Adam Blake - 7. Chapter 7

I drove back to my apartment, showered, shaved, and got dressed more or less for the day. There was a message on my phone to call my advisor. As I was leaving, I called him. He congratulated me on being the first Ph.D. awarded by the college. I thanked him and said I appreciated all of his help, “I knew it wasn’t easy to convince them.”

“Actually, it wasn’t me that convince them you were on the right track. When several of the teachers, students, and parents that you have helped sent them phone messages and notes, I think they felt they must accept your paper. I don’t think they all agree but the proof was in those notes and comments. What are your plans now?”

“An old friend is in town with his oldest and he needs help. So I guess as a doctor, I’m going to practice my craft on a young man.”

I headed to the hotel, sitting out front was Billy. “Hey old man, a little out of shape I say.”

“Being a family man I don’t have time to run all the time.”

“Billy listen to me, what is more important than that son of yours. Before you know it, he’ll be gone and you’ll regret not spending time with him. He runs like the wind. With your help, he could get a college scholarship and in my opinion, he could be an Olympic champion. He needs to know you love him and want to share his passion with him. You won’t be sorry. Here he comes.”

“Well, Billy how do you feel?”

“I feel fine, I was a little sore but the hot water relaxed me. Want to run again?”

“I’m going to start calling you wind. You are championship material no matter what your coach said. Tomorrow I’ll show you some warm-ups you can do in the locker room, in fact, Billy you can show him some we use to do. They’re good for a few laps but the warm-up you had this morning is good for more than 5 miles. What’s the longest distance you have run?”

“In school, maybe 10 laps before the cramps.”

“10 laps is about one mile, depending on the course. You ran over 5 miles today and no pain.”

“Wait till those boys at school see me after warm-ups.”

“They’ll probably tease you, but do them, and if your coach says anything I’ll give you a letter to give to him or the nurse.”

Billy started to laugh. “What’s so funny?”

“Guess who the school nurse is?”

“Jennifer?”

“Right on.”

“Better give it to your mom, she’ll see that you get your warm-up time. Then I want you to run like the wind and pass those boys up not once but several times. Think not ten laps but 30, 40 laps. You can do it. After school, you should measure a lap and see what the distance is for one lap.”

I took them to one of my favorite restaurants. “Billy, do you remember the breakfasts we would eat after a good run?”

“Yes, I had to cut back now since I’m not running much.”

“What kind of breakfast did you guys eat?”

I sat with my mouth closed while Billy told his son the kind of breakfast we ate. The waitress came over to take our order, Billy orders a standard breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast. I waited to hear what Billy would order. He looked at the menu, showed me, and pointed to an item, I nodded my head, he could order it, when he was done I ordered my protein-balanced breakfast with a low amount of carbs. When she brought our orders, Billy and mine were almost identical whereas his father was so very different.

“Dad, mom said you shouldn’t eat fried eggs, too much fat as well as bacon.”

I just started to laugh. “Nothing changes for you Billy. Remember how my mom would say the same thing to you and then give you yogurt.”

Then the clincher, “Dad, you need to eat healthier and start to run with me. We hardly spend any time together and I want you around so you can spoil my children.”

I saw tears in Billy’s eyes. “Billy, if you help me I’ll change my eating habits. I’ll start running with you.”

Billy was out of his seat in a flash and was hugging his dad. “I love you dad”

“I love you too, son”

I signal the waitress over, asked her to take his food away, and bring him yogurt and 2 hard-boiled eggs. “Just add it to the bill.”

I moved so Billy could sit next to his dad. “What are you going to do today?”

“I’ve got a client in the next town who I must see. I guess I’ll take Billy with me.”

“You faker, you know you may have gotten fatter but you haven’t changed. Billy you’re going to spend the time with me, no need to ride around sitting in a car all day. And you, we’ll want to know what you eat for lunch. What time will you be back?”

“Around supper time”

“Ok, we’ll pick you up here at supper time. Let’s go Billy leave your dad with the bill since he cheated this morning.” I slipped Billy a 20 when we were leaving.