FFM 2016 Day 24- Speak no Evil

  Michael slipped into what was no longer a closet and closed the door.  “Mom and Dad are gone for a bit.”

  Huddled in the corner of the small room, Raphael jerked his head up, face brightening.  Michael winced at the fading bruises on his younger brother’s neck, but said nothing of them as he sat down next to him and unzipped his backpack.  “We went to the library today, and I managed to check out a few more braille books.  You’ve been practicing, right?”

  His brother nodded, then reached over to a loose floorboard and pulled out the beginner’s guides with fumbling hands.  He presented the set as best he could, grinning proudly.

  “Finished already?  I swear, you must be some sort of genius.”  Michael took the guides and exchanged them for the books in his bag.  “These are the only ones they had; there’s not much of a selection.  When school starts again, I’ll see what’s at that library.”

  Raphael snatched the books and physically examined them, running his fingers over the covers and spines attentively.  They weren’t so much as related to each other, let alone fit material for a still-learning five-year-old, but he was clearly enthralled regardless.  His grin took up nearly half of his face, and his feet tapped loudly against the old wooden floor.  Unable to contain his gratitude, he wrapped his arms around Michael in a tight embrace.

  “If you’re this happy about that, then you’re going to love my surprise.”  Michael began opening another backpack pocket while his brother let go of him and began bouncing up and down.  “It’ll be more challenging that braille, but I’m sure you can handle it.”

  He whipped out his final book and made a pointless presentation of it, complete with, “Ta-da!  It’s a book on sign language!  This way, you’ll be able to say exactly what you want to say to everyone!  Or at least, everyone who knows it.  I was thinking that we’d learn it together, and I could help you with all the gestures.  How’s about it?”

  After a full minute of hugging, Michael opened the book, then gently bent his brother’s fingers into a fist.  “This is ‘A’.  Got it?  Okay, here’s the next one.  “This is ‘B’.”

  They continued in that fashion through the entire alphabet, and then constructed simple words and phrases the book provided.  As Michael expected, it was difficult for both of them.  Also as he expected, his younger brother was at least twice as good as he was, both in memory and dexterity.  If it weren’t for his second-hand pride, Michael would’ve been infuriated.

  “All right, those are the basics.  We should probably leave it at that; Mom and Dad will be back any second.  Do you want to try saying something before I go?”

  Raphael pursed his lips, hesitating.  Michael felt a pang as he interpreted the reply.

  ”Why don’t Mom and Dad like me?”

  “They…” He considered his words.  “They only see you for what you can’t do.  They think that you’re not as good as everyone else because of that.  But they’re wrong, okay?  You’re just as good as the rest of us.  Better, even.  You’re definitely better than them.  And when we get out of here-“ He took hold of his brother’s hand- “we’ll show them that.  You got it?”

  After a beat, Raphael nodded.  They hugged one last time, and then Michael gathered his things and left the room, listening to the sound of his parent’s car entering the driveway.