Donnie
I can’t believe how cool Dug is. He is so fun. He is like a large child. His hot wheel collection is amazing. He has every car ever made, I think. It reminded me of when I was a little kid and I loved hot wheels and wanted all of them and the tracks that went with them. Fun times! I laughed at the memory.
“You remember being a little child?” Dug asked me. “I remember being little. My Paw Paw is the one who showed me how to fish and play with cars. He loved cars. He was a good and tidy man.”
“Dug, you are pretty cool,” I told him. “My mom told me how nice you and your mom were.”
Dug smiled shyly. “You didn’t want to come though.”
I was embarrassed. How did he know that? “No Dug, I didn’t want to come, but I am glad I did.”
“Your ma loves you. She wishes she could fix things. It makes her so sad. She needs to be careful though.” Dug told me with a faraway look. His eyes looked glassy.
“Um Dug, you okay?” I asked. He shook his head yes. “My mom does what she wants and doesn’t care what the outcomes are, Dug. She is kind of selfish.” I looked at the floor in embarrassment. I didn’t like to share my feelings about my mom. It was like I had a dark cloud of anger and resentment toward her that I couldn’t pass out of my body.
“She loves you and the neighboring man wants her and will take her,” he told me. He still looked glassy eyed and he was starting to give me the creeps. “He will hurt her. He will hurt her. He will hurt her.” His face was flat and his voice was monotone.
“What the hell, Dug? You’re freaking me out,” I told him. My voice was beginning to shake.
Dug’s face went limp and he fell to the floor and started to shake and jerk. The floor shook with his body. “He is going to take her. Take her and he will hurt her….he’s coming. He’s watching. He hates her. He loves her. His love is bad. ” He kept jerking and I smelled urine and realized he had peed his pants.
“Mom!” I screamed. “Mom!” I put my hand on Dug’s arm. “What can I do? Dug, what’s wrong?”
He grabbed my wrist but his face wasn’t slack. His eyes went glassy. “I try so hard to block out the ugly, Donnie. I do. I can’t stop the neighboring man. I can’t stop him from taking her.”
Ness and my Mom rushed in. “Oh my God!” My mother exclaimed and kneeled beside Dug.
"What happened?" Ness asked frantically.
I looked at her and shook my head. “I don’t know what set it off. He was talking about the neighboring man. Who is that, Mom?” Her eyes went wide. She shook her head.
Dug stopped jerking. “I am so sorry, Donnie. I am sorry, Ma. My pants...my pants aren’t tidy. They aren’t tidy at all.” Dug started to cry. He cried big crocodile tears and I felt so bad for him. I put my arm around his shoulders as he sat up.
“Dug, we are guys; we can’t be tidy all the time. It’s okay.” I told him. “It’s okay.”
Ness was standing close to them. “It’s okay, Dug. It’s okay. If you can, go change yourself. I am not mad. You couldn’t help it.”
“Ness, has he had a seizure before?” my mom asked. Her eyes were wide with worry and her lips had a hard look to them.
“No.” she answered. Her eyes were downcast and unsure. “He has never had a seizure before. He gets spacey sometimes. Especially, when he feels like something is going to happen.”
I was lost. “What do you mean?”
“He has these feelings about things. Things that might happen,” my mom tried to explain. Dug was still sitting on the floor. He was listening to my mother. “He knows things sometimes.”
My mouth dropped. “Are you saying he is psychic?”
“Kind of,” my mom said. “I know it sounds crazy.”
Dug shook his head. “I am not crazy. I am not. I am not.” He told us sadly.
“I don’t think you’re crazy,” I told Dug. I smiled. “It’s cool. It’s really cool you know stuff. It makes you unique. Do you need some help cleaning up, Dug?”
He smiled at me and he hugged me. He was trembling like a frightened little child. “Donnie, are you my friend? Are you Dug’s friend?I don’t pee my pants like a baby all the time."
“I am your friend, Dug.” I told him and I really meant it. I looked at my mom, Ness, and they were both smiling. Tears were sliding down Ness’ cheeks. “I will always be your friend and together we rule the hot wheel universe.” He laughed and then I laughed.
“Donnie, you sure are silly. There isn’t a hot wheel universe!”
I helped Donnie get up from the floor and asked him again if he needed help. He shook his head no and went into the bathroom to change his clothes. I turned and looked at my mom and Ness.
“What the hell, Mom? What is going on?”