Excerpt 1: A Pie Half Eaten

Beep… beep… beep… beep, one piece of enticing sustenance after another, Dallas born man Scott Gold stood before a middle-aged cashier at the local Shoprite as she blissfully, and after a short time annoyingly, scanned a pie and sent it across the conveyor belt. From Table Talks to regular sized pies of varying flavors, the rest of the world felt like a blur to Scott. However, and strangely enough, it wasn't pie this time that arrested his attention. He couldn't explain it; wasn't able to with the newly impatient cashier yammering at his full-bearded face.

Cashier: Sir… SIR! *snaps her fingers*

Scott: *shakes his head and looks up* Uh, yeah?

Cashier: Shoprite Members card?

Scott: *takes out his wallet and looks through it* I forgot it. I always bring my cards whenever I buy food.

Cashier: Especially for ten tins full of blueberry and pumpkin pie, right?

Scott: It's… for a special occasion.

Cashier: If you say so, buddy, $44.57.

As soon as Scott took out the required amount to pay, the world around him slipped back into focus. Was it a momentary lapse before he thought? He wasn't the type to get lost in the moment, save for an engaging video game or a chat with a friend. After paying for the pies and about to leave with the cart in tow, Scott was greeted with some nosy sentiment.

Cashier: Word of advice, Scott? *Turns around and looks at her* You seem like a decent fellow. Don't eat those pies all at once, ya hear?

Scott was a simple individual. He sees pumpkin pie he'd eat it like there was no tomorrow with zero regrets. He buys a video game he plays it to its completion and moves on to the next one. He sees a goal at his job he sees it done to the absolute best of his ability while the piss is being taken out of him by his boss. That was the way of the world for most people, his world included. As he got home and unloaded the Lord's tastiest creation, he pulled out a big spoon and went to work on his favorite pie of the bunch: pumpkin. Eating like a King at his small, circular roundtable, one quick glance to his right laid documents carrying dreadful information. That one glance took him back to a Physical he did at his local Doctor's office. All he could remember however was the same conversation time and again. "You need to lose weight," "Your cholesterol levels are through the roof," "Is there some pie competition I don't know about, Mr. Gold?" He remembered his last consultation with his Doctor like it was yesterday plus two weeks ago.

Doctor Calvano: How're you doing these days, Mr. Gold?

Scott: Eh, you know, can't complain. Got my usual test results back?

Doctor Calvano: Why do you do that?

Scott: … Why do I do what?

Doctor Calvano: *sighs* There's somethin' I need to ask you, and I need you to think very hard before answering.

Scott: O… K…?

Doctor Calvano: Do you have a death wish?

Scott: Not really, life's been great actually. I'm in the process of applying for another job and hopefully I can upgrade my car to one with air bags. *Calvano looks at him with concern* Doc, I know what you're gonna say. My eating habits have been on the extreme side recently, but you're familiar with my metabolism. It burns twice the amount of food I eat and I have a special laxative to flush out the rest. I got my bases covered.

Doctor Calvano: Well, if you had your bases covered we wouldn't be having this conversation. These are the results of your last physical. Scott, your metabolism is on the brink of shutting down. It's been working overtime to burn the absurd amount of calories you ingest on a daily basis. With your heart working overtime to pump blood and the clogged arteries, I hate to tell you this, but your life is on the precipice right now. All it takes is one more pie, or a whole rack of ribs, and *snaps his fingers* no more you.

Scott: Holy moly is that… *tries to hold back a few tears* what are my options?

Doctor Calvano: Give up pie for starters. Scott, I've worked with you on your case for the past eight years. I know your family, practically know how you think.

Scott: All due respect, how I think changes by the day. So, you don't know my mentality.

Doctor Calvano: But I do know your fate if you keep going down this road. So all due respect, I ask you again do 'you' have a death wish?

On one of the documents, it gave a medical representation of Scott's evolution: from exercise patterns, mental state, to the dreadful eating habits; they all arrived to one sad end. It was the easiest way out of an already judgmental society, but the hardest to drop on anyone closest to them. Scott found himself with pumpkin smeared on his beard looking at a half-eaten pie, and that was when the switch came on to remind him that maybe Calvano had a point. Did he want to die, or was he completely bored with what life dealt him, and wanted a new viewpoint to give him a reason to go on living? He put the spoon down and sat back in his lived in couch and took a moment of silent reflection. Add a somewhat sharp pain cruising along his lower abdomen after a half-eaten pie, maybe it was time for some changes in his eating habits.

He ran to the bathroom with the last of his laxative in hand, and flushed the dam so to speak before he started feeling better. The rest of the night he laid in his bed, coming to the realization that his life in general was too procedural for his liking. Facebook friends and online chats weren't cutting it anymore. People were always too busy to have any sort of adventure he thought; what to do?

The following morning, he rose from his bed feeling lighter than the day before. He was about to get a shower in before his early shift when he received a voicemail from his manager, Georgio at the local Perkins restaurant. Georgio labeled Scott as a cautionary tale if he was to be hired as a chef in their kitchen, but he more than made up for it as being a people person. The voicemail was timed at 9:15 P.M. Scott had his phone on silent the entire night; a decision he was most likely to regret.

