by Rob Edwards
Noah was sleeping in his beanbag chair when Dr. Fitzpatrick came in and joined Rena, Taysha, and Delton at the table. He smiled. “The little guy had a big day.”
“Yes, he did,” Taysha said.
Judith ran in, acting like she was late. “I’m sorry,” she said. She looked at Noah, and sat down at the table breathing heavily. Delton thought she appeared flustered. Rena asked her about it before Delton had a chance to. “Is everything all right?”
Judith sighed, and shook her head. “My father isn’t doing well.”
Everyone, including Delton, gave some voice of support and condolence.
“Thank you,” she said, doing her best not to cry.
What struck Delton was the similarity of it all. Somehow it didn’t matter what side of the bars you were on, your family could be in trouble and there wasn’t a damn thing you could do about it. She couldn’t fix her father, no more than he could fix his sister’s predicament. Even if he were on the outside, there wouldn’t be anything he could do. In fact, he felt that if he were out, and he tried to do something, Reggie would have him arrested and he’d be right back in again for another who knows how many years. At least he had Noah to concentrate on, and keep his head straight. And now Judith did too.
“So what did you want to talk to me about?” She said.
Dr. Fitzpatrick was about to speak when a guard called from the doorway. “Hayes, you need to get on the bus.”
“Oh, ahhh…” Dr. Fitzpatrick stood up and turned to the guard. “We really need him in this meeting. He’s had an incredible breakthrough here today, and we need to discuss next steps. Can I drive him back when the meeting’s over?”
“Are you kidding me?” The guard guffawed. “Doc, I don’t care if he’s freaking Helen Keller’s miracle worker. He’s still an inmate at Two Rivers Correctional Facility and property of the State of Michigan. He rides the bus. Period.”
“Oh, ahhh…” Dr. Fitzpatrick was obviously intimidated. He looked back and forth between Delton and the guard.
“Look, Doc, it won’t be a problem for the bus to be a little late if this meeting is that important. Can we keep it to ten minutes or less?”
Dr. Fitzpatrick smiled. “Yes sir. I think we can do that.”
The guard looked back to Delton. “I’ll be right outside the door, Hayes.”
“Yes sir,” Delton said, and the guard left the room.
“Okay, Judith, there was a bit more success today after you left.” Dr. Fitzpatrick sat back down. “Noah managed several more words,” He looked over to Rena. “What were they again Rena?”
Rena flipped a couple of pages back in her notebook. “He said ‘Yeah,’ ‘Fun,’ ‘Boom,’” She turned the page. “‘I’m hungry,’ ‘Yum,’ ‘No,’ ‘Legos,’ ‘Blue,’ ‘Green,’ ‘Yellow,’” She turned another page. “‘Delton,’ and ‘I’m tired.’”
Delton looked at Judith. Her hand was over her mouth and her eyes were watering again.
“That is a very comprehensive list, Rena. Thank you.” Dr. Fitzpatrick looked at Delton. “And you, young man, are to be commended for the brilliant amount of work and dedication you have put into this project. The fruits of your labors have blossomed today.”
Delton smiled. “So this is what proud feels like.”
“Thank you.” Judith said. She looked at him with sweet, kind, caring eyes. He almost didn’t recognize her.
Delton recalled when those eyes were cold, the voice was harsh, there was no warmth at all. But then there was no warmth in him either. Noah had changed him as well. “You don’t have to thank me. This is probably one of the best days of my life.”
She turned to Dr. Fitzpatrick. “Can you tell me why now? Why this project? Why Delton could get him to talk, when nobody else could?”
“Rena has some thoughts on that,” Dr. Fitzpatrick said.
“We all know that children with autism respond to the world differently than children without autism.” Rena said. “There are everyday things that can easily overwhelm them, such as loud noises, crowds in a mall or on the street, even fast-moving clouds in the sky can sometimes be hard for them to relate to.” She looked around the room. “So the environment created in here is safe for Noah. The walls are bland, there are no windows, so there’s no outside noise. Also, I’m guessing he’s never been given the amount of time, one-on-one, in any other setting than he’s been shown here.”
