This story is dedicated to Drksideofthemoon, a master storyteller who has had a positive influence on my life and writing.
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"What are you getting for Valentine's Day, Moondog??"
The strident tone of Eddie Kovich's voice cut across the cafteria tables like a sharp knife. His cronies, Frank Urbant and Marvin Koos grinned in phony admiration. Only Scott Thunem, a relative newcomer to the group of nineteen year olds was silent, staring helplessly at the Down Syndrome teenager sitting alone by a table right next to them.
"A kit in da ass!" Moondog's voice was a grating screech, akin to chalk being dragged down a chalkboard.
Frank and Marvin laughed so hard they almost knocked over their flimsy food trays, as Eddie deliberately knocked his chair into Moondog's. Her enormous breasts jiggled, and her hands were forced into her lasagna, splaying the serrated noodle sheets everywhere.
Scott looked away in horror. When his friends first started to tease Moondog, he had gone along completely, afraid he would be rejected by them. Now, he was getting tired of the constant bantering of the defenseless girl. Besides, he had just joined a study group in his Psych 101 class, and Moondog was in it. Scott was ashamed of his past reactions to the handicapped girl, and was determined to make it up to her.
"Enjoying the great cafeteria food, Moony baby?"
Eddie gave Moondog's chair another shove and her hands knocked a milk carton into her lap. She squealed in horror as the cold liquid trickled down her legs. Now, her face was covered with tomato sauce and her midsection was saturated with milk. Even through all the red goo on her face, Scott thought he saw tears falling. Pushing his chair in suddenly, he got up from the table, unable to take any more of his buddys' chinese water torture.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Eddie snarled at Scott in a mocking way.
"I...I have to get ready for my study group."
Scott knew that was lame, but he didn't care so much about what Eddie thought anymore. He walked away from the unpleasant scene as quickly as possible, vaguely aware of Marvin and Frank shaking their heads.
As Scott went up the three flights of stairs to his tiny dorm room, he couldn't stop thinking about Moondog. All he knew about her was that she had just turned 18 and was born with Down Syndrome. Scott knew very little about Down Syndrome, and was determined to find out more. Was Moondog just a "retard", as Eddie would say? How could she go to school and get passing grades if that were true? And how in the world did she get the name "Moondog"? What was her real name?
Scott picked up his psychology book and walked down the hall to the all purpose room to meet with his study group. As he walked through the wide entranceway, his eyes glanced at Moondog sitting on a pillow. She looked up at him pleadingly, as if to say "why didn't you help me?" Scott's cheeks burned as he sat down between two other girls, Jane Paulson and Mary Tutolo. He chose a location where he could look straight at Moondog. With all the distractions in the cafeteria, he had never looked closely at her features.
Moondog looked down at her psychology book as Scott took in her face. Her hair was stringy and dirty blond, and badly needed combing. Something was not quite right with her nose either, as it seemed to be flat and two dimensional. In addition, her mouth and eyes appeared too small for the rest of her face. Yet there was something about her that captivated Scott, a sincerity of expression that turned his brain into cookie dough and paralyzed logical thought.
As the study group got underway, Scott dutifully answered sample test questions in a mechanical voice, being far more interested in staring at Moondog. After a short period, she returned the stare, a marvelous innocent expression like the countenance of a young child. Almost imperceptibly, Moondog's hand went toward Scott's. Her fingers made small circles on his own, as she explored the ridges on his knuckles. Jane and Mary were busily drawing Maslow's Hierarchy of Human Needs as Scott and Moondog explored their own. No words were spoken as they held hands and smiled at each other like two lovers sharing a delightful secret. Time stood still, and in due time the study group session was over. Scott mumbled goodbyes to Jane and Mary, still holding Moondog's hand.
"See you tomorrow." Scott looked right into the handicapped girl's eyes.
"Fee vou tomvovow." Moondog often could not speak clearly, but Scott understood every word.
Scott walked down the hallway slowly, stealing brief glimpses of Moondog as she shuffled to her room in an adjoining corridor. He was determined to try to defend her the next time he was eating dinner, tired of his wimp image among his guy friends.
The next day was even more painful for Scott to endure. As he entered the sparcely filled cafeteria, he could not believe his eyes. Eddie and company were throwing small tacks, paper clips, and spitballs in Moondog's direction. Her dinner tray was covered with so much debris, she could no longer eat.
