looked totally awesome as I rode past him and his folks in my wrap-around sunnies.
"Did you see my thighs bulging?"
"Yep."
"Pretty cool, huh? Anyway, I'm gonna do the tour again next year, and I want you to come with me. You'd really dig it, Kyle. It's a lotta fun being with all those thousands of cyclists. There's like there's this huge fucking buzz going on all the damn time 'cause the spectators are cheering and waving their arms and carrying on something awesome. I know they weren't cheering for me, but it felt like it. Anyway, maybe some of them were. You gonna come next year?"
"I'll think about it."
"Cool. Meantime, our swim coach wants to know when you're coming to help with training the juniors. We've got a tour coming up, and he says he needs a hand."
"He was gonna contact me and let me know."
"He said you'd already agreed, and he thought you were gonna be there today."
"I'll try to get there tomorrow after work."
"I need to know so coach can tell the juniors that they'll be training later."
"Yeah, I'll be there."
"Cool! I've already told the guys that you're gonna give them a hard time."
"And you're gonna have an easier time," he said, cocking an eyebrow.
"Yeah, 'cause I'm your bro, right?" But my question was met with a silent smirk, so I repeated it. "Right, Kyle?" Still no reply. "Fuck, I hate it when you do that!"
"What?"
"Don't answer me."
Then Kyle began to quiz me about the team, the swimmers' times, and general stuff about the guys. He was surprised to learn that Craig's little bro Jason was on the squad with me.
"I've never really spoken to him. What's he like?"
"Aggro, just like his fuckwit big bro."
"Being aggro is good for a comp swimmer."
"Anyway, we're always on each other's cases 'cause I think Craig's a fuckwit and his little bro worships him. Did I tell you that Brian's on the squad too?"
"Brian's a cool dude, so you should be pleased about that."
"Yeah, I am. Hey, was that Mark on the phone when I arrived?"
"Yep."
"Who's Fingers?
"Just a dude that Mark shares a house with."
"Why's he called Fingers?"
"Just a name."
"Like Wingnut, huh?"
"Yep."
"So why did I get the name Wingnut?"
"'Cause you've got fucking big ears!"
"Crap," I argued as I leaned forward and checked myself out in the mirror. "My ears are normal."
Kyle cracked at the way I'd checked my reflection before explaining that he'd nicknamed me Wingnut 'cause I was a grommet, and he liked the sound of the name, anyway.
"I USED to be a grommet!"
"OK, so now you're a sex grommet."
"Don't remind me."
Next day, Kyle lived up to his promise and rocked over to swim training after he'd finished work. It was so damn cool to see him 'cause all the juniors thought Kyle ruled, and he was my big bro! Woohoo! During breaks, Kyle told me that most of the guys were pretty good swimmers, but needed to improve their work rate. "And that includes you, Wingnut!"
"Yeah, yeah... OK."
Then Jason decided to get all buddy buddy with Kyle, and asked him why he'd offered to help train the juniors. But I quickly interjected before Kyle had a chance to answer.
"So that he can teach us how to kick your brother's butt!"
"Piss off," Jason ordered.
"Come and make me!"
Jason and I were facing off when Kyle came between us and pushed us apart. Then he read the fucking riot act about putting our energy into training and cooperating instead of fighting.
As Kyle and I walked home after the session, he remarked on how the afternoon's training had gone. "Went OK -- you guys are swimming pretty well."
"Yeah. Anyway, it's rad just to have you there... like a personal coach 'cause the coach is always concentrating on the seniors."
"What is it with you and Jason, by the way? He seems pretty cool."
"He is."
Kyle thought my response was worth a chuckle before he asked, "So what's with the dissing?"
"He knows I hate his brother."
"Ever had a fight with him before?"
"Once. Nailed him good."
"You're both about the same size and build. You could have your hands full in a real battle with Jason. He's not scared of you."
"He is... just doesn't wanna look like a wuss in front of everybody."
"You're sounding like a bit of a bully."
"Yeah, right... me? You know how I get beat up... and you used to have to come and pull Alan off me."
"I think if you and Jason were friends, it would be good for the junior team. You're both strong swimmers, and it would be a good vibe. The guys on my team last year got along really well together, so everyone worked hard."
"Jason's actually cool, but he keeps standing up for his brother who's a jerk."
"I think it's cool that he supports his bro. That's what he should do."
"You don't know what goes on all the time, Kyle. He gets fuckwit Craig to fuck us juniors around, and nobody dares say anything to him or he gets smacked around. When there's anything going on, Jason gets Craig to organize it so that Jason gets first choice. That's total crap!"
Just then, as we walked past a house where I did weekend chores, the lady, who was watering her lawn, gave me a huge smile and wanted to know if I could work on her garden this coming weekend.
"Yep," I nodded. "Probably on Saturday arvie."
Once we were outa earshot, Kyle giggled, then remarked, "Hey, that was some smile she gave you."
"Shuddup."
"Her garden is looking great, so why do you think she wants you to work on it? Hey, there's an idea... why don't you practice on her, huh?"
"Phew! You are so fucking gross!"
Kyle giggled again, then wanted to know if I had any homework.
"Done. But it'd be cool if you could check it out and fire a few questions at me."
During supper, my mom and dad were asking me about school and swimming and stuff, and I was telling them how cool it was that Kyle was helping the coach with the juniors. "He was there today. He says we're all swimming pretty well. He's gonna check my homework after supper."
"When does Kyle ever get a moment to himself?"
"All the time, mom. He does all this stuff 'cause he wants to, not 'cause he has to. He offered to help train the juniors... and he's the one who asked me if I had any homework tonight."
"Are you sure you're not twisting his arm? You can be quite a little con man sometimes."
"Who, me? Jeez, mom! Now you've gone and hurt my feelings! Nah, Kyle likes having me around. He said so."
"He said so?"
"Heaps of times. We're bros. Anyway, if he was pissed at me I'd know. Kyle can't hide his feelings. And sometimes I get pissed at him, so we're even. But most of the time it's cool."
It only took a few minutes for my bro and I to check my homework, so after that we just listened to music and rapped. I was on his bed, laying on my back and reading a surfing mag, but I could sense him checking me out. Hey, no biggie. He could check me out anytime he wanted. But I was just too damn fucked after the cycle tour on Sunday and the swim training that afternoon to have the energy for anything. I couldn't even raise a damn boner.Copyright © 2001 All rights reserved. mrbstories
