Someone to Love Me
Chapter 1
Alvin had no memory of the first nine years of his life. Anything before that time was a complete blur to him. Everything else from age nine and onward, he remembered quite well. Even so, he had always felt like he didn't belong with his family, that he had been adopted since he didn't have a good relationship with anyone in his family. They were of the dysfunctional, violent sort. Alvin hated violence, so he figured that he couldn't be related any of them. After all, he was nothing like them.
Alvin's story begins during the summer of 1990 when he was nine years old, where his memory picks up. For the summer, he and his brothers were headed to Virginia where their aunt, otherwise known as Dave's sister, lived. Theodore was still wetting the bed at this time and Dave's sister was having a hard time dealing with it. Over the phone, the two of them had discussed what was to be done about Theodore's bed-wetting. For the longest time, Dave had simply been changing the sheets. He didn't want to force Theodore into diapering, not wanting his son to feel any more embarrassed about his problem than he already did.
Their aunt picked them up from the airport as the plane landed and she took them to the local store. Alvin and Simon walked alongside each while their aunt pushed the cart. Theodore was walking behind them. Aside from getting ingredients for dinner, they wandered over to the infant section (much to Theodore's chagrin) and she selected a three-pack of plastic pants. How they were supposed to help Theodore with his bed-wetting, Alvin didn't know. From there, they continued their shopping, grabbing a couple of two liter of sodas and a few things for breakfast the following morning. In silence they paid for their items and went to their aunt's house out in the country.
Simon and Theodore helped their aunt prepare the meal while Alvin lazily watched television in the living room. With his aunt not liking him all that much, Alvin thought that it was best if he just stayed out of the way and allowed them to go about their business. Dinner would get done faster without him. He shut off the television as he saw them setting the table. He was stopped by his aunt when he attempted to sit down at the table.
"I don't believe I called you, did I?" she asked.
Alvin shook his head.
"Then go sit down. Don't come in here unless I call you."
Alvin merely shrugged his shoulders and went to sit down on the couch again, only to be called into the kitchen two minutes later by his aunt. He sat down between Theodore and Simon, fixing his own plate along with the rest of them, neither one of them talking. As far as their aunt was concerned, dinner was to be spent in silence, unlike at home where they spent their dinner telling Dave about their day. Regardless, the meal was enjoyed by all, even if they weren't allowed to speak.
As soon as dinner was over, Theodore retreated to the bathroom while Simon helped his aunt with the dishes. When she heard the hinges of the bathroom door creak, she left Simon to tend to the dishes while she checked to make sure that Theodore was wearing his plastic pants. She gave him a nod of approval when she realized that he indeed was wearing them and went back to the kitchen, leaving Theodore to join Alvin on the couch to watch television.
If you could call it that, anyway. Because she lived in the country, their aunt only had cable, and it only got three channels. Well, four, actually. There was CBS, ABC, and PBS. The "fourth" channel was practically the same channel: CBS. The only difference was that there was a different news anchor and the news and shows ran at different times. Because of this, there was hardly anything on, which left the two of them quite bored. Of course on PBS there were the educational shows, and on ABC there were some sitcoms that were playing. Nothing too exciting. This left the two of them with the only option of going to bed.
Before going to bed, however, Theodore was checked to make sure that he was still wearing his plastic pants before he was allowed to go to bed. They and Simon were all forced to share a bed in the guest bedroom. Luckily, it was a rather large bed with plenty of room for each of them to sleep on. The only downside to all of this was the fact that Simon snored and Alvin oftentimes would take most of the cover, claiming that he needed the warmth more than they did. After brushing their teeth and Theodore changing into his pajamas in the bathroom out of embarrassment over the plastic pants, they climbed into bed with the sound of Simon and their aunt washing the dishes their only means of being lured to sleep. No bedtime stories. No lullabies. Just the sweet, faint sound of running water to get them to go to sleep.
The worst thing about the plastic pants is that there was nothing to absorb the urine when Theodore actually did wet the bed, so they ended up leaking. Unfortunately for him, this made the visit all the more stressful. It was always hard on Alvin and Simon since watching Theodore having to go through it was hard for them to watch. Worst yet, they didn't have television to distract them.
The visit would have been more fun for all involved had they been allowed to go outside. They couldn't, thanks to the horses that trotted about the yard, surrounded by a brown fence. The most fun they had while on the visit was when they decided to throw paint at each other while painting the fence white, bored with the activity. Of course, Simon had disagreed with the idea, claiming that they shouldn't do anything to cause any mischief and instead should focus on the task that they needed to complete. Eventually, however, the task itself became too dull for him to handle and soon all three of them were running around in the yard, throwing paint at one another, being careful not to get any in sensitive areas like their mouths, noses, eyes, or ears. Basically, anywhere that would cause damage. Sadly, their aunt was furious at what they'd done. It was only when they stopped that they noticed the globs of paint all over the freshly cut green grass. She had them march inside the house to wash off, but even Simon admitted that it was the most fun he'd had while on the visit.
