Karen stepped in. She moved Joe aside and stepped in between them.
“Steve, Luke is over here,” she said. Karen put her arm around Steve’s back and led him toward the family room.
Luke was still seated on the hardwood floor with his legs crossed. He was rocking slightly back and forth. His arms were suspended about an inch over his lap. His hands and fingers were moving slightly.
Karen and Joe had seen this behavior in Luke quite often. Over the years it became a common daily occurrence. Some of the therapists began to associate the rocking movement with autism. They had no idea of the cause or a potential treatment.
Steve walked over and stood directly in front of Luke’s field of vision. Luke stared straight ahead, right through Steve. It was as if Luke did not see him. Steve remembered back to his first meeting with Luke. He was doing the same thing, thought Steve.
Steve lowered himself into a sitting position directly in front of Luke. They were now face to face. Steve watched Luke, especially his hands.
Being with Luke helped Steve to feel secure. There was a huge void being filled. Steve felt needed by Luke. He felt like he was part of something.
Steve looked back at Karen and called out quietly. “Mrs. Jackson?”
“Yes Steve?”
Steve raised his hands and made a sign similar to an inverted sign for the number one only with the fingers bent. He then twisted his hands intermittently. “Do you know what this sign means?”
“I don’t know Steve, I have never seen a sign like that. Why do you ask?”
“Luke makes a lot of signs that I do not know. That is one of them.”
“Really, when does he do that?” asked Karen.
Steve was opening up a bit more. The words were coming easier and his memories of the past were easing.
“All the time,” replied Steve. He turned back to Luke and studied his slight hand movements.
“See Mrs. Jackson, right now. See, there’s the sign again,” said Steve with a little more force. Steve pointed at Luke’s hands.
“Steve, I don’t think he is signing. I think it just a nervous habit.”
“No Mrs. Jackson, he is signing something. Look closely. If you watch real close you can see some of the same signs over and over. He was using them yesterday too.”
“Can you get him to sign to you?”
“Yes. He just has to see me. He doesn’t know I’m here yet.”
Joe tapped Karen’s arm to get her attention. He shrugged and furrowed his brow. “Doesn’t know he is there yet?” he asked quietly. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Karen shrugged back at Joe and raised her eyebrows with a questioning look. “Got me,” she muttered.
Steve reached out and gently raised Luke’s head up so they were face to face. Steve then signed “Hi L U K E.” The rocking stopped but Luke remained motionless. There was no response.
Steve raised Luke’s head a little more. He signed the words again. “Hi L U K E.” A slight smile began to appear on Luke’s face. Luke put out his hands and signed back. “Hi S T E V E.”
Joe and Karen were amazed. Karen let out a slight gasp. They both took a seat on the couch and watched in silence. Karen’s tears of concern were replaced with tears of joy.
Steve raised his hands and indicated what looked like an inverted sign for the number one. He bent each finger and then twisted his hands intermittently. Luke smiled and straightened out his legs. He began to kick his legs up and down against the floor. His smile grew wide.
Karen continued to softly weep. She picked up a Kleenex from the table and clutched it in her hand against her mouth. Joe moved in closer and gave her a hug.
Steve raised his left hand and extended his fingers. He slid his right index finger down across the left fingers. “What?” he signed.
Luke raised his right hand with his palm out. He placed the index finger on the side of his forehead.
“Pretend,” he signed.
Steve and Luke continued on with their conversation. Joe and Karen watched, almost in a state of bewilderment as Luke began to sign faster and faster. They understood some of the signs but not all of them. Steve now appeared to have them all figured out.
Every now and then Karen could see Luke using the sign that Steve showed her but she still did not know what it meant. Steve also started using signs that were totally unfamiliar to her.
At times Karen could see that Luke was telling Steve about his friends but she knew he did not have any friends. She could not make out the meaning of half of the signs they used. When she did understand the signs then the meaning did not fit. The conversation just didn’t make any sense to either Karen or Joe.
Karen and Joe wanted to interrupt. They wanted to know the meaning behind the signs but they both agreed to let Steve continue to work with Luke longer. No matter what was being signed, it certainly looked like there was some progress being made.
Patiently Joe and Karen looked on. Finally, at around eleven thirty Luke turned to his mom and signed he was hungry.
“Lunch, Mom,” he signed eagerly.
Karen excitedly turned to Joe. “This is a great time for a break. Now we can ask Steve what was said.” She then turned to Steve. “Steve, would you like to stay for a while and have lunch with us?” asked Karen.
Steve felt secure. He felt safe. He was having a good time talking to his new friend. It was taking his mind off of his memories. He no longer felt like crying.
“Yes, thank you,” Steve responded quietly.
Karen gave a furious wave at Joe. She motioned for him to follow her to the kitchen. “What do you think?” she whispered, as they turned the corner and moved into the kitchen.
“I don’t know what to think. I don’t even know what they’re signing,” responded Joe.
“No, me either,” said Karen as she shook her head slightly. “I was able to pick up bits and pieces. That was it. We need to get Steve to tell us about the conversation during lunch. Do you think Steve could have been right about Luke? Could he actually have been signing and nobody ever noticed it?”
