home,” his mother replied in a soft, reassuring voice. Her voice changed then as he heard her addressing his unknown assailant.
“Did you need something?” Aaron’s mother asked coldly. She was obviously upset by Aaron’s incapacitation. The response that she got was strange, and sounded almost foreign, even though it was in perfect English.
“I. Am. Very. Sorry..” The guy’s voice was shaky, and he spoke slowly, enunciating every syllable very clearly, like he was not used to speaking or like he thought Aaron was slow. Frankly, Aaron didn’t care; he wanted to get the hell out of there. There was something about the stranger’s slow, measured pronunciation that just sounded off, and Aaron found that he didn’t want to look up to see the guy’s face. He didn’t want to see horror or pity. He wanted to go home.
“I. Was. Asking. Him. For. Directions.,” the guy continued, still in that slow, measured speech. “I. Cannot. See. What. He. Is. Saying.. What. Is. He. Saying.?”
“He said ‘please don’t touch me’. What building are you looking for?” The exhaustion in his mother’s voice filled him with shame. He knew that she just wanted to get him home, but the fact that he couldn’t even deal with a guy just asking for directions caused his chest to tighten. It infuriated him that he couldn’t act like a normal human being, that he had to sit cowered in the shadow of this boy who was no real threat.
“Patterson..”
“It’s the building over there across the lot,” his mother explained.
“Thank. You.,” the guy replied, and sensing an escape, Aaron scrambled to his feet and bolted for the car, not looking up at the lost student. It was a minute or so before his mother joined him, and together they got into the car and headed home. The silence in the car was almost deafening.
His mother brought him a tranquilizer and a bottle of grape juice as he sat on his bed staring at the door. The soft whirring of his fan was the only sound in the room as he took the pill without a word. It had been a couple of weeks since he’d needed one, but today he certainly needed it. Images from the flashback he’d experienced in the quad were burned into his mind, and he knew that only the tranquilizer would make them fade. Nothing made them leave completely, but for a while, they wouldn’t torture him. Still fully dressed with the exception of his shoes, he rolled on his bed to face the wall, pulled his knees up to his chest and waited for the drugs to do their job.
This day hadn’t really started out so bad. How did it go so wrong? He felt his mother’s weight leave the bed as she stood up.
“Mama, I’m sorry,” he said, his voice almost pleading. One day she would grow tired of his childish behavior and let his father send him away. That thought drained him of what little strength he had left. His mother sat back down on the bed, and with the powerful tranquilizer to keep him calm, briefly touched his hair. He wanted so badly to be able to cry.
“It’s not your fault, Aaron. None of this is your fault, baby. Now, just take a nap, and when you wake up, I’ll bring you some dinner.” She stood again and left the room quietly, turning off his light and closing his door behind her. He was asleep before she made it to the stairs.
S
PENCER skipped the search for his last class and ran for the safety of his car. He’d find the last class sometime before he had to be there on Thursday, but right then, he couldn’t get the image of that boy’s terrified face out of his head—so small, and just… helpless. He’d seen enough television shows to know that something horrible had happened to that kid. Normal people didn’t just drop to the ground with a tap on the shoulder. But then, what would Spencer know about normal?
The light at the intersection that led to the main road turned red just as he approached. Spencer drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and waited, hoping that the car pulling
“Did you need something?” Aaron’s mother asked coldly. She was obviously upset by Aaron’s incapacitation. The response that she got was strange, and sounded almost foreign, even though it was in perfect English.
“I. Am. Very. Sorry..” The guy’s voice was shaky, and he spoke slowly, enunciating every syllable very clearly, like he was not used to speaking or like he thought Aaron was slow. Frankly, Aaron didn’t care; he wanted to get the hell out of there. There was something about the stranger’s slow, measured pronunciation that just sounded off, and Aaron found that he didn’t want to look up to see the guy’s face. He didn’t want to see horror or pity. He wanted to go home.
“I. Was. Asking. Him. For. Directions.,” the guy continued, still in that slow, measured speech. “I. Cannot. See. What. He. Is. Saying.. What. Is. He. Saying.?”
“He said ‘please don’t touch me’. What building are you looking for?” The exhaustion in his mother’s voice filled him with shame. He knew that she just wanted to get him home, but the fact that he couldn’t even deal with a guy just asking for directions caused his chest to tighten. It infuriated him that he couldn’t act like a normal human being, that he had to sit cowered in the shadow of this boy who was no real threat.
“Patterson..”
“It’s the building over there across the lot,” his mother explained.
“Thank. You.,” the guy replied, and sensing an escape, Aaron scrambled to his feet and bolted for the car, not looking up at the lost student. It was a minute or so before his mother joined him, and together they got into the car and headed home. The silence in the car was almost deafening.
His mother brought him a tranquilizer and a bottle of grape juice as he sat on his bed staring at the door. The soft whirring of his fan was the only sound in the room as he took the pill without a word. It had been a couple of weeks since he’d needed one, but today he certainly needed it. Images from the flashback he’d experienced in the quad were burned into his mind, and he knew that only the tranquilizer would make them fade. Nothing made them leave completely, but for a while, they wouldn’t torture him. Still fully dressed with the exception of his shoes, he rolled on his bed to face the wall, pulled his knees up to his chest and waited for the drugs to do their job.
This day hadn’t really started out so bad. How did it go so wrong? He felt his mother’s weight leave the bed as she stood up.
“Mama, I’m sorry,” he said, his voice almost pleading. One day she would grow tired of his childish behavior and let his father send him away. That thought drained him of what little strength he had left. His mother sat back down on the bed, and with the powerful tranquilizer to keep him calm, briefly touched his hair. He wanted so badly to be able to cry.
“It’s not your fault, Aaron. None of this is your fault, baby. Now, just take a nap, and when you wake up, I’ll bring you some dinner.” She stood again and left the room quietly, turning off his light and closing his door behind her. He was asleep before she made it to the stairs.
S
PENCER skipped the search for his last class and ran for the safety of his car. He’d find the last class sometime before he had to be there on Thursday, but right then, he couldn’t get the image of that boy’s terrified face out of his head—so small, and just… helpless. He’d seen enough television shows to know that something horrible had happened to that kid. Normal people didn’t just drop to the ground with a tap on the shoulder. But then, what would Spencer know about normal?
The light at the intersection that led to the main road turned red just as he approached. Spencer drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and waited, hoping that the car pulling
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