Their aunt wasn't the only bitch in the family, however. Three months after they got back home they decided to visit their grandmother on Dave's side of the family. Dave had sent them there, claiming that he needed some space and some time to himself. The boys didn't mind, really. The only problem was their Grandma Pat was a mean, old nasty lady who was constantly pulling pranks on the boys. It was fun for Alvin until he became the butt of her pranks. One prank that she pulled involved her mixing hot sauce into Theodore's food while he was using the restroom. When he came out, Simon quickly got up and warned Theodore about the incident before the latter had a chance to eat.
It was a warm afternoon at Grandma Pat's humble abode, during which Alvin was trying to read a comic. Unfortunately, he had a hard time doing it since Grandma Pat kept licking her finger and sticking it in his ear. Eventually, he grew sick of it. Throwing the book down on the couch, he stood up, got in her face, and demanded that she leave him alone before collapsing on the couch and once again trying to read his book. He couldn't concentrate on the book, however, mainly because he hated being at Grandma Pat's and just wanted to go home. Sighing, he threw the book to the floor and buried his face in the pillow in front of him, his body shaking as he sobbed quietly to himself.
"Let me see your eyes."
Alvin raised up upon hearing his grandmother's voice and turned his head, only to be suddenly assaulted in the eyes with something that was hot. He cried out in pain, his eyes burning, his body shaking as pain. He couldn't speak. Anytime he tried all that would come out of his mouth would be highly-pitched wails of pain. Thankfully, he felt someone grab his hand and lead him away. He couldn't see, so it was hard for him to see who it was that was guiding him. When he heard running water, he assumed that it was Grandma Pat getting some water to wash his eyes out.
"Hold still," a voice ordered.
Alvin had been wrong. It had actually been Simon who had lured him away. From the smells of freshness in the room, he guessed that they were in the bathroom.
"I must warn you," Simon added, "this is going to sting." He wrung out the washcloth and tentatively brought it Alvin's eyes, drawing back at the last second for fear of doing more harm than good. He finally brought the cloth to Alvin's eyes, and wasn't surprised when Alvin yelled out and jumped back. He gingerly grabbed Alvin's wrist and pulled him towards himself. "I know. I know it hurts. But, you're going to have to sit still if I'm going to clean your eyes. Okay?"
Alvin could do nothing but nod in response, his throat hoarse from his yelling in pain. He bit his lower lip, wincing in pain as Simon dabbed at his eyes as gently as possible, wanting to cause as little pain to him as he could. He was grateful that Simon was at least taking the time to help him. He stood perfectly still, or at least as still as he could with his eyes burning and the wet material touching his eyes, thus making the burning sensation all the more worse. Finally, the stinging and burning subsided, but Alvin could still not open his eyes. As to why, he didn't know. Simon seemed to catch onto this and led him back to the living room, advising him to just sit down and relax ("maybe it'll wear off in a few hours," he'd added). Alvin did just that, although he quickly became bored and decided to go ahead and take a nap, seeing as he already had his eyes closed.
Throughout the week, Theodore's bed-wetting was still an issue that came up in discussion. Sadly, unlike their aunt, Grandma Pat had a worse solution to the problem. One afternoon she went to one of the neighbors who had a toddler and borrowed one of the kid's diapers. Walking back in the house, she warned Theodore that if he were to wet the bed again, she would put the diaper on him. Just to torture him further, she put the diaper on the table so he could look at it all day.
Just by looking in Theodore's eyes, both Alvin and Simon could tell that he was frightened of the punishment that lay ahead of him. His eyes didn't leave the diaper, no matter what, as if it had a fix on him. He found it hard to concentrate on anything but the diaper, so much so that he figured he might as well go ahead and put it on just so it would stop tormenting him. However, he didn't. He merely went about his day, trying to drive his mind away from the inevitable that would come about that evening.
Surprisingly, their Grandma Pat didn't diaper him that night. Instead, she just dumped him in the bathtub in the bathroom and let him sleep there for the remainder of the week that he and his brothers were there. Alvin and Simon didn't try to stop her. What could they do? If they attempted to do anything, she would just have them arrested, lying to the police saying that they had assaulted her first, that they had attacked first, that she had just been trying to be a good grandmother. Of course since they were only children, the police would believe her false claims and have the boys arrested.
For Alvin, the week at Grandma Pat's felt extremely long. On the last day of their visit, Alvin made sure that neither his Grandma Pat or Grandpa Jeff weren't around before he opened the window to the living room. He called out to one of the few neighborhood kids that were around the area. He had already written a phone number on a slip of paper. "Here," he said, handing the young boy the slip of paper. "Call this number. It's for Kenny, my godfather. Call him and tell him that we need help. Tell him that needs to come and pick me and my brothers up."
The boy gave the red-clad chipmunk a nod. "You got it!"
