Speechless
Page 18
He’d sit on his bed, across from Sofia, with the walrus on his lap. He’d patiently pet him, as if the stuffed animal were a purring cat and only he could keep Norman calm. Sofia would show a toothy grin, knowing the show was starting. This was the first of many performances I’d seen.
Patrick wasn’t skilled at many things, but puppetry was something he excelled at. Norman wasn’t a puppet, just an ordinary stuffed animal. But somehow Patrick could maneuver his fingers around the neck to make him lifelike. Sofia was always positioned in front, so she didn’t see much of his fingers. When Patrick convinced her that Norman was calm enough to listen, the walrus would start performing.
“Hi, Norman! How’re you? What? Is something wrong?” Norman’s role was always something like a shy party guest. I have no idea where Patrick got this. He always displayed terrible manners.
He maneuvered Norman to crawl up his arm and nestle in his shirt like the animal was too scared to answer. “It’s OK.” He looked at Sofia. “Her? She’s not scary. She wants to talk to you, Norman. Do you want to meet Sofia?”
Sofia sat up straighter, pretending she had never met her own pet walrus. Norman’s head shook with vigor while his lengthy front teeth bobbed left and right.
“Awwwww, are you scared? Sofia won’t hurt you.” Norman lifted his head and locked eyes with Patrick. “I promise. She’ll be very nice to you. You think you could say hi?”
Norman’s head took a bashful downward-facing nod. His right flipper moved up slightly to wave hello to Sofia. Patrick not only had the motions down, but the timing. A perfect pause came before each movement that only sold this story more.
Sofia smiled so you could see all her teeth. She was never shy to ask for what she wanted. Her hands typically moved at a brisk pace to speak her mind. Not now. Her hands lay still, fearing any sudden movement would scare Norman off.
“Go ahead, Sofia. Say hi,” Patrick said, instructing his sister. She obediently followed with a gentle wave, then returned her hands to a still position.
“Norman, did you want to show us your dance?” Norman’s head was looking up at Patrick, and then slowly reverted back to the bashful pose. Patrick tapped his hand on his leg, a subtle way to get his sister to look at his lips. “Sofia, do you want to see him dance?”
She nodded excitedly while rocking in her place. It was as though he had a giant hand behind his sister as well.
I was convinced Patrick practiced this when no one was around. He was able to control both of Norman’s flippers with his thumb and pinky finger while moving the walrus’s head with the rest of his hand. Being a stuffed animal in a fixed sitting position, Norman was pretty limited in his range of motion. But Patrick could somehow make his movements so lifelike that I couldn’t stop watching.
He had a little routine: three bops of the head and the left flipper went up like a dancer’s in a kickline. Then three bops again and the right flipper. Patrick hummed a little song for the dance. He knew Sofia couldn’t hear it, but he did it anyway. Sofia’s wide eyes took in every movement.
After a few sets on each side, the big finish came with both of Norman’s flippers up. Sofia applauded wildly. Norman bowed and went back to his bashful stance.
“What’s wrong, Norman?”
I never heard empathy in Patrick’s voice except when he talked to this walrus that wasn’t real. Norman was shaking his head while trying to hide, almost shamefully. I knew the stuffed animal didn’t have a shameful expression, but that’s how good Patrick was.
He tapped his leg again.
“Oh, I know.” He leaned in closer to the shy animal and looked at his sister. “Did you want to give Sofia a hug? Let me see if she wants one.”
Sofia’s back went straight up, matching her eyebrows. She put her hands on her knees and waited for a response.
Norman looked up at Sofia for the first time. The walrus, after another perfectly timed pause, made his way down Patrick’s leg (as best he could since only his front flippers moved). He stopped again at Patrick’s knee, looking up at Sofia. Her hands fluttered slightly — not in a sweet way, more of a scared way. It reminded me of that reflex game where you hold your hands above someone else’s and they try to slap them.
Patrick had Sofia. He had me. Both of us leaned in, waiting to see what this bashful, talented sea creature would do.
Then Sofia blinked.
Norman launched off Patrick’s leg with speed he’d kept hidden. He didn’t hop or bounce. He made a bullet-straight shot for his target, the side of Sofia’s neck. Patrick spoke for Norman now, his voice having taken on that of a grizzly bear attacking its prey. He snarled and growled while forcing what I thought was the most gentle animal on earth to lunge at the throat of my innocent cousin. My shoulders moved back on their own. I was caught completely off guard. Sofia was now on her back with her hands around a feral walrus attacking her jugular.
I was about to help, if not for the sound that came out of Sofia.
Her laugh. Her laugh was so rarely heard and never like this. Even though Norman had her throat, it couldn’t stop the sound coming from deep in her belly. She squirmed and wriggled to get away, but it was no use. Much like Patrick knew how to manipulate this toy walrus, he also knew how his sister would react. After a few more seconds, Sofia was struggling to find her breath from laughing so hard, and Patrick knew it was time to call off the beast.
He never had any intention of making Norman hug his sister. That’s why Sofia was flinching and batting her hands — she knew this was coming. She’d been here before.
Patrick sat up on the bed as if nothing had happened. Norman was sitting between them, a regular stuffed animal again. Sofia caught her breath and sat up. She brushed her now-tangled hair to the side and made a C with her hand while bringing it to her open palm. She repeated this gesture at a frenzied pace until her brother responded.
Patrick broke character as he addressed his sister.
“OK, OK,” he said while situating Norman on his knee. I sat quietly while the walrus returned to his original withdrawn stance.
Sofia continued with her motions, eyes wide, waiting for her brother’s response.
“Again. I know.”
He smiled and relaxed his shoulders.
“I heard you.”
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously.
Copyright © 2018 by Adam P. Schmitt
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, and recording, without prior written permission from the publisher.
First electronic edition 2018
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number pending
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