A few days had passed, and once again Deb was in the Power Station, pumping out set after set of dips and barbell curls, in an otherwise deserted gym. In a sea of turmoil, Deb found the gym to be an island of calm and peace. For an hour or two it was just her and the weights, and she felt in control. There was a noticeboard on the wall next to her, covered with photos of gym members, mostly bodybuilders, posing and holding trophies. “I wonder if my picture will ever be there?” She chuckled at the notion.
Her main concern was her father, who since the funeral had thrown himself even deeper into his work, sometimes not returning home until well after 8pm, and then leaving home the following morning before seven. He was even talking about postponing his retirement as he didn't see the point in it any more. Deb had noticed him rubbing his chest occasionally, “Just a twinge”, he'd tell her. Claire was little better, college and Tyler keeping her out of the house so much that she'd barely crossed paths with Deb at all recently.
She was getting into a routine, wake up, breakfast, housework, gym, lunch, housework or shopping, dinner and bed. She was 22, going on 52. It had started as her way of trying to hold things together for her Dad and Claire, but they had both thrown themselves into their own lives without a thought for her. Debbie knew they were hurting, but so was she. Something had to change.
Deb sensed someone behind her, and turned to find Kahlil. A short, stocky man, he had rich, olive skin and short black hair, shaved at the sides, with short, tight curls on top. He was wearing a tight yellow T-Shirt, with “I don't hate you, I'm just not excited by your existence.” printed on the front. The letters were slightly miss-shapen as they stretched across his muscular frame. Although Debbie didn't know him well, they seemed to cross paths in the gym fairly regularly, and he'd spotted for her a couple of times.
“Hi Kahlil, what's up?”
“Not much Deb. I was hoping I'd see you today. I heard about a Powerlifting contest next month at the Sports Centre and I though of you. There's a category for “First-Timers”, and with your gym lifts, I think you'd do well. Plus it'll be fun!”
“Powerlifting?” Asked Deb, preparing to dismiss the idea, before thinking again, “Why not! What do I need to do to sign up?”
“There's a website with all the details, give me your number and I'll Whatsapp you the link. It's not an official contest through a federation, but it'll be a good experience.”
“Thanks Kahlil, I'll take a look.”
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The next few weeks dragged on with little change in Debbie's situation. Claire and Tyler finally split up after a couple of days of arguments. Claire had been pushing to move in with Tyler after her 18th birthday in a couple of weeks, Tyler was not so keen, and apparently didn't do a good enough job of hiding the fact from her. She kicked him out of her room one evening, before locking herself in there for what seem like an entire weekend. Break up songs and sobbing could be heard through her door, but she seemed in no mood to talk.
Deb's father, Jack, was still working too hard. He had slowed down a little though, and Debbie had succeeded in getting him to eat a healthy breakfast before going to work in the mornings. He'd started going to a pub quiz once a week with a couple of his work colleagues, a good sign that he was starting to heal perhaps?
The Powerlifting contest was the next day, and the butterflies in Debbie's stomach were driving her to distraction. She was excited to be trying something new, and was looking forward to really pushing herself to see what she was capable of. Kahlil had helped her prepare, tweaking her form on the three competition lifts (Squat, Bench Press and Deadlift), as well as teaching her the commands from the referee to ensure she would get her lifts passed by the judges. Serious powerlifters often wore special tight lifting suits and clothing that would help them handle heavier weights, but this contest also had a “Raw” class for people who would lift in a standard singlet. Deb had bought hers online, black with a red trim. It looked good on her, especially with a red t-shirt underneath. She'd been training for a couple of years now, and even though she'd not been training specifically for the sport, she'd built a level of strength that should ensure she didn't embarrass herself she thought. It was her last thought before she finally succumbed to sleep.
The morning came far too quickly, and Debbie found herself stepping off the bus outside the Sports Centre before she knew it. Kahlil met her just inside the doors, and steered her toward the weigh-in room, waiting outside whilst she completed her registration and was weighed. She was exactly 80kg apparently, which put her in the second heaviest weight class for women competitors, of which there were two others also in her category. At least I'm guaranteed 3rd place, thought Deb with a chuckle. Across all the various weight classes 12 women were taking part. Her equipment was checked by the judges to ensure it was within the rules, and she was changed and ready to warm up in no time.
The warm-up area consisted of a room at the back of the main sports hall that was probably usually a store room. It had been emptied out and a bench, squat rack and a couple of weight sets placed in there. The women and lightest weight class for the men would complete their 3 attempts on each lift first, followed by the rest of the men's categories. (Kahlil would be in this group.) This divided the lifters into roughly even groups, and it made it easier for the volunteers to load and unload the bar as the competitors were using similar weights.
