Chapter 23 #2
Colin was often unable to follow the verbal discourses joining or distancing one language from another.
But the metalinguistic calculations were clear enough, at least to him.
As soon as their work shifted from words to mathematical symbols, Lenny struggled.
Which only caused the youth to fight all the harder.
The first time Lenny broke through his confusion and understood the meaning of an algebraic construct, how they predicted the development of certain linguistic patterns, his entire body seemed to shine with excitement.
Colin recalled his own early moment, standing beside Arnold in the Child Services conference room, seeing the man trace a linear pattern that he had been unable to identify until that moment.
The indescribable joy, the thrill, the illumination, it was all there again as he sat and observed Lenny almost dancing in his chair with excitement.
Two other students remained at Sojourn House through that sweltering June, a Latina girl of eleven and an Asian boy of nine.
Both of them disappeared toward the end of that month, and then it was just Lenny and Colin.
The home’s prehistoric air-conditioning was often defeated by those hot afternoons.
When he could stand it no more, Colin walked toward the highway and entered the nearest coffee shop, often bringing Lenny with him.
He became fascinated by the youth, his inexhaustible hunger to learn, the longing so fierce it seemed like a barely controlled fury.
Even Mrs. Fitzgerald’s rigid scheduling melted in the summer heat.
She emerged from her ground-floor apartment at odd hours, usually twice each day, just to walk around the place, inspect things with her disapproving eye, and disappear.
In those moments the woman seemed distracted, scarcely present.
He continued to speak with Roland every week.
There was little progress with either investment, virtually none in fact.
In watching the stocks, studying the news feeds, and trolling the online sites, Colin felt as though the entire entertainment industry had become trapped in the oppressive heat of that early summer.
Roland showed no concern whatsoever. “So long as you’re worried, we don’t need to be. ”
“There are a couple of other opportunities,” Colin fretted. “If we don’t see some action soon, maybe I should shift.”
“Are you being drawn by a feeling that these are stronger opportunities?”
“More like, maybe they’ll move where these aren’t.”
“I know what Aaron would say, because I hear him telling this to his other clients,” Roland replied. “Patience is a lesson you never fully acquire. You just learn to practice it with patience.”
Colin was not altogether certain what the man meant, but liked hearing it just the same. “I need money for a new computer. And I’d like to get some other things. But the computer can’t wait. I have some money left over from my school funds, but—”
“No, no. Don’t touch the school’s money. How much do you need?”
No one was taking money from the investment fund.
It had not been discussed so much as become established as the norm.
He knew how much he was worth, but that was just a number on the screen.
Colin had tried out the words in front of the mirror that morning, and still found it coming out as a question. “Five thousand dollars?”
“Let me check. I think your file contains bank details. … Your account at Wells Fargo is still active?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll take the funds from our petty cash, have Lucretia transfer the money now, and charge it to your account.”
He did not need anything like that amount. But having the money on hand, being able to reach for it any time he wanted, had suddenly become very important. “Thank you. So much.”
That afternoon, as soon as the bank’s online system showed the funds were in place, Colin set up his own Uber account.
Together with Lenny he went down to the Mayfaire mall, parked the youth at the Starbucks, entered Circuit City, and bought the most expensive Dell they had in stock.
The new full HD screen took his breath away.
The processor was almost double the speed and capacity of his current computer.
Four times the memory. There was no way he needed all those specs.
Which made the purchase even more joyous.
Colin walked back to the Starbucks, shifted over Lenny’s empty cup, and set his old computer down on the table. “I want you to have this.”
Lenny made no move to touch it. “Say what?”
“I bought a new one. This is yours now.”
Lenny traced one bird-like finger over the surface. “Why are you doing this for me?”
Colin did not understand the question. Or how Lenny had spoken. No inflection. No joy. The youth sounded almost sad. “I just told you.” When the youth remained still, Colin said, “You want me to show you how it works?”
“I know all that. What you think I do downstairs with those machines, play?” Lenny stood up, his gaze as downcast as his voice. “I want to go back now.”
That evening after dinner, Colin was making another futile search of the online sites for some indication that his investments might finally begin to shift when Lenny appeared in his open doorway.
Normally Colin hated having the door ajar, knowing everyone who passed could visually invade his space.
But Lenny was little more than a human shadow, and the heat only added to the room’s claustrophobic confines.
Lenny did not knock. He did not speak. He simply stood in the doorway and waited.
Colin had no idea how long the youth had been standing there before he noticed.
When Colin looked over, Lenny said, “I got something I can’t figure out.”
Colin followed him up the second flight and down to the corner room. It was the first time he had entered Lenny’s private space. What he saw halted him in midstride. “Whoa.”
“Don’t you act like that.” Lenny picked up the laptop and did a boneless slide onto the carpet. “Those are my buddies.”
“I’ve never seen so much medicine.”
“Yeah, well, welcome to my world.”
The top of Lenny’s small chest of drawers was literally covered by prescription bottles. Twenty, thirty of them, all lined up in disciplined rows. “What does it all do?”
Lenny was already working the keys. “I like to think of them as my little soldiers. They fight the good fight. They keep the bad stuff out of my life.”
But when Colin joined him on the floor, Lenny’s fingers stilled. He sat there, hunched over, staring at the screen. “What you did today, I never had … People in my world aren’t nice.”
Colin had no idea what to say.
“I never had somebody just give me something. And doing it like you did, no warning …”
“I wanted it to be a surprise,” Colin said.
“Man, you shocked me right out of my skin, plopping that thing down in front of me.”
“I probably should have said something.”
“Naw, it was me. I should’ve handled it better. Said thanks. Something.” He traced one undersized finger along the side of the screen. “I’ve wanted one of these for as long as I can remember.”
And just like that, they were pals again.
They worked together for an hour or so, but then Colin saw the kid was flagging and stood. As he started to leave he asked, “What do you want to do with this?”
Lenny stopped in the process of shutting down his system. “What do you mean?”
“When you grow up. Like, do you want to teach or—”
Lenny rose to his feet, his motions tight. “Man, do you even see the bottles over there?”
Colin found himself again trapped by all he did not understand. “Sure I do.”
“Those words you just spoke, they don’t belong.
Not to me.” Lenny shuffled over and set the laptop on the dead center of his desk.
It was the only bare spot. The surface was piled with an army of books.
“You’re talking about a future. All I want, all I’m allowed to even think about, is having just one more today. ”
He stood there in the doorway until he was certain the youth would not speak again or even look his way. Colin then returned downstairs, wishing there was some way he could take back the words.