Page 104 of The Sign for Home

Durdona ran into the room.

“Calm yourself now!” she shouted, wagging her finger and overexaggerating her mouth movements. “Or else no dinner!”

Shri’s black eyes widened in a furious glare. Then, in one quick movement, she reached under her blanket and pulled out a semi-full, blue plastic bed pan and lobbed it, full force, at Durdona’s chest. Shit and piss flew everywhere, but mostly onto Durdona. Everyone went silent, except for Durdona, who, looking down at the brown and yellow mess covering her pastel pink suit and white blouse, gave out one long, rageful scream. Then, coldly and calmly, she pressed the button of her walkie-talkie and ordered the nurse to bring a sedative and to call the police.

“Tell them we have intruders, and we need a car here immediately.”

I told Arlo we had to leave right away, but he jerked himself away and walked right into a service aide who grabbed him around the waist. A second later I felt a different set of thick hands grab the back of my shirt and pants. Snap went wild, barking and baring her teeth. The orderlies swung both Arlo and me around, making us a barrier between them and Snap, and started pulling us down the hall. A third aide grabbed Snap’s harness and quickly thrust her out a side door. Arlo, now panicking without Snap, let his body go limp, so the aide started dragging him.

“Hey, go easy!” I screamed. “You’re looking at a lawsuit, buddy! That was his guide dog! Someone is going to get hurt!”

As we got to the main entrance, Arlo grabbed onto the doorframe, stopping himself from being pulled outside. The aide started yanking at Arlo’s fingers to make him let go, but Arlo was too strong to be moved.

“If this DeafBlind motherfucker doesn’t let go,” the service aide snarled, “I’m gonna break his damn fingers with my foot!”

Fearing for Arlo’s safety, I elbowed the aide who was dragging me, and then threw a punch at the guy who just threatened Arlo. Sadly, I only grazed his shoulder, but it was enough to set both of them against me.Before I knew it, I was outside, and a moment after that they yanked Arlo out by his collar, swinging and screaming. When the aide released his grip, Arlo lost his balance and fell onto the pavement, ripping his shirt and khakis and opening a wound on his leg that gushed blood. I ran over to help him up, just as Snap ran around the side of the building. When I looked back at the doorway, Durdona was snapping our photo with her cell phone camera. My hands trembled into Arlo’s.

“We have to get out of here, now!”

51AFTERMATH

When we were within half a block of the car, I saw Molly leaning against it but no sign of Hanne anywhere.

“No, no, no!” Molly cried upon seeing Arlo’s roughed-up appearance. “Why are his clothes ripped? And his leg is bleeding—is he in pain?”

“Where’s Hanne?” I asked.

“I don’t know. She said she was going for a walk.”

“Great,” I said, cutting Molly off angrily. “I told Hanne to wait here! This is not what I need right now. The nursing home was a disaster. We need to get out of here.”

I tapped Arlo to explain what was happening, but he pushed my hands away and said he didn’t want to listen. He looked a mile deep inside his head, and I assumed he was just ruminating over what had happened. I quickly texted Hanne, telling her to get back so we could leave. Then I recounted the whole mess to Molly.

“And now who knows if he’ll ever be allowed to visit her again,” I said.

“So what happened with Shri?” she asked, pointing at the part I had left out.

“Oh, right. Sorry. Better than I expected. At first, anyway. I mean, they talked together for a long time. But then I don’t know what happened. Whatever she said made Arlo lose it.”

Arlo, emerging from his thoughts, waved for me and asked to speak in private.

“Without Molly,” he emphasized.

“I’m sorry,” I said to her.

“It’s okay,” she replied, with a hurt but understanding smile. “I’ll take a walk around the block.”

As soon as I let Arlo know we were alone, he began screaming at me.

“You lie! You lie so much!”

“What are you talking about?” I signed, trying to remain calm though I wanted to scream back. “I just helped you visit Shri like I said I would. If anyone should be angry, I should. You messed that up big-time. You may not get another chance to visit Shri for a long time.”

Arlo lowered his head, thinking. He appeared to accept what I had just said, and I figured he was going to apologize for blowing up. But then out of nowhere he declared, “We must rescue Shri!”

SignRESCUE(same as the sign forSAVEandFREEDOM): Two fists held together, crossed, as in shackles, then they twist outward as if the chains are broken.

“You are not serious,” I signed.

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