Lacour's Charm

As Susan pulled up to the house in her 1984 Cavalier I felt a shaking in my stomach. Never had I felt a feeling like this before.

"Wow a 1984 Red and White Cavalier in mint condition. How many miles to the gallon do you get with that?" Lacour asked convincingly.

"Oh wow I didn't know you were into cars Lacour. I believe this has about 28 or so on it."

I had Lacour sit in the backseat while Susan and I talked on the way to town. It wasn't a far ride, perhaps fifteen minutes.

"Hey Susan! Did you know Dias has been talking about you since we left yesterday?"

She turned red and looked at me with a smile forming on her face.

"Why Dias, I'm quite impressed by your thinking."

I looked back at Lacour and was about to scold him, not for embarrassment, but for speaking about people while they're around.

In a way, Lacour considered himself to be OCD. I remember once while we were in the store I accidentally knocked off a box of toothpicks onto the ground. None of them were lost, and Lacour picked up every one individually. The box said there were 500 in them, and when he was done there were 485. Not only was I upset, but at the same time I was astounded of his amazing math skills.

"So Lacour, where would you like to go for dinner?" Susan asked.

"Why do I have to pick? I thought this was between you and Dias!"

"Hey Lacour do you like to read?" she asked.

Several moments went by without him responding. I looked at him and he seemed fine. Something I've noticed however was his desire to pick up a book and being able to interpret exactly what is being said without reading a single page.

"Buddy, Susan asked you a question." I finally said.

He still wasn't saying anything. By the time we got into town there were a few people going into the restaurant and stores around.

Susan pulled into an empty parking spot and turned the car off. That seemed to bring Lacour back into reality.

"Ah sorry Susan…I do like books, especially ones that talk about my condition!"

She looked surprised and tried to change the topic. "Well um Dias, where would you like to get coffee?"

"Oh I hear that down the street there's a place called The Best Damn Coffee in the whole state, let's check that out."

I jumped out and got to her door before she could open and opened it for her. Dad taught me that manners help to first impressions. I knew that Lacour was capable of getting the door open by him.

"Lacour come on, I'll get you a hot chocolate at the coffee shop!"

"Oh wow Dias you only get me those on special occasions, I think I know what you're up to!" he screamed.

I gritted my teeth in hoping he would calm down before attracting too much attention again. He never had a problem of being the center of attention; the girls never went near him. He's never had a girlfriend, but someday I'm hoping there will be a woman kind and gentle enough to take him into her care for eternity. Not that I won't stop as well, but I want him to experience what I have before…true happiness.

"Dias let's go, I want to get there before it gets too full to get in." Susan said.

It's true that even though the town was small, mostly everyone spent all day there either at the diner or sitting outside enjoying the peaceful weather. I still wore long pants because of all the dust that could be seen around the town. Lacour though chooses to wear shorts and a sleeveless shirt. However on this day I joined him in wearing shorts. Susan on the other hand went to the trouble of wearing a dress.

"Come on guys I can't stand out here all day getting my dress dirty, let's head inside!" she urged.

I didn't argue with her, but knowing we'd be together the rest of the night I'd be ready in case something came up.

When we got inside there was a small line ahead of us. People were scattered around the room, some playing checkers while other's mingled about their daily lives. A few of them I knew. They waved at me when they saw me come in. Susan tried to blend him although she didn't have a huge social life outside her job. My friends understood Lacour more then anyone else in the world. They were never afraid to approach him and start up a conversation. A lot of the time they were always fascinated with his responses and how he came to them. One of them came up and asked how he thought about this weather.

"Well Jim, I think that this won't last too much longer. And if we're lucky this drought will end and we'll get plenty of rain!"

Lacour had a tendency of expanding his voice on the last syllable of a word. It's almost like he was going from low to high in a split second.

I let them talk while the line grew shorter.

"Oh Dias he's such a wonderful person to be around. Has he always been like this?"

