by Rob Edwards
“That’s excellent,” Delton said. “I told you I’d be ready today, and I am.”
Walking Noah over to the chair, she took his jacket from him. “Okay, Noah honey. Mommy’s going to go now and you’re going to be here with your new friend, Delton.”
Noah turned and moaned, reaching for his mother, but she walked out with Rena and closed the door.
“All right, let’s start with something really fun to do,” Delton said. He sat two glasses on the table. One was nearly full of water. “Okay Noah, you start.”
Noah looked at him, then at the glasses. He stared at them for a moment, then reached for the full glass, lifted it, and poured it into the other glass. He set the empty glass down and clapped twice.
“Excellent,” Delton said and slid the glasses over in front of himself. “Now it’s my turn.”
Noah cried out, but Delton poured the water, set down the glass, and clapped twice. Then he slid them over to Noah. “Okay, now it’s your turn.”
Noah quieted, waited a moment, then poured the water again and clapped.
“Delton’s turn.” When he slid the water glasses back in front of him, Noah cried out even louder. Delton reached down, grabbed two Skittles from a bag and set them in front of Noah. “Thanks for sharing your water glasses with me, Noah.”
Noah stopped crying. He looked at the Skittles and back up to Delton.
Delton poured the water, clapped, and slid the glasses back in front of Noah. “Noah’s turn again.”
Looking at the choices in front of him, Noah took a moment to decide in what order he would do things. He picked up one Skittle and put it in his mouth. Then he poured a glass of water and clapped.
“Very good. Now it’s Delton’s turn again.” He pulled the water glasses back to him again, and Noah screamed loud. Delton smiled and put two more Skittles in front of Noah. “Thank you for being so kind and sharing,” he said. He poured the water, clapped twice, and slid the glasses back.
The boy whimpered and put his arms around both glasses to prevent them from being pulled away again.
“It’s your turn,” Delton said smiling. “Go ahead and pour the water.”
Noah looked up at him and scowled, throwing his bottom lip out. He hugged the glasses closer.
“Did you want to rest for a minute?” Delton said. “That’s okay. I will wait until you go before I try it again.”
Noah sat there, untrusting, wary of Delton. Then the bright colors of the Skittles caught his eye. He reached for another one and put it in his mouth. It was like a pill that calmed him down. His mood eased a bit, he sat up, then slowly poured one glass into the other, set it down and clapped twice.
“Great job,” Delton said. “My turn again.” He pulled the glasses back to his side of the table.
Noah screamed and slammed his hands on the table repeatedly.
“I like it when you share with me, Noah.” Delton set down two more Skittles.
Noah wiped his arm across the table and sent the Skittles flying. Then he jumped from his chair, swung at the glasses and flipped them too, spilling the water across the table. Noah stood back and, with a horrified look, watched the water run from the table and onto the floor.
“Oops,” Delton said. “The water spilled. That’s okay.”
But to Noah it was definitely not okay. He screamed, stomped around, and then came the fists to the head.
This time Delton was ready. He scooped up Noah with one arm, pinning the boy’s arms to his side. Noah started kicking and banging his head, but neither action had any damaging affect. “It’s gonna be just fine, Noah. Your friend Delton is here. Everything’s going to be okay.” Using his free hand, Delton unfolded the beach blanket and spread it out flat on the floor. He laid Noah down on his side and then folded him up in it. With Noah wrapped tightly, Delton lifted the blanket and swayed it back and forth. After several long minutes of screaming and crying Noah’s rage subsided. Quiet whimpers were heard from the makeshift hammock-swing. Delton rocked him for a while longer, while Noah collected himself.
Delton looked to the window and smiled. “We got the meltdown behind us quick enough.”