As the boy was running off to his house, Alvin was jerked back into the house by the tight grip his Grandma Pat had on his hair. He was just grateful that the job had gone off without a cinch and that he and his brothers would be picked up fairly shortly. He was finally let go and allowed to go in the guest bedroom where Simon and Theodore were busy playing Go Fish. They both sat on the bed cross-legged, their backs hunched over, a pile of cards resting in between them, a collection of cards held in front of their faces. Upon seeing him enter, Theodore looked up at Alvin and smiled.
"Alvin, I want to go home," Theodore said, setting his cards down.
Alvin nodded, understanding where Theodore was coming from. "Don't worry, Theodore. I talked to one of the neighborhood kids and they should be calling Kenny right about now."
Simon smiled. "Good. When should he be here?"
"In a few hours, I suppose," Alvin admitted. He climbed on the bed and sat down in front of them. "It's a long drive to here from California."
Theodore nodded his head, drawing a card from the deck "True."
"For the time being," Simon suggested, "why don't you join us in a game of cards? It's the only thing to do around here."
Alvin grinned and decided to go ahead and join them, being bored. With no television, no radio, no video games, and living in the country, there was very little to do around the house. They played a variety of card games until their godfather Kenny, along with Dave, came to pick them up and take them home.
Simon and Dave worked as a team, in that they would home-school Alvin whenever he got suspended for not doing his school work. While Simon would role-play as the teacher, Dave would be in the living room serving as the principal. Simon and Alvin sat at the kitchen table, sitting across from each other. Simon gave Alvin a stack of worksheets that he had made the night before, based on the material that was being covered in Alvin's classes, and have Alvin do them.
Alvin sat, scowling at the math worksheets that Simon had given him, angrily chewing on his eraser, occasionally using the pointed end to scratch at his head in confusion. This week's material they were currently covering were fractions, and he, for the most part, had no idea how to go about solving them. Math had never been his strong suit. It frustrated him terribly. He growled in anger and threw down his pencil, crossing his arms across his chest and glowering at the worksheet in front of him. He started to get up until he noticed that Simon was glowering at him.
"Dave," Simon called, "Alvin's not doing his work."
Alvin let out a groan of annoyance. Any time he would get frustrated with his work, instead of letting him take a break and come back to it later, Simon would take Alvin's frustrations to mean that he was refusing to do his work.
"Alvin, get in here," Dave called.
Said chipmunk sighed and walked in the living room, standing in front of his father.
"Wait here," Dave said, getting up and leaving the room. He went in a nearby room and came out with two-inch thick dictionaries. He placed them on Alvin's outstretched open palms. "Hold them for thirty minutes."
Alvin nodded his head and concentrated on the dictionaries that he was currently holding. His arms shook as the muscles in them were being strained, the weight of the dictionaries being more than he could be. He just wasn't strong enough to hold the dictionaries for as long as Dave wanted him to. He let out a soft groan of pain, the dictionaries continuing to hurt his palms. He let out a sigh of relief as the books suddenly fell from his hands, his arms giving out for having held them for only a minute or so.
He swallowed hard upon seeing the disapproving look on his father's face. He knew what was coming. Without warning, he was jerked forward by the arm and swiftly swatted on the bottom a few times before the books were once again placed on his open palms. He was once again told to hold them for at least thirty minutes. If he could do this, then he would be allowed to go back to doing his schoolwork. Being only nine years old, however, he could only hold the books for so long, roughly for about a minute.
He went through the process at five or six times: holding the books, dropping them, getting spanked, and then repeating the process all over again. It wasn't until Dave got so fed up with doing it that he suggested that Alvin just go to his room. The red-clad chipmunk was grateful about this, as it gave him some time to himself and gave him a chance to get away from his father and brother for a while, at least until dinnertime.
Alvin had no memory of going to school on the day where his memory picked up. All he could recall was sitting outside the principal's office, his hands folded in his arm, staring down blankly at his shoes that were just a couple of feet above the floor. He waited patiently, his heart thumping in his chest, unable to recall what he'd done to get called down to the principal's office. He felt as if his heart was in his throat, making it hard to breathe. Why was he so nervous? It wasn't as if this was his first time being called down to the office. He was called down to the office a number of times on a regular basis and being suspended for not doing his schoolwork. Maybe the reason why he was so on edge was because this time it was more serious than that.
To Alvin, it was as if he'd been asleep this whole time, shrouded in darkness, until he'd just now woken up. It was as if he had no past. Of course he knew who Dave was, how to talk, and whatnot. As for his past, he had no memory of it. He couldn't recall anything. Memories of his childhood were a complete blank, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't remember anything. What was wrong with him?
He gazed at the clock that was behind the secretary. It was two o' clock, just an hour before the school day ended. He just hoped that he would be able to go back to class and continue on with his school day until the bell rang and he could go home.
Looking to his left he was grateful to find that his backpack was resting in the chair beside him. However, it reassured him of the fact that he wasn't going back to class when he was done. He swallowed at what was going to happen to him next.
