I get a headache


During the first half of 2nd grade , we lived across the street from my school. From the front door of my house to the front door of the school it was a little more then half a football field length away. This would get me in some trouble as during recess and lunch hour ,I had the habit of wondering home and checking in on Mom. My Mom was babysitting 2 little boys at the time ,and I was very jealous of them. Mom would catch me at times peeking in though a front window or the sliding glass door in the kitchen. Once she would see me I'd go running back to school. Mom would ask me why I was doing that and my reply was always the same."I just wanted to make those kids were being nice to you".
One day before I had the chance to check on Mom , my class went on a field trip to a hog farm .(Just what every young man should see before he has a pork chop lunch) My job as we left would be to hold open the heavy outside doors for all the students . On the return it would be my classmate Greg's job to hold the doors open until we were all in. I felt very proud to have been chosen for this job. We all filed out to the school bus and drove 20 minutes to the hog farm.
Other then seeing a mother hog sit on one of her babies and reduce it to a pile of goo , the field trip was uneventful. I remember one shocked girl cry out ,"We eat these !?" One of the farmers laughed. "They'll gladly return the favor little girl if they get the chance", he said. We got back on the bus and left, all glad to be away from the smell of the hogs.
We returned to the school and began to get off the bus. Greg ran up to the door and held it open. As I was about half way to the door ,I remembered I left something on the bus. I ran back to the bus, grabbed whatever it was and ran back to the school. As I ran up to the door ,Greg thinking that there was no one else let go of the door. The heavy door shut right on my face . The impact broke my glasses into three pieces and threw me to the ground. My head hit the concrete hard and I lay there dazed.
I don't remember it very clearly, but I guess the bus driver saw what happened and ran up to me. He picked me up and took me to the nurses office. My teacher saw him bringing me in and started saying very loudly ,"What happened ? What happened?" I remember thinking that I wished she would just be quite. Didn't she know I had a splitting headache?
I sat in the nurses office for a little bit mumbling things to myself that no one there could quite understand.I could hear the nurse calling Mom at home and asking her to come pick me up. Sitting across from me in a chair was another little boy who looked remarkably like my cousin David. He stared at me without saying a word. I said ,"Hello". He ignored me.
He just stared at me some more
"Hello", I said again .
Nothing .
"Hello!", I said a louder.
The boy just sat there. I was getting upset now.
"HELLO!"
The nurse came in , knelt down to look at me. "Hello Tom", she said.
"Not you , him" , I said. Apparently she didn't understand me.
"Your Mother will be here in a moment. Just lay down ." She felt my head and found a small bump on my forehead, and a larger one on the back of my head.
"Who's that boy?" , I asked, not realizing it sounded like "Ho at oy?" to the nurse. A few moments later my Mom came to get me. I could hear the Nurse telling my Mom I wasn't making any sense. I probably had a concussion. Mom said she'd call Dad and take me to the Doctors. Mom held my hand and took me home.
When we got home there was neighbor lady watching the two boys Mom babysat. Mom laid me down on the couch and went in to the kitchen . She told the two boys to stay out of the living room so I could rest. Mom came back in and put a damp washcloth on my head. She then went back to the kitchen to call Dad.
I laid there for a moment before I noticed the boy from the nurses office sitting in Dad's living room chair .He was still looking at me. I stared back at him for a few moments . Finally I said Hello again. This time he spoke back to me.
" How are you?" He even sounded like my cousin David.
"My head hurts. Who are you?"
"My names Dave."
Wow what a coincidence. We sat there talking for while. My Mom came back in and asked who I was talking to. I told her it was my new friend Dave. Mom looked around , gave me a little smile and went back to the kitchen. I could hear her on the phone telling Dad to hurry home. Dave laughed thinking it was funny.
"We should go back to school,"Dave said
Thinking that was just a grand idea I got up and walked out the front door with Dave. We walked across the street and into the school. I walked to my classroom and went in. It was Lunch so no one was there. I sat at my desk and waited for everyone to get back. Feeling a little tired I rested my head on the desk. A little later my classmates came back to the classroom. My teacher saw me and looked a little surprised.
"What are you doing back Tom", she asked.
" I'b eeing k ow", I mumbled back. My teacher took me back to the nurses office. The nurse wanted to know what I was doing back in school. My teacher said she didn't know. She couldn't understand a word I was saying. Dave thought all this was funny and laughed. I thought Dave laughing was funny and giggled myself. The nurse looking very worried for some reason laid me down on a cot, and left to call my Mom.
I could hear her in the other room."Yes he's here Mrs. Hernandez. No, but he's a little confused."
Dave looked bored. "Hey lets go outside and play. "
Another great idea. I got up and walked out of the nurses office and went out the back door of the school. I walked over to the park by the school. While I was playing in the park with my new imaginary friend , my Mom and Dad were yelling at the school nurse.
"What do you mean you can't find him?" My Dad was not a happy man. (Though he never really was.)"Jesus Christ! The boy's ditty enough normally. Who knows what a whack on his head is going to do to him? "
The nurse said ,"Well we did already sent him home once, you know!" Dad stormed out of the nurses office . He went to Geno and John's classroom and got them out of school. He had Geno go home and wait for me in case I went back there. He sent John off to the local park to look for me. Mom and Dad got in the car to drive around to see if they could spot me. All the while Dad was yelling that watching a brain damaged 7 year old boy shouldn't be that hard.
I played in the park for a few moments before becoming tired and decided to head home. David and I crossed the road and headed for the housing area that I lived in . I wandered towards my home kinda staggering a little as if I was drunk. I came up to the back door of my house, slid it open and went in. Walking up the stairs I could hear Geno in the bathroom. Ignoring him, I went into my room and collapsed on my bed.
A while later my frantic parents came home. John said he saw no sign of me. Geno said I hadn't come home. It was half an hour before anyone looked in my bedroom and found me sleeping in my bed. My Mom was very relived when she saw me. Dad started to yell at Geno about what how the hell he didn't notice me coming back home. Dad took me to the doctor ,who said I had a mild concussion.
I stayed home from school for a few days, but had no long lasting problems from my experience.
As for my "friend" Dave? I never saw him again.
Though I still hear him every now and then telling me to, "Make them pay! Make them all Pay!" .Or occasionally "Do it here! No one will ever find the bodies!"