Running on Insulin

Chapter One

I ran. Into the blinding October rain.

"Get back here you ungrateful little shit!" He screamed from behind me. "With what it costs to keep you alive you should be grateful you have a roof over your head!"

Some roof over my head. The roof wasn't the only thing that was constantly over my head. Dad's volatile emotions hung over my head. His drinking hung over my head. Whether or not I'd be his punching bag hung over my head. And at 13, I had had enough.

That's how I found myself running through streets of Columbus, Ohio through the cold October rainstorm.

Thunder and lightning were the soundtrack as I kept running.

"You little shit!" I heard him yell. "I'll catch up to you yet!"

How could he still be chasing me? He's at least 150 pounds overweight, and I may not be a track star, but I could run.

I ran into the ravine and through the stream. I was soaked and cold but the fear of being caught kept me going.

Until I ran straight into a fence. I fell back onto the ground and into the mud. I hadn't expected a fence on the other side of the stream bank.

"I'm gonna beat the shit out of you when I catch you!" I heard. He was closer. I scrambled to my feet and took a running leap at the fence. I scaled it easily and took off through the trees on the other side.

Very suddenly, the trees ended and I found myself on a manicured lawn. I kept running until motion spotlights came on and lit up the entire ... yard? I could just see a house up ahead. House? Mansion? It was big. I ran towards it. I was getting dizzy and my vision was getting blurry, despite the rain blurring my vision as well.

"Hey! What are you doing in my backyard?" A voice called into the storm.

"You little shit!" I heard from behind me. "I'll get you! You can't hide from me!"

"Hey, kid, what're you doing in my yard?" The voice called out again. I didn't know whether to run towards that voice and hope for safety or run from it and try to find safety somewhere else. I stopped and stood in the middle of the lawn, standing in a spotlight.

"Kid? Are you okay?" The voice asked, the figure coming closer. My legs were jelly and I was having a hard time staying upright.

I could hear the voice of my father screaming obscenities from what I could only guess was the fence line.

I felt like the proverbial deer in the headlights. I needed to find safety, but I wasn't so sure I had the physical strength anymore. I looked towards the approaching figure and back towards the voice screaming obscenities behind me.

"Hey, kid, you don't look so good. At least come in and dry off. Whoever that is, we can figure out what to do about them, but it's cold, you're drenched and honestly, you look like you're about to pass out."

And I did.