The door to the principal's office opened and Dave stepped out, closing the door behind him, giving his son a look of disappointment that Alvin was used to by now. Without saying a word, he slipped his backpack onto his shoulders and walked with his father out to the car. "So, what did she say?" He opened the passenger door and got in.
"Is it true that you brought a bomb to school?" Dave asked. The engine roared to life, but he eyed his son.
Alvin blinked. "What?"
"According to the principal, you brought a plastic egg with two marbles in it and said that it was a bomb."
Alvin took a moment to look around the schoolyard. Funny, there were no police cars. No bomb squad. If he had indeed done what Dave was accusing him of, then he figured that there should have been a bomb squad invading the school, putting the school on lock down. Or at the very least, a team of policemen. Even so, he found the story that Dave was feeding him very hard to believe. He wasn't a violent person. Furthermore, why would he bring a plastic egg with two marbles in it and declare that it was a bomb, thus sending the whole school into a panic? It just didn't make any sense whatsoever to him, and he refused to believe it unless he had some actual proof. For example, where was this so-called "bomb." Again, if there was such a thing in the school, then surely the principal wouldn't have it? A bomb squad would have been immediately contacted and it would have been confiscated by the police as evidence for his wrongdoing.
Alvin was still struggling to figure all of this out when Dave pulled up to a building. Turning his head, Alvin discovered it to be the Charter Oak Hospital. It was apparent that this was their stop. As Alvin turned to look at Dave, his father was already unbuckling his seat belt and getting out of the car. Alvin did so as well without question and followed his father to the front doors. He was about to go ahead and go through them when he was stopped.
"Now," Dave said sternly, "when we get in here, I want you to tell the lady at the front desk that you're suicidal and that you need to be admitted."
Alvin blinked. He had no idea what a psych ward and being suciidal had to do with school and an Easter egg bomb. It made no sense. He didn't understand why his father was ordering him to flat-out lie so he could be admitted to a mental hospital. Nonetheless, he nodded his head. He trusted his father. So, with the plan set in motion, he walked in the hospital with his father and up to the front desk. Clearing his throat, he did as he was told, telling the lady at the front desk that he was suicidal.
Another woman was brought into the room who led them down a hallway to a room. Alvin was told to wait outside while his father and the woman had a talk. Alvin did as he was told, staring at the floor, his mind still overwhelmed with thoughts and ideas and questions. He still couldn't figure out why on Earth his father told him that he had brought a bomb to school when it was quite clear that he hadn't. It just didn't make any sense to him. At the very least he would be going home after the meeting between his father and the lady, and then he could put this whole ugly mess behind him and act like it'd never happened.
He jumped when he heard the click of the door and the hinges creaking as it was opened. He watched as his father and the woman stepped out. He hopped off the chair and followed them to a nearby computer. Sitting at her desk the woman began typing out Alvin's information as it was given to her by Dave. The woman nodded her head occasionally as she typed in the information. From time to time she requested that Dave repeat some of it so she got it all correct. Eventually, she took her eyes off the comptuer screen and turned to Alvin.
"You'll have to stay here for a few days," she told him plainly.
Alvin felt a tight knot in the pit of his stomach. He started rocking back and forth in his chair, mumbling to himself, trying to keep himself from crying. Ultimately, he couldn't fight it. Without warning, he burst into tears. He didn't want to be here! He wanted to go home! He was headed a tissue by the woman. He couldn't stop crying. He looked up at Dave tearfully, pleading with him to take him home, to not leave him here. His pleas fell on deaf ears as his father ignored him and only continued to converse with the woman behind the desk. It took a good thirty minutes to get all the information put into the computer. Once that was done, Alvin and Dave were led to the children's ward.
The children's ward was at the back of the building. There were two rooms on either side of a desk in front of them. The door to the left led to the girls' unit. The door to the right led to the boys' unit. Behind the desk there was a set of double doors. There was a buzz heard and the double doors opened, and the three of them continued on to the ward.
They walked down a long hallway. The door on the right led to the playroom where there was a football table, a television, and other activities that the children could participate in. There were a set of three doors on the left, right across from the playrom. The doors on the elft and right were known as the solitary rooms, whereas the door in the center was known as the bathroom. There was another door on the left that was at the end of the hallway. They went through it and found themselves in the room that the ward doctors used.
"The doctor will be with you shortly," the woman said before leaving the room.
Alvin sat down in an abandoned chair, while Dave sat in the chair across from him. The two of them were silent while they waited for the doctor to come in. Shortly afterward, Dr. Brown entered the room. He shook hands with Dave and greeted Alvin as well. After another twenty to thirty minutes of getting to know Dr. Brown and answering questions, it was time for Dave and Alvin to say goodbye to each other.
