Manfax (Winter Brothers #2) - Jacob Chance Page 0,40
to say.
Randy stares at me with a confused expression on his face. “No, you’re not.” He leans in to the left and then right, checking both sides of my face.
“It’s just a saying, Randy. It means I’m ready to listen to you with no distractions.”
“Do you have any idea how much earwax there would be?” Randy asks.
“Well, I guess I never really thought about it.”
“It would be everywhere,” he informs me.
I nod. “I suppose it would.”
“Like, all over the place.”
“Sounds disgusting.”
He wrinkles his nose up. “Oh, it would be.”
“So you wanted to ask me a question.”
“So gross.” He sticks his tongue out in disgust.
“Maybe you should ask me your question?” I prompt.
“Okay, yes. I need to know which is better.”
“I’m not sure what you mean, pal.”
“I love a girl.”
Oh, boy. Girls are the start of every man’s downfall.
“You do?” I question.
“Yeah. I love a girl. It’s Ms. Tracey.”
Ms. Tracey works in the cafeteria during the day shift. “I’m happy for you, buddy.” I pat his arm.
“Yeah. Happy for me, buddy. Me too. But I need to know which is better to show her that I love her. It’s very important.”
“I hear ya, bud. I do.” I place the basketball on the ground at my feet and sit on it. “So let’s hear your options.”
Randy smiles excitedly and kneels down on the ground next to me. “All right. I talked to all my friends who live here with me about how to show that I love her, and they all told me what I need to do. But they all said I had to do different things. So now I’m confused.”
“Well, that’s what I’m here for. Let’s figure this out. Who did you talk to first?”
“First, I spoke to Ashlee at breakfast, and she told me I needed to buy Ms. Tracey flowers.”
“Flowers are nice,” I agree.
“Yes, but flowers make me itch inside my nose.” He rubs his nose repeatedly.
“Well, that’s no good.”
“That’s what I said. Then, I talked to Jason, who sweeps the floor, and he said I needed to take her dancing.”
“Dancing is definitely fun.”
“And I am a good dancer,” he adds with a proud smile. “But I don’t have the right shoes.” He shifts until he’s sitting on the ground with his legs extended in front of him. He points at his sneakers. “See?”
“What kind of shoes do you need?” I ask, confused. His sneakers look fairly new to me.
“Ugh.” Randy sighs in frustration. He’s clearly disappointed that I don’t know what kind of shoes he’s talking about. “Tap shoes, Adam. I need tap dancing shoes to dance. You know, the kind that make noise.”
“Gotcha. My bad. I should’ve known.”
“It’s okay,” he reassures me. “But that leaves only Jimmy, and I don’t think I like his idea at all.”
“And what was Jimmy’s idea?” I’m almost afraid to ask. Jimmy is one of the higher functioning adults who lives here. But he tends to be mischievous at times.
“Jimmy said I should show her my ding-a-ling.”
“I’m sorry, he said what?”
“Jimmy said if I really love Ms. Tracey I have to show her my ding-a-ling and then she’ll love me too.” He hangs his head, looking sad. “Adam, I do love Ms. Tracey, but do you think she can love me if I don’t show her my ding-a-ling?”
“I think your friend Jimmy is joking around with you, buddy.”
Randy raises his chin and smiles.
“You think?”
“I do. And you know what else? I think you should write Ms. Tracey a nice letter to tell her how you feel,” I suggest.
“A letter? Can I draw pictures on it too?”
“Of course. I know I would.”
“Rainbows.”
“What’s that, bud?”
“Ms. Tracey likes rainbows. I’ll draw rainbows.”
“I think that would be perfect.”
Before I leave, I stop by the program director’s office. Her mother is friends with mine, so we’ve grown up together. I lean a shoulder against the door jamb. “How’s it going, Bonnie?” Her wrinkled forehead relaxes when her eyes leave the computer screen to meet mine.
“I’m hanging in there. How about you?”
“No complaints. How’s Barb?” I ask, mentioning her wife.
“She’s great. She was asking about you the other day. Wanted to know what you’ve been up to.”
“I spent a few days in New Hampshire, and work has been incredibly busy.”
“Isn’t that how it always goes when you take time off?” She shakes her head.
“Yeah, which is why I don’t take many vacation days.”
“How was Randy with you?”
“He seemed good. Why?”
“He was a little agitated earlier, but spending time with you always makes him happy.”
“I love hanging out