Georgio: Yo, Scotty, it's Georgio! Listen, some of your co-workers have been wonderin' when you're coming back to serve. No one's seen you in over two weeks and things have been gettin' hectic around here. I thought you said you were taking a week off to "clear your head" on some personal issues with your family? You're not lyin' to me, are ya Scotty? Look, if I don't hear from you by the end of tomorrow, I'm giving your job to someone else. I got a business to run and I need all hands on deck, especially with the holidays coming. Get back to me.

Big man with a plan Georgio; was always playing the passive-aggressive game with Scott when it came to in his eyes "smuggling" sweets out of the restaurant around closing time. One Sunday evening, there was a big get together Scott was invited to and was tasked in bringing the dessert. When he was done paying for a Boston cream pie with his own money, Georgio came down on him like he murdered one of his best co-workers in cold blood. They had a falling out which caused Georgio to not show up for work for three days. Over the four years he's worked at Perkins, the voicemail was kind of the last nail on the coffin for his place over there. The passive-aggressive game was becoming tiresome and desserts weren't that sweet anyway, he thought. Then, he stopped himself.

Scott: There you go thinkin' of food again. Boston cream pie; tasted a lot better when Crystal was making it. Ho-ly shit could she make a mean Apple Pie, too. Goddamn it! *ponders for a moment* Maybe I do have a death wish. Life's not doin' me wrong, but it hasn't been right with me either. What the hell is wrong with me? *bedroom phone rings three times* Gold residence.

Doctor Calvano: Scott, this is Doctor Calvano. I'm just calling to check up on you since your last visit. How're you livin' these days?

Scott: This is startin' to turn into a therapy session. Next you'll be charging me by the hour, too.

Doctor Calvano: Funny you'd mention that. I've been making some calls and managed to get a hold of a specialist in case your diet was spiraling further down.

Scott: Guilty as charged, Doc…

Doctor Calvano: Jesus.

Scott: I'm not goin' anywhere. I'm still above ground.

Doctor Calvano: And this specialist is going to help you stay that way. If you won't listen to my advice, maybe you'll listen to his!

Scott: Doc, I… *rubs his eyes and breathes deeply*

Doctor Calvano: What's up?

Scott: I had a sharp pain in my stomach last night. That usually happens after my fourth pie tin, but this took place when I ate half a pumpkin pie. My point is I need to make some drastic changes, not just eating but my life in general. How good is this specialist?

As good a specialist his Doctor claimed, this individual was a creature of specific procedures. He went by the name of Roland Burns: one of the world's youngest psychologists who specialized in duality. Not being remotely sold on what Scott was hearing, Doctor Calvano explained Roland had a gift to reach into a human's subconscious to find the source of their pitfalls in life. Whether it's drug addiction, domestic abuse, or using food as a defense mechanism to hide one's emotions he always came to the conclusion there was another side of the person pulling the strings while the primary side is, for lack of a better term, "trapped". The pitch from Calvano was subtle, but feeling trapped was what caught Scott's eye.

As much as he loved food in general, he wasn't ready to leave the mortal coil just yet. And so he followed the required instructions on when, where, and how to meet Roland; the midday sun was the first sign in locating him. Dallas weather wasn't particularly kind to a Psychologist's profession so the midday sun being partially covered by trees was a way to energize his sessions. The next was to find a building in the shape of a greenhouse. The combination of open space and nature growing with each passing day breeds inspiration for Roland whenever he was trying to find the right words to sum up a problem. The "how" in this scavenger hunt was a bit on the impossible side: trust in him. In today's society, trust and bullshit go hand in hand and can never decipher which is which.

Scott said adios to his time as a waiter and took a drive out on the Dallas roads to find Doctor Burns. It took about two hours and forty-seven minutes to find the greenhouse in a haystack, only to find himself driving towards a blue building in a corner somewhere. It was weird he thought, never seeing this place from living in Texas all his life. It had an abandoned vibe he couldn't shake, or he could have misread the directions on the way. As he got out of his car, the sudden rigid sway of his stomach caused another sharp pain, soaring in him like a Star Wars Podracer.

It nearly brought him to his knees; he shook it off and took a brisk walk towards what he simply called the "blue" house. Entering its atmospheric setting, Scott felt like he was in a different part of the world. Leagues of various plants formed wall art around the house, temperature going from heatwave on the outside to a somewhat comfortable feel, but throughout these subtle findings Scott found no sign of Burns.

Scott: Hello! *voice echoing throughout the "blue" house* Roland Burns! This here's one strange place for a therapy room.

…

Roland: Therapy is what… * appears behind Scott without a sound of a footstep* … and where you make it.

Scott: Well, hot damn. That was some Assassin's Creed type stealth, mister.

Roland: I had a patient who believed himself to be an "Auditore" once a few years back. Do you know what happened to him?

Scott: He couldn't do an Italian accent…?

Roland: *sighs* He found out his two sons got their throats cut at school; twelve year old twin boys. It was a tragedy, but I somehow got him coping with what happened.

Scott: What did you do?

Roland: Why are you here, Scott?

