Chapter Four: Michael:

Kathy went across the street and knocked on the dark blue door. She waited for a couple of minutes. Michael was a bit deaf for his age. Sometimes, he could be found in the back of his house. Kathy walked around to the back and peeked over the fence. A young man about her age sat on the lawn, staring at the sky. She reached over and unlocked the gate.

“Hello!” she shouted. “Mikey! Mikey!” She walked over to the tan-skinned young man when she got no response. Kathy shook him on the shoulder. He turned to her with his mouth open. The carer smiled.

“Good morning!” she shouted. Michael stared at her, blinking. He hadn’t spoken in years. The neighbors found it hard to know exactly he was thinking. They even pitied him or avoided him altogether. Kathy opened up her notepad.

“How are you this morning?” she asked. “You can nod once for good and twice for bad, okay?” The young man nodded once.

“Are you saying you are okay or that you understand” she asked. “Or both?” Michael nodded once.

“Alright,” Kathy said, making her notes. Just by the look in Michael’s empty brown eyes that he had been through so much during the Exile. He wouldn’t share what happened to him. Nobody exactly knows how to help him. The best that Kathy could do was go and check on him.

“Is there anything I could do for you today?” she asked. Michael looked like he didn’t understand her before shaking his head.

“You sure?” Kathy asked. Michael nodded once, slowly. She made more notes on her paper. Part of her wished that she could get inside his mind and figure him all out. At least, try and get him to talk for a change. She took a seat next to him.

“Look,” Kathy said. “If you want someone to talk to, I’m always down the street and I always have my phone by my side. You still have my number, right?” Michael nodded once, slowly. Kathy closed up her notepad.

“Good,” she said. “Let’s get you inside. It looks like it’s going to rain today.” Kathy had to pull Michael along with her to get him into his house. She stayed with him for about an hour before she left for her next round in the neighborhood.