“I don’t know. I did see him use the sign that Steve showed you quite a few times.”
“Yes, me too,” said Karen excitedly. “I saw a lot of signs that I never saw before. Steve was even using them.”
Karen and Joe hurriedly prepared four basic ham and cheese sandwiches. Karen grabbed a bag of potato chips, a container of macaroni salad, four napkins, four forks and four plates. Joe grabbed four glasses out of the cabinet and a large bottle of cola out of the refrigerator. They hurriedly piled everything onto a tray and excitedly returned to the family room with high expectations.
The lunch tray was set onto the coffee table. Steve and Luke moved in close to the table as Karen piled food onto their plates. Steve sat on the floor on the outside of the table. Luke slid in close by his side.
Luke tapped Steve on the shoulder and signed to him. He asked Steve if he would be staying at his house for lunch. Steve nodded yes and Luke smiled and giggled widely. Karen slid Luke’s lunch plate over first. Luke always had a hearty appetite and dug right in.
“Can Luke and I go on the swings after lunch?” asked Steve.
“Sure Steve,” responded Joe. “And I want to thank you for coming over Steve. You are really helping a lot with Luke. You are a good friend.”
Steve looked up at Joe. He managed to produce a slight uneasy smile.
“Steve, did you find out if the sign that you showed me had any meaning to Luke?” asked Karen, as she handed Steve his lunch plate. “Yes Mrs. Jackson. It means something like Pig-Latin but only for sign language.”
“Pig-Latin?” asked Karen and Joe almost simultaneously. They both had the same high-pitched, questioning tone in their voice.
“Yes, it’s a sign for something like a made up version of sign-language. You use it when you are around others so they don’t know what you are saying. It is kind of like a backwards form of sign language.”
; “Made up?” “Who made it up?” asked Karen.
“Luke made it up to talk to his pretend friends,” said Steve.
Joe interrupted. “Steve, what do you mean by backwards sign language?”
Steve was starting to feel a little more comfortable with Joe. “It is like left is right and up is down Mr. Jackson,” said Steve softly. “That kind of stuff. If you were supposed to raise a right finger in real sign language, you would lower a left finger in the pretend language. It is pretty easy. That’s why he did not sign to you this morning. He was talking to his pretend friends. He did not even know you were there.”
Joe interrupted again. “He didn’t know we were here?”
“No,” Steve said. “He was kind of in a pretend world where he has a lot of friends. He was busy with them. I told him that now he has a friend in the real world and he didn’t need to be with his pretend friends anymore. He said he will try but he has known them longer than me.”
Joe could not believe what he was hearing. He turned to Karen. His face looked perplexed. “Can you believe all this?”
“I don’t know what to believe. But just look at Luke,” said Karen.
Luke had moved right up next to Steve. They were almost touching. Luke was smiling widely as he devoured his lunch. As he finished the first half of his sandwich he signed to Karen.
“Mom, this is good lunch.” Luke then paused for a second and followed with more signs. “I like my new friend Steve,” he signed.
Karen turned to Joe and wiped her eyes. “I think I can believe anything at this point.”
Steve started in on his lunch. He was hungry. He had left the house without eating any breakfast. “This is a very good sandwich,” said Steve. “What kind of sandwich is this Mrs. Jackson?”
“It’s ham and cheese,” said Karen. “You never had a ham and cheese sandwich Steve?”
“No, I don’t think so,” replied Steve. “At least not one that tasted as good as this one.”
“If you like that then you will love what we are having for dinner tonight. We are going to have a special dinner in honor of you Steve. Would you please stay and have dinner with us?”
The apprehension Steve felt the day before was gone. He liked having Luke as a friend and he liked Mrs. Jackson. He was starting to like Mr. Jackson. His response was quick and clear.
“Yes.”
Chapter 14 - Family
The overfull basket of potato chips was placed onto the kitchen table. They were the crinkle chips, the ones that Steve said he liked. Lunch would be ready soon.
Karen glanced out the back sliding glass door. She could see Steve and Luke still playing in the mound of sand. Karen slid the door to the side.
“Steve, it’s time for you two to come in for lunch,” Karen called out. “You guys need to stop playing and get cleaned up. Please let Luke know.”
“OK, Mrs. Jackson. We will be right there,” came Steve’s quick response.
Steve tapped Luke on the shoulder and mouthed the word lunch. Luke laughed. He continued to push his toy road grader through the pile of sand and gravel that was left over from Joe’s latest backyard patio project.
Steve figured they still had a few more minutes before they had to go. He snatched up the matching yellow toy bulldozer. The bulldozer was pushed off in the other direction, plowing out the western portion of Luke’s superhighway in the sand.
The two quickly forgot all about Karen’s call for lunch. The priority was given to building roads in the sand. Boys will be boys.
A little over seven weeks had passed since Steve first made contact with Luke on the swing. Over the short period of time, the two neighbors grew to be much more than friends. They were like brothers and they were inseparable.
The progress made by Luke over the short period was nothing short of extraordinary. His entire personality and attitude had been transformed. He was happy. He had found the friend he longed for.
