|
EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK:
VINCE'S GYM
CHAPTER TWO
Vince’s Iron Connection –
Vince’s Gym
Despite having a complete absence in any sort of real business
experience,
I
foolishly decided to open the gym. I called the gym Vince’s
Iron Works. Unfortunately it sounded like a welding supply
store, so I ended up having to change the name of the gym to
Vince’s Gym. I had a back office that doubled as a bedroom and I
had to wash up in the bathroom since the gym was not equipped
with showers. A lot of gyms back then did not have showers. I
showered everyday at the community college.
Before I decided to open the gym I did crunch the numbers based
on the number of people that told me that they would join & I
divided that number in half. Almost all the people that had told
me that I should open a gym before the depression mysteriously
could not be found or they were out of work. Evidently I over
estimated the percentage of people that would actually join.
Remember what I said? Most people talk bullshit.
Still a few customers started to trickle in. My first customers
were two sisters by the name of Connie & Barb and for the life
of me I cannot remember their mother and father’s name. The
entire family was very fit and they also made money in the
fitness industry by teaching aerobics and jazzercise at their
studio. The wanted to do more work on their bodies than what
their aerobics would give them. I charge twenty-five dollars a
month membership fee. The gym hours were open from eight AM till
eleven PM every day, except even Sundays
CHAPTER THREE
Juan – Neo
One day a new customer joined up at the gym. I never would have
ever guessed that he would become one of the most influential
people in my life. I never would have guessed that one day he
was to save my life & perhaps my soul.
This guy walks in and says, “Hey mate, my name is, (I don’t want
to give the name he used even though as it turns out even that
was not his real name, so for now I will refer to him as Juan).
Juan said, “I am looking to join this gym.”
He was
speaking softly with a tangy accent I could not place at first.
His voice was a rich baritone. Juan was dressed in overalls and
a gray long underwear shirt. His attire was loose fitting and
tapered, so it was hard to see if his musculature was bulky or
simply rangy. I figured rangy. He had very broad shoulders and
it seemed like he was lean and narrow in the waist and hips. His
arms looked a bit long for his height as did his legs. From the
first time I saw him and for a long time afterwards it was hard
for me to guess his weight or height. Normally I can estimate
these stats within five pounds and one or two inches, in fact I
was so good at this I could have made a living at a circus
guessing people’s stats. His hands were large and broad, larger
than normal for a man his size. His hands were attached to
larger prominent wrists. He had fingers that were longer and
thicker than most men his size. At first glance I could tell
that despite their size his hands and fingers were not
cumbersome or clumsy, they looked as though they were adroit and
dexterous.
Curious, I asked him out right his general stats and he was a
little evasive, not like he was trying to hide anything, but he
seemed to dismiss stats as unimportant.
He said well, “I really don’t give it too much thought, I guess
you could say I am tall enough to reach the ground or I weigh
enough not to be blown away.”
With each assertion Juan would just give a slight smile.
I estimated that Juan was about Six foot tall, which is an
average I came up with because he sometimes looked like he was
five foot ten inches, and other times he looked to be six foot
two inches tall. He looked like he weighed roughly about two
hundred pounds. Sometimes he looked to weigh one hundred and
ninety pounds and other times I would swear he weighed as much
as two hundred and twenty pounds.
Juan’s age was hard to determine because he had almost no lines
to his face or neck, yet his hair was mostly white with some
strands of hair that was raven black and very thick. He had his
hair pulled back in a casual ponytail with much of his hair
hanging over his ears. His hair was extraordinarily thick except
for a small area in the back which was thinning out a bit in the
typical monkish circle that most men get as they get older.
This area of his scalp while thinning you still had to look hard
even when his hair was hanging free from the ponytail. The rest
of his scalp was thickly covered and his hairline was fairly low
and very dense. His white hair was very curly and course,
without being dry, but instead seem to have luster.
The weight of his long hair kept the curls straightened out a
bit. Looking back I realize that his hair was a lot like the
famous shock Jock Howard Stern.
His unusual hair framed broad features. He had a bit of a
Cro-Magnon ridge with very prominent raven black eyebrows. He
had high broad cheekbones and set in the center of his face was
a very large nose which was a bit broad, long and hawk-like with
a just a touch of an aristocracy to the shape. Even though his
nose was a bit big for his broad face he was by no means Carl
Malden or Jimmy Durante’.
