Suzie’s House 409 : Walter’s Funny Stuff

Drew was deeply absorbed in his own thoughts as he, Walter, Bruce, Tracy, and Emma walked to Emma’s house. Misgivings dogged his every step.

He should just take Walter home, no matter how the man might protest. He could drag everyone back to Suzie’s house, despite how tense her talks with the lawyer made the atmosphere. They could even adjourn to a restaurant, despite the risk that he or Walter could go off the deep end at any minute. Really, they weren’t so desperate that they had to go to the home of a kid they barely knew.

Except that these kids had written a song about him. Drew wanted to know what was up with that. No matter how much the thought made him flinch, he still wanted to know.

Emma fumbled at the door. She wore a mask that bobbed and slipped, making it hard to see key or keyhole. Once she got the door unlocked, it slipped from her fingers and banged against the wall.

The first indication Drew saw that something was off with Walter was the jolt-and-freeze routine. His eyes turned distant. Drew wasn’t entirely sure he was breathing.

“Everyone down!” Walter dropped to the floor inside the house as he yelled.

The kids all looked at each other in confusion. Walter scrambled into the house in a commando crawl. He was pretty spry for an old man, but still looked absurd going under the coffee table and around the couch.

He reached the door to the kitchen and got to his feet with amazing speed. He put his back to the door frame and craned his head around to look into the dark, empty room. His hands seemed to be holding an invisible rifle.

“Come on! Back me up.” He barely glanced at them.

Giggling, Tracy and Bruce rushed into the living room. They took up positions on either side of the door, holding imaginary rifles.

“Wait. You aren’t in my platoon.” Walter stared at one, then the other in confusion.

“Sure we are,” Bruce said with a grin threatening to come out from cover.

“What about her?” Walter pointed at Emma. He stalked across the room to her, and stared her in the mask. “You aren’t a gook, are you?”

“W..w-what’s a gook?” Emma leaned back from him. She sounded a touch alarmed.

Walter lifted on edge of the mask. Satisfied she wasn’t an enemy, he turned his attention to Drew. He got up close. Too close for comfort.

“Walter, the war has been over for a very long time now.” Drew tried to sound reasonable, but probably just came off as tired.

“Over?! It’ll never be over. This d@mn war just goes on, and…” As he spoke, Walter turned in a tight circle. He looked around at the prosaic living room with its overstuffed couch, oval coffee table, and tan carpeting.

A crease of confusion deepened the wrinkles in his forehead. He got very, very quiet. Drew wasn’t sure if he was coming back to the present or just digging a mental fox hole in which to hide.

In a way, that silence felt more frantic than all his antics to that point. Tracy and Bruce left the kitchen door and returned to stand in a circle with the rest.

“What’s going on?” Tracy asked.

“He has Alzheimer’s. I guess this is what one of his episodes looks like.” Though he answered Tracy’s question, he kept his eyes on Walter.

“You’ve never seen one before?” Bruce asked.

“I haven’t know him very long yet. This is the first I’ve ever seen; but I was told about them. Walter? Hey, Walt…” Drew reached tentatively toward the Viet Nam Vet and prayed he didn’t get his hand chopped off.

“I’m all right.” Walter waved him off. “Embarrassed, but I guess that’s the worst of it.”

“If only you’d kept going a little further,” Bruce said with an off-kilter smile. “I was looking forward to checking out Emma’s bedroom.”

“Yeah. That was fun.” Tracy beamed. “Next time, keep going.”

Walter groaned and shook his head, but he also smiled a little. Drew relaxed. He should have known these kids would be fine with it.

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