EGO

OLLIE

"DEVIN!!!" Monique yelled at her son, trying to wake him up.

His 12 year old body laid limp in her arms, his chest not moving. She laid him back down flat on his back, then continued breathing into his mouth while holding his nose. She pressed frantically on his chest.

"Please baby, breathe!! Breathe, Devin, please!!" She continued blowing air into his mouth.

"Aunt Moni, I'm so sorry. We were playing around, and he fell in. I didn't know he couldn't swim. I got him out as fast as I could." Jania, Monique's 13 year old niece said, soaked and shaking with tears falling from her eyes.

"I called 911, they're sending an ambulance now," Trent, who is Devin's father, told her with the phone still pressed to his ear.

Monique knew Devin could swim. She got him lessons when he was five years old and continued until he was ten.

He swam perfectly fine a week ago......what happened? She thought herself.

"God, please.....please don't take my baby," she cried as she continued blowing air into his mouth.

Suddenly, water shot in her face as a gasp of air came from Devin's mouth. His hazel eyes stared into her hazel eyes, his jet black, neatly twisted locs laid spread out on the brick paved side of the underground pool.

"Devin?! Devin! Trent, he's breathing! Thank you, Jesus! He's breathing!" She screamed with joy, hugging her little brown baby boy tight.

After that incident, Devin continued being the same intelligent, active, lovable kid he was known to always be. But a month later, on his 13th birthday, things began to change for him. It was like a switch that was clicked on.....he heard him.....the voice inside his head. He sounded just like him, as clear as day. It was so clear he thought others could hear the voice too.

His parents knew they could no longer use the excuse of him having an imaginary friend, especially once he would enter high school. So Devin began regularly seeing a child psychologist and being prescribed to medication.

The voice stopped, but the side effects made him feel horrible. He didn't want to play outside, ride his bike, play video games, or play piano, which was his favorite. So one day, he decided that he would stop taking the medication and pretend not to hear the voice going inside his head.

Of course, that was easier said than done.

***

It's been three months since Ollie's come into the picture. He's really been a comforting friend to Devin and kept his nightmare's away.

No more waking up in the middle of the night in terror, gasping for air as if it was his last. The same nightmare Devin had felt so real he hated going to sleep. Ollie had stopped all of that, no more anxiety, depression or night terrors. Now, the only thing Devin had to worry about was Jackson.....his neighborhood tormentor.

Jackson Whitfield seemed to take a sudden interest in making Devin's life miserable. Taking shortcuts and side streets to avoid confrontation gave some relief to his journey back and forth to school. It only lasted but so long until Devin had no choice but to face the devil's spawn.....that's how Devin saw Jackson, a monster.

First, it was the name calling until Jackson ran out of gay slurs to call Devin. Next, it was the distant contact, throwing things at Devin to get his attention. And Jackson wasn't picky at the items he used or how he used them. Then finally, close contact....the pushing, kicking, and punching.

Jackson would never bully him in front of anyone. He had an image to keep up. Nor would he hit Devin in the face, always body shots. Devin's dark skin hid the bruises pretty well. He wished it hid the ache, too. Oh, how he wanted to fight back but didn't know how, and there was no way he was telling his parents.