When Noah was quiet, Delton set him down on one of the beanbag chairs. He unwrapped him, and knelt down to look into Noah’s puffy, tired, and sad eyes. “I’m your friend, Noah. I will always have your back. That means I won’t let anything bad happen to you anymore.” Noah looked up at him, the corners of his mouth turned down. “I don’t want you to be sad. Not when there’s so much fun we can have together.” Delton climbed into the other beanbag and wiggled his behind down into it. Then he over-exaggerated a happy face. “Oh, these chairs are so comfortable.” Reaching over to a stack of books, he picked one off the top. “Now that you’re all tired, I was thinking we might do some story time.” He looked up at the window. “Hey, if I’m going to do a bunch of reading, it might be a good idea to get me some coffee.”
Opening the book, Delton began to read. He selected Where the Wild Things Are because that was his favorite, and if he had to end up reading any of these twice, he wanted to be sure that was one of them. He realized that the reading this time was much different than the reading last week. This time Noah had already expended an enormous amount of energy on a meltdown. He was worn out, and even though he didn’t look over at Delton, he sat quietly and listened.
Delton would read a page slowly, and then hold the book up and show it to Noah. At first Noah didn’t look over, but Delton continued to show him anyway. On page five, Noah glanced at the picture. He did again on page six, and page seven. By the time page eight came around, Noah decided to snuggle into the bean bag. He turned to his side to face Delton, folded his hands under his cheek, and stared at the man. When Delton read a line, he put the book down in front of Noah’s face to show him the picture. He could see the boy’s eyes scanning the page, taking in the details. If his blank expression didn’t give any indication that he was interested in the story, his eyes told Delton everything he needed to know.
Just when he had finished the book, the door opened, and Taysha entered with a paper cup of coffee and a plastic top on it. She walked over and set it on the floor next to Delton, and whispered. “Son, I am so proud of you.”
Delton smiled. “Thank you, Miss Taysha, for the coffee.” He looked over at Noah. “Miss Taysha is a nice lady.”
Taysha walked back to the door, paused, and looked back. She smiled, kissed two fingers, and flicked them in Delton’s direction. Then she walked out, and closed the door.
Delton set the book down and picked up another. “Oh my goodness, Noah,” He said, holding up the book so the boy could see it. “This one is called The Giving Tree. I’ve never read this book before. This is exciting to me.”
He read The Giving Tree, Green Eggs and Ham, and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Noah lay there, seemingly content, listening to every word, looking at each page he was shown. But near the end of the mouse book his tired eyes closed. Delton noticed and stopped reading. “Noah,” he said, in a half whisper. The little boy did not move. Delton stared at him, and listened while his breathing became rhythmic and heavy. Noah had drifted off to sleep, and Delton couldn’t help but take that as a victory. For a brief moment anyway, he had tamed the rage in the boy’s soul, and made him feel comfortable enough to fall asleep.
Whether it was a win or not, Delton felt he’d accomplished something. He climbed out of the beanbag, picked up his coffee, and cheered toward the window.
Delton had cleaned up the water and put the glasses away before Noah awoke to avoid upsetting the boy. He had Legos and blocks out on the table, offering Noah whichever one he wanted to play with. Noah began to play with the Legos, and Delton set two Skittles out on the table. “That’s the way to make a decision.” He held out his fist but Noah just looked at it and then back at the Legos. “No boy, you can’t leave me hanging. You gotta bump me.” He took Noah’s hand, and bumped his fist with the back of the boy’s knuckles. Noah pulled his han
d back and hid it under his other arm. Delton laughed. “That’s how you do a fist bump.”
The door opened shortly after, and Rena walked in with a tray of food. “Lunch time.” She sat a chicken breast and dish of macaroni and cheese in front of both of them along with a Coke and plastic sporks. “Here you go, honey.” She rubbed the back of Noah’s head and smiled. When she stood back up Delton saw Judith, standing in the doorway. “I’ll be right back, buddy.” He jumped up and walked over. She was smiling, so that was a good sign.
“Well done,” she said.
“So you’re not upset with me for setting off a meltdown?”
She shook her head. “I’ll be honest, I don’t like to watch it, but I was very impressed that you were ready to handle it.”
“Thanks.” Delton smiled. “I saw something like that on YouTube. It was a gamble, and I’m glad it worked.”
“My dad would be very proud of you.”
