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Kirk and I decided to ride our bikes and meet at the movie theater in the shopping center so that we wouldn’t have to get our parents involved. This way neither of our parents knew it was a “date,” and no one would be given a hard time about it. My parents were used to me going out to play with boys, and Kirk’s parents thought he was out with Tom.
We met half an hour before the movie, giving us plenty of time to buy popcorn and change our minds about which movie we wanted to see. We each planned to buy our own boxes so we wouldn’t have to touch buttery fingers. It would just be too distracting. It was only a first date, after all.
Having just walked through the lobby door and handed the tickets to the man, I heard a terrible sound.
“Brru-whip!”
Donald.
Surprise! He hadn’t told me he was going to the movies when I left home, but I knew somehow or other he would wind up there.
I couldn’t see him yet, but there was no doubt about his existence. No one I knew on the planet would make such bizarre sounds in public. I scanned the lobby as closely as I could, looking for my brother. It was ultra-important that I saw him before he saw me.
Nowhere.
Then there, by the refreshments counter. He hadn’t taken off his bike helmet yet, and his fanny pack sagged, unzipped, around his tummy. If I knew him, and I did, he was ordering a medium popcorn with extra butter, a hot dog with mustard and ketchup, a large soda that he wouldn’t drink, and a small box of chocolate candy, the mint kind. It would cost him a fortune as it always did, and he’d get more of it on him than in him. I could see the refreshments counter person frowning as Donald struggled through the order.
How many times had he done this? It always seemed like the first time—the first time he was making the choices as he squinted at the menu on the wall to read it, the first time he was hearing how much it would cost him and grunting slightly as if the number surprised and disappointed him, the first time he had to take money out of his fanny pack and count it as he deliberated about giving exact change and then wound up just giving the guy a twenty.
“Let’s get food,” Kirk said, rubbing his hands like a mad scientist. He pinched his lips together so they disappeared into a thin line and made his eyes really big. I laughed at him, but then I cut the laughter off quickly in case my brother heard me. He might recognize the sound of my voice. I began to follow Kirk to the refreshments counter but stopped midway on that too. Popcorn smelled so good, but . . .
“How about you get it,” I suggested. I handed him ten dollars.
He handed it back. “I’m buying.”
“With what?” I joked. “I bet my allowance is bigger than yours.” I handed him the money again, and he accepted it gratefully. “Just get me the same thing you’re getting. I should go to the bathroom before the movie. Meet me in there.”
Kirk scrunched up his forehead playfully and teased, “In the bathroom?”
I giggled quietly. He was so cute. “No, silly.” I waved my ticket stub.
“Oh!” he said, smacking his head. “Forgive me. I was being a retard.”
This time I didn’t laugh at all at what Kirk said. I burned to correct his choice of words, but I didn’t want to ruin our good time. Instead, I bit my lip, pointed at the food counter, and then pointed back toward the restrooms with my thumb. “See ya in a minute.”
If Kirk noticed any change in my demeanor, he didn’t show it. He marched away, and I lingered to watch him and spy on the efforts of my brother.
Donald had walked away from the counter with a tray full of stuff. The person behind the counter was calling him back to give him his change. It was difficult to watch Donald balance his tray while he turned around and headed back to the counter. How would he put the tray down without spilling anything? How would he pick it up again? Would he remember to put the money in his pack and zip it before he tried to pick up the tray again?
Part of me wanted to go help him. Normally I would have. Today I couldn’t. People who used words like “retard” as jokes thought people like Donald were mental cases. Kirk was one of those people. Before, I didn’t want Donald to see me because I didn’t want his weirdness ruining my good time. Now I knew that if Kirk found out I was related to Donald, it would ruin my chances of being his girlfriend.
While both Donald and Kirk were busy at the counter and not concerned with each other, I slipped off to find some seats. I really had no particular need to go to the bathroom.
Not long after I sat down, Donald entered with Kirk right behind him. I slouched in my seat so Donald couldn’t see me while counting on Kirk to seek me out. Donald sat behind me somewhere; I didn’t know where exactly because I didn’t turn around to look. I only knew that he didn’t pass me in the aisle. Kirk found me and sat down on the seat to my left, leaving a spare seat between the aisle and me.
“Did you see that guy at the counter?” Kirk whispered as he doled out the popcorn boxes and drinks.
“What guy?” I asked, feigning that I didn’t have the slightest idea who Kirk was speaking about.
“This guy. He was a total mess. He ordered everything on the menu practically, and then he could barely carry it. Check him out. He’s two rows back all covered with mustard and soda. He needs a serious brain check.” Kirk was half turned around in the seat pointing out Donald. He kept tapping on my shoulder. “C’mon,” he said. “You gotta see him.”
“I don’t really need to,” I said, taking a big handful of popcorn. “You described him well enough.”
