The Lost Boy

animal?
    “At night she wouldn’t even give me a blanket. Sometimes I got so cold … I tried to stay warm. I really did, ” I cried as I nodded my head.
    I wiped my runny nose with my finger and closed my eyes. For a brief moment, I saw myself standing in front of the kitchen sink – back at The House. Beside me I could see a smelly, pink paper napkin. I took a deep breath before I opened my eyes. “I … I … remember one Saturday afternoon … she had me pick up some dog poop … and … I was in the kitchen; she was in the living room lying down on the couch watching her shows. That’s all she does, all day, every day, is watch her shows. Anyway … all I had to do was throw the poop in the garbage disposal, and she’d never know. I knew if she found out, it’d be too late. I mean, by the time she heard me turn on the disposal, it would be too late … but I ate it ‘cause she told me to. As I did, I cried inside, not because of… but … because I had
let
her do that to me. For all those years I had let her treat me like she did. For years I was so ashamed.”
    I began to whimper. “I never told. I never told … Maybe Larry’s right. Maybe I am a wimp.”
    “Oh, David! Oh my God!” Lilian cried. “We didn’t know …”
    “Look at this …” I yanked up my shirt. “This … this is where she stabbed me. She didn’t mean to. It was an accident. But you know why?”
    The blood drained from Lilian’s face. She closed her eyes before she covered her mouth with her hand. “No, David, I don’t know. Why did she?”
    “She said she’d kill me if I didn’t ‘do the damn dishes in 20 minutes.’ Ain’t that a kick? The funny thing is that ever since the accident, I just wanted to tell her I knew she didn’t mean to kill me, that I knew it was an accident. I actually prayed that the accident would bring us together – that somehow she knew she’d gone too far, that she couldn’t hide the secret anymore. I wanted her to know that I forgave her.
    “But no! I’m the bad guy. She won’t even talk to me. Like … like I’m the one who’s the bad guy!” I could feel my arms tighten up and my hands form into fists. I stared through Mrs Catanze as I slowly turned my head from side to side. “Damn it! She won’t even talk to me! Why? Why? Why?!”
    Lilian knelt down in front of me. She was sobbing, too. “David, I don’t know. We need to have you talk to someone, someone who can help you. This is something you need to get out of your system. You need someone who’s more qualified … who knows what to do. Ms Gold and I will arrange for you to talk to someone who will help you find some answers. All right?”
    I felt myself drifting away. I focused on Lilian’s mouth moving, but I couldn’t make out what she was saying. She took my hand and led me into my room. As I lay in bed, she stroked my hair, whispering, “It’s all right. I’m right here. Everything’s going to be all right.”
    Hours later I woke up refreshed and followed Mrs Catanze as she bounced down the staircase to examine my bike. Moments later I shook my head in disgust. “Stan did this, ” I said. “Mister Fix-It. It’s his way of getting back at me.”
    “Well, David, ” Lilian said in a firm tone, “the question is: Are you going to sit here and sulk about it, or are you going to do something about it?” She stopped for a moment as if to ponder an idea. “You know, if you wanted to … you could probably earn some extra money and fix up your bike. That is, if you wanted to.”
    A few minutes later I walked back up the stairs and plopped myself on the couch. I now became consumed with fixing my bike. When Big Larry came home from work, I ran to his room to seek his advice. Throughout the evening, Larry and I schemed on the quickest way to achieve my goal. After 10 o’clock, we came up with the perfect plan, a plan so flawless that Larry guaranteed I would have my bike up and running in 30 days or less. Larry, who claimed to be a “master strategist” – I had no idea what his statement meant – went on to boast that when Mom and Dad saw me coming, they would willingly throw money at me.
    “Wow!” I gasped. “This is just too cool!”
    Before quitting for the day, Big Larry and I dubbed our plan “Operation: Bug the Parent.”
    The following morning I stayed glued to Lilian’s side, begging her for extra work. An hour later she threw her arms in the air. “All right! I give up! Here, take these