Chapter 8

In one sense, things didn’t go all that well that night. Bobby got there to find Amanda frazzled and upset. It had been long enough since she had cooked a full meal that she was a little rusty in the kitchen department, and things weren’t going like she had envisioned them.

She met Bobby at the door but, because what was on the stove needed constant watching, her introduction of Bobby to her father was hurried.

“I’ll just leave you two to get acquainted,” she said, her mind obviously somewhere else.

She left, to return to a meal that went more and more South as she got more and more frustrated. That was the part that didn’t go well that night.

On the other hand, when Bobby and Ron were abandoned, and left alone, things went much better. The first thing Bobby did was get into his knapsack, which Amanda hadn’t even noticed that he brought, and pull out two beanbags that he had asked his mother to make. One was green, and the other red. He held them up in front of Ron.

“Hi,” he said, smiling. “I’m Bobby. Can you point to the beanbag I’m holding that is green?”

Ron’s spastic arm waved, going towards Bobby’s right side, in which hand he was holding the green beanbag.

“That’s great,” said Bobby. He switched hands, holding them far apart. “How about now?” he asked.

Ron’s hand pointed the other way.

“Hang on a minute,” said Bobby. “We need something to lay across the arms of your wheel chair.”

Bobby went to the kitchen, where Amanda was fully involved in ruining dinner.

“That’s the garage, right?” he asked, pointing to a door that was on one side of the kitchen.

“What? Yes. What’s wrong?” asked the harried woman.

“Nothing,” he said. “Go on with what you’re doing. I just need to look in the garage for a minute.”

“Why?” Amanda looked at him like he was crazy. “What are you doing?”

“Trust me,” said Bobby, smiling. “That smells really good. I can’t wait.”

He ignored her then, going through the door into the garage. He looked around for something he could lay across the arms of Ron’s wheel chair, but there was nothing there that would work. He could make something at home, but that wouldn’t help them tonight. Then, he smacked his forehead with one hand and said, “Stupid!”

His trip back through the kitchen left a confused and even more frustrated Amanda in his wake, because he didn’t want to explain what he was doing just yet. She was busy, and he needed to fine tune the process he had thought up. Ron, of course, was still sitting in the living room. Bobby pushed his chair to the dining room and was pleased to see that the arms fit under the table. That let Ron lay his arm on top of the table. Bobby put both bean bags on the table in front of Ron and went to sit down across from him.

“I’m going to ask you questions,” said Bobby. “You’ll be able to answer them either yes, or no. Green means yes, and red means no ... okay?”

Ron’s hand shot for the green beanbag. He knocked it a foot away.

“Good!” said Bobby, leaning over the table to put the green bag back within Ron’s reach. “Just to make sure this is working, we’ll start with some silly questions. Are you a woman?”

Ron’s eyes seemed to glitter, as they stared across the table at Bobby, and, with much more control, his hand slid across to touch the red bean bag.

“Do you live in Hutchinson, Kansas?” asked Bobby.

Ron reached for the green bag.

“Let’s try something more complicated,” said Bobby. “Are you comfortable right now?” he asked.

Ron’s hand went to the green bag, and then, slowly, moved toward the red one.

“Can I interpret that to mean that you’re physically comfortable, but maybe worried about some things?”

The hand went to the green bag and landed on top of it.

“I don’t blame you,” said Bobby, smiling. “I’d be worried about some things if I were in your shoes too. When Amanda gets here, we’ll try to work on those things. For now, lets just figure out a list of things to work on later. Are you worried about the station?”

Green bag.

“Are you worried about your personal finances?”

Red bag.

“Are you worried about me?”

Green bag.

“That,” said Bobby, “is something we can work on now. You probably want to know what my intentions are towards Amanda.”

Green bag.

“Well,” said Bobby. “That’s kind of complicated. I like her. Our relationship is a little strange, or at least I’d think so if I were you. It is not a boyfriend/girlfriend kind of thing. I met her through a mutual friend, who I was able to help. She was having some problems in the emotional arena, I guess you’d say. Amanda is having some problems like that too, and all I’m here for is to support her, and help her decide what she wants to do in the future. I don’t think there’s really a name for what I do. It’s kind of like I help people figure out what they want out of life. Then they have to decide how to make that happen. If I can help with that, then that’s great. If I can’t, then they may not need me any more. Does any of that make sense to you?”

The hand went to the green bag first, and then moved to the red one, before going back to stop in between them.

“Maybe I can explain it to you better some time,” said Bobby. “Or maybe Amanda can explain it. What I want you to understand is that I’m only here for what Amanda needs. One of those things was to be able to communicate with you. That’s why I thought up the bean bags.”