Kirk slid back into his seat. “Whatever. You’re missing out. He’s a classic.” He looked over my shoulder once more and laughed.
Please don’t call him names, I thought. Please leave him alone.
“What a dork,” Kirk said, actually snorting as he laughed.
I couldn’t help it; I turned my head to sneak a peek at my brother. To me, Donald looked just fine. Yeah, he had a drop or two of stuff on him, and he was eating his hot dog from the middle rather than from the end, but he had plenty of napkins. He’d be okay. If Kirk would leave him alone, that is.
“Dude,” Kirk called out to him. “Where’d you learn how to eat?”
“Leave him alone, Kirk,” I said, a little too loud, a little too sharp.
My face went instantly red.
It was too late. The damage had been done. Donald looked over at Kirk and then down at his hot dog. He put it down on the tray and gulped his bite down without chewing—something he wasn’t supposed to do and had worked on repeatedly during his therapy sessions. I was ready to leap over chairs and stop him from choking, but he took a big gulp of his drink and seemed to be fine. That half-smile-half-pain look crept across his face, and he sat there not knowing what to do next. He couldn’t keep eating or he’d be picked on, yet he had a whole plate of food.
“Tell him you didn’t mean it,” I whispered to Kirk urgently. “Tell him.”
Kirk seemed pretty confused. “What are you talking about?”
He wasn’t going to help.
“Donald,” I called over to him. By now the theater was pretty full, so a lot of people were paying attention. “He didn’t mean it. Just eat your snack, okay?”
“Do you know him?” Kirk asked, amazed.
“Yeah,” was all I said about that.
Donald looked carefully at me. “Heidi?” he asked.
“Are you kidding me?” Kirk said. “This is the best. How does he know your name?”
I kept my eyes on the advertisements on the screen so I wouldn’t have to see either of their faces. I said, “Maybe he’s like that guy from that movie Rain Man—seems really dumb but certain things stick to his head like names and dates. I bet he knows your name too.”
“Hey, Donald,” Kirk called over to him. “What’s my name?”
“Kirk Mannings.”
“Wow. Weird.” Kirk was pretty awed by that demonstration.
“Can I sit with you, Heidi?” Donald asked.
I sighed. That was exactly what I’d feared. “No, Donald. I think it’s better if you stay where you are. That way you don’t have to move all your stuff again.”
But he was already getting up.
“No, Donald,” I nearly shouted. “Stay!”
And, of course, just to make everything extra perfect, Daryl Peck and Matt Tonkovich walked in right at that moment. They caught on to what was happening right away.
“Here, doggy! Here, doggy!” Daryl teased half-standing Donald.
Matt reached over and grabbed the box of candy Donald had bought and threw it down the aisle. “Fetch, doggy!”
Donald put down his tray and started toward the aisle so he could, in fact, go fetch his candy. Immediately, I jumped to my feet and got it for him. I moved up the aisle to hand it to my brother, who was being blocked by the bullies.
“Oh, look,” Daryl said. “Here’s his owner.”
“Yeah.” Matt laughed and said to me, “Why don’t you take him for a walk?”
I didn’t care that they were boys and a couple years older than me. I shouted at them, “Why don’t you take a walk?”
“Ooo-oooh,” they both said, pretending to be scared.
The lights dimmed in the theater, and the concessions commercial began to play on the screen.
“You’re in my way, pee-brain,” Daryl said, pushing me. I wouldn’t budge for him.
“Go see another movie,” I said.
“You see another movie,” Daryl snapped back, “and take your mutt with you.”
People in the movie theater began yelling at us to be quiet. Kirk jumped to his feet to yank me back to our seats.
“Let the guy protect himself, Heidi,” he whispered to me. “You’re only gonna get us in trouble.”
“You don’t understand,” I hissed back. To the bullies I shouted one more time, “I mean it! Get out of here!”
As if in response, the two boys were suddenly jerked backwards by two large hands. The theater manager had both of them by the arms and was pulling them toward the lobby. The manager looked at me as he did this. “You’d better come too.”
I glanced over at Donald. “Sit down, Donald. Watch the movie. It’ll be okay.”
Donald hesitated, but when the person behind him also grumbled that he should sit down, Donald finally responded by sitting. Kirk reluctantly followed me and the bullies out the door.
“You don’t have to come with me,” I whispered to him. “This really isn’t your business.”
“It didn’t have to be yours,” Kirk snapped back.
“Well,” I stammered, not sure what I should tell him at this point, “it’s my business now.” I stopped as I opened the door to the lobby. “Just go back and watch the movie. I’ll come back in if I can. And if I can’t, then I’ll wait outside for you.”
Kirk frowned. “You’re not much of a date, are you?”
“I’ll make it up to you.”
“Yeah, right.”
So Kirk went back to his seat, and I sucked in a big breath of air before going out to meet my brother’s enemies head on.