Scott sat down quickly next to Eddie, who chucked a small stapler at Moondog's cowering form. It bounced off her back, as she squealed in pain.
"What the hell are you doing?" Scott had a light voice but he tried to sound as menacing as possible.
"Don't worry, 'tards' don't feel pain...I read it a book somewhere." Eddie glowered at Scott in triumph.
"She's not a 'tard', she has Down Syndrome." Scott could feel the desperation in his voice.
Frank let out a whistle and hit the table with his fist. "Well, what have we got here, Albert Einstein?"
Marvin and Eddie almost fell off their seats in laughter. Scott was the smartest of the group, and they never let him forget it.
"Sorry, she's taken buddy boy, Mr. Down popped her cherry last week!"
Eddie looked at Scott for his reaction, but his friend was gone.
"Hey, where'd he go?" Eddie turned his head like a key in a lock.
"Dunno, mumbled something about having to study."
Frank grimaced in absolute disgust.
"All work and no play makes Scott a dull boy!"
Marvin guffawed as the boys continued to pummel Moondog with debris. She had been looking for Scott for help, but now he was nowhere in sight. Fortunately, a cafeteria worker noticed the hijinks and quickly put an end to the rain of projectiles. She escorted Moondog to the counter, where she gave her a new dinner serving. Eddie and his pals decided to go back to the dorm and take in a movie. They tripped Moondog as she went to a new seat, sending her water glass flying. As it crashed in a hundred pieces on the floor, the boys howled in laughter.
"Fuckin' 'tard'" Eddie grunted as he slammed the cafeteria door shut.
Scott ran to the library without looking back, furious at himself for not protecting Moondog. He had to find out more about Down Syndrome, to see what made Moondog act the way she did. The librarian steered Scott to a book on genetics, where he was surprised to find out Down Syndrome is also called Trisomy 21. One extra chromosome, usually from the mother causes all the havoc.
Scott's eyes watered as he read that the majority of Down Syndrome individuals have IQs of less than 70. So, Moondog was probably retarded after all! Tears welled forth as he perused the common complications of the condition...heart disease, hearing loss, speech irregularities, low tone, obesity, and gastric issues. Scott knew in his heart at that point Moondog would never have the finest quality of life. More determined than ever to protect her from further abuse, Scott vowed to sit with her the next day and try to strike up a conversation. He figured Eddie and the other boys would get upset, but that didn't matter at all anymore. Saving Moondog was paramount on his mind, and had become a complete obsession.
The next morning Scott felt much better. It was Valentine's Day, and he dressed in his lucky red heart boxer shorts, white polo shirt and burgundy khakis. Classes proceeded as usual, but as he walked up the long hill to the cafeteria, Scott had an uneasy feeling that something was very wrong. He increased his pace when he thought he heard Moondog screaming through the heavy glass doors. The building had just opened for dinner and he couldn't believe there could be a problem so soon.
As Scott entered the almost totally deserted array of neatly set long tables, he immediately noticed a commotion in the food line. Eddie and Frank were pushing Moondog back and forth between them like a large beach ball. She was attired entirely in red, right down to a corsage of several crimson roses. Her dinner tray had long since fallen, and food was strewn across her body as well as the floor. She howled as the boys roughly pinched her breasts, pushing her faster and faster with greater force. Suddenly, without warning, Eddie ripped off Moondog's corsage, causing roses to fly in all directions. She screamed in terror "My rovses!" and tried to retrieve them from the floor. Eddie took the thorny stem and entwined it in Moondog's hair. As he pulled harder and harder, the handicapped girl screamed in pain as her hair was yanked out by the roots.
Scott started running when he saw what was happening, screaming like a banshee the whole way.
"You're hurting her, you're hurting her!"
He grabbed Eddie by the shoulders and punched his nose so hard he went head over heels onto a large table. At the same time, Frank tried to lunge toward him, but Scott turned at the last minute and watched in glee as Frank careened into a row of dinner trays, wailing in pain as his back smashed into them with amazing force. The two cafeteria women screamed in horror as Eddie got up. His nose was bleeding profusely, and he had a large gash on his forehead.
"You're fuckin crazy!" Eddie tried to deck Scott with a knockout punch, but the enraged teenager pivoted him away toward the glass entrance door. He hit it with a resounding crash as the cafeteria women attempted to call the police on a cell phone. Scott quickly gathered Moondog up and escorted her to a study area off of the cafeteria.