He had a strong broad jaw which seemed to be just a bit small
for his the upper part of his face. His chin which was also a
prominent mix of Kirk Douglas and Jessie the Body Ventura, yet
it seem to be over shadowed by his nose. He had broad full lips
that were not quite as full people of African descent.
He seemed to always have a slight non-toothy smile on his face,
but when he laughed or was especially amused he would show an
amazing set of choppers. His teeth were large, exceptionally
white, and pretty much even, except that his two incisors or
canines were just a bit longer than normal and set forward more
that what would be considered aesthetically perfect.
Overall to me he looked a bit like the love child of two famous
actors in their youth and they are Fred Ward and Charles
Bronson. Except for the color, size and shape of his eyes, and
his prominent brow ridge, eyebrows, and nose. I know that by
mentioning the differences of these features would make him look
anything like these two actors, but those two actors do have a
certain rough masculine quality that is both crude and
handsome…the term brutally handsome.
Even though he was accepted as brutally handsome, certainly not
male model material by most people. His face would be considered
very unconventional, & yet it was still a very compelling face.
What I thought was weird was that a good number of other people
thought he was non-descript unless someone pointed him out. He
had very dark skin, not as black as many East Indian people or
Australian Aborigines, instead his skin was a lighter with
certain olive and reddish bronze undertones.
The most unusual quality of his skin was that it appeared to be
totally devoid of blemishes, freckles, birthmarks, scars, or any
lighter or darker skin discolorations. His skin did not ever
appear to have rashes, or dry patches, but instead his skin
seemed to be clear, and pliant as pre-teenager. Even his
calloused hands were devoid of scars, freckles or spots.
The most remarkable and sometimes unsettling feature of Juan’s,
were his eyes. His eyes were wide set and large. They were
heavily lashed and the lids at the corners had a bit of an
epithelial fold. They were not round like most Caucasians, nor
were they slanted like the eyes of many Asians, and the shape
was much like what I have seen on the descendants of the Mayans.
The color of his eyes were especially peculiar, they were a
brilliant emerald green with lots of gold flecks, interspersed
with purplish violet-blue specks which was interspersed less
densely than the gold flecks.
Another weird thing about his eyes is they seem to swirl with a
life of their own. He had a duality about his eyes, sometimes he
seem to have the eyes of someone who had seen a every aspect of
life and other times he looked at you as if he was a newborn
baby innocent of sin and taking in all of the data around him in
the manner that you see babies doing.
I had Juan fill out an informational application to the gym. The
application asks the usual questions such as name, age, weight,
height, eyes, sex, employment, job history, education, criminal
record, residence, references, health profile. Juan filled in a
different name that I am using here.
Under age he puts old enough, under weight and height he puts
heavy enough, tall enough. Under eyes he put Yes, two, sex he
puts occasionally, Religion, - I like religions, Race – Child of
God, Financial status – Excellent, Employment - Logging, -- for
now. Employment History – “A little of this, a lot of that.”
Education – A lot of this a little of that, a student of life,
Criminal Record – Nothing to brag about, Military – Nothing to
brag about. Residence – Within my body, References – Which book
from the library? Health Profile - Fit as a fiddle. Hobbies –
Reading and studying, Learning new skills, Building things,
gardening, Lifting weights, scuba diving, Sky diving, Mountain
Climbing, Music, Painting, Sculpting, poetry, Yoga, Dancing,
working with charities, Teaching, Lots of Walkabouts, Working.
Looking at his application I thought he was jerking my chain &
being evasive. I did however get a kick out of his application.
Looking at the question of age, I looked at him closely trying
to see if I could guess. As I said his hair was extremely white,
except for the strands of glossy raven black lace throughout,
but with his skin I thought if he would pass for a
extraordinarily young looking fifty something, or a guy in his
thirties with hair that had gone prematurely white. Actually
when I often thought about it, the main reason I would think
fifty something was because he seemed to have an air of wisdom
or experience about him that seem impossible for anyone younger
that their fifties. I know that feeling is subjective, but that
is how I felt. I really could relate to his hobbies. I either
enjoyed many of the ones he listed or I have always wanted to
try some of the others he listed. I liked that he considered
helping charities. I wondered what the hell was a walkabouts, so
I asked him.
He said, “Ya know, traveling the world visiting my mates and
making new mates.
I said, “Mates, that’s an unusual term, were you in the Navy or
something.”
Juan said with a smile, “Or something … then he smiles and said,
“Na, mate is a term that us Australians use to refer to their
friends, especially their best buds.”
I thought to myself, “Ah, or course that explains his accent.”
Instead I stupidly said, “Oh.”
