Experiment in Terror 06.5 And With Madness Comes the Light Read Online Free PDF Page A

few
half-marathons and wanted me to train with him. He said he needed
the motivation and accountability and that I was the perfect match.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m no stranger to a little exercise. But
knowing Dean, our training sessions would start making up half of
our lives. It was a good thing then that I didn’t have a life
anymore.
    The first couple of weeks were the toughest,
but fuck did it feel good to put my body through the ringer rather
than my heart. When we were running I didn’t have energy to think.
All I could do was put one foot in front of the other, pushing
through the pain in my shins or my lungs that were threatening to
explode. It was cathartic and torturous at the same time. Hurt so
good.
    Then we started weight training. Dean was
African American so it was extremely unfair that he bulked up in
what seemed like days, whereas for me it was a slower process. But
with my diet improving (I tried to follow Rebecca’s diet, except
that I was back to eating meat…worst vegan ever) and my alcohol
intake cut drastically, I could see the changes. And as my body
improved, my mind improved. My soul improved. Everything was
feeling stronger.
    The great thing about Dean was that we never
talked about anything too serious. He never asked me about my
family or my past or ghosts or Perry. All talk about women was
carefree and easy and he let me be the pervert that I was.
    But I guess on one suspiciously sunny day,
his curiosity had gotten the better of him. While we were winding
down our run at Lawton Park, he said, “So, Perry. Were you in love
with her?”
    I nearly tripped over my own feet and caught
myself before I face-planted into a tree. “What the hell kind of
question is that?” I asked, fighting for my breath.
    He shrugged, which is kind of hard to do
when you’re running.
    “It’s a good question,” he said with a sly
smile. “Everyone wants to know what made Dex Foray fall to his
knees.”
    “Oh, is that so?”
    “What can I say, man? You’re a celebrity at
Shownet. People care about what happens to you. Besides, Jimmy told
everyone you went crazy and tried to eat your dog or something so
he had to put you on sabbatical. I figure if you tried to eat that
fat thing, someone must have broken your heart good.”
    I slowed down my pace, finding it difficult
to defend myself and exercise at the same time.
    “I didn’t try to eat my dog…and I’m not on
sabbatical. I haven’t even talked to Jimmy since all this shit
happened.”
    “Dude, you know when you pull that shit,
you’re on sabbatical. No one can just leave Shownet, especially not
Mr. Popular like you. Well, actually it was Perry that was Mrs.
Popular. So tell me, were you in love with her? What happened?”
    I don’t know why I thought it was anyone’s
business to know that, but with the whole turning over a new leaf
and becoming a new man thing, I figured being honest would be a
good start. Lying had never done me any good before.
    I exhaled hard and chewed on my lip for a
few beats. “Yes. I was in love with her. And to be honest with you,
homeboy, I still am.”
    “Shit, Dex. First you say you’re in love
with her, then you call me homeboy? Who the hell are you?”
    I rolled my eyes as we jogged through a
grove of Douglas firs. “Why does everyone act so surprised when I
admit that? I’m not the motherfucking Tin Man. I have a heart.”
    “Apparently. So what happened?”
    “Didn’t Rebecca tell you?” I asked
wryly.
    He shook his head. “No. You and Perry were
totally humping each other with your eyes at the Christmas party
though, so it was kind of obvious that something was going to
happen.”
    “Well I guess you could say we took eye
humping to the next level. Then I freaked the fuck out because I
realized I was in love with her, and she had told me earlier that
she wasn’t in love with me.”
    “Whoa, wait up,” Dean said, slowing down to
a fast walk. “She told you she wasn’t in love with you?