Carmela + Amos

Chapter 15 - Amos

          If someone asked Amos where he imagined himself at twenty-eight years old, the answer would not have been living at his mom's house, in his childhood bedroom, across from his grown-ass brother. Nor would he have pictured himself as a single man. Instead, he imagined marriage and kids or at least being on the path to it, but Lorena wanted to complete career milestones which kept pushing things off. Now, all of that waiting felt like such a waste of time.

"Gripping that guitar a little too hard," Carlos said from the doorway. "Either you're sexually frustrated, or you're imaging it's Lorena's neck."

Amos glared at him over his shoulder. "Not funny."

"I thought it was." He shrugged. "How about taking a break from cutesifying your room and coming to the gym with Cass and me?"

"This room is a mess. Look at everything I need to unpack."

"Oh, come on! You can take an hour break. It'll be good to let out all that pent-up aggression."

"You know if I don't do this, mom will start messing with my stuff, and then I won't know where anything is. Plus, I need to make some calls to find an apartment."

"Why? And miss out on mom's cooking? You've lost your mind."

"I can't mooch off her forever. This is only temporary."

"Yes, you can! Having her boys under the same roof again is a damn dream for her. She lives for this shit."

"Carlos..." Amos narrowed his stare. "This is only temporary, so the sooner I get all of this done, the sooner I can be on my own again."

"Cool, but that doesn't mean you can't come to the gym. And you really should. Your stomach is getting flabby." 

"It's not!"

"Come on, man! Don't you wanna see hot chicks in spandex?"

"Dude..."

"Let's go, let's go!" Carlos drummed the door. "You can work off that beer gut."

"I do not have a beer gut!"

"Whatever. Just stop being a pussy, and let's go." 

"Alright, alright. I'll go."

An hour later, sweat dripped down Amos's face while doing a bench press with Carlos spotting him. It had been weeks since his last workout. With everything going on with Lorena, he had been too distracted to hit the weights. Catching onto her lies, breaking up, and moving out, took up all of his energy. But, grunting in front of a mirror always reset the balance when things were chaotic.

"Come on, papá!" Carlos cheered. "You got this. Push."

Remembering the look on Lorena's face as she smiled at Marco, Amos released one last roar, and he hoisted the weights into the air, completing the set.

"Eso! There you go." Carlos nodded, helping him rest the bar on the rack. "Did you imagine karate-chopping Lorena in the tit?"

"What? No!"

"Maybe you should?"

"I'd rather not waste my time thinking about her."

"Good call." Carlos nodded, his attention drifting to Cassandra. "Man, look at her over there."

"Dude, you've got it bad."

"Do you blame me? Look at her. She's a goddess."

Glancing over, Amos spotted her sparring with a trainer in a one-on-one session. Her maroon leggings and sports bra fit her like a glove, but the girl was chiseled. "Yeah, I could probably bounce quarters off her booty."