Cody felt the car pull off the main road, and then slowly pull into a parking spot a moment later. He had gotten pretty good at being able to tell what was going on around him, but he was constantly working to get better at it. For most of his life he had been blissfully unaware of his surroundings. It had never seemed important to him. Now he was painfully unaware of his surroundings, and he had to make an extreme effort just to know what was going on.
It had been nearly five years since he had lost his sight, and he was only now starting to get used to being able to take care of himself. He still needed help with all sorts of things he didn't before, like being driven around, but he was getting better at being alone. He had only just moved to town a week ago, and he didn't know anyone but his buddy Frank, who had been in the marines with him. Frank had been the one who sold Cody on moving in the first place, so he was going out of his way to help Cody out as he adjusted.
"Alright man," Frank said as he got out of the driver's side of his grey ford pickup. "You're gonna like it here. There's always hot chicks everywhere."
"I think I'm going to have to take your word for it Frank," Cody said as he climbed out of his side of the car.
"Oh, right, shit, my bad dude," Frank said as he remembered Cody wouldn't be able to appreciate the view of all the hot chicks working out.
"No worries," Cody laughed, "you can tell me about them later. I'm just hoping it will be easy to move around in there."
"What makes it easy?" Frank asked, still trying to get used to being his blind friend's guide.
"Not having shit lying on the ground," Cody said, taking his stick out, and shutting the door. "Or stuff being at weird angles where I'll bump into them. Shit you wouldn't even think of man. It's always shit you wouldn't even think of."
"Ya, I guess so," Frank said, pitying his blind friend a bit. "Here, this way," he took Cody's arm and pointed him in the right direction, and they started walking. When they got to the door, Frank held it open for Cody, and followed him in. "See man, I told you there's always hot chicks here," Frank said, admiring a few of the gorgeous women working out throughout the gym.
"No Frank, I don't see," Cody said flatly.
"Oh shit, my bad dude," Frank said, and slapped his own forehead. "I'm really sorry man, I'll get better at that, I swear."
"It's fine," Cody laughed. He was used to that kind of stuff, and he had thicker skin than most. He usually found it more amusing than insulting. "Just quit apologizing and show me where the benches are."
"They're right over there," Frank pointed, knowing Cody would get the joke.
"Very funny asshole," Cody said, nodding his head in amusement. Frank laughed loudly, and took Cody by the arm. As Frank led Cody over to a workout bench, he did notice there being random stuff on the ground. He never would have noticed before, but he understood what Cody meant. There was a dumbbell lying in their path, and Cody would have to be very lucky to hit it perfectly with his stick. He would almost definitely trip over it if Frank wasn't helping.
"Ya, there is a lot of shit on the ground," Frank said, leading Cody around the weight. "I never noticed before."
"Why would you," Cody pointed out, "you can just step over it."
"Ya," Frank agreed. They reached a free bench, and Frank took Cody's arm and helped him feel it. Cody nodded, and sat down. "Ok, how much weight on the bar?" Frank asked, walking over to the plates.
"Start with two forty fives on each side," Cody said. He was not in nearly as good of shape as he had been in before he got wounded, but he had kept some of it. He intended to get back in that kind of shape, which was exactly why he had asked Frank to take him to a gym. Cody could hear all the old familiar sounds of gym life, and it was instantly comforting. He could hear treadmills in the distance, and bars and weights crashing somewhere to his left. Someone nearby was grunting loudly, and it all made Cody feel more at ease. He didn't need to see to feel at home in a gym.
"Ok," Frank said with a grunt as he hefted the last plate onto the bar. "What about dumbbells?"
"Give me two thirties," Cody said, carefully laying down on the bench and reaching up for the bar. Frank fetched the weights, and placed them on either side of the bench, but not where Cody would trip on them. "Ok, you want a spot?"
"No, I got it," Cody said. "You go do your thing."
"You sure," Frank asked again. He wasn't used to helping someone like Cody out, and he felt a little weird about leaving a blind guy all alone in a busy gym.
"I'm good Frank," Cody said, lifting the bar up, and resting it above him for a moment. He brought the bar down, and then back up in a quick fluid motion. Frank watched for a moment, making sure Cody was indeed ok by himself, saw that he was, and walked away to try to hit on one of the many beautiful women in the gym. It was one of the nicest gyms in the area, and had a reputation for having very attractive people. Frank knew that meant he was more likely to get yelled at, but he didn't care; he wasn't going to just stare at all these babes without shooting his shot at least once.
Cody benched the bar seven times, and then felt his arms beginning to tire on him. He carefully placed the bar back, making sure it really was stable before letting go. He had once been able to bench that much weight twenty times with ease, but that was why he was here, to get back to that. He reached down, and found the dumbbells where Frank had left them for him. He lifted them up, and began doing curls.