Dave bent down and hugged Alvin tightly. He seemed eager to leave as soon as possible because the hug only lasted a few seconds before he stood up and began to leave. Or at least he tried. With Alvin clinging to his pants leg, it was sort of hard for him to go anywhere or do anything. Alvin was dragged along the floor, his nails digging into Dave's skin as the latter tried but failed to leave the room without taking Alvin with him. Eventually, he had to stop so he could get Alvin off him. With Dr. Brown's help, he amanged to pry Alvin off his leg and leave the room, while Alvin cried after him, begging Dave to take him home and to not leave him in the hospital. Just as before, his cries fell on deaf ears. His father didn't even bother to look back as he left the children's ward.
A nurse approached Alvin and led him down another hallway, this one lined with several rooms on either side. Outside Alvin's room, atached to the door, was a picture frame with a grid on it. Alvin got the last room on the right. The door after it was the door that led out to the playground. The room was small. It contained two beds, two closets, and a desk and a chair resting between the two closets. There was a small room at the back of the room that was the bathroom. It contained a shower, a toilet, and a sink. It was no bigger than the room itself. If anything, it was actually smaller. There at least was a window. Below it was a heater/air conditioner. The wallpaper for the room was of Disney characters like Mickey Mouse, among others.
A doctor came in Alvin's room and sat down with him to explain the rules and regulations that he had to abide by while at the Charter Oak Hospital. Alvin, on the other hand, could have cared less about what rules and regulations he neede to follow. At the moment, he just wanted to be left alone. Understandably, he was very upset about what was happening. He was confused beyond all reason and couldn't understand why this was happening to him, why his father had decided to leave him here all alone. Nonetheless, he listened carefully. When he asked about the grid outside his door, the doctor explained to him that the hospital used a point system. The better behaved he was, the more points he got, and the more points he got made it so that he could stay up later. There were two bedtimes. The first bedtime was at eight thirty. The second was at nine. It was four thirty by the time the doctor finished talking and left Alvin to get settled into his new room.
Alvin wasn't interested in getting comfortable to his new surroundings. He was just interested in being left alone. Burying his head in his pillow, he cried until five. At this time a nurse came in and alerted him that it was time for dinner. He followed her to the play room, where their meals were served. He was given a tray of food as he sat down at a table. However, he wasn't awfully hungry. He ate slowly. Despite that he wasn't too hungry, he ate just enough to please the staff. They had a percentage for how much he ate. He gave back his tray and returned to his room.
From five thirty to seven thirty parents were allowed to visit their children to see how they were doing. This time was appropriately called "visiting time." Sadly, Dave, nor Simon and Theodore, visited Alvin, leaving him all the more hurt. He supposed that he shouldn't have been too surprised by this due to the fact that he didn't get along well with anyone in his family. When he realized that they weren't going to show up after a half-hour of waiting, he decided to go back to his room.
For the next hour and a half, he thougth about things, still trying to remember his day, but all he could recall was him sitting in that chair outside of the principal's office, nothing more. Never anything more than that. It frustrated him. It angered him. He didn't understand why he was having to stay in the hospital. All he knew was that he was being punished for something. The question was, what?
Fifteen minutes after eight, forty-five minutes after "visiting time" ended, a nurse came into Alvin's room and told him it was time for group therapy. He walked down the hallway along with the rest of the children. He noticed that most of them were his age. The youngest of them was roughy seven years old. They walked into a room that was cool. There was a circle of fold-out chairs, their group therapy leader sitting in one of them. They sat down.
"Good evening," the group therapy leader stated. "I am Carrigan, your group therapy leader. I hope to help each and every one of you on the road to recovery." She removed a stack of composition notebooks from a box that was resting at her feet. "Now, these are journals." She handed them to the boy on her right. "Take one, pass the rest down. I want you to write down your feelings in these journals. Every morning when you wake up, write down how you feel. While you're getting your journals, let's talk about how you're feeling now and why you're here."
Alvin tuned the other kids out as he struggled to figure out why he was at the hospital to begin with. While he had done what his father had requested of him, he wasn't suicidal, and he knew this. So, why was he in a mental institution to begin with?
His thoughts were broken as he felt a weight suddenly fall into his lap. He looked down to discover that he had been passed the stack of notebooks. As ordered, he took one and passed the rest down to the girl on his rest. He picked up his notebook and glanced at it. It was no different from the others that he'd passed down. It was black with a little bit of white sprinkled here and there. There was a large white space at the top on the cover for him to write down his name. There was a pen attached to the center of the notebooks, where the staples that held the pages together was found. He figured that his notebook would never get used. After all, he was never good at writing, and he had never had a real passion for writing to begin with. He saw no point to the notebook. He didn't see how writing about his feelings was going to help him get out of the hospital even faster. Even though he would only be in the hospital for a few days, he was sure that it would seem like forever to him.
