I couldn't sleep again tonight, so I thought I'd write about Tess. I met him the first day of grade 3. After my dad died, I started sucking my thumb again because I found it comforting. The other boys at school found this hilarious, and bullied me mercilessly. The kids at school hated me because of my quick wit and my brutal honesty. Did I mention that I have asperger syndrome? I wasn't diagnosed until college, but if you know what it is, you'll know that I have it within minutes of talking to me. Anyway, the other boys were bullying me about sucking my thumb, when Tess showed up and told them to back off.
"Or what?" The ring leader challenged Tess.
"Or you'll have me to deal with." Tess replied, jabbing his thumb towards his chest. The boy laughed.
"You've got to be- OOF!" The boy was cut off by Tess knocking him down. Tess looked at the other boys, daring them to continue. The boys ran off, and Tess helped me up from where I was curled up in a ball.
"You alright?" Tess asked me. I shrugged.
"Yeah, I'll be fine, thanks for helping me. So, what's your story?" I asked.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"You pushed that kid down for me, there must be a story behind it." I explained. Tess shrugged.
"I don't like bullies." Tess answered.
"Oh," I replied, and a silence follows. Tess breaks it.
"So, since you asked me a question, do I get to ask you a question?" Tess asked.
"That seems fair." I replied.
"Why do you suck your thumb?" Tess asked, and I thought about it before replying.
"Well, I hadn't done it for quite a while before my dad died, but I think it's because it comforts me." I answered. Tess scrunched his eyebrows.
"When did your dad die?" Tess asked.
"Last month." I told him. Tess seemed to be thinking about it, when he decided to tell me something.
"After my mum left I was afraid of the dark for a while." Tess told me.
"Why?" I realize now that this could be misconstrued as rather rude, but Tess didn't seem to mind.
"I guess I thought that as long as the lights were on, nothing else would disappear without my being prepared for it." Tess explained. For the first time in my life, I voluntarily hugged someone. Tess got a look on his face that I now- did, know well, the one he gets when he's got an idea that he thinks is brilliant. "Hey, we should be best friends."
"What?" I asked, dumbfounded.
"What do you say?" Tess asked, sticking out his hand for me to shake. I shook it.
"Best friends." I agreed.
We had lunch together every day for the rest of that year. He told me about his dad and Marie, and how he wanted to be an inventor when he grew up, and I told him about my dad and my brother Sam, and how I wanted to be a veterinarian when I grew up (I was very into animals at the time). I had my first sleepover at my house that summer. It was great, until I had a meltdown because he moved a fork in the silverware drawer (it was the asperger's talking) but Tess understood. He was the first person to understand how important the organization of the silverware drawer was to me (besides dad and Sam), my mum argued with me every time I freaked out at her about it. We went through everything together, a wedding, death, girlfriends, another wedding, apregnancy, a break up, another pregnancy, and everything in between. I can't believe it's over. I don't think I've fully processed it yet. Well, I suppose that's enough for tonight. Goodnight.
YOU ARE READING
The Five Stages of Grieving: A Journal by Daniel Jacob Feldman
General Fiction"I didn't sleep at all last night. Why? Today has been the worst day of my life. Today... My best friend, Tesla Jefferson Lewis... died." Join me on a journey into the mind of Daniel J. Feldman, a British grief counselor who has just lost his lifelo...