Karen and Joe had always hoped and dreamed of a miracle for Luke. As they watched the transformation happen before their eyes, even they could barely believe it. It was nothing short of astounding. Each passing day brought about new skills, new words and new development for Luke. Luke was even starting to pick up on a little lip reading.
Steve enjoyed his time with Luke and enjoyed helping him learn new skills. He especially liked working with Luke on his verbal skills. The progress was slow but steady. Luke could now speak well over fifty words clearly. Steve seemed to receive as much satisfaction as Luke from each new word that was learned.
Somehow, Steve instinctively knew what to do to help Luke learn. He quickly picked up on things everyone else had missed or ignored. There was some sort of inner connection that went well beyond plain words and signs.
The long daily episodes of Luke being silent and withdrawn in his unreachable world had all but vanished. Luke finally had what he had been silently wishing for all along. He had a real friend. There was no longer a reason for him to leave the real world and visit his silent secret world.
Karen and Joe pulled Luke out of all of his therapy sessions. They stopped the bi-weekly treks to the trained experts with their theories on Luke’s medical disorders and social dysfunctions.
Instead, they enrolled Luke into a new speech class for the deaf. The speech class included other students. The learning was built around a lot of activities. It was unlike anything they tried before.
At first Luke resisted the class. He wouldn’t work with the instructors or participate with the other students. He did not want to go without his friend Steve. After a few rough sessions, Karen persuaded Steve to go along with Luke to see if it would help.
The change in Luke’s performance was immediate and dramatic. After a few classes with Steve in attendance, Luke became much more comfortable and receptive to the instructors. He began to make progress in the class and he began to interact with other students. Eventually he settled into the class and did not mind if Steve attended or not.
Steve was thoroughly enjoying his newfound friendship with Luke. He was also enjoying his newfound family. The time he spent at the Jackson’s was a million miles away from the life he had next door with Jack. Steve soon became a permanent fixture at the Jackson dinner table.
Karen became the mom he lost, Joe his dad. Once Steve got past his initial fears, he really took to Joe. Whatever time Steve did not spend with Luke, you could find him at Joe’s side. He would follow him around asking him questions on his latest projects. Steve would ask him to explain how planes could fly, why there are no more dinosaurs and what he did at work.
As the relationship between Steve and Joe grew, Steve began to ask Joe questions about his parents. Steve was starting to deal with their loss. Joe treated Steve like his own son. He always worked to provide Steve with the best answers to his many questions.
* * *
The daily lunch preparation was nearly complete. Karen glanced out the window and saw the boys were still hard at work building their super highway in the heap of sand. A sense of calm amazement came over her as she watched Luke play in the sand.
He was playing just like any normal child, she thought. She wondered what would have happened if Luke never met Steve. Several minutes passed as she stared out the window watching the two operate their toy machines. Watching Luke play in the sand was almost like watching a dream come true.
A sizzle from the stove brought Karen’s attention back to the kitchen. The lunch was ready. Karen placed the lunch’s main course onto a serving plate and walked back to call the boys again.
“You guys about done playing in the dirt? Lunch is on the table. Let’s go boys,” Karen shouted from the back door. “It’s going to get cold.”
Steve slid the toy bulldozer over to the end of the sand heap. “Be right there Mrs. Jackson!” he called out.
Steve approached Luke and tapped him on the shoulder. He motioned for him to go toward the house and signed that it was lunchtime. Luke smiled and turned away. He contin
ued to run his miniature road grader up a large mound of sand.
Steve jumped out in front of Luke. He gave the sign for run and then mouthed the word “race”. Luke quickly got to his feet and the two made a mad dash toward the house.
The inner bond that first drew Steve to Luke was still there, growing stronger with each passing day. Steve could understand things in Luke’s behavior because down deep they were the same. Their own problems each manifested themselves in different ways, but they were the same.
The two boys raced up to the back door. Steve had a slight lead, but he slowed up a bit on the last twenty-five feet. Luke sped into the lead and won the race.
Luke raised his arms in victory. He screamed out, “Luke wins.” The words were surprisingly clear.
Karen slid the door open for the boys. The sight of Luke and Steve standing at the back door made Karen laugh out loud. She was still not used to seeing their strange new appearance.
Just four days prior was the first Saturday of the month. It was the customary day for Joe and Luke to go to the barbershop and get their ritualistic haircut. Steve still had his disorderly, shoulder length hair. When he overheard the plan for Saturday morning haircuts he mentioned to Joe that he would like to get a haircut too.
“Jack never has any time to take me,” Steve said.
Joe immediately invited Steve along on the monthly ritual. “You can come with us Steve? I’ll treat. The haircuts are on me,” Joe announced.
Joe climbed into the barber chair first. His woefully thinning hair provided him with few options as far as hairstyles were concerned. He could go for the fake looking comb-over or a basic short cut. For the past six months he had been opting for the short cut after Karen put her foot down. She forbid any more experimenting with any type of comb-over technique.
Today the haircut of choice remained the same. The barber slapped the close cutting number two blade onto the hair-clipper. Joe’s no-frills haircut was completed in a little over three minutes. That included the trim work around the sideburns and the back of the neck. Then it was on to the next victim.