There was about 20 minutes before the contest would start, so Deb began warming up, she did a few bodyweight squats, some stretches, then walked over to the squat rack. One of the other women was just finishing a set with the empty bar. Very short, probably about 5'3”, with thick, powerful, thighs and spiked pink hair, her fellow competitor certainly made an impression, she nodded at Deb and smiled as she stepped away. Deb got under the bar and quickly pumped out a set of 6 easy reps, she felt good, confident.
Kahlil waved Debbie over to the doorway, smiling as she approached.
“You all set? What's your opener?” he asked.
“I think so. I'm going to start with 60kg, then if that feels good I'll try 70kg with the second attempt.”
“Good luck, I'll watch you and try and get a few pictures for the gym wall.”
At that moment the organiser called all the competitors together, and they were off and running. Deb would be the second to last lifter in the order, and would follow pink-hair, so that made it easy. She went and did another warm-up set as the first lifter walked out, then grabbed her energy drink, took a sip, and started watching the action. A few minutes later pink hair walked out, and the MC announced that Debbie would be up after her. Pink hair was in the same weight class as Deb, and was also starting on 60kg, it looked like there would be a battle between the two of them. She made her lift with ease, three white flags from the judges indicating a good lift. As she walked off stage past Deb she gave a small smile and whispered “Good luck!”
The moment of truth, thought Debbie as she settled in under the bar, low across her upper back. She gripped the bar firmly, looked slightly up, rather than forward, and unracked the bar. A half step backwards, then on command, she began to squat. A moment later she felt her hips drop below parallel, a brief pause, and she powered her way back up to her starting position. The lift felt smooth and relatively easy. The bar was re-racked, and she got a quick “good job” from her spotters as she stepped away. Three white flags, a good start, she was off and running. She caught a glimpse of Kahlil standing off to the side, he gave her a thumbs up and a big grin.
Debbie's second lift with 70kg went the same way, as did her third with 75kg. She thought that perhaps she'd been too conservative and should have chosen 80kg, but it was her first time so she put it down to experience. Pink hair had lifted 80kg with her third lift, although it looked a struggle, meaning that Debbie was 5kg behind her after the Squat. The other woman in her category had “bombed out”, failing to complete her first two squats, injuring herself in the process, and withdrawing before her 3rd attempt. She limped out of the sports hall in floods of tears, being consoled by a couple of friends.
Next up was the Bench Press, Debbie's favourite lift. She again successfully completed all three of her lifts, with a best of 75kg. Pink's best was 72.5kg. The gap was closing, with only 2.5kg separating them. Deb had checked, and she was slightly lighter than Pink (real name Kaytee), meaning that in the event of a tie, she would win by virtue of lighter bodyweight.
The final lift was the Deadlift, which worried Debbie a little. Although she enjoyed deadlifting, she did worry that Pink's shorter legs would be an advantage as she wouldn't have to lift the bar as high? She was starting to feel a little tired at this stage. Three more lifts and done, she thought to herself. Pink opened with a lift of 70kg and pulled it without much issue, Debbie matched it, a pair of good lifts. Pink followed up with a hard fought 80kg, again Deb matched it, with plenty left in the tank it seemed.
The final round of lifts was upon us, and neither Pink or Debbie had failed a lift yet. Debbie knew that if she completed her next lift, she would win! Excitement fought with tiredness and nerves, she was a bundle of emotions. Pink attacked the bar loaded to 85kg, she aggressively ripped it up off the floor before it slowed around her knees, although she kept fighting, the bar finally stopped moving a few inches before she was able to complete the lift. The first failure of the contest put Debbie in pole position if she could do it!
She rubbed chalk on her hands to help with grip, and stepped confidently into position.
“Go Debbie” she heard yelled by several voices, as she tightly grasped the bar. She pulled with all her strength, and the bar quickly rose up and past her knees, although it started to slow, Deb pushed through with her hips, and stood erect with the bar solidly within her hands, there were a few cheers from the crowd, and she lowered the bar to the floor under control to complete the lift. She'd done it!
That evening at home, Debbie felt truly happy for the first time since her mother's accident. She'd stepped out of her comfort zone and tried something new. Not only that, she'd been good at it, and met some nice people. Kaytee (Pink) had chatted to her for a few minutes after the contest and was both friendly and funny. She'd given Deb her number and invited her to meet up for a workout sometime. She'd also started developing a friendship with Kahlil, who had been really helpful all day, despite competing himself. (He also won!) Deb looked for the 27th time at the small, cheap trophy sitting on her desk. It probably cost a tenner, but to her right now it was priceless, especially as her dad, and Claire, had made the effort to see her win it. We'll get through this, she thought to herself, as her eyes closed, and she drifted off to sleep.
CIVILISATION WILL FALL.
EARN THE SKILLS TO BUILD A SOCIETY.
Wha? Huh?
Deb awoke with a start.
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