Chapter 2
Clint or Henry as he sometimes preferred to be called, was pretty much your typical nutcase. You could tell simply by looking at him that something wasn't right and usually anything that came out of his mouth only served as confirmation that he was indeed three quarters short of a dollar bill.
When they had met for the first time the Dr. instantly knew that the boy was just plain crazy, and in cases like this medication was pretty much pointless and so was any form of therapy.
"What's going on" Had been the greeting the boy had given the Dr.
Knowing the conversation wouldn't stay normal for long Dr. Bambillo still proceeded to go with the flow for the time being.
"Not much Clint," he told him in a casual yet friendly manner "How about you?"
"If I had a monkey in a sailor outfit I'd call him admiral ape face!" Was Clint's answer,
"That's great!" The Dr. replied making a mental note of the strange answer he had been given that had nothing to do with the original question he had asked.
"So Clint…."
"Henry!" The boy cut him off, there was a brief silence.
"You want me to call you Henry?" The Dr. asked just to confirm that they were indeed on the same page.
Henry merely stared at him with a small smile. "Okay, that's fine" The Dr. Continued
"Henry, your mother tells me that you seem to not be on the same level as everyone else intellectually?" As soon as he finished his sentience he realized that he probably should have used much smaller words.
"Yes, I am crazy!" Henry proudly announced, "Problem?"
"Not at all Henry," was the Dr.'s casual reply, "So you admit that you're not like everyone else?"
"Hey it's you're world and I just live in it!" He answered as he crossed one leg over the other and hung both his arms over the back of the chair he was sitting in. It was then the Dr. realized just how difficult this conversation was going to be.
"Well Henry, you're definitely crazy," The Dr. told him as he wrote something down.
"Cool!" Henry practically shouted, "So what do I get!?" he asked excitedly. Dr. Bambillo looked up from his writing and blinked at the boy.
"Well nothing really…"
The huge grin on the boy's face promptly dropped and turned into a frown, he sat back in his chair all the while eyes not leaving those of the Dr.'s,
"Stupid no good…" He grumbled under his breath as he cut his sentence short and just continued to stare. The Dr. sighed as he rested his chin on his hands,
"Henry, I'm sorry if you thought coming here would earn you some sort of prize but that's not the case." Henry simply shrugged his shoulders;
"Quit your blubbering!" was his only reply as he crossed his legs back, again the Dr. let out a now frustrated sigh deciding to move on to a different subject.
"Henry, what is this I've been told about you and badger fights?"
"HA!" He laughed out loud, "That's nothing! You ever bet on two badgers locked in mortal combat!?"
The Dr. blinked at him, "So you do capture badgers so you can get them to fight one another?"
"Dumb cops busted my badger fights I was making a mint!" He replied bitterly.
"I'll take that as a yes." The Dr. informed him as he wrote something else down.
"Like I said, it's your world and I just live in it," came Henry's cheery reply.
"Henry, although you may not be engaging directly in the badger fights I do want you to understand that caging wild animals to fight one another is considered animal abuse and cruelty."
"Yeah, that's too bad," The boy responded, at this point the Dr. grew silent, at first he hadn't intended on administering any medication to the boy but now he was starting to have second thoughts, although he was just plain crazy he seemed to be out of line as well. It wasn't what was going on in his mind that caught the Dr.'s attention it was when things went on in his mind. In other words his thoughts didn't seem to flow in sync with one another, he did however for the most part have some clue as to what he was talking about but his thoughts jumped around a lot and he seemed to have trouble focusing.
"Alright Henry," The Dr. continued, "You have admitted that you're crazy and that you engage in animal cruelty…"
"First of all!" Henry cut the Dr. off at the mention of the badgers, "I'll have you know that I don't, I repeat do not engage in the cruel and inhumane treatment of my animals!"
Dr. Bambillo was taken aback by the intelligent answer Henry had given him, "Yes I do have them engage in battle from time to time but I know when things are starting to get out of hand. My badgers are well cared for!"
Dr. Bambillo sat dumbfounded for a moment as he pondered the response he had just received from the lunatic sitting in front of him.
"Er…um… okay then Henry that's fine, I… will trust that you take well care of your badgers and we'll let that issue go."
Henry nodded his head in approval with a smile.
"Alright now," Dr. Bambillo continued, "Henry it's my understanding that you have had issues with stealing things… that don't belong to you…" Henry stared at the Dr. nonchalantly,
"Yeah what about it?" he asked after the Dr. said nothing else.
"To be more specific do you or do you not steal bikes Henry?"
A wide grin rapidly made its way across the boy's face,
"Yeah a bike hahaa!" he laughed, seemingly tickled by the idea of a mere bike.
