Plimpton Middle School. Age fourteen. Wrestling in gym class. Chests pressed together. Legs entwined. Gym teacher Lance Alder instructing the two of them to practice a variety of wrestling moves: headlock, bear hug, arm bar, cradle, the lift, the back step, half nelson. Innocent moves between boys who will soon be young men. Pinning each other to the mat. Sweating against cheeks. Private parts touching. Legs locked together. Unmoving.
Carr grunting, “Say uncle…Say uncle…Say uncle.”
Plimpton High School. The track team. Running beside each other in their tight shorts and Nike shoes. Bouncing up and down. Huffing. Sweating. The fifty-yard dark. The one hundred-yard dash. Miles and miles of running around the track together. Kicking up dust. Racing each other. Always competing as boys. Toe-