Judith shook her head. “No. You’re right. He hasn’t.”
“That’s what I thought,” Rena said. “And lastly, I think his race actually plays a part in it.”
“What?” Delton said. “You’re saying that Noah is speaking to me because I’m black?”
“No. That’s not what I’m saying,” Rena said. “Noah is speaking with you, because you have found a way to connect with him. But if you’ll recall, I said that children with autism look at and experience the world differently. It was clear, based on interaction between you and Miss Higgins, that to this point, Noah has been racially sheltered. So you don’t represent the typical adult in the world. You don’t carry the intimidation factor that any other white adult would. Because of your race, Noah has had no preconceived notions about you. You have had the opportunity to create your own persona inside his head. And because you were calm, caring, encouraging, and remarkably persistent, you have built a relationship that Noah feels safe in. And when an individual feels safe, they have the opportunity to open up, to be themselves. Thus Noah has found his voice.”
Delton thought long and hard on her explanation. He smiled, not so much at her kind words to him, but more at the irony of the fact that this was the first time he ever remembered having a leg up on anybody because he was black.
“Are you saying he doesn’t feel safe with me?” Judith looked hurt.
Rena shook her head. “He clearly feels safe with you. When you take his hand he follows along without question. And when something arises that causes him stress, he buries his face in your leg. But there are things outside this room that are overwhelming to him and make him feel vulnerable.”
Dr. Fitzpatrick spoke up. “So before Delton leaves, I would like to discuss the next steps.”
“I’d like to talk about that too.” Judith said. “Where do we go from here?”
“How about the zoo?” Dr. Fitzpatrick said. “As Rena stated, Noah feels safe in here. We expect his vocabulary to grow exponentially each day from this point. But it won’t do any good if he will only speak in this room. He needs an opportunity to open up outside these walls. And since we have also had some good experiences with the other kids, I’m looking at getting a field trip going to the zoo. But I’d like to have the parents along as well. In Noah’s case I think it would be very beneficial for him to see Mother and Delton together in a fun and relaxed atmosphere.”
“You want to take me to the zoo?” Delton said.
Dr. Fitzpatrick nodded. “We’re working with Two Rivers now to get it cleared and manned. And we’ve discussed it with Sterling Park Zoo. They are talking about closing down for a day so we can have sole access to it.”
“But don’t you think that will freak out Noah, with all of those people?” Judith said. “He’ll shut down again.”
“If the zoo is closed, there will only be us,” Dr. Fitzpatrick said. “And this will give us an opportunity to see how Noah responds to Delton outside this haven of a room.”
Delton shrugged. “I’m in. I’ve never been to the zoo.”
“Okay, Hayes. Time’s up.” The guard walked back into the room. “On the bus.”
Chapter Thirty
When Judith got home with Noah, before starting on dinner, she made big changes in the apartment. All artwork came off the walls. All knick-knacks were put in a box in the closet. She removed as much clutter as possible, making the place a calm and empty environment for Noah to feel safe in.
The remainder of the week was full of extremes for Judith. She would drop Noah off, rush to work, and visit her dad at
lunch. After work she’d rush home to get Noah from Darlene, then take him to see his grandpa in the hospital.
Noah’s vocabulary grew exponentially. With each day came a handful of new words, which he eventually managed to weave into sentences. He even started talking at home, his first words there being “I’m hungry.” But the most beautiful word Judith heard him say was “Mommy.” It was a word she had actually given up hope of ever hearing.
When they went to see her father, Noah called him “Gompa.” It made him smile. Even though her father couldn’t talk, Judith sat next to him and regaled him with all of the things Noah was able to do now, each day thanking him for talking her into going through with the project. It had been one of the smartest moves she had made and it wouldn’t have happened without his listening and calmly talking through her fears with her.
In that time Delton was obsessed with reading about autism activities, and trying them out with Noah. He had sent Rena to the store for something else nearly every day after they were done. He felt like he was wearing her out, but she never seemed to be low on enthusiasm.