He was grateful that the therapy session only lasted roughly fifteen minutes. He got up and left as soon as he was dismissed. Not surprisingly, he was exhausted from his ordeal throughout the day, not to mention all that crying had made him feel even more physically drained. He didn't care that he had to go to bed at eight thirty. He didn't care that if only he had a few more points he would get to stay up until nine. All he cared about was getting some sleep and being alone. Sadly, he had a hard time getting to sleep. Crying himself to sleep didn't help in the least.
Alvin was woken up bright and early at seven thirty the following morning. After getting up, hewas ordered to make his bed. Afterward, someone would come in to inspect it. There was no need for this, as Alvin had fallen asleep on top of his covers the previous night. It had partly been because he'd been so tightly and mainly because the room was so warm. Nonetheless, his room was inspected and he was allowed to go to the play room to eat.
Along the way, Alvin stopped as he passed the solitary rooms, hearing screaming coming from one of them. It made him uneasy. It sounded like the person on the other side of the door was being killed. It sent chills down his spine just from hearing the screams. He recoiled and quickly made a dash for the play room. However, given that breakfast wasn't served until eight o' clock, he was early. Sadly, he had nothing to do, so he just sat down at a table and tried to keep to himself. He had no interest in making friends, not at this place. When breakfast was served, he only ate half and returned his tray.
He still had some time to himself. During this time he could play a game or two with the other kids while he waited for the others to finish eating breakfast. He wasn't interested in playing games, however. He couldn't get over the howling screams he'd heard from the solitary room. Whether it was out of szie or muscle or whatever, he had always seen himself as a big brother. He'd always seen it as his duty to protect those smaller than him. He wanted to make sure that the kid was all right, but the only way for him to do that would be for him to get in trouble so he could get taken to the solitary room. There was little chance of that happening, he realized, as he had always been a good egg.
He would have to con someone into helping him get in trouble. He noticed a kid not far from him. Walking up to the kid, he said, "Hey, you want to make a dollar?"
The boy shrugged. "Sure."
Alvin grinned. "Okay, cool. Go tell that guy," he pointed over to a doctor, "that I hit you." He watched with bated breath as the kid carried out hsi order, but he frowned with the kid came to him alone, a frown on his face. "What happened?"
"He said that if he didn't see it, then it didn't happen. Regardless, he told me to tell you to leave me alone."
Alvin frowned. "All right, then. Do it again."
This time Alvin's plan worked. The doctor marched over to Alvin, grabbed him by the wrist, and dragged him out of the play room. As he went through the doors, he heard the kid yell after him, "Hey, what about my dollar?!" Alvin actually felt bad about this, seeing as how he'd had every intention to give the kid his hard earned dollar.
Alvin was dragged to the time out area where the solitary rooms were. He smiled as he approached the doors, but his hopes were soon dashed as the doctor wrenched open the door opposite the one that the screaming boy turned banshee was being held in. He was thrown into the empty room, the door being locked behind him. For the first few seconds, he didn't understand what the big deal was behind being in the solitary room. After all, he wasn't being hurt or anything. He couldn't understand why the kid in the room beside him had been screaming so much. What was so bad about this? He could always sleep his time away until he was released, couldn't he?
He jumped, the silence in the room suddenly being interrupted by a series of loud bangs and faint screaming coming from the room beside him. The screaming, of course, wasn't as loud as it'd been before, but loud enough to where it could be heard through the thin padded walls of the room. From the sounds of it, the boy in the room beside him was trying to break through the glass window, to break through the door in a desperate attempt to get out of the room. He cringed when he heard something like bones cracking. The screaming faded into the distance, the kid being taken out of the room to get his hand cared for.
Alvin let out a sigh at the tranquility that returned to the room. Finally, peace and quiet. After twenty minutes, the quiet tone of the room began to get to him. It was so quiet that he could actually hear his own heartbeat and nothing else, aside from his own breathing. He could hear nothing outside the room. Likewise, the room were soundproof. The walls and door were covered by tan rubber padding. The window in the door had chicken wire meshed into it. The door itself had four locks on it: a dead bolt and three separate barrel locks. One of the barrel locks was just below dead bolt. Another was at the top of the bottom, whereas the third and final barrel lock was at the bottom. As if any nine year old get get even the dead bolt open. The amount of locks o the door was simply overkill.
There was a dark blue mattress laid on top of a wooden frame with small woode slots cut into the wood. Alvin had no idea what those were for. About ten or twelve feet above the mattress was a skylight. The smell of leather and rubber was all that he could smell.
With every minute that passed, it felt like an hour. Quickly, the silence in the room began to get to him. Now he understood why the boy had wanted out of rhe room so badly before, why the boy had been ferociously banging on the window to be let out. Alvin wanted and he wanted out now. He ran up to the window and began to bang on it. "Hello?! Can anyone hear me?!" His breathing became heavy, fear getting the better of him. He continued to bang on the window, screaming for help, to be let out. He doubted anyone could hear him. The only chance he had of being heard was by way of him right next to the window and screaming his lungs out and hoping and praying that someone on the other side heard him.
No one came.
