The Beginning
The door swung both ways, but he didn't bother to come in. Something was telling me he was scared and confused. By the time I went back outside to help him he had already backed off from me.
"No Dias I don't want to go inside, I want to be outside where it's warm!" Lacour yelled.
"Lacour how many times must I tell you that it's safe inside, all we're doing is playing a little game? You love to play games…right?"
He stood there with a finger on his head and looking down at the ground.
Most people that came in looked at him as an outcast. He is my brother, and nothing will ruin that. Just then a woman passed by with a puppy in her hands. Lacour reached out to pet it.
The woman stopped and raised her eyebrows. "Is something wrong with you son?"
Lacour knew better then to invade one's space, but since he loved puppies he forgot. "That's a very pwetty dog you have theme ma'am. I just want to touch him."
She saw him as danger and immediately went inside. That was a typical response for most people. Not knowing what to do Lacour sat down on the chair and started to hit him on the head. "It's not fair, why do people look at me as being different?"
I tried comforting him but he backed off again and hit me in the face.
"How do you know what I'm going through?" he complained.
"Lacour believe me, there is nothing you could do to prevent this from ever happening. I have a harder time excepting you for this. "
We sat there for another hour watching people come and go.
Lacour was twenty two but acted like nine. It's not that he's autistic; rather it's an unknown form that doctors can't quite name. Our parents made both of us move out of the house by the time I was sixteen and he was ten. He didn't know why mom and dad wanted us out. Instead he laughed at whenever they mentioned not wanting to see him again. Dana, his sister, had to move out earlier because of an incident with her ex-boyfriend…well soon to be husband got her pregnant. They didn't take too well to that, so instead of trying to come up with a plan they just kicked her out. The three of us haven't been back since. No letters, no phone calls, no regret. This is the true story, of how one man taught the world that being different isn't bad, but rather its life changing. My name is Dias. Even though we grew up in the small town of Arlia, we moved on several occasions due to our father's job. He worked as the assistant manager of a special linguistics group. It didn't pay much, but it was enough to keep us in the house until the time came. When Lacour was born, my parents didn't know of his illness until a few years later. He never got along with the kids at school. The teacher couldn't come up with a better solution then removing him from the premises. I've always been there to confront the situation. I tried giving in my input, but they just looked at me as being worthless. The longer I think about it the angrier I get. Very few people have ever tried to tell him that he's different. He knows he is but he can't accept it.
"Lacour let's go inside and have some dinner, ok buddy?"
He's been more of a quiet person for most of his life. When he knows not to talk, he won't do it for hours until being told to. He sees it as a punishment, but at the same time he's gaining trust from it.
"Hey Dias look at the fire! It's so bright and sparkly! Can I touch it?"
"No Lacour," I said, "You don't want to burn yourself."
He continued looking at it until a waitress came up to us and asked where we'd like to sit. I can't complain that I'm working two jobs every week, being able to spend time with him is as good as it gets. Honestly most people enjoy work, but they never take time to think of those who have it worse.
"Would you like a seat by the fire or by the window?" the waitress asked.
I looked over to Lacour who was still sitting by the fire, "I think we'll take a seat by the fire."
"Alright, here is a menu and I'll get some drinks for you."
I thanked her and helped Lacour sit down in the seat.
As we sat down he pointed over to the woman who had passed us earlier. I looked over my shoulder and surely there she was with her dog on the floor resting.
"Don't worry about her buddy, she has no manners."
He laughed and started yelling, "Ha-ha yea no manners, no manners!"
Everyone in the restaurant started looking at him.
I reached across the table and covered his mouth. Usually he'd listen to me but this time it took a bit more to calm him down.
"Lacour you need to quiet down! We don't want to be kicked out of another restaurant." I said with a red face.
Naturally he continued so I had to drag him into the restroom and splash a little water on him.
"Lacour I want you to behave yourself, I hate to do this to you, but I have no other choice."