"Is that a yes?" The Dr. questioned him when he didn't get a clear answer.
"Sure is!" Henry replied happily.
"Okay then what do you do with the bikes after you steal them?
"Well I am the neighborhood bicycle thief!" He proudly announced.
"Yes well I understand that but after you steal the bikes what do you do with them?" Dr. Bambillo restated his question hoping the boy would understand assuming he hadn't the first time.
"Gotta sell some hubcaps!" He responded with a big grin on his face.
Dr. Bambillo sat quiet for a moment staring at the boy, hubcaps usually went on cars and not on bikes but he could see where the boy made the connection between the two. When he didn't respond right away Henry seemed to grow a bit defensive.
"Why you looking at me funny!?" He nearly shouted.
Not really looking forward to hashing it out with a teenage lunatic the Dr. sought to keep him calm.
"Henry now just relax, it's nothing personal I just needed a moment to think about the answer you gave me, I will assume you sell the bikes for parts to make money?"
Henry simply stared at the man and said nothing. Starting to grow increasingly frustrated the Dr. jotted down a few more notes and again decided to move on to a different subject.
"Okay Henry," He began again after taking a moment to compose himself, "According to your recent criminal records that I managed to acquire you have been arrested on multiple occasions for stealing cigarettes.
Henry simply sat there with a large toothy grin plastered on his face, there was a very long pause. "Do you…. Steal cigarettes?" Dr. Bambillo questioned when he said nothing.
Still not saying anything Henry simply gave a small nod of the head all the while still sporting his smile.
"So you…. Smoke I assume?" The Dr. desperately tried to get him to go on this time however, Henry gave no response he didn't reply with yes or no and he didn't make any gestures to indicate an answer he simply sat there grinning. Realizing that he wasn't going to get anywhere with this subject Dr. Bambillo again though it best he switch to something else.
"Alright then… Henry…. You don't have to answer that if you don't want to."
Taking a deep breath in an attempt to relieve himself of some of the building frustration The Dr. flipped a page in the report and scanned it for more issues to question the boy on.
"What's going on with you and lighting things on fire?" Dr. Bambillo asked a bit sternly hoping a change in his demeanor would encourage the boy to talk or at least communicate more efficiently.
Slowly but surely the large grin that had been painted on the boy's face began to twist until his lips parted and he burst into laughter. Dr. Bambillo folded his lips in as he waited for the rowdy teen to settle down. By the time he had finally finished laughing he had tears stinging in the corners of his eyes,
"Ah yeah," he finally spoke up, "I lit his tie on fire you should have seen him running!"
Dr. Bambillo opened his mouth to speak but was cut off,
"But that is of course only after I poured gasoline all over his lunch!" He managed to get out in between fits of amusement.
"Henry!" Dr. Bambillo cut in, "This is no laughing matter, you could seriously hurt someone like that!"
The boy wasn't the least bit phased by the idea of someone being hurt by what he considered to be a practical joke. Wanting him to understand the severity of something of that nature Dr. Bambillo thought of something to say that would get him to listen.
"Henry, how would you feel if someone tried to light you on fire?" The boy continued to laugh not really paying the Dr. any mind at all,
"What if someone lit your badgers on fire?"
The smile promptly melted off the boy's face and his amused expression was quickly replaced with one of disbelief and disapproval. The two sat there staring at one another for a moment, Henry with a look of bewilderment on his face and Dr. Bambillo with a look of triumph on his.
"Now do you understand how lighting things on fire isn't funny?" The Dr. questioned him but the boy said nothing not really sure if he wanted to answer the man at all.
"Alright look Henry, here are several prescriptions," The Dr. handed him two small slips from across the table, Henry hesitantly reached out and took them, he was still in awe over the comment about his badgers being lit on fire.
"Take those to your local Easy Drugs store and I want you to start taking one of each every day. You come back here in two weeks and we'll see how you're doing."
With that being said the boy slowly rose from his seat and turned to go, just as he reached the door he stopped and turned to look back at the Dr. the two locked eyes for a moment but neither said anything and Henry opened the door and left.
"That townie kid with the shaved head? Am I right?" Officer Monson asked, to clarify who he was talking about,
"Yep, that's him," The Dr. confirmed.
"I've arrested that one a number of times; he's always into something, if it's not badger fights then its bicycle theft, and if that's not it then he stealing cigarettes!"
"That name and description both sound familiar, I think I recall having a student much like the one you are describing several years back, he was only in school for a semester before he dropped out!" Dr. Crabblesnitch threw in.
"Yeah well, his friends aren't any better, I don't know if they all act out and drop out to look cool or what but either way they all seem to fit together nicely! Dr. Bambillo went on.