Another show. Another play. I breathed deeply. This time I was going to ask him. This time I was going to ask him if he could give me the lessons that I wanted.
But as I started forward, I couldn’t quite bring myself to go near him. Drink danced around inside his hand. He drank from it, glugging it down with all the power that he had. I wanted to go near him. I wanted to be with him.
My feet would not go near him. I breathed really hard; however, no matter how hard that I wanted to go forward, I just couldn’t.
“Excuse me! Excuse me!” I called, running forward with all the communication skills that I had gained from Dr. Lathla. He looked at me with a little bit of a drunken state. He hiccupped a little before he looked at me.
***
In the blackest of night, I sat right next to Slanky. He continued staring out into the distance of the night. He seemed to be shivering in the darkness.
“Hey,” I said, not sure what else to say. Slanky stared into the blackest mist with a lot of silence. His composure remained calm. The wind rustled against our shoulders as I waited with him.
He pulled out the picture. The beat continued to drum in my head. As I began tapping on my knees, I wanted to learn I wanted to take Slanky. For some reason, I just wanted to take Slanky with me. I wanted him to see the concert for himself.
“My name is not Slanky,” he said. I jumped back, a little bit startled at the sudden question of his voice.
“I never knew you could talk,” I said. Slanky almost looked like he was about to cry.
“My name is Stephen. The people here just started to call me Slanky because there were so many rumors of me trying to kill people.”
“What?” I asked.
“It’s a complicated story,” he said. I sat very quietly. I laid my hand on top of his palm.
“Tell me, or you don’t have to.”
“Why is it any of your business!” he cried.
“Wait, I’m sorry!” I cried. I knew that Stephen had asperger’s syndrome; however, there were so many outbursts that he had, that I knew.
“Look, I’m sorry! You don’t have to explain!” I said. Stephen stopped. He breathed a deep sigh.
“So what do you do out here in the middle of the night?” he asked.
“I go to the alley,” I said. “Didn’t I pull you along?” He thought for a second.
“Yeah, I cringed a little didn’t I? But the loud noise. The blaring sounds. What was that all about?”
“I was in the middle of a band,” I said, “or watching one.” He sat up.
“You know, if I wasn’t so afraid of loud noises, then I would like to go to the band with you.”
“Yeah, I saw the picture.” He looked down.
“I’ve always wanted to get out of this place. Like, I know that it’s home, but…” He covered his hands onto his head like he was trying to remember something. “My mother told me that she promise to take me to see the Niagra Falls.”
“Wow,” I said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been there before.”
“Yeah, if it hadn’t been for the serious symptoms of aspergers syndrome I was showing, I probably wouldn’t be here.”
“Well, sometimes it’s not so bad,” I told him. He turned his face away.
“Says the person that joins in when the other kids are bullying me.”
“No, I don’t join in with them,” I said, leaning in a little bit closer. “I really tried to make Sean shut up as soon as I heard him making fun of you.”
“Yeah, right.”
“I really did try, Stephen, I really did try.” I didn’t know why I was getting so desperate. “I’m not a mean person.”
“Well, well…” He bit his lip as he continued stuttering. “Like I understand why my parents needed to put me in here. I understand that I had a lot of problems with socializing and all, but… I want to go home! You know! I want to go back!” I said nothing.
“It’s all we have,” I said again. “We just have to adjust here the best we can. The nurses seem pretty nice. The people here aren’t too bad. Sometimes they come up with fun activities that helped us connect with others.”
“But those activities sometimes aren’t very fun. You see! It all kind of depends.” We sat in silence for some time. For a long time, I was lost for words.
“I’ll be your friend if you really want me to,” I said. “I’m willing to help you get through your struggles if you need to.” even as I said the words, I couldn’t believe how it came out of my mouth. A suspicious gaze seemed to glaze into mine, burning into me with a questioning look.
“That’s nice,” he said. “But your sympathy is naught.”
What an ass, I thought to myself; however, I sat with him for the rest of the night.
ns 15.158.61.48da2