We went back to the table and our food was there. Normally Lacour had cheese and a few side vegetables; today though he ordered pancakes and apple sauce. He took a few bites of it and started nodding his head back and forth. I ate in silence on my chicken and mashed potatoes. Occasionally I'd glance up to make sure he was eating. As people went and came, Lacour would look at them in wonder and ask them a lot of questions. Some stopped and answered while others kept going. Soon we were both filled; I was surprised that he ate most of the pancakes.
"I'm proud of you Lacour, you did a good job eating. How would you like some ice cream?"
He looked up immediately and tilted his head, "Can I get everything I want on them?"
I laughed and patted him on the shoulder, "Of course you can, that is if you think you have enough room."
He clapped his hands together. I signaled the waitress over and asked her to bring some desert for us.
"You know you have a really cute brother." She said smiling.
"Lacour you hear that, she thinks you're cute." I said grinning.
He wasn't paying attention at the moment but then looked at her and gave a half smile.
"What kind of ice cream does he want?" she asked.
"Make him something special, your favorite."
She nodded and went into the kitchen.
"So Dias what kind of ice cream am I having!" he asked bouncing up and down in his chair.
"Slow down buddy, it's a surprise. I think you'll enjoy it."
"Oh goody, I hope it has strawberries and chocolate in it!" he yelled.
I couldn't help but laugh at his enthusiasm.
Soon the waitress came back, "Here you go cutie" she said handing the bowl to Lacour. She handed him the spoon and watched in amazement as he sucked down the chocolate.
"That's quite the most impressive eating I've seen before." She said laughing. "By the way, my name is Susan."
I extended my hand out to hers, "I'm Dias, this is my brother Lacour."
She smiled and watched him eat.
"After he's done you may bring us the check." I said.
She continued to stand there looking at me.
I smiled politely and continued eating my piece of cake.
"Are you from around these parts?" she asked curiously.
"Kind of, we're from the country area near Clark."
She shook her head and sat down beside us.
No one else was in the restaurant at this point. The time was 10:32pm and it was about closing time. Susan and I continued to talk as Lacour finished up his strawberry sundae.
"So how long have you been working here?" I asked.
She looked around the room and sighed, "Sadly this is my tenth year here. It's the best thing close I could get to a full time job. After my ex and I broke up he didn't leave me much except $30 dollars and a beat up Chevy truck. I can't say I hate him for making that decision, but ever since then I wondered if my life would get better or not."
I glanced at my watch and continued listening, "Yeah I've been in this town for nearly twelve years, and it's not much, but more then nothing. My first job was at this restaurant. I imagine it was right before you came here, you do look familiar I must say. Anyways my brother and I have had to use what we could. Overall life has been good to us."
She seemed to be soaking up every word I said, for she was easing her way closer. I must say I was quite surprised knowing that we came in here once or twice a week.
By the time we were done talking she was merely inches from me. Not that I felt uncomfortable, but I'm just wondering what made her get so close.
"Well I had better get going; it's past Lacour's bedtime." I said standing up "Thank you for that lovely conversation, we'll have to do it again sometime soon."
Lacour streaked out of the restaurant and stood in the parking lot waiting for me.
"It must be amazing to have such a lovable brother as him." She said walking out with me. "I'm an only child, so I never got to experience the power of a sibling relationship."
"It's nice to think about." I said, "Though at the same time you have to think about what to expect depending on age, health, stuff like that."
She nodded and started to walk off towards her car. "Well if you're not busy sometime this week would you like to go and get a cup of coffee with me?"
I had to think about for a moment while I watched Lacour and finally replied, "Sure, here's my number." I quickly got out a piece of paper and jotted it down and handed to her.
"Thanks Dias, I look forward to talking to you again." She leaned over and planted a kiss on my cheek.
And immediately my face went off like a Christmas tree. I watched her take off and wave to Lacour.
"Alright come on buddy we have to get you in bed."
We started walking home, even though it'd take us another twenty minutes it was worth the thought of waiting another couple of days to come back. Lacour however wasn't paying attention at all and ran up ahead of me, his head raised up at the sky looking into the night.
And I thought to myself, "He's alright."