“Think so?”
“Oh, yeah,” she said. “I could hear his voice in my head. ‘The boy isn’t dying is he?’”
Delton laughed. “No. That’s not part of my grand plan.”
“So tell me about your,” Judith did air quotes, “‘grand plan.’ And how do the Skittles fit into that?”
Delton shrugged. “So I did a lot of reading about this applied behavior analysis. It uses treats to get autistic kids to do what you want them to do.”
“I’ve heard of it,” Judith said. “I know they hate it at Keener.”
“Well, it does make sense to me,” Delton said. “Positive reinforcement for good behavior is not a bad thing. So when I took the glasses from him and thanked him for sharing, he’d get the idea that sharing was a good thing.”
Judith nodded. “I like that. But it’s going to be hard, because you’re going to get push back like you did today. Can you keep it up?”
Delton smiled. “Believe me, I got nothin’ better to do. I’m all in.”
Judith shook his hand. “Keep up the good work.”
“Thanks. I will. But we’re gonna be pretty chill this afternoon.”
She closed the door and went back into the room. Taking her seat in front of the window, she picked up her turkey sandwich and took a bite. Taysha reached over and rubbed her back. “What do you think, honey?”
Judith chewed and sipped her Coke, then swallowed. “I can’t believe the change a week makes. When I left here last Monday, I thought he was probably the biggest dumbass, and I was an idiot signing on for this. But today, now that he’s had time to process, study, and understand, I’m thinking that this is going to be a pretty okay experience for Noah.”
Taysha smiled. “Pretty okay is exactly what he was shooting for.”
For the remainder of the afternoon, Judith sat patiently watching while Noah played with the Legos, and Delton played with the blocks. But Delton continued to talk about anything and everything, so the boy could get used to his voice, and thereby, his presence. His voice sounded tinny over the speakers. “You know what, Noah? You and I have something in common. When I was a kid I didn’t have a daddy neither. I mean, I had a daddy. You have to have a daddy or you can’t be here. But my daddy took off when I was little, right after my sister was born, so he wasn’t around.”
Delton knocked over his stack of blocks with a loud crash. Noah looked over and then back at his own Lego…thing. “I’ll tell you something else though,” Delton continued. “You are luckier than me and my sister. You’ve got a really great mommy.”
Judith’s breath stuck in her throat.
“My mommy never really gave a…didn’t care much about my sister and me. She had other things to worry about.” Delton continued. “You though, you have a mommy who really loves you. She would do anything for you.” He smiled and looked over at Noah. “I think she would fight all the Wild Things for you.”
Judith looked over to see both Taysha and Rena smiling at her. She smiled back embarrassed, grabbed her Coke, and took a long drink.
Delton tried a couple of other things with Noah, such as walking backward, and trying to get Noah interested in throwing the stuffed animals across the room into a waste basket. But Noah would have none of it. He quietly played with his Legos. It seemed to give Delton more of a break than it did anything for Noah. But Judith thought that was all right. Delton had been engaged all day and he was probably losing his sanity.
When the time came for the kids to leave, Judith could tell Delton was spent. His eyes were red and weary. “Great job today,” she said to him, while she put on Noah’s jacket.
“Thanks,” Delton said. He knelt down to Noah and held out his fist again. “Have a good night, my man.”
Noah did not look at him. Delton grabbed his hand again and hit the boy’s knuckles with his fist. Noah squeaked resentment at this, and Delton chuckled. “We’ll work on that, little guy.” He stood. “See you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.” Judith noticed that this was the first time since she was involved in this program that she actually felt good saying that.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The rest of the week went pretty much the same way as Monday. Judith dropped Noah off on her way to work and Darlene picked him up at the end of the school-day. When Judith would bring Noah in, Delton would attempt an awkward fist bump. Judith wondered when he’d give up on that, but he started each day by saying, “My man,” and then grabbing Noah’s hand and bumping his own. Then Delton would take Noah over to the table, and try the water sharing. The first couple of days, he had Noah in total meltdown mode before she even left for work. Judith would say goodbye to Rena and Taysha as Delton was swinging Noah in the beach blanket hammock. From what they reported to her when she dropped him off Friday morning is that Thursday was a double meltdown day. Darlene had told her that when she picked up Noah that day, Delton looked extremely tired.