She had purchased flash cards and he drilled Noah on animals, not only making them say the names but having him make the sounds as well.
Another day he had Rena bring in a can of shaving cream. Delton spread it all over the table, and they drew pictures in it. Noah seemed to enjoy that. He didn’t laugh, like he had with the stuffed animal toss, but he smiled the whole time they were playing in the white foamy mess.
One thing he’d done that didn’t work out so well was the floating balloon game. He started with one balloon and bounced it in the air to Noah, who was supposed to bounce it back to him. The object, of course, was not to let the balloon hit the ground. Noah handled one balloon fine, so Delton introduced a second balloon. Noah seemed to enjoy dealing with two balloons even more. But when Delton added a third balloon, Noah became agitated. So agitated in fact that Delton should have known better than to throw up a fourth balloon. Noah couldn’t handle all four. The frenetic pace got him all worked up. He fell on a balloon and it burst loudly, scaring him. Then the other balloons hit the ground and Noah went into major meltdown mode. Delton had to rock him in the blanket for nearly forty-five minutes. His arms were ready to fall out of their sockets onto the floor, they were so tired by the time Noah calmed down.
In truth, Delton felt that Noah was helping him, by getting his mind off of Danna, from whom he hadn’t heard since the frantic phone call that was interrupted and cut off.
The zoo visit was on a Tuesday. Dr. Fitzpatrick said they’d worked it out with the zoo to close for a half day to allow the children, their families and the inmates in. The folks at the zoo chose a Tuesday because that was usually their slowest morning of the week.
The bus took Delton and the inmates, and the guards directly to the zoo. The guards now rode the bus routinely. They were getting to know the inmates pretty well and vice versa. It was becoming a strange little family group, rather than the typical prison guard/prisoner thing. Many of the guards knew each of the inmates well, and listened to stories of their families, along with sharing a few stories of their own. Delton noticed though, as friendly as the guards were, when talking about their family, they never mentioned anyone by name—instead calling them “my son,” or “my wife.”
Once they arrived at the zoo, they waited on the bus until all the children and their parents arrived.
Judith and Noah were the second-to-last family to make it. Dr. Fitzpatrick had them all wait inside the zoo gate. Then once every child and parent were accounted for, Dr. Fitzpatrick gave a signal to Johnson, the head guard. He stood and ushered everyone off the bus.
When they weren’t on the bus and all relaxed, the guards went into their usual intimidating asshole mode. They stood in a line every few feet, on either side of the inmates, one hand on a gun at their side, the other on a club hanging from their belt on the other side. The inmates walked in a direct line from the door of the bus, into the gate of the zoo. Delton looked over at the old white woman who was sitting inside the ticket booth. She looked terrified that they were walking in under armed guard. He smiled at her, wanted to say something like “it’s all part of the procedure, ma'am.” She looked away as soon as he caught her eye.
The inmates walked through the floor-to-ceiling barred turnstile to enter. It was then Delton realized why the zoo was such a good choice for an outing like this. He scanned the perimeter. A ten-foot wire fence, ringed with barbed wire at the top, surrounded the whole zoo. It was designed to keep all these wild animals in. There wasn’t any way one of these inmates was going to make it out of here either.
Delton saw that the whole Marmont Program army was here in full force. Rena and Taysha had arrived earlier and were standing off to the side holding cups of coffee with the rest of the counselors and assistants. There was zoo staff off to one side, and the prison guards walked in and stood in perimeter positions. The entrance area to the zoo was crowded.
Delton saw Judith standing behind everybody. Noah had his face buried in her leg, looking none too happy, the large number of people stressing him out. When he walked toward them, Rena rushed over and pulled Delton’s surprise for Noah out of her purse. Delton had made it when he learned of the trip to the zoo. It was a circle cut out of cardboard from a cereal box and it was taped to a paint stir stick, so it looked like a big floppy magnifying glass. She handed it to Delton. He knelt in front of Noah and held up his fist. They both said, “My man,” together and bumped. Delton then showed him the cardboard. “Okay buddy, this is what you call a zoo viewfinder.” He spun it around for Noah to see. “When we’re going through the zoo, I will call out an animal. You have to look through the hole in this circle and find the animal. Got it?”
