Wind-up toy (NOT MINE)

Chapter 13

It's got what it takes,
so tell me why can't this be love.
Straight from my heart,
oh, tell me why can't this be love.

Still Ray's POV

After minutes of throwing the invisible ball to the invisible dog, I actually started to enjoy it. It was kind of like being a little kid again. It reminded me of that period we all had while being young, when we'd be able to keep ourselves entertained for hours using just our imagination. Imaginary scenarios, imaginary beasts and monsters to fight against, imaginary partners. We most probably didn't really see all those things as Frank saw his dog and the ball; but we'd love to imagine they were there.

I watched Frankie cast the non-existent object and wait, eventually grabbing it back from Puppy's mouth and patting his head. I counted the seconds, I studied his movements and copied him when it was my turn.
"Good dog!" I said, passing the ball to Donna. Frankie clapped his hands joyfully and I began to understand Gerard; seeing this boy happy was worth the patience.
We spent the rest of the morning hearing him talk about animals, gnomes and little people, making us interact with them in some cases. Frank was so hyperactive and enthusiast that he'd make you tired just by observing him.

At one point he got on the coffee table and sang 'Twinkle twinkle little star', his voice sounding even more childish than when he'd speak. Besides being rather cute, it allowed me to verify something I had read: stutterers, indeed, don't stutter when they sing.
He then performed some honestly interesting rock and punk versions of the song. I was intrigued to know whether Frankie was actually into that kind of music and upon asking him, I was surprised to find out that he knew many bands. He told us a friend from the place where he used to live owned a lot of CDs. That kid would let him listen to them sometimes and he also taught him about the bands. Frank was the most strange mix between a little kid and your regular teen.

"Do you want me to bring some of my CD's tomorrow?" I proposed.
"Y-yeah! B-bring them. B-but not t-too loud, I d-don't like it l-loud. H-he doesn't like it e-either." he pointed at his head. "L-low, not loud."
"I won't turn up the volume much, it's ok."
"G-good." he seemed satisfied.

Lunch went by without complications. Donna cooked steaks accompanied by her famous french fries. I'd almost forgotten how good they were, with that distinctive special touch only homemade food could have. Needless to say, both Frank and I approved of her food choice.
As hungry as I was myself, I was amazed to see the boy eating. I'd always had a good appetite, there was no denying that I ate a lot; but Frankie surpassed me by far. Even experiencing some trouble to make mouth and fork meet for moments, his plate was already empty while Donna and I had still half to go. That's when he resorted to stealing fries from us.

Frank felt asleep short after that, a welcomed chance for us to relax and converse. I used to practically live in the Way' s house when I was a kid and Donna was like my second mom, so this was a good opportunity to get up to date about our lives.

Once we satisfied our curiosity about each other, the subject veered to Gerard. Since Mikey visited us very often, Donna was informed of everything about her older son. It had been very hard for the poor woman to know that her older son was struggling through such a bad period of his life away from her. She'd called Gerard several times and offered to go see him, yet he would always refuse. Not giving up, she had tried showing up at Gerard's house without warning, but he didn't opened the door and told her to leave him alone. I was astonished, Gerard had never mentioned all that.
It was admirable how mothers could forgive their sons no matter what. Gerard had pushed Donna away more than once and the same there she was, helping him as soon as he needed it.

Some murmurs were heard from the couch, followed by a thud and then whimpers. We ran there and found Frankie sitting on the floor, head down and hugging his knees while sobbing. Donna sat by his side. I didn't think he had heard us approach him, he got visible scared when she held him.
"Shh...it's Donna, calm down. What happened? Did you fall from the couch?" she asked him.
"Y-yes I...I th-think so. D-don't know. W-was sleeping I th-think." he hiccuped. I joined them on the floor, brushing the hair out of Frankie's face.
"Are you hurt or something?"
"I...I d-don't know. N-no. D-don't know." he clung to my friend's mom.
"Anything hurts?" I insisted.
"N-not really..."
"I think it was just the shock because he was fast asleep when he fell." Donna smiled. "Better now, Frankie?"
"Y-yeah." he got up and walked to the kitchen. I went after him and had to bite my hand not to scream when I saw what he was doing: peeing on one of the chairs.