Chapter 4: Vacation on the Alimentary Canal

For the first weeks of the summer break, Dan was in his room almost exclusively. He did emerge for some meals and for chores (like mowing the lawn). Dré no longer had the heavy obligations of competitive swimming, so she took an opportunity and asked Dan for a talk.

“You don’t look so good, Dan. I bet if you took off your shirt I could count your ribs. And you’re so sad all the time. You don’t smile, you keep your eyes down, you speak softly, you’re ... timid. Pam asked me if you dropped out and moved away, because she didn’t see you at school and you stopped coming to our meets.”

“It’s better this way. I’m sorry about missing your competitions, but you shouldn’t have your gay-looking nerd brother around at an athletic competition. No, it’s true. Those men are all good-looking and sociable. I’m so inferior to them. And all those girls walking around in tight swimsuits. They just remind me how I won’t ever ... oh, just let me go!”

Dan rushed back into his bedroom and locked the door. Dré couldn’t get him to respond and eventually gave up trying. She didn’t know Dan was weeping behind his locked door. She decided that her efforts were just making Dan more unhappy, so they went back to avoiding one another.

Dan’s father, Ed Foley, finally noticed his shrinking son had missed three dinners in a row, on top of always skipping breakfasts. At Dan’s door, Ed knocked. He heard from inside: “No, Dré, leave me alone.”

“It’s your father,” growled Ed. Dan said, “Sorry, Dad,” and opened the door. Ed took a long hard look at his son and guessed Dan only weighed 120 pounds on his 5 foot 11 inch frame. “This is horrible. I know you have never been athletically-minded, but you’re destroying your body now. I’m taking you to the doctor in the morning to be evaluated, then we’ll see what has to be done with you.”

After struggling to sleep overnight, Dan made himself ready for the doctor. After waiting in reception filling out forms, they were ushered to an examination room. A nurse took his vital signs, measured his height and weight, and then handed the chart to Dr. Marcus Jackson when he entered the room.

“Mr. Foley, and Daniel, or do you prefer Dan?” He squinted up at the bright light and said, “Dan, please.” The doctor was tall, fit, with a close-cropped Afro hairstyle. “So, what brings us here today?” Ed spoke up. “Thank you for seeing us on such short notice. As you can see, my son has decided he can live on just a handful of food per week. I think he’s putting himself in danger.”

The doctor furrowed his brow. “I agree, but stopping this dangerous behavior will be a long hard road. For right now, I think has to go into lockdown with psychiatric intervention and oversight of his nutrition. Frankly, Mr. Foley, your son could gain 40 pounds and still be underweight for his height, age, and frame.”

Dan was alarmed. “But, I don’t want to be locked up! What about my privacy?” What about my rights?”