In 15 minutes, babysitter Manny was gonna come up and scold him, Charlie thought. He was all absorbed in his math problem and did not want anyone to disturb him, so he had put a dresser in front of his un lockable door.
One of the rules that Aaron had implemented was that Charlie would not be allowed to spend more than 3 hours on his maths. Aaron was actually keeping a timer for this. But Charlie was so absorbed, if he stopped, it would take hours to get the solution again. So, he did the only thing he could and this is where it ended up.
Charlie could hear Aaron's footsteps coming up the staircase. Aaron knocked. Charlie did not reply.
"Charlie? Your maths time is up. I'm coming in." Aaron said, pushing on the door.
He tries for a few minutes and then gave up. "Charlie, what did you do?"
"Aaron, I just need more time. I'll be fine." Charlie said, anxiously.
"No, Charlie. I make the rules and you follow them. This is not the way you will get better." Aaron replied, in a calm voice.
Charlie gritted his teeth and focused back on his math problem. He did not hear movement from the door and should have been worried.
There was the sound of the screwdriver removing the hinges from the door. The door was opened from the outside with a bang and an irate Aaron stood there, the bolts in his hand. He strutted forward and held out his hand for Charlie's chalk.
Charlie gave his piece of chalk and ducked his head. Aaron took a photo of the blackboard Charlie was writing on and erased the board.
"I think you'll benefit from a nap, don't you?" Aaron said, smiling.
Charlie sighed. The punishment for each rebellion of Charlie's was a nap. And a bowl of something light like soup to eat after the nap was done.
Aaron drew the curtains. Before he left the room, he confiscated Charlie's blackboard, chalk, his notebook and pen. He switched off the lights on the way out.
Charlie lay in bed, feeling forlorn. Alan was away at a yoga class and Don was at work. He thought about the math problem as he slowly drifted off to sleep.