I
noticed that he had a peculiar way of acting --it was if he
suffered from a little shyness, but that wasn’t quite it. I
thought that instead that perhaps he was reserve, cautious in
that left people a space to be themselves.
I asked him about listing working as a hobby mentioning that
most people would not consider working to be a hobby or fun.
Juan said, “Well, what do most people know anyway?” He smiled
again, as the specks in his eyes seemed to swirl. Juan stuck his
hand out and said, “Well mate, how about it?” “Am I a member?”
I laughed as I took his hand to shake on the deal. My hand felt
like they were swallowed up in his and his grip was firm but
careful as if he did not want to accidentally break me, -- he
did not pull the usual I am as strong as Charles Atlas handshake
that a lot of men like to use.
He said, “Could ya point me to the dunny?” He saw my
blank expression, and he says, “Oh sorry mate, I meant
bathroom.”
I
point to the back.
He laughed showing his big flashing teeth and said. “Thanks
mate.”
With no further ado he turns away he goes to the dunny
and then when he is out, he starts working out. I noticed that
the weights that he used were exceptionally light, so light that
it appeared to be a waste of time for a man even two thirds his
size. I decided to just watch and keep my opinions to myself.
There was something about Juan that made me want to keep my
mouth shut and get to know him first by observation.
To
tell the truth, even though he seemed to possess a wacky sort of
quiet charisma, I also felt unsettled around him, and although I
couldn’t but my finger on why, maybe just a little bit scared.
The way other people responded to him was interesting. Juan had
a way of blending into the background. He was just unassuming,
that most of the time most people did not seem to notice him.
There were a few people in the gym that seem to find him even
more unsettling than I did. The people that seemed most likely
to dislike him were the men that made a habit of trying to
manipulate the perceptions and responses of everyone they came
in contact with.
For instances both Larry and Harry did not like Juan, they
thought he was odd and not to be trusted. Harry especially felt
this way. He swore that he had an instinctual distrust of people
who were not to be trusted. They both brought up the fact that
his application was evasive, so they thought that he was hiding
his life and possibly hiding from the law. I would ask them if
their accusations was like the pot calling the kettle black. I
also got the sense that both or these guys were a bit jealous of
him because they had a sense I seemed to enjoy his company.
I use to go to the A and W Restaurant in Springfield up near 42nd
St. I hung out there a lot because of the burgers, and the
pretty waitresses. One night Harry and I went there to get a
bite to eat. Juan was sitting at the counter eating a salad. I
greeted him as I walked in and Harry was a bit stiff around
Juan. Harry and I went to the far side of the diner to grab a
booth. Juan’s back was completely facing us.
As soon as we sat down, Harry started to make obscene gestures
and faces at Juan’s back. Juan seemed to know when to turn
around & catch Harry each time & then he would smile oddly at
Harry. Harry was so startled that he stopped midway with his
demeaning behavior and turned away a little embarrassed. I
snickered at Harry’s embarrassment. Harry decided to make faces
and gestures again and each time Juan had a strange but humorous
look on his face and he made the gesture of rubbing his right
forefinger over his left forefinger to silently say tch, tch,
tch shame on you. Every time Harry performed his insulting
gestures Juan would catch him in the act. Juan never turned
around when Harry was not pulling his crap.
I was perplexed as to how Juan was able to catch Harry
ridiculing him. There was no mirror, or window of any kind for
Juan to see behind him. As I went to the bathroom, I went by
Juan apologizing for Harry’s rude behavior. Juan just laughed
and said, “Ah no worries mate.” “Ya know that most people talk
bull dust.” “We all got our crosses ta bear.”
I said, “Bull dust, what the hell is that?”
Juan said, “Oh, its an Australian term for bullshit.”
I laughed and as I did I looked at the counter in front of Juan
to see if I could see any chrome napkin dispensers or anything
reflective allowing him to see behind him. There was nothing
reflective. When I came out of the bathroom Juan had paid his
bill and left. I sat where Juan set trying everything I could
think of to see behind me.
The
guy (I think his name was Bill Wooten) that was working at A and
W that night came asked me what I was doing, so I told him what
had transpired.
He just laughed, and mentioned, “Yeah Juan (Actually he called
him a different name) is a strange guy, a nice guy, but
strange.” “He’s done stuff like that a few other times to some
of the loggers he works with.”
“They
are a little afraid of him.” “They say he has done strange
things while working in the woods.”
