Page 155 - Where the Dream Ends ebook

His Brother’s Keeper

At the time, Harry didn’t know any other handicapped kid
besides Stu, so Harry took his cue on how to behave toward
Stu from Ed, who in turn, took his cue from his father, an ogre
if ever there was one. Ed’s father worked nights at a print shop
and slept days, and he was loathe to being awakened before his
time. Trying to sleep within earshot of the railroad with three
young children trying their best to keep quiet was near im-
possible. At various times, Ed’s father would storm out of the
bedroom in a rage, forcing them into the street. Ed’s mother
would attempt to defuse her husband’s tantrums, which in-
cluded locking Stu and Ed out of the apartment until he left
to go to work. She even moved Ed and Stu into the bedroom
where, if they filed quietly enough past the living room, where
their father now slept, they could play in relative safety, so long
as they kept their voices down.

If it was tough for a normal kid to live in Ed’s apartment,
imagine what it was like for a kid with special needs, like Stu.
Stu took the heat for just about everything. He became the
perfect foil for Ed. If something went wrong, all Ed had to
do was point a finger at Stu. Like once, Ed and Harry were
fooling around with matches and accidentally started a fire in
the bedroom. Ed blamed Stu, and Stu was the one who took
the beating. Harry, with the conscience of a child, looked on
in silence.

As Harry grew up, he softened in his relationship to Stu,
while Ed became even meaner, until finally it was as if Stu
didn’t exist. If Harry inquired about him, Ed would invariably
say, “Oh, he’s fine.” He never invited Stu to visit him, and he
certainly never introduced him to his friends, most of whom

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