Cody could hear girls working out close by, and wished he could see them. He had never truly appreciated how beautiful women were until he couldn't see them anymore. He still remembered though. And he still remembered what hot girls in gyms looked like. He even remembered working out in gyms before guys got yelled at for staring at girls. Now he just wished he could see them. He could hear the ones nearby talking quietly. He strained to hear them, but they were whispering, as if they didn't want him to hear. He always appreciated his own privacy, so he gave the girls theirs, and went back to working out. He lifted for a while, and then placed the weights back at his sides. For a moment he just sat on the bench, panting slightly from the lifting, and enjoying all the sounds going on around him.
"Um, excuse me," a woman's voice said from somewhere close by. Cody cocked his head to hear what was going on. The voice sounded angry. "Hey, are you really just going to stare at my ass like that?" The voice said. Cody chuckled softly to himself, wondering what idiot had just gotten caught. He wished he could see the perv and the girl. "Hey," the girl's voice said, closer and louder than before, and angrier. "Are you just going to ignore me? I'm talking to you creep. Quit staring at my ass!" Cody quickly realized that the girl was yelling at him, and he couldn't stop himself from laughing out loud.
"You think that's funny!" The girl shouted. "I can have you banned from this gym you fucking creep!"
"Lady, I'm blind," Cody said, still laughing. He had gotten into similar situations a few times since going blind, but never quite this bad.
"Ya right," the girl said aggressively. "I saw you staring right at my ass."
"I'm blind," Cody said slowly, as if he were talking to an idiot. "I'm not staring at anything. Or rather, I'm staring at nothing," he corrected himself. "I'm staring into an abyss," he corrected again, trying to get it right for no reason at all. "Unfortunately your ass isn't in that abyss. Believe me, I wish it was. I'm sure your ass is worth staring at, but I'm afraid I'm incapable."
"Ugh, men are such pigs," the woman huffed, and Cody laughed again. "I'm going to get a manager. You'll be banned from this place creep!" Cody heard the woman storming off in the other direction, and just shook his head. He knew stuff like this happened, but it still got him every time. He did wonder where Frank had gotten to. He could probably make this whole thing go a lot smoother than it was currently going. Cody waited, but after a long moment of nothing happening and no one speaking to him, he laid back down and lifted the bar again. He only did three reps before hearing the girl's footsteps returning, accompanied by someone else's.
"That's him," the girl's voice said in a harsh accusatory manor. "He was blatantly staring at my ass. And then when I confronted him he said it was worth staring at. He needs to be kicked out." Cody had to be careful as he placed the bar back while he laughed even harder than before. He knew the girl had gotten someone who worked at the gym, and they had come to kick him out.
"Sir," a young man's voice said, already sounding stern. "This woman says you've been staring at her." Cody sat up, reached to his face, and pulled his sunglasses down with a big smile. He still didn't actually know what his eyes looked like, but he knew what kind of reaction they got from people. They didn't disappoint. He could hear several gasps as he showed off his eyes, and wondered how many people were watching this all go down.
"I'm blind," Cody said, covering his eyes again. "I wasn't staring at her or anything else. I'm sure she is well worth staring at, but I wasn't. Because I cant. Because I'm blind." Cody could hear people laughing softly close by, including at least one girl.
"I'm so sorry sir," the man's voice said. "This was all a big mistake."
"No problem," Cody shrugged. "Does that mean I'm not in trouble?"
"No sir," the man said quickly. "I'm very sorry about this. If there's anything you need, please don't hesitate to ask."
"Thanks," Cody nodded, "I've got it all taken care of for now."
"This is bullshit," the woman's voice said angrily. "He probably isn't even blind."
"Mam, this man is very clearly blind," the gym worker said, sounding properly offended on Cody's behalf.
"Then how did he even get here," the woman asked. "Isn't he like, supposed to have some kind of blind dog or something?"
"They're called service animals or seeing eye dogs," Cody said, "and mine is around here somewhere. He'll show up sooner or later."
"Uh, actually we don't allow service animals in the building," the young employee said uncomfortably.
"I know," Cody chuckled, "I was kidding. My buddy brought me here. I think he's over by the ellipticals or something. He'll come get me sooner or later."
"Right, sorry," the worker said. "Mam, I'm sorry for any discomfort you might have experienced, but this was all clearly a big misunderstanding."
"How do you even know he's blind," the woman said, not letting it go.
"Seriously," Cody laughed again, and pulled his glasses back down. He heard a few gasps again, even though he had already shown his eyes.
"Mam, he is very obviously not lying," the man said, getting stern with her now. "Now if you would please go back to your workout, and let this gentleman get back to his."
"But he's just going to go back to staring at my ass," the woman said, and Cody shook his head and laughed harder. He had never experienced anyone not accept it after the mistake was clearly made.
"Mam, please, he's blind," the worker said more firmly. The young man sounded equally flummoxed and annoyed. "Now if you don't leave him alone I'll have to ask you to leave."
"Are you fucking kidding me, me!" the girl said, as if she couldn't believe such a thing could even be spoken aloud. "He's the one perving on people!"
"Dude, he wasn't staring at your ass," a new girl's voice said from somewhere off to the left. "He's blind, just leave him alone."
"So no one has a problem with this guy staring at girls in the gym" the first girl said, not giving up a single inch.
"He's not staring," the second girl said. "I do have a problem with the way you're treating this guy though."