Harry said, “Shit, I’m not afraid of him.” “If he ever messed
with me, I would use my kung Fu on him.” “Besides, why be afraid
of a guy that is too much of a wuss in the gym?”
I said, “If he works the woods he got to be pushing his body
pretty hard.”
Harry said, “Shit, I know a lot of people that slack in the
woods.”
Bill looked at me skeptically as he said to Harry, “No one works
the woods very long if they’re slackers.”
Many of the men at the gym that seemed disturbed the most by
Juan were by society’s standards the most physically capable
men. I have literally seen guy who were much taller and eighty
pounds heavier than Juan, posturing for him by squatting,
pressing, benching and doing all manner of weight exercises with
brutally heavy weights. They seemed to need to show off for him
even though Juan never did anything to show-off. Nor did he ever
brag, bully other people, and in fact as I said his workouts
seemed to be ridiculously light. I think the reason why many of
these men put out so much effort was because of the effect that
Juan had on the women that came into or worked out in the gym.
All of the women found him very attractive. In the words of most
of the women, “It’s not so much how he looks.” They would often
say breathlessly as their eyes would dilate, “He’s got a certain
animal and sexual magnetism.”
Curious, I pressed them for more info, I said, “I never see him
flirting with anyone.”
Usually they would say, “No but I wish he would.”
When I first opened the gym I met this young lady named Angela.
I met her working at a deli, and I was feeling a bit shy trying
to figure out how to ask her out. She turned the tables on me by
asking me out. She was very sexy with very blonde hair, blue
eyes and a wonderful figure. She was one little sex monkey.
It turned out that she was barely legal. She had just turned 18
and was still a senior at Dexter High School. She went there in
the morning and in the afternoon she went to the University of
Oregon taking advantage of her deceased father’s VA benefits.
She helped me to get the gym ready to open and she loved to stop
by for the sex. At twenty six years of age I felt like a middle
age old guy sullying a young flower. She was also quite taken by
Juan. Late one stormy night, Juan came into the gym shaking the
rain off his clothes.
His face was obscured by the hood on his rain gear and by the
goggles he was wearing because he had drove his motorcycle. He
had not shaven for a couple days and his face was very thick
with a heavy white and black whiskers.
He
pulled back his hood, took of the rain jacket and pulled back
the goggles, and he looked around the room with a flashing
smile.
Angela was transfixed staring at Juan, and she breathed out
sharply saying, “My God!” “He is beautiful.”
Her
tone of voice was filled with reverence and not without a good
measure of lust. From then on she would practically fall over
herself when she was around him.
Her admiration of Juan did not bother me since I am not the
jealous type and we had both been very clear on our desire to
see other people. She tried many times to seduce Juan, but he
acted as if he was ignorant of her attentions, he seemed to be
immune to her charms. Lots of other guys at the gym tried to put
the hit on Angela because of her beauty and because they could
tell she was a sex pistol The only two guys in the gym she went
for was me and Juan, although I know she would have left me in a
hot second for Juan.
Juan’s apparent immunity to Angela’s charms and his seeming
indifference to the other ladies in the gym had a lot of guys at
the gym wondering about his “manhood” or sexual inclinations.
These innuendoes and snide remarks seem to come from a few of
the guys that felt the need to be constantly demonstrating their
physical prowess and bragging constantly about their sexual
exploits or anything else that would make them look superior.
Larry and Harry both use to wonder why Juan never took part in
the usual sex talk that guys generally do, or why he never
responded in the typical fashion to the women that were putting
the hit on him.
One of the large power lifters who had been exiled openly
inferred to Juan that he was gay. Back then those were fighting
words for most guys that were hetero. I jumped in trying to
smooth things over but Juan motioned me back with a gesture of
his hand.
Juan looked at the bruiser and said in the most perfect
imitation of the German solder on the variety show “Laugh In”,
“So, that’s what you what ya think huh?”
The bruiser said, “Yeah that’s what I pretty much think.”
Juan stayed with the mimicry, “Interesting, very interesting.”
He did not seem angry or disturbed in the least.
The guy was irritated that he had not got the reaction he
expected.
He said, “What’s interesting?”
Juan said, “It is very interesting that you would take the
energy to even wonder or care about me regarding anything.” “You
must spend a lot of time watching me.”
The implication was clear, in that there must have been
something that attracted the bruiser or the others to pay all
that attention to him. His German accent was perfect. The
bruiser was embarrassed by Juan’s allegations. After that no one
ever openly question Juan’s sexual preferences.
BACK TO HOMEPAGE |