Noah nodded. “Yeah.”
“Okay, let’s test it out.” He handed Noah the viewfinder. Noah grabbed the handle and looked through the circle. “Now, find a mommy.”
Noah smiled, and looked up at Judith.
“Nicely done, Noah,” She said, with a giggle.
“I think you got the hang of it, champ,” Delton said, and stood. He smiled at Judith. “How’re you doing?”
Her head bobbed a little. “I’m doing okay, thanks.”
“All right you guys, look this way.” Rena was holding her phone out in front of her. “I want a picture of this momentous event.”
“Oh. Noah. Look up at Miss Rena,” Judith said. Noah looked up at her, then turned into his mother’s leg again.
Rena clicked the picture. “Noah, you looked great.”
Noah grunted and turned away a little more.
“Okay, everybody. Can you listen to me, over here?” Dr. Fitzpatrick stood in the center of the crowd and waved his hand in the air. He waited an awkward moment for people to quiet down. He was dressed casually today, with khaki pants, docksiders, and a light blue polo shirt. The sunlight did his complexion no favors, however. Delton noticed it made the pockmarks on his face seem darker. When he had everyone’s attention he continued. “I want to thank the staff at Sterling Park Zoo for altering their schedules and making this day possible.”
All of Dr. Fitzpatrick’s assistants clapped. Everyone else in the crowd followed suit. The zoo workers smiled and waved.
“Now, aside from having nobody else in the entire zoo but us, and being trailed by student assistants and security guards all morning long, I want this to be a casual day at the zoo.” There were a few chuckles from the crowd. “The object is to have as relaxing a morning as possible.” He took a deep breath, and rubbed his hands together excitedly. “Okay, let’s go.”
Judith took hold of Noah’s hand. “Let’s go see the animals, Noah.”
They walked into the zoo proper and the crowd began to disperse. Delton looked around. “Is there a map somewhere?”
“I’m sure there is,” Judith said. “But we shouldn’t need one. The place isn’t that big.” She looked over at him. “Haven’t you ever been here before?”
Delton shook his head. “No. We didn’t make it out this way.”
Judith pointed to a building. “Let’s start over there. I want to get Noah away from all these people so he can relax.”
Getting closer, Delton read the inscription above the door of the large stone building. It read “Cat House.” He opened one of the double doors for them and they entered. Inside, the building was all stone as well. The cement floor was uneven and textured to look like dirt on the plains of Africa or something. There were several enclosures fronted with thick glass. Each enclosure had a chest high stone wall surrounding it with planters along the top, with large green leaves streaming out in all directions. From the entryway, Delton could see the signs above all the enclosures so one could tell where each animal was, without having to look at them all. Off to the right he found the one that read, “African Lion.” It had a smaller name underneath it, “Panthera Leo,” which he assumed was what the scientists were supposed to call it, but he was sure nobody did when the word “lion” was quicker and easier to say.
The door opened behind them and in walked Rena, Taysha, and Officer Engels, an African American prison guard who was apparently their designated escort for the day.
“Okay, Noah,” Delton said. “Your first mission is to find a lion.”
Noah let go of his mother’s hand and ran around the wall to the left.
“Be careful, Noah,” Judith called after him.
“C,mon,” Delton said. “Let’s watch him.”
They slipped behind the wall and found Noah, standing still as a statue, looking through the hole in his viewfinder, totally entranced by a tiger that was at least twice as big as he was, pacing back and forth in its enclosure. Another tiger lay off in the corner nestled between two rocks. It lifted its head and yawned, its big tongue hanging out between two massive white fangs. Then it licked its lips and laid its head back down.
Delton whispered to Judith. “Has he never been here either?”