Invisible

The playground was full of kids, probably 20 kids until we heard of the fight.  I didn’t know if anyone stayed behind because I was in a rush to get to the fight, which was about half a block away.  After the fight was over, we went home and heard that Shawn Simms was missing and no one knew where he was.  Shawn was 8 years old and was in my second grade class.  I am one of the Smith brothers and we always enjoyed the tale of Shawn Simms.  I told my brother Doug, “I know that he was at the playground with us but I am not sure if he followed us to the fight. 

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     Shawn was an only child with a mother that spent little to no time with him. The only thing that Shawn’s mother had time for was beating the tar out of Shawn.  She would occasionally bring home another drunk, usually a male, and they would go up to her bedroom and spend the rest of the evening in that room. This was great for Shawn because then he was left alone to watch television or to read a book without any torture.  Shawn’s mother was on welfare and didn’t work, so she had plenty of time to yell at or beat Shawn for doing nothing but being a little boy.  His mother, I’m sure, wished that she didn’t have a child to cramp her style, but she did, and she let him know how much she hated him every day.  She would say, “Shawn, do you know how much easier my life would be without you hanging around me all the time.  I wish that you would die, you little pain in the ass.”  Shawn didn’t have a chance to live the life of a normal little boy. 

***

Aaron and Shawn would talk for hours each day in the sandbox but never really associated with other kids playing at the playground except to play tag every once in a while.  Shawn told Aaron, “My mother beat me up pretty badly today and I ran to Vernie’s for help.  She helped me but she told my mom that she was going to call the police on her.  I am really going to get beat now.” 

***

  On July the second, Shawn woke up at 7:30, got himself some cereal, and looked around the house to see if he could clean anything before reading some of his new book. He read until 10:30,  then went to the playground to play or look for Aaron.  He was very happy to get out of the house before his mother woke up, and he knew that she would never come check on him.  Upon his arrival, he saw Aaron playing in the sandbox. Shawn had thought hard about the situation that he and Aaron had discussed yesterday and he wanted to tell his friend more about it.  Shawn sat down in the sandbox and began explaining how they could pull this running away thing off.  Of course, Aaron had no real interest in how to do it; he just wanted out of the Boy’s Home.