Free Being Celeste by Tshetsana Senau Page B

leave the class. I don’t do things
like this in public. The pudgy twosome were jumping around in circles helping
out the mood of my proud and amused self. So in a minute, I was in there as
well, participating. This was one to go in the record books, for me. There were
people looking in through the glass window in the gym. I don’t know what they
were looking at but I was not going to be paranoid. Knowing that I was not the
worst, out of shape person in there made me feel so confident that when Trevor
leaped, pretending he could fly, I was right behind him, leaping like my life
depended on it.
    I was looking forward to all the leaps and
twirls I would do in the evening. Next week, I’ll be taking on tae bo. I
researched it on the internet. I think all the anger I have should be put to
good use, don’t you think? Aerobics is just too fruitcake for me. I need
something more vigorous if losing weight isn’t going to take two years to
accomplish.
    “Good morning, dear Kate!” I said,
springing into the boutique escaping the cold from outside. The weather was a
strange thing. In the mornings and evenings, it would be so freezing, you’d
never want to leave the house, but during the day it was like summer all over
again. Dry and hot.
    “Hey Celeste, you look rather chipper this
morning. Was it a great workout?” she replied, taking her attention from
whatever she was doing behind the counter.
    “It was wonderful.” I didn’t complete that.
It was wonderful because I saw my weight.
    “I have something for you.”
    “Oooh, a gift?” I hurried over to her,
filled with curiosity.
    Kate bent down and brought out a pile of
old magazines from under the counter. She sighed and said, “This is it!”
    “Magazines.” What?
    “Yes. These are my mother’s old health
magazines. I dug in the storage room for them all evening yesterday. You are
going to look for healthy diet plans in here, fit for vegetarians .”
    She said diet. I’m not on a diet!
    “Did you have any breakfast today?”
    Ugh, can’t she at least let me sit and
dissolve all that has happened at gym first? What’s with all of this breakfast
fuss all of a sudden? “No, I haven’t.”
    “That’s okay, because I brought you oatmeal,
from home. It’s still hot. I read that it’s packed with fibre.”
    Kate handed me my breakfast. Now she’s a dietician. But really, what would I do without my best friend? Right
now I’d be eating a carrot stick, waiting anxiously for lunch, celery. I’ve
already given her two awards for best friend ever.
    We looked all morning through the
magazines, well, in between helping out customers (it was a busy morning). We
narrowed the meal plans down to seven days. They all looked yummy. I just
couldn’t wait to have them and embrace having no meat in my life. It is going
to be hard, I must admit. In my country, meat is the most important part of the
diet. I don’t think that there are many people who claim to be vegetarians. I
was raised on meat and meat values. We could have it for breakfast, lunch and
supper, and it still wouldn’t be enough. And I’m not even referring to chicken;
I mean pure, unadulterated beef. We are beef people. Which is why my parents
don’t take me seriously, because they know what I’m attempting is impossible. I
question my intentions too, but then I don’t care, I’m just going to try.
    *************
    My sister keeps calling at home to notify
us of the time she’ll be here. I have to admit, I can’t wait to see her. It’s
been a while, you know. I just hope she doesn’t make any snotty comments about
my new lifestyle, or ask me about my love life. One time she said that she was
worried about me, and asked me if I wasn’t a lesbian. Now I have nothing
against being a lesbian, in fact I’ve thought about it, considered my options,
but I’m positive and sure that I’m not a lesbian. I’m just very unlucky right
now. My plan with Kate will bring me fortune in the love