the deaf boy |gallavich|

part 1

Mickey Milkovich is a deaf teen from the south side of Chicago. He was born deaf so he’s never really had a problem with not being able to hear. Although his father is a whole other story. Mickey’s mother however learned to sign shorty after finding out her son is deaf and taught him and his siblings how to sign also. “ Mikhailo, you need to get ready or you will be late to meet with Ian “ his mother signed reminding him that he was supposed to meet with Ian to go over their history homework. “ bye ma I’ll be back later” he replied once he packed up his book bag. This year is my senior year and then he was done with school unless i want to go to college or something. But most likely I’ll just become a mechanic or something along those lines. I start my walk to the dugouts where Ian and I hangout which won’t take long seeing as I live like five minutes tops from the field we played little league on.
From Mickey to Ian: hey I’m at the dugouts. Meet me here?

From Ian to Mickey: yea I’ll see you in a sec

Pocketing my phone I hop the fence and sit on the bench. Pulling out my history book, notebook, speaker, and phone I get to work. A bag is tossed onto the bench next to me gaining my attention. “ hey “ I sign looking up at Ian “ hey you ready to do this” he signed back. “ what kinda music should I put on?” I ask with a head tilt. Now I know what you’re thinking “he’s deaf he can’t listen to music”. Even though I can’t hear it I can still enjoy it by feeling the vibrations through the speaker.
“ just put on whatever you feel like I don’t really care” Ian signs with a slight smile. I decide to put on The Neighborhood only because Ian knows the songs so sometimes he’ll sign them to me so I can enjoy it that way too. And if I'm being honest it's because I really relate to the lyrics. Today is one of the days Ian signs but I don’t think Ian realizes he’s doing it. I wave my hand in front of his face to gain his attention. "Ian we need to do our homework so let's turn off the music for like twenty minutes until we finish." I sign while sorta mumbling not that it's eligible it's more like I'm mouthing the words as I sign. "how about we go to patsy's to study that way Fiona gives us pie and coffee." Ian signed knowing it's always hard for me to study at the dugouts. "okay but she better have strawberry or I'm getting a sandwich." I said knowing damn well Fi will have strawberry because no one likes it besides me. On the way to the diner Ian and I play a game that we made up when we were kids. Basically someone signs a word and the other has to sign three words back that start with the same letter. The game started when I was trying to teach Ian to sign we turned it into a game and it's just stuck. " hey Fi can we get our usual? " I sign oce I get her attention " sorry love we're out of strawberry pie " she said with a frown. " please tell me you're joking " Ian signed knowing that is the only kind of pie from here I will eat. " well I guess I'm getting a sandwich " I sign disappointed " who got it? " Ian asked with a frown. " A lady came in and bought fifteen of our pies five of them being the rest of our strawberry for the day " She sighs pulling me into a hug " it's okay Fi " I actually mumble because I know Fiona likes it when I mumble to her. " Mick your pronunciation is getting better " she signs with a huge smile on her face "thank you " I sign blushing. " alright what kind of sandwich and creamer do you want? " " can I get a burger and my peppermint creamer ". " of course love it'll be right out along with Ian's apple pie " she signs before turning to send the order back and grab the coffee, pie, and creamer. " I honestly forgot you keep your own creamer here " Ian laughed while signing. " really we come in like three times a week? " I question " yea but you know with midterms coming up my brain is scattered. " Ian signs sheepishly.
I leave it lie for ow while we find a table and set up our stuff. " here is your coffee, creamer, and Ian's pie " Fiona signs after she sets it o the table " thank you Fi " I reply using the sign we came up with for her name. " welcome, love " she signs before kissing us both on the head and walking away. " what should we do first? " I ask " algebra two " he signs quickly " why because you need my help " I sign with a small smile. He nods smiling back at me. A waitress I don't know brings over my sandwich without me noticing and when I don't say thank you she starts yelling " Trish what's wrong? " FIona asks " this asshole didn't say 'thank you' for his sandwich " 'Trish' huffs " Trish, Mickey is deaf so yelling at him will do no good and you have to get his attention before you try to talk to him or give him something! " Fiona tells her angrily. While all of this is going on Ian is signing it to me while trying not to laugh. " Ian can you interpret for me ? " I ask " yeah of course MIck " excuse me Mickey has something he'd like you to hear " Ian signs while talking " please tell her I'm sorry for not noticing she was giving me something I was focused on a math problem " I sign frustrated but not showing it. Ian copies what I sign while talking " love you have nothing to apologize for however Trish does " Fiona says before turning to Trish. " can you show me the sign for 'sorry' ? " she asks Fiona which she copies to me. " thank you " I sign back before turning back to Ian