Unknown Friendship

Chapter 6: Issues

Katie Gardner's POV

Percy has now lived in my house for a couple of months; it was early November. During the time he spent living with me and my daddy, I've learned some very interesting things about Percy.

1. Percy does not cry—at all. Some kid called him stupid and pushed him off the swing set, breaking a bone in his hand, and Percy didn't even wince. There were no tears whatsoever.

2. Percy did not like giving out information about himself. Every time some person asked what his name was, he would answer with a name that wasn't his, like Michael, Steve, Malcolm, or even Muhammad once. He wouldn't even tell people what color his eyes were!

3. Percy had no fear. I would watch with amazement as he would fearlessly jump out of the truck every time my daddy mentioned an adoption center or whatnot. Then Percy would hike up the road to some unknown destination. He would walk off and enter the real world, which I was always told was bad, with no thought process of bad things that could happen to him. I actually had a hard time telling if it was because he didn't care or if he really was fearless sometimes.

4. Percy really was a child prodigy. He would easily answer any math question—such as 123,456 divided by 3 equals 41,152—in seconds, and he would sprout random facts and quotes from books. He was learning the piano and the guitar even though he was blind, and spent the first years if his life drawing magnificent pictures.

5. Percy loved his mommy. Everyone guessed that he had run away, maybe because he had no parents, but no—he had a loving mother who was probably worried sick for his safety. Percy would talk about how great she was for hours on end.

6. Percy had imaginary friends. He called them "shadow friends," but it was all the same to me. Though he would argue otherwise: "Imaginary friends are people you admire. Shadow friends are just annoying and are going to get me sent to jail." He would talk to them aimlessly while in the garden and save seats for them at dinner. Each one had a name and special personality.

7. Percy was crazy. My grandfather had said so. He had a degree in child phycology, and was persistent on getting through to everyone that Percy was insane. Not that he would send Percy off or anything. At least, I hoped not. I liked Percy; he was a nice friend once you got to know him.

These facts were swirling in my head as I followed Percy, under Grandpa's orders, in the garden. He was whispering and smiling to a person who didn't exist. I checked my small garden as he blindly went in a circle, waving his arms for emphasis as he started talking to Penny, who wasn't real. "No, no, no! No throwing pies at people's faces!" he whisper shouted. "And no, I won't do it for you either!"

Truthfully, I didn't understand the whole "madness" thing. Daddy said I was too young, and that I would understand when I got older.

Too bad for him; I didn't want to wait.

"Percy? Percy?" I went up behind him and latched my hand onto his wrist.

He turned, not surprised at all. "Yes, Butterfly?"

There were two more things for the list:

8. Percy could not be surprised. Even though he could not see a thing, it was like he could, because he could tell you when a phone was about to ring or if someone was heading our way.

9. Percy liked to give people nicknames, just to annoy them. Mine was 'Butterfly,' and Grandpa's was 'Pops.' I got mine after I started chasing a butterfly around the garden, and then began describing it like it was the best thing in the world when Percy asked; Grandpa got his because Percy thought "Grandpa" or "Grandfather" were old, boring, and over used. My daddy was still waiting anxiously for his.