She shuffled into my room, her hair a mess.
"Time for pancakes," he murmured, as he gently turned me around.
He was arguing with the insurance company over the loudspeaker, pacing back and forth in the kitchen.
I groaned.
“I know,” he whispered. “I’m here with you, my love.”
He built a plywood ramp so my wheelchair could get through the front door. It wasn't pretty, but it worked.
He was arguing with the insurance company over the loudspeaker, pacing back and forth in the kitchen.
“No, she can’t manage without a shower chair,” he said. “Do you want to tell her that in person?”
They didn't do that.
He took me to the park.
Our neighbor, Mrs. Patel, started bringing stews and was very thoughtful.
"He needs friends," he told her.
“He doesn’t need to break his neck on your stairs,” he grumbled, but then he showed me around the block and introduced me to all the kids as if I were his VIP. He took me to the park.
The children stared intently. The parents looked away.
My first real friend.
A girl my age approached me and asked, "Why can't you walk?"
I froze.
Ray crouched down beside me. “His legs don’t obey his brain. But he beats you at cards.”
The girl smiled. "No, she can't."
That was Zoe. My first real friend.
She looked terrible.
Ray did this frequently. He would put himself in an awkward situation and get around it. When I was ten years old, I found a chair in the garage with a wire attached to the backrest, kind of braided.
"What is this?", I asked.
"Nothing. Don't touch it."
That night, Ray sat on my bed behind me, his hands trembling.
"Be quiet," he murmured, trying to braid my hair.
She looked awful. I thought my heart was going to explode.
"Those girls talk very fast."
When she reached puberty, she came into my room with a plastic bag and a red face.
“I bought… things,” she said, looking at the ceiling. “For when things happen.”
Wet wipes, deodorant, cheap mascara.
"You watched videos on YouTube," I told him.
He grimaced. "Those girls talk too fast."
"Are you listening to me? You are no less important."
continued on the next page 
Publicité
