My brother Butch is mentally challenged but that wasn't something we always knew. That had to learned. To me he was a little brother and no different than any other but then the day came when he was to be registered for school. My mom was gone for a long time. When she finally returned she stayed in the car looking off into the distance. I started to go check on her, but my Grandmother told me to leave her be.
Mom stayed inside the Buick for a long, long time.
Over the next few days there were many whispers about what had been said at the school meeting. My Dad came over to talk about it. He didn't even have our phone number at the time.
Slowly the picture came together. New words - hyperactive. seizures. brain-damage. Clues. I was a smart little boy. I figured it out rather quickly once the implications were out in the open. It was almost like the dot-to-dots I loved doing in school.
Over the next few days there were many whispers about what had been said at the school meeting. My Dad came over to talk about it. He didn't even have our phone number at the time.
Slowly the picture came together. New words - hyperactive. seizures. brain-damage. Clues. I was a smart little boy. I figured it out rather quickly once the implications were out in the open. It was almost like the dot-to-dots I loved doing in school.
Butch and I shared a room. He went to bed earlier than I did. At night, waiting to fall asleep, I would stare at him. I wanted to figure out how his mind worked. I couldn't. So I decided it wasn't true. God wouldn't do that to my little brother. There was something else going on.
Obviously Butch was smarter than all of us. He had us fooled. Butch was a Soviet spy spending reports about the Triggs family back to the motherland. Hidden somewhere in the house was a secret spy room like the Batcave on TV.
I don't know when I accepted the truth. The fantasy just faded away as I got used to the idea and finally accepted Butch for who and what he was - the best little brother in the world and perfectly himself.
Obviously Butch was smarter than all of us. He had us fooled. Butch was a Soviet spy spending reports about the Triggs family back to the motherland. Hidden somewhere in the house was a secret spy room like the Batcave on TV.
I don't know when I accepted the truth. The fantasy just faded away as I got used to the idea and finally accepted Butch for who and what he was - the best little brother in the world and perfectly himself.
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