Quick Fix

Manuel was absolutely desperate. Four months into his nth attempt at losing weight, he was still pushing an astounding 275 pounds (he stood five feet, four inches tall). One afternoon, as he walked home from the corner pizza joint—he decided to get in some exercise that day—he came upon a piece of paper stuck to a piece of gum. Its trailing edge flapped in the wind as the gum kept most of it stuck to the curb. He picked it up (probably because he smelled the gum) and read what was written on it. It was a bit cryptic, “Phentermine no prescription”, but it might as well have been the freaking Rosetta stone to Manny.