Scott: My Physician recommended you to me, said you can get me off my pie problem. Fair warning, sir, pie is one thing, food in general is another. If you think you can convince to go on a Jenny Craig diet and go to the gym with your psychology method…

Roland: It's more than a method. It's duality. Walk with me.

Roland went further in depth with what his practice contained and what results it provided for his patients. Right off the bat, he acknowledged how young he was. Speculation after speculation about him mentally shot down in Scott's brain as he began to understand how Roland wasn't born choking on a silver spoon, but rather a self-made individual who had to take his lessons out into a society where every decision and footstep was a fine line between life and death. From what Scott was gathering so far, it seemed the good shrink grew up around a military heavy family that moved around a lot, or if he was a victim of some kind of war that caused him to adapt on his feet. He wasn't very heavy on the gory details, only when he was a kid he reached a breaking point where his mind was split into two, experiencing multiple personalities at once. Over the next eight years of his life, he made it his life's goal testing the waters of his newfound side; one that looks monsters in the eye and says "not today".

Scott: Hope you don't mind me sayin' but you're talking in circles, Doctor Burns.

Roland: It's what keeps my patients having consistent lives. They enter my greenhouse and leave with a brand new perspective.

Scott: Look, all I want is to stop eating pie and move on with my life.

Roland: And perhaps prolong your lifespan? Doctor Calvano told me about your current condition. Are you that afraid to lose weight?

Scott: In all honesty, I'm content with how I look. I don't have a girlfriend, I don't live in fancy mansions, and I sure as hell don't see myself working the stair climber. I know my path, problem is getting there.

Roland: Sounds like you have things figured out. If you're content with how you look, why bother coming to me?

Scott: I said I know my path, but the fork in the road suggests I have two paths to cross: one has me growing old doing whatever it is I love to do while the other just closes my story without an ending. Guess you can say I wish I could split myself into two people so I can enjoy the former path. A part of me is… scared if my health takes another spill. I ain't ready to go, Doctor Burns. Calvano said you can help me so… I'm here and if it turns out to be hot air, then I'll have to make some very big decisions when this session is over.

One beep, one random sound indicating something delicious was to emerge from it. It was the only conclusion Scott was able to draw from the scent of banana with a hint of mint freshening his inner nostrils. Roland proposed to try some of his homemade Banana Mint Tiramisu. Scott wasn't very big on anything mint or lemon flavored, but as both walked closer to an outside kitchen area of the blue house Roland described his yearly delicacy was something worth more than holiday gifts.

Two hours went by like ten minutes for the unknown Therapist and the unsung Dallas man. Both got to know each other a little more, but something about Roland kept ringing in his head that there was more to him than his philosophy on the dual subconscious. It went back to the "voices in your head" theory. And yet according to Calvano, Roland somehow made his life's work on turning the alternate persona into some kind of tumor to be removed from the brain. The more Scott tried to get a better read on him, the more questions he had; only referring to his research not being the benefit of humankind.

Suffice it to say, Scott had two observations: either the shrink was a brilliant individual and needs special eyes to understand him, or he was schizophrenic making up bold claims that weren't consistent. After taking the tiramisu out of the oven, the vibrant smell clung to their taste buds and didn't let go until two hours after Roland took it out of his refrigeration unit.

Roland: Cheers!

Scott: Wait. Goddamn, as good as this looks I gotta stay away from anything creamy. *puts his plate down in front of him*

Roland: Trust me, Scott. I assure you one bite of my tiramisu is all you'll need to curb your hunger. I saw the same thing with bread on Lord of the Rings once; one bite can fill the stomach of an adult. Consider it as a proper send off to your pie addiction.

Scott: I dunno. One bite's never been enough for me.

Roland: Heaven forbid if it doesn't taste good to you, you can spit it out. I don't mind. Take a leap of faith with me.

For someone who unequivocally believed there are two souls in a single being, he was putting a lot of stock in a treat Scott himself was hesitant to try. All it took was one bite; a single morsel that confirmed Roland's high opinion of the tiramisu. It was definitely something Scott thought as the thick banana cream coaxed his throat, slowly hugging it. At first, he thought he needed water; that was when he dropped his plate and started choking. With one hand softly clinging to his neck beard, the cream at the back of his throat grew, bulging his eyes at a man a little too pleased with himself.

Roland: *stands up and walks towards Scott* This is going to help you, Scott. My dessert is your first step in ridding baked goods for life. I've been waiting to try it on a new person.

Scott: *choking* Wh-what, the fffff… !

Roland: Truth is I don't know who I am. All I know is if I don't stay my course, things will 'not' end well for me. You may yet survive this though. Don't fight it. You're about to experience duality in its purest form.

Scott: Wat… wa… wa…

Roland: An ocean will dawn on you soon, my friend. *Stands up* Beyond that is up to you. *voice echoing* I hope we never see each other again…

Scott rolled on his back with his eyes at the back of his head. Free of breath and banana cream seeping out of his mouth, his story leading up to what happened at the blue house was the last thing leaving his soon-to-be-cold carcass, and a new tale of shenanigans was forming in the silent shadows.

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