My patience is rewarded ten days later. I recognize Fiset from a distance. He moves exactly as he did when he was a kid. I know he won’t recognize me. Even though I find the situation amusing, I’m careful not to smile when I run into him on the sidewalk. His jeans are too big. He must have lost weight on the inside. He’s still a pretty beefy guy, though, and I can imagine the rolls of fat jiggling around under his black sweatshirt. Winter’s almost here, but he’s not wearing a coat. I have a feeling he can’t afford one. Or maybe he has other plans for what little money he has.

Fiset lives in the basement of a triplex. I’m surprised to find that the apartment is spacious. Though I haven’t been inside yet, based on the size of the building I figure it must be around eight hundred square feet.

I have to act fast since guys like Fiset move around a lot, and I don’t want to have to visit him four or five times. It’s fall, so people are going out less often than in spring, when everyone’s hungry to feel the breeze blowing away the winter months. Summer means long days and humid heat that keeps people outside in search of warm air currents. Fall is gloomier, with its dark skies and rain. It gives me more room to work.

The alley behind his apartment is home to four dogs, including two real yappers. I focus my attention on Ricky, the Boston terrier that belongs to the main-floor tenant just above Fiset’s place. The dog’s face reminds me of Burt Reynolds. A real pig of a hound. It makes me sick watching him guzzle down treats and then beg for more.

The simplest course of action would be to poison Ricky, and that’s exactly what a less moral person than myself wouldn’t hesitate to do. But that’s not my style. Plus the owner’s a good guy. He says hi when he sees me, whenever I go for a walk in the alley or we cross paths on the sidewalk.

He’s a quiet guy in his thirties. A gamer. Lives with his girlfriend, who spends a fair part of her evenings searching for recipes on the internet for her blog, “Culinary Pleasures of the East.” This online oasis of free expression is a cross between recipe ideas and a support group for obese people who refuse to be stigmatized by the dominant ideology of thin people. I signed their petition to deny airlines the right to double-charge passengers who require a second seat. It’s like a handicap, so that’s tantamount to discrimination.