MOMENT OF TRUTH

1.

The dawn was cold and dark. Bingham sat up and blinked in fear as Ryan crossed to where Bingham’s bed sat. Bing had the feeling that there was something wrong, but was too frightened to ask. Ryan never came into the room until it was time for Bing to get up for the day, but now, it was only four in the morning and there was still two more hours before he was supposed to rise for the day. He came in and peered down at Bing, then, he was gone.

Ryan was Bing’s older brother and the one who’d been an adult when their parents had died. When the court had decided, after their parents’ deaths, to place Bing in Ryan’s care, Bing had been overjoyed. Though he mourned the passing of their parents, Bing still knew that he had one person who’d care for him. Ryan, Bing thought, was always going to be there for him. Fate couldn’t be so cruel as to take him away too.

Bingham had been born with a mental handicap and could not function as fully as other “normal” people. He was slower to learn, slower to adjust to changes, and more reluctant to show how he really felt. He seemed incapable, at times, to show emotional pain and sorrow. Most didn’t understand him.

It wasn’t that he was unable to do, it was more that he had trouble assimilating and processing information. He wasn’t autistic. Nor was he truly retarded-as most would consider him. He just didn’t have the mental capacity that most people had.

After their parents died, Ryan set about teaching Bing the basic skills needed to make it on his own in life…should the unexpected happen and he, Ryan, should follow their parents in premature death. Always be prepared, that’s what he believed. And Bing had to be prepared for anything. So, Ryan began teaching him, starting with reading and writing.

He followed this with teaching Bing how to properly dress himself. Then, it was how to feed himself properly, how to cook, how to decide what to have as a healthy meal, the etiquette needed to be a part of normal society, and how to bathe properly. Beyond this, he started Bing on a regiment of menial jobs to help him learn how to care for his home. Bing took to writing right away. It was a new method of communication and expression that he delighted in. He sat up for hours at night, when others were in bed, writing in his journal.