by Zeke Jarvis
Lewis walked up to the gym and sighed. Part of knowing that you were pudgy was knowing that everyone else heading in would recognize that too. But at least he was going to try to do something about it. A couple of bros walked past him and headed in, not paying any attention to him. After the doors closed behind them, he headed in. Lewis found his trainer, Brady. Brady gave a little nod and a fingergun, “What’s up Lew?”
Lewis gave a little wave. “Not much.” Lewis went close to Brady, and he quietly said, “I was thinking of adding a little something to my fitness plan.”
Brady smiled. It was condescending without quite being officially mean. “What do you have in mind?”
“What do you know about GetJakked?”
Brady’s smile faltered a little bit. He did a quick look around, then took a step towards Lewis. “How’d you hear about that, man?”
Lewis shrugged. “Ads?”
Brady was quiet for a few seconds. Lewis looked away, listening to the sounds of weights clinking. Eventually Brady got very close and put a hand on Lewis’s shoulder. Lewis could feel the heat from Brady’s body. “Listen, if you want, I can try to get you some, but this isn’t something that you fuck around with, right? This is something that you have to go into with your eyes open.”
Lewis wasn’t sure if he should be terrified or excited, but he felt like, if he walked away from it now, he wouldn’t get another chance. He said, “I’m in,” then, after a couple of seconds, “How much does it cost?”
Brady nodded, staring at Lewis. “It’s not a money thing. It’s a commitment thing. It’s a living the lifestyle thing. Understand?”
Lewis did not understand. “I’m gonna stick with it. I promise.”
Brady put his hand on Lewis’s back and led him forward. “This isn’t something that you can tell people about, okay? I’ve seen you working hard, and I want to help you out, so I’m going to let you into a world. But that means that you have to respect the whole secrecy thing, right?”
Lewis felt like his head was spinning. For a few seconds, he thought that maybe Brady was going to take him to some secret room, beat the shit out of him, and take all of his money. As he kept Lewis moving, Brady would nod or point at different people. It was so strange for Lewis to be invisible on his way to something that might change his life. When they actually got to the back room, Lewis saw that it wasn’t a scam. Or, if it was a scam, it wasn’t just him getting beaten up and stolen from. There were rows of shelves with bottles of GetJakked. Brady took one and gave it to Lewis. “Here it is,” he said. “You use it, and it will for real change your life. But you can’t fuck it up. You have to be smart about it.”
Lewis held the bottle in his hand. He rocked it a bit and heard the pills rattle. “Do I take them now?”
Brady let out a laugh. “Sure man, take one, and we’ll go rock the weights.”
Lewis opened the bottle and peeled off the seal. He looked around the room. There was a water cooler in the corner. He looked at Brady and then headed over to it. He tossed a pill in his mouth. It tasted a little like iron, and Lewis quickly poured water into a paper cone, drank, and swallowed. He wasn’t sure what he expected, but he didn’t feel much of anything at first. Brady slapped him on the back and said, “That’s it. You’re in now.”
Not knowing what else to say, Lewis said, “Thanks man.” They went back out and hit the bench. Lewis did okay. It wasn’t a new personal best, but Brady kept laughing and giving him high fives, and that felt like something. Lewis was touched.
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