But, eventually, the meltdowns became delayed—coming after she’d left. It looked as if Noah was acclimating to the situation, and to Delton. By Friday of the following week, when Delton knelt down and held out his fist, Noah half-heartedly hit it with the back of his hand. Delton thanked him kindly, and stood. When Judith walked Noah to the table, Delton pumped his fist in the air quietly.
It seemed that every day, when Judith dropped off Noah, Rena and Taysha were more excited than the day before. They would often show Judith specific segments of the video recordings for the previous day.
As time went on, Delton became adept at getting Noah interested in whatever he was doing. One day the recording showed Delton placing a ping-pong ball on the table and blowing it off into a bucket. Noah watched him several times, then picked it out of the bucket before Delton could get to it. “Wanna try?” Delton asked him. But Noah didn’t need to be asked. He ran to the other end of the table, placed the ball on it and blew. It went off to the side and Noah screeched angrily at it.
“Nice try,” Delton said, and he put two Skittles on the table. Noah snatched them both up instantly and tossed them into his mouth. Delton picked up the ball and set it down on the table. “Are you ready?” Noah put his face down by the ball and blew. Delton let go of the ball and it went off to the side again. Delton put his arm along the table so the ball couldn’t fall off. Noah climbed up onto the table and kept blowing. “Blow, blow, blow!” Delton yelled. Noah blew until Delton steered the ball off the table into the bucket. “Nicely done,” Delton said and held his fist out. Noah bumped his fist with his own.
Delton was single handedly surpassing everything that the teachers at Keener had ever done. Each day as he had more success, and Noah became more responsive, Judith found herself growing more depressed. One day Darlene was busy and Judith had to leave work early to get Noah. When she pulled into the parking lot Taysha was at the door waving her in excitedly. Delton had already been removed with the other inmates and taken back to Two Rivers, but Rena had a video recording cued and ready to show her. Judith watched her son playing with Delton. They stood at one side of the ro
om and heaved each of the stuffed animals across, and into the waste basket against the far wall. Whenever one went in, Noah laughed. It started out as an awkward little giggle to begin with, but as the play went on, and Noah would throw an animal, have it slam into the wall and drop into the bucket, Noah’s little giggles grew into loud cackles of laughter. To Judith it was the most beautiful sound she’d ever heard, and she broke down in tears.
She thanked them, took Noah out into the car, and strapped him into his car seat. She drove down the road about a mile, pulled into a Kroger parking lot, put the car in park and cried. Her body shook, and tears streamed down her face. She put her hands on the top of the steering wheel and laid her head on them. She was happy that Noah was responding, showing signs of improving, but she didn’t want to just witness it from the sidelines, she wanted to be a part of it. This was like reliving his first steps, his first words all over again, and she wasn’t there by his side where a mother should be. She was stuck 20 miles away in an office building, with a boss who didn’t give a shit about either of them.
A knock at the window startled her. She looked up, “Is everything okay, miss?” It was an older gentleman with a single sack of groceries in his hand.
Judith, wiped her eyes, and nodded. “Fine.”
He nodded back, and walked off.
Judith decided it was a great night for Lance’s. “Are you hungry, buddy?” She threw the car into drive, and drove off.
Forty-five minutes later they were sitting across from the park once again, sipping on their shakes. She watched the man helping his wife back into the car. When he also got back in and drove away, Judith turned in her seat and looked at her son. He sipped slowly at his shake and looked out the window, as if there wasn’t a care in the world. She had seen him express happiness today. He had experienced elation. This was something she thought he would never do. All his emotions seemed buried under a mountain of bland, the only one able to reach the surface had been rage. She thought rage was the only thing he would ever feel. But now that happiness had found its way out, what else might come through—jealousy?…Pride?…Perhaps love?