I Won :): A Short Story About Glory and Shame

16 HOURS OUT IT WAS COLD as frozen shit outside; the gym heater in Lock Haven PA’s only Holiday Inn was broke; so at 6AM, with 5 pounds to cut before sunrise, cocooned in a black sweatsuit, terrifying the earlybird businessmen & hotel staff; jumping rope & shadowboxing like a raging bull in the hottest corner of the 3rd Floor hallway, Pedro Cunha looked like a fucking maniac. Right before he got in the van Coach said, “You look fat.” Pedro said, “Nah, I’m on weight,” even though he had the same suspicion; he’d been too scared to weigh himself after the self-confrontation in his dorm mirror.