"I feel like I'm them, and not missing any limbs," Jenifer said. "That's why I look up to LaVar."
That's Jenifer's fundamental driving force -- he wants to be seen and treated like a two-legged person. He shuns offers of help, whether it's opening a door or getting onto the school bus, even after he badly bruised his left shoulder in a match last Friday night. "It's the first time I've ever been hurt," he said.
Trevon Jenifer, in a match against Jonathan Phills of Oxon Hill, draws a crowd whenever he wrestles. "The whole stage stops to watch this kid," says Jim Johnson, a referee who has worked other matches but is not pictured here.
(Preston Keres -- The Washington Post)
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'We've Got to Stop Helping Him'
Jenifer wakes up daily at 5:15 a.m., and before he boards the school bus at 7, he takes his dog, Sheba, out for a walk. As with most of his everyday tasks, he dispenses with his wheelchair and opts instead to use his arms. He does it again when he gets home from practice bleary-eyed almost 12 hours later.
Following each home meet, Huntingtown's wrestlers clean up the gym. While Jenifer can't help his teammates roll up the mats, he's in his wheelchair, circling the room and picking up folding chairs, three at a time, and putting them into a hallway closet.
"We had a fire drill," said Mike Johnson, Jenifer's math teacher, "and the kid ran down the stairs faster than I did."
New to the community this fall, Jenifer's inviting and warm personality has made classmates flock to him -- especially the girls at first-year Huntingtown.
"He'll be the first one to open the door for you," said Katie DeVore, a sophomore. "I'd say [he's a flirt]. He's not really bad, you know, but he's also not afraid to say hello to anyone."
It is easy to look at Jenifer as someone different, but he has seen the same reflection in the mirror for 16 years. To him, life without legs is normal. He doesn't think in terms of, "What if I had legs?"
"I think I'm doing good, but I keep thinking that if I had started [wrestling] my freshman year, my record might be undefeated," Jenifer said firmly. "If I had both my legs, I may not be wrestling because I'm so into other sports."
Eric Jenifer, Trevon's stepfather, said, "But then he might not have the same drive."
Eric Jenifer married Trevon's mother, Connie, when Trevon was 2. About a year later, he remembers the first time being stunned by Trevon when he heard the toilet flush.
"We looked around and said, 'Who's in the bathroom?' " Eric said.
Not only had Trevon used the toilet, he then planted his hands on the closed seat to move himself onto the sink and wash his hands. Then he lowered himself back down and dried his hands with a towel.
"After that, I said, 'We've got to stop helping him,' " said Eric, who works at a car dealership in Marlow Heights.
