They are everywhere; tough,
aggressive , loud, noisy, messy and strong… they are men !
You could feel the testosterone
the moment you get into that big gym! Men everywhere… everyone of them is
working out and building his body for a reason; some want to be more attractive
in the eyes of women, others want to be more ‘mocho’ , while some of them go there
to lose weight and be healthier…
Joseph was looking for his gym
buddies… His friend Adam entered the gym
very quickly that , when Joseph said ‘hey’ to him, answered without even
looking . Then he saw Omar on the bench
holding very heavy weights , he stood by the bench and helped him, but Omar
seemed to be very consumed in his thoughts
that they did not say a word while doing the exercise. He then decided to go
upstairs and take his gym bag and leave; passing by the shower area he saw
Sami, about to get into the shower.
He held his hand and asked him:
“Hey buddy, aren’t you going to take off your clothes before getting into the shower?”
Sami looked at him and said
quietly before he let his hand out of Joseph’s : “No.”
Joseph took his bag and left the
gym !
*******************************
He entered the gym quickly ,
replied to someone who said ‘hey’ without even recognizing or looking at the
person who said it, and ran towards his
destination. He did not even take a key for a closet nor did he change his
clothes, he jumped over the treadmill and started running !!!!
Adam is a person who follows the
rules, even though he is 36 years old, he never broke any rule in his life, not
even when he was in college… but this
time he did, instead of starting at a low speed and then increasing it, he
started running immediately… he wanted to sweat .. just sweat…
He watched himself on the mirror while
running, he noticed the drops of sweat forming on his forehead.. he had black
short hair with some grey hairs that made him more attractive and actually look
younger! The moment he started sweating heavily, his tears started falling !!!
He wanted to sweat so he can just cry without anyone noticing him , he ran and
ran… cried and cried….
The faster he ran, the more he
cried.… minutes ago he had just known that his wife, the love of his life..has been
cheating on him.. He never thought of his marriage as a perfect one , yet he
couldn’t believe that after seven years of marriage , this would happen. He was
overwhelmed with all kinds of feelings; rage, anger and betrayal… but the one
that conquered him the most was the need to cry !!
After one hour of running , he
stopped the machine ; what he did later was explained by people around him as a
sign of exhaustion after all the hard work, but actually it was nothing but a
sign of his desperation…
He stopped the treadmill, fell
down on the ground , sweating and crying… and then he… started screaming !!!
*********************
Sami entered the gym with a big
smile, spoke to couple of guys and then started working out. Sami belongs to
the group of people who are loved by everyone; he is nice, sociable,
understanding and add to this that being overweight made people think more of him
as a ‘cute’ person.
He always looks at himself during
the aerobics class, he looks at his dark blond hair and gray eyes….. He hates
it when people keep saying :It is true that he is heavy, yet he has a very
handsome face. He was never able to overcome his weight issues even though he
goes to the gym regularly… His battle with weight is similar to his other
battles, he never fights fiercely , he just works on keeping things stable.
His work out was over, and while
going to the shower he noticed his friend Adam running on the treadmill very
fast that he thought of going to him and ask him to slow down a bit, but he was
stopped by a phone call. When he finished it, he headed immediately to the
shower and when he was about to step in, he felt a hand holding his.
“Hey buddy, aren’t you going to
take off your clothes before getting into the shower?”, Joseph asked.
“No.”, he said quietly and took
his hand out of Joseph’s.
He stepped into the shower with
his clothes on, opened the hot water tap, and stood under it quietly while
wrapping his hands around his body like a scared little boy who was about to be
beaten… he couldn’t stop his tears from
falling within the heavy flow of water…
Some people plan their day while
having a shower while others enjoy the feeling of relaxation that hot water gives them… Sami kept thinking of
her… how they met, how he believed in love at first sight, how they became
friends, how they became best friends, how he couldn’t imagine his life without
her …. and how his heart was broken minutes ago when she called him to say that
she is getting married!!!
He stood under the water for a
long time, he could feel the weight of the wet clothes pushing him down…. He
stood on his knees,, laid his head on the wall and cried…. Silently!!!
********************************
Omar was into perfection !
perfect body, perfect clothes and perfect grades at university… Everyone at the
gym was impressed and jealous of that ripped body that no one can pass by
without noticing. The only thing that was far away from perfect was his family,
a father who is living his middle age crisis, a mother who got addicted to
several types of medicine and a brother and sister who have done every single
mistake in the book!
The best way to describe his state
is that he got used to his family the way they are, he learned how to cover for
his father’s affairs, how to lie to the pharmacist to get big amounts of
medicine for his mom and how to ‘clean up’ the mess caused by his two
siblings..
He thought that when his turn
comes to tell them , that they would understand…He stood in front of them and
started speaking… he allowed himself for the first time to cry in front of them
as he was telling them about everything
that he wanted to say since he was
fourteen, those feelings that he oppressed for a long time, the feeling of
shame he had within and how he couldn’t stand it anymore and how desperate he
was for his family’s support…
That cold house where no one
speaks to the other, the house that some people might think that no one lives
in, was full of screams and chaos..
He was stunned, looking at his
family members who suddenly became ‘angels’ preaching all over the place,
judging him and saying all kinds of bad words to him… He left them screaming
and got out of the house.
He went to the gym and started his body building session , he
just wanted to distract himself from what had just happened, he lifted very
heavy weights, he wanted to bury himself under them , he wanted to feel the
physical pain instead of the psychological one.. His gym partner was not there,
he was all by himself, at one point he was not able to hold the weights
anymore, he wanted to scream at that moment but Joseph’s body standing on the
metal stand over him stopped him, he helped him do the exercise and then went
upstairs….
He kept playing and lifting
weights until every excruciating pain found its way to every single muscle in
his body. He then stood up and left the gym.
****************************
When Sami went out of the gym he
was shocked seeing Adam, Omar and Joseph waiting by the entrance…
“Hello guys, what are you doing
here?”
“I wish I could know, but Joseph
refuses to tell us, he is keeping us hostages here until you come…” Omar
answered.
Adam took his hoodie off his head
and looked at Joseph and said to him:
“So, since all of us are here , what is it Omar? And remember that I told you
that I am not in the mood of hanging out, so if it is something silly, I swear
I am gonna….”
Joseph’s answer interrupting
Adam’s sentence was followed by a long silence…
“It did not work! My surgery did
not work!”
When no one could answer, Joseph
completed with his teary eyes: “I want to talk, I want to let it out.. I am
desperate, I am sad, I am angry, I just feel the urge to cry… It all came out
of a sudden that I am unable to comprehend what has just happened… “
While he was talking, every guy
felt that he was being described… they all hoped they had the courage to let it
out the same way Joseph did…
“I just feel alone… just alone.”
Adam and Sami hugged him, and
Omar said: “Don’t worry, it is gonna be ok! It is just a test… a very difficult
test that hopefully you will get out of it stronger…. Cry and let it out… we
are here for you…
*************************
They are everywhere…
Unable to express their feelings
because they were taught that emotions must be oppressed…
Crying silently away from the
whole world hoping for a hand to pat over their shoulder…
Desperate for speaking and
letting it all out but as if a hand is pressing hard over their throats, mouths
and souls preventing them from it…
Sensitive,,,, Kind hearted and
human….
They are … men !
***************************