His fear went into overdrive to where he was getting flat-out scared. He banged on the door with more determination, screamed with more volume, more fury. He was beginning to panic. He might as well have been on the moon or in the middle of flipping nowhere. It was as if the Rapture had occurred and he was the only soul left on Earth. That couldn't be the case. There had to someone, anyone, that oculd hear him. If there was, then surely they would take pity on him and let him out, wouldn't they? He had his doubts of course, but he kept trying. Eventually, a nurse approached the door and he let out a sigh of relief.
"Are you going to be good?" the nurse asked upon opening the door.
Alvin nodded his head excitedly. "Yes! Yes! Just let me out!" He leapt out of the room as soon as the woman stepped aside.
"Go to your room and shower," the nurse suggested, closing the door. "You need to get ready."
Alvin was only too happy to. At the very least they were permitted to have a hot shower. He was actually glad that she had suggested it. It had been a while since his last bath and he didn't smell very pleasant. He made sure to bathe every inch of his body. No matter how warm the water and no matter how tingly the bar of soap felt on his skin, he couldn't get his mind off the solitary room. Oh, what a horrible experience! It was one he dreaded having, and one he hoped he would never have to endure any time soon. The water was comforting, somewhat, allowing his mind to temporarily wander. For a brief moment, he felt as if he was home again in the bathroom that the family shared. Any moment now Simon would be banging on the door demanding him to hurry up so he could brush his teeth. He allowed a smile to come across his face. Sadly, his happiness didn't last long. As soon as he opened the bathroom door after drying off and getting dressed, reality hit him in the face, reminding that he was not home, that he was still at the mental hospital, at Charter Oak Hospital, no less.
Being that there was no clock in the room, he had no way of telling what time it was. Worst yet, he and the others weren't allowed to have any electronics, so he couldn't check his phone to see what time it was. He reclined on his bed, thankful that while here he wouldn't have to worry about doing any schoolwork. He quickly found out how wrong he was. He had just laid down for a nap when he was ordered by a nurse to go down to the play room. Apparently, the room was also used as their "school" as well, but it was hardly any school that Alvin was familiar with.
Upon entering the play room, he sat down at an empty desk. He was given a work packet to work on, the packet having been designed for him based on his grade level. He did the work without question or argument, though he had to stop every now and then, particularly during math, it not being his best subject, to work out the problems in his head. He figured that he would have the regular eight to nine hours to work on it. Yet again, he was proven wrong, for after only an hour of work, class was dismissed, yet they didn't go anywhere. They were ordered to stay in their seats.
After school was over, what the staff called Art Therapy was next. Basically, it was at least an hour's worth of art to do. Finally, something that catered to one of Alvin's interest. The only downside to this was the fact that they had a specific topic to follow. Today's topic was for him and the others to draw his favorite place to go. He figured that if today's topic was his favorite place to go, then he could only guess that they had a different topic for Art Therapy every day. Thinking about his favorite place to go wasn't all that difficult. He loved nature and he loved walking in the woods that were located behind his house. There was a creek far into the forest where he would sit on a rock and just listen to the sound of the creek flowing. It was where he went to get away from his family, to clear his head, and what have you. Alvin could spend hours at the creek, especially on the weekends when he had nothing better to do. One of the good things about his family thinking that he was an incompetent idiot was the fact that he rarely had to do chores. Those were left to Simon and Theodore. This allowed him to have more time to himself.
Like school, Art Therapy only lasted for an was only halfway finished with his drawing when the teacher dismissed them for group therapy at eleven o' clock. He figured that he shouldn't fret over not getting the project finished. He doubted that he would ever to finish it. Tomorrow they would have a new topic to work on. He was sure of it.
Through group therapy, Alvin quickly learned that his feelings could used against him. Therefore, he rarely allowed his emotions to show. His words and emotions were used against him purely to make his stay at Charter Oak Hospital longer. If he said he had a problem with anything, they would extend his stay to "solve it." If he expressed any emotions that were negative, such as anger, sadness, or the like, they would extend his stay to "make him better." If he threw a tantrum, his stay was extended. Because of this, whenever he was asked how he was doing, Alvin would frequently reply, "Fine." When asked what his goal while at Charter Oak Hospital was, he would reply with, "To go home." He figured that this type of response would shorten his stay at the hospital and hasten his journey to get home, where he was (somewhat) safe and sound.
For the fifteen minutes that he had to himself after lunch one afternoon, Alvin decided to go ahead and take a nap. Even if it was only for fifteen minutes, he figured that he could that fifteen minutes to some good use. At the very least he would be getting some peace and quiet for a while. Sadly, his blissful slumber was short-lived as he was quickly woken up by a staff member. When he told where he was supposed to go, he was actually kind of glad that he'd been woken up.
