Our sleepy, overcast Sunday morning eased into a sunny afternoon, and Carlos and Logan were headed off to see a Padres baseball game in downtown San Diego - an invitation from a fellow Marine.
Carlos told me he and Logan had been to only one public sporting event since he returned from Iraq. It was another Padres game, and the experience drained him.
“It’s not easy. I don’t go out. I try to avoid it. I still feel a little out of place in the world. I’ve seen life in a different way than most other people.”
Still, giving up wasn’t part of Carlos’s makeup, and he wanted to try going to see the Padres again.
Carlos had more to tackle in his future than just acclimating to baseball games. His relationship with his wife and kids had been on shaky ground, mainly because he wanted to be alone all of the time. Alone with Logan.
Carlos could only find true peace through solitude, but that solitude was only possible with Logan.
“In our way, we have a blast. Logan doesn’t judge, like, ‘you’re taking me on the same hike we did yesterday and the day before?’ Without him, the world is overwhelming.”
Later today, "Even the Devil Can't Fool a Dog" - Part 12
(Read the previous installment of “Even the Devil Can’t Fool a Dog” by clicking here.)