Special

After that, Donna Way was a lot more attached to me. Whenever she got the chance, she would talk to me. She talked to me about Gerard over and over again, and I never got tired of it. Mikey wasn’t so fond about it – furious even. “I can’t believe you’re friends with my mom!” he’d say. I didn’t mind, I knew deep in his mind that he thought it was a good idea that his mother liked me.

Sometimes, I’d hear Donna and Gerard talking in the living room. Donna had a pair spectacles hanging on the tip of her nose and a calendar in her hands. The woman was asking questions, the other answering. The questions were something I’ve never heard from anybody else’s mouth before, though. “Okay, Gerard, what day was August 7, 1956?”

It took him a while to answer. He stuck out his index finger like two days ago and placed it on his palm. Then he put it on his forehead, a clear sign of thinking. Then, “Tuesday,” he said with a grin.

I ran up to Mikey’s room right after, to ask him. Gerard couldn’t just be an ordinary genius, there had to be something about him. And Mikey was going to tell me what it was. “Is he the only one who could do that?”

“Who can do what?” I knew he wasn’t acting stupid. I didn’t exactly say who and what, but frustration was building up inside me. I even scoffed and rolled my eyes. It took me a while before I spoke again. If I asked too bluntly, I wouldn’t get an answer.

“Your mom showed me a really cool trick today . . .”

He rolled his eyes, “I don’t need to know what happens when you and my mom hang out. It’s creepy, Frank.” I would’ve laughed, but I didn’t.

“No, I meant how your brother could tell what day August 7 was on, thirty-eight years ago.” It was my turn to roll my eyes; Mikey was such a prick to his brother. From what I see, Gerard’s never done anything wrong. And so, I couldn’t help but add, “And why are you always so damn bitter about your brother?”

He turned away with his arms crossed across his chest. He said, “’Cause Gerard’s the fucking angel of the family, isn’t he?Everybody takes his side. Once you find out, you will too.”

“How would you know?” I was angry. I don’t exactly know why, I still don’t. I didn’t want to believe in him, that Gerard isn’t at all an angel. The way he talked, well, pissed me off. “Mikey, I don’t understand.”

“That’s because you wouldn’t.” He glared at me, but he let loose a minute later, apologizing. I almost said that I understood the way he felt, but I stopped after the first syllable. People don’t need this kind of reassurance, the kind I’ve been giving to people for so many years in my life.

And so many times they’ve answered the same thing. That I don’t understand. Maybe sometimes, I’ve lied, that I don’t really understand, but this is what I get for trying to help. I was never much help anyway.

I’m thankful for the fact that Mikey got over it, said that it happens all the time. I had a feeling that he wasn’t lying. He wasn’t the kind of person to hold grudges, funny guy. He’s going to hold one someday.

Finding out he played bass made me completely ecstatic. That lead us to one even when he asked me, “Hey Frank, wanna see a cool trick?”