He joined the other kids that were lined up at the door at the end of the hallway. The door was opened and they walked forward, the blinding sunlight hitting their eyes and making it difficult to see. It was a miracle none of them tripped as they headed down the stairs. There was a tennis court, but they had no balls or rackets, so playing tennis was out. Just being outside was a welcome relief. The group went their separate ways. Alvin went and sat down in the grass, hugging his legs. Closing his eyes, he smiled as a cool breeze blew through his hair. He opened his eyes, however, when he heard shrieking and laughter coming from somewhere nearby. Turning his head he discovered a brick wall that he had failed to notice. Walking over to it and peeking over the edge he discovered that there was an elementary school right next to the mental hospital. In a way, he found it ironic that a place so innocent, so full of meories for him would be right next to his prison. At this point he would have given anything to just be out of the hospital and back in elementary school, even with the bullies and the harsh teachers and whatnot. It would be a breath of fresh air to be away from where he was now and back where he belonged. Sadly, there was little to no chance of that happening any time soon, as least not for another few days. How long had he been here anyway? How much longer did he have? He didn't know.
The recess didn't last long at all, roughly fifteen minutes. They were to go back to their rooms and write in their journals about how they were feeling. Alvin did no such thing. He simply laid in bed and slept until a nurse came in his room and told him that it was time for art therapy. He was disappointed that he'd only been sleeping for an hour. If he'd had things his way, he would have been sleeping for well over an hour. It was hard for him to sleep at nighttime.
Today's art therapy was different. The group was walked to a wood shop that was on the other side of the campus. Once there, everyone was given a specific project to do. Alvin decided to make a wooden car. Nothing too fancy. Something simple. However, making it was far from being anything but difficult. Basically, the framing of the car was already done; it was basically a solid piece of wood. All he had to do was snap the wheels on and paint the gall-derned thing. It really was quite boring, and here Alvin had been excited to actually get to use his hands to make something. The whole thing was a complete waste of his time and creativity, not that such was accepted widely at the hospital.
Alvin quickly became bored with life in the Charter Oak Hospital. Every morning he would wake up and eat breakfast before going to school, then art therapy, then have some quiet time, then group therapy. It was an endless cycle. The same thing, day in, day out. It was becoming quite tiresome and boring to Alvin and he just wanted an excuse to get out of the Charter Oak Hospital.
Around Thanksgiving, he got his wish. During a quiet time session, he was notified that Dave had arranged to pick him up so that he could join the family for Thanksgiving. Throughout the morning, he was in a cheerful mood. As the day wore on, however, he began to grow more and more depressed. By five o' clock, his excitement had drained significantly. He followed the rest of the kids to the dining room, the one time out of Alvin's whole time spent there that they were allowed to do so. The dinner hall was set up with various decorations and festive streamers and whatnot. He went through, grabbed what he wanted, and sat down to eat. By this time he was on the verge of tears, believing that the staff member had merely told him that his father was going to pick him up as a cruel joke. He wouldn't have been surprised if in fact it was a joke. Had Dave forgotten about him? Just when he was certain that the staff member had lied to him, a nurse told him that he was wanted up at the front desk.
Dave signed him out and led him out to the car. "Why did you come so late?" Dave gave him no answer. "I thought you forgot about me because you came so late."
"Have you eaten yet?" Dave asked.
Alvin shook his head and got in the car, sitting beside Simon while Theodore sat in the passenger seat. He was silent on the drive to their grandparents' house. While he had lied, he was afraid that if he admitted that if he had in fact already eaten, they would leave him out of the Thanksgiving dinner. No. They weren't that cruel, were they? Well, given how they were always telling him how fat he was, he wouldn't have been surprised if they had.
What really bothered him about the car ride was how uncomfortable it was. No one brought up the fact that Alvin had been in a mental hospital for the past couple of days. Simon and Theodore were acting as if everything was fine, as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Dave probably never even told Simon and Theodore about what happened. He probably just told them that he had gotten into an accident at school and had to be taken to the hospital. Well, that was partly true. Even so, didn't get they get the least little bit suspicions when Dave told them that they couldn't see him? It sure sounded like a cause for concern, at least in Alvin's case.
Dinner was served an hour after Alvin and the others arrived. For the hour that they wanted, the family simply mingled and chatted with each other. This only served to irritae Alvin further as no one asked him where he had been for the past couple of days or why they hadn't heard from him. He decided to go upstairs where the only other television was located. He was in the middle of a ball game when Simon came up and told him that dinner was ready. Oddly enough, after dinner, he didn't go back upstairs to finish the ball game.
He decided to do some exploring instead. Dave's parents lived in a trailer park. It just so happened that, despite that it was past seven already, there were plenty of neighborhood kids to play with. Alvin quickly made friends with them and they began playing a game of tag. Alvin was having so much fun for once in the past couple of days that he completely forgot about the Charter Oak Hospital. For the longest time, he was free to just forget about everything that had happened to him over the past couple of days and just have fun, to be a kid again. Their game of tag was interrupted when Dave called Alvin over. He walked over to his father. "We're playing tag right now. What's going on?"
"It's time to go back, Alvin."
