Page 86 of Madness
Harry thinks for a moment, “A few months, maybe? A got really quiet in school and lost mi friends, who started bullying me. Soon after that, mi brother’s rabbit became mi only friend, and he started talking to me.”
Red squeezes Harry’s hand, her eyes shining with empathy, “That must have been so hard for you,” she says.
Harry nods, his gaze distant, “It was… it still is.”
“That must have been confusing,” Abe starts, “how long until you told your parents?”
Harry shakes his head, “A was tae scared. A thought people would think a was lying or crazy. So, a kept it to maself for a long time.”
The therapy room falls into silence, each of us thinking about how we got here. Finally, Abe breaks the silence, “Thank you for sharing with us. Therapy is done for today, but we can continue it tomorrow.”
Red exhales in relief, and Abe watches her knowingly, “See you, Abe,” Red shouts over her shoulder, rushing from the room like if she’s made to stay there a moment longer, she’ll reveal her deepest secrets.
We all stop at the TV room, and Red’s friends, who we dubbed as the flowers, hover around a dazed Al, who gazes at them as if they are about to pounce on him at any moment.
“So, where are you from?” Rose asks him, snapping her fingers in front of his face.
“I do not know,” he responds in a monotone voice.
Bud shuffles closer on his knees, his pierced eyebrows knitted in concern, “You do not know, or you do not remember?”
Al doesn’t register our presence as we all sit around him, and I sit next to him, stealing the other side as Red sits on the other, “Al?”
“Hmm?”
“You can just ignore the nosey buggers, y’know?” I try to joke, but when he slides his blank stare my way, my concern grows.
“White came in and took him…” Tulip says, “he came back like this, and we’ve been asking him questions ever since to try to keep him focused.”
“Do you know where you are from, Al?” Red asks him, her hand clutching his tightly. Her face is furious, but she keeps her voice calm as she talks to him.
“No, it’s all… foggy.”
Tulip speaks softly, the gentler one of the trio, as she places a hand on Al’s knee, “Maybe it’ll take time to come back to you, but we’re all your friends now, so we’re here to help you.”
“What about your name? Do you know your full name?” Rose asks.
Al blinks slowly as if he’s trying to pull something out of the deep rabbit hole, “Alice.”
“Thee Alice?” Bud exclaims.
“No. I’m just Alice,” he responds.
All of our brows knit together, expecting his usual response of ‘Al,’ but he makes no move to change his answer, and I grow more concerned for one of the only people in this place I call my friend.
Red softens her grip slightly, her eyes searching his face for any signs of the old Al in there, “Do you not go by Al?”
Al shakes his head, frustration evident on his face, “Not allowed. The white queen with the big, big, big head said I have to be Alice now. Always, always, always Alice…” he punches the side of his head, “Not a legacy. Never a legacy… Alice… Mum was mean.”
“Come on, let me take you to your room,” I say, clutching his arm in mine and coaxing him from the room away from watchful eyes that like to pry into our business.
I turn the cold handle to Al’s room, and the picture Hare drew for him is now ripped in two and laid in pieces on the floor.
Clothes are strewn everywhere, and his bed has been flipped over.
Al stands there motionless, staring at the destruction with no emotion on his face.
“Al, what happened?” I ask, my voice trembling as memories of my father’s anger when he would destroy our room in retaliation for whatever he thought we had done flash in my mind. I push it to the side, though, wanting to be there for my friend.
