Chapter 12: Rowing

Dexter climbed off the ‘stair stepper’ and announced, “I hate that machine.”

Surprised by the vehemence in his voice, Samantha asked, “Why?”

“It’s boring,” Dexter said. “It’s everything that I hate in exercise.”

“Really?” Samantha asked.

“Yes.”

Samantha had anticipated that reaction from Dexter, although not with the kind of emotion he had exhibited. She had put him on that machine, assuming that he would prefer the next machine more.

She pointed over to the stationary bike.

“Try that one.”

Dexter climbed on the bike and started to pedal. He had been on it for about two minutes when he stopped.

He looked over at Samantha and said, “I don’t like this one, either.”

“I thought you liked riding a bike,” Samantha said.

Dexter said, “This isn’t riding a bike.”

“Yes, it is,” Samantha said.

“No, it isn’t. When you ride a bike, the ground goes past you. The view changes. There are things to see,” Dexter said. “This is sitting on a seat and turning pedals.”

“It’s the same motion as a bike,” Samantha said.

“Like I said about jogging on the treadmill, if I wanted to ride a bike I would ride a bike. Why should I accept an imitation of a bike, when I can get a real bike?” Dexter asked.

“You don’t want to use the treadmill, the stair stepper, or the stationary bike,” Samantha said.

“That’s right.”

“You need a form of aerobic exercise,” Samantha said.

“I’m not going to prance around in some exercise class either,” Dexter said. “I would feel like a fool.”

“Try that one over there,” Samantha said.

The machine she was pointing at was some kind of device with a seat, foot rests, and handles.

Dexter asked, “What is it?”

Samantha said, “It’s a rowing machine.”

“A rowing machine?” Dexter asked.

“Yes,” Samantha said.

“What do I do?” Dexter asked.

Samantha got him onto the machine and explained what he was supposed to do. Dexter gave it a couple of trial pulls. He paused, and checked out the machine to see how it worked. He made a couple of adjustments. He tried a couple more pulls. He could feel his legs, back, and arms working. The room moved backwards when he pulled.

Dexter started rowing at a nice leisurely pace. He got a rhythm going, and sped it up a little. He kept at it.

Samantha watched Dexter, rather surprised by his actions. He was really starting to work that machine. He was sweating at the five minute mark. He upped the pace a little.

Samantha said, “You can stop, now.”

Dexter stopped. “Why? I was just getting going.”

“You were on it for ten minutes,” Samantha said.

“I find that hard to believe,” Dexter said.

Almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth, his body let him know that he had been working out.

“I’m kinda sore.”

“You set a pretty good pace,” Samantha said.

“It seems easy enough,” Dexter said.

He climbed up, off of the machine. His legs felt like rubber, as did his arms.

“Take some ibuprofen, tonight,” Samantha said. “You’ll need it.”

“Okay,” Dexter said.

Samantha said, “I’d suggest that you use the other three machines a little.”

“I’ll buy a bike,” Dexter said. “I’m not going to do jogging. I think jogging is the devil’s exercise.”

“The devil’s exercise?” Samantha asked amused by the description of the most widely practiced form of exercise.

“I don’t know how many joggers I’ve known who have twisted their ankles, ruined their knees, or tripped and fallen. I don’t think getting hurt is healthy,” Dexter said.

He wasn’t going to mention shin splints or knee replacement surgery. It seemed to him that most joggers had this cocky attitude that made them feel immune to the dangers of jogging ... until they found themselves in the hospital. Everyone talked about how good jogging was for the body, but he just didn’t see it that way.

“You don’t have to jog,” Samantha said.

“Good,” Dexter said.

Samantha asked, “How about swimming?”

That question gave Dexter a little pause. He knew how to swim, but it was an awkward form of swimming at best. Janet had described it as a cross between dog paddling, and the breaststroke. He wasn’t fast, but he didn’t drown. He had always figured that not drowning was the important thing, when it came to being in water over his head.

“I’d feel foolish,” Dexter said.

“Why?”

“I’m not a very good swimmer,” Dexter answered. He looked at the rowing machine and said, “I’ll stick with that one for a while.”

“Think about trying a few laps in the swimming pool, anyway,” Samantha said.

She was trying to put together a reasonable exercise program for Dexter, but he wasn’t cooperating. She was smart enough to know that if you put someone to perform exercises that they didn’t like, that they wouldn’t do them. Dexter didn’t like many of the exercises. He would walk on the treadmill, but not jog. She decided walking would have to be good enough.

The next day Dexter returned to the gym. For a change, he was the only one there at that time. Normally, there would be one or two others. He went over to the rowing machine and got on it. Samantha came over and watched him start to row.

He was just getting into a good rhythm when she asked, “Why did you hire an escort to take care of you after your heart attack?”

“What?” Dexter said, almost falling off the machine.

“Why did you hire an escort to take care of you after your heart attack?”

“Who told you that?” Dexter asked trying to get back into a rhythm on the rowing machine.

“Amber,” Samantha answered. “We’ve become quite close. You can’t imagine my surprise when she told me what she did for a living.”

“She told you?” Dexter asked.

He resumed rowing finding a little solace in the act. It wasn’t that he felt guilty or remorseful about his activities with women who charged money to have sex with him. It just wasn’t the kind of thing that one wanted to advertise. Although his hiring Amber had nothing to do with sex, her profession would make any relationship seem seedy.

He wasn’t ashamed of Amber or his friendship with her. She had been invaluable at a time when he had been weak. She had fed him and basically mothered him. Maybe there wasn’t such a thing as a whore with a heart of gold, but Amber was pretty damned close.

Samantha answered, “She told me all about it.”