"Some people would assume that, others would say his heart is big enough to never go bad. I just treat him like he's normal."

"That's something that most people wouldn't think about…but you can't hide the truth from them Dias. You must lead by example, and not by your words."

Again she was doing her thing of easing closer to me. I was getting the feeling that she was starting to get insistent on wanting something from me. Yet I held my ground and talked.

"Yes I understand that, but as long as he has people around him to encourage him and be supportive then I have no worries or doubts."

She shook her head like I had said something wrong.

I looked over at Lacour who had gone in depth of his explanation of water. He wasn't good at explaining it, but his drawings were amazing. At times I wonder if he'll ever get noticed aside from being autistic. If only people could look inside someone instead of seeing a reflection from false appearances.

"Now if you look at this chart guys you'll see how a heavy cold front is making its way across the plains and heading right for our town. The only thing we should be concerned about is the possibility of a tornado, you know one of those circle and spinning things."

"Wow Lacour, if only we had some people to notice you then perhaps you could get out of this town and have a job of your very own!" Jim said.

"Thanks Jim, but I know that I was born to live here for most of my life. That's why Dias is still taking care of me!"

"You're right buddy, a lot of us have been thinking about giving you a part time job down at my store. How would you like that?"

He stopped what he was doing and looked wide eyed at Jim.

"Oh wows are you serious? Dias did you hear that? Jim said I could maybe have a job!"

I looked over at Jim and walked over to him. "Are you sure about that? He's never really worked before you know."

"Don't give it another thought Dias, I'll be there by his side helping him. What he has going for him right now should be more appreciated, and this is the only possible way I can think of for thanking him. He's a huge data base with so much information that no one else is this town could ever come close to!"

Susan got up to the counter and ordered a latte. I hadn't realized that the line was clear and it was safe to order.

"Well thank you very much Jim, when can he start?"

"As soon as he likes, if he's right about us getting rain soon then he'll love running around in it!"

I shook his hand and went up to the counter and ordered. Susan had already taken a seat at an open table. When I got my drink I headed over to her, though her head was looking down. Something was telling me she wasn't enjoying this very much.

"Hey Susan I know we haven't talked much like we did last night, but now we're ok to. I promise you no more interruptions."

"Well what about Lacour, he won't interrupt us will he?"

"What if he does, I'm not going to ignore him."

"I know you won't, but this is supposed to be about us." She insisted.

"Look Susan I don't want this to have to be a problem, he's my brother and as long as I'm taking care of him he will always come first with me."

I knew as I said that she was getting more impatient. And that her plans were different from mine.

"Maybe this isn't the best time for us to talk."

"No Dias it's either now or never."

I politely smiled and shook my head, "Then Lacour and I shall be heading off now."

I grabbed Lacour's hand and headed out leaving her behind. The guys noticed something was up and caught up with us.

"Hey Dias what's the deal with the girl?" Ron asked.

"It's nothing now, just a random stranger then tried to pull me away from Lacour."

"Wow that's harsh of her." Clark said.

"Well what could I say? That I'd let go of him just to spend a few moments of chatting about things I'm not ready for? Hell no, as far as I'm concerned she has no place for me right now."

"So where are you guys off to now" Jim asked.

"Ah we'll see, maybe we'll go for a walk on the trails just outside of here."

"Sounds good man we'll be here if you need us!" they all said.

I nodded my head and headed out with Lacour by my side.

"So Dias why are we going to the trails?" he asked curiously. "And what about Susan, why isn't she with us?"

"Well Buddy let's say it was a matter of losing you for a while."

"Losing me, but Dias I'm right here, how would you have lost me?"

"Ha-ha I'll explain it some other time. For right now though I want to show you something that you're ready to see."

"So it's a surprise! Do I have to cover my eyes for this one?"

"We'll see; I'll let you know as we get closer."

He laughed and headed off ahead of me into the red sky only to be amazed later on.