[Akihiko] The cops brought in a retarded guy that we knew from school. He had a crush on me.
[Blast Ant] Yeah, me too. He had a thing for Asians…
[Akihiko] Yeah…
He’s homeless now. His mom moved and she didn’t take the guy with her. They [the cops] just brought him in not because he has any psychiatric problems, but so he could see a social worker in the morning. He brought with him a black “dreaming candle”, which you light so you can have good dreams. “You guys haven’t heard of a dreaming candle before?” A friend of his left him his entire collection after he died. He’s got a big bottle of water with him… Cops filled it up for him…
[Blast Ant] That was nice of them.
[Akihiko] Don’t get too used to it, Ant.
Plaid shirt and two pairs of shorts on.
“I haven’t talked this much in a long time before.”
“Yeah, you’re talkative tonight.”
“Yeah because I got nothing else to do that time.”
Dr R’s not happy. “Why aren’t homeless shelters open 24/7? We’re not a provider of housing. Or mental health services, drug addiction programs—the way we’re structured to just take in everything, from the homeless to addicts—it’s just insane.”
[Akihiko] He kept looking at me. Maybe he recognizes me from school. Even though I’ve grown my hair out…
[Blast Ant] No, you had long hair back then, too.
[Akihiko] Yeah but like. It was fugly.
Anyway, where the fuck is this guy’s mom? Not only is he retarded but he’s autistic too. Can’t imagine having to sleep rough with sensory processing disorders like that. If you didn’t wanna fucking have a retarded kid then you should’ve just given him up to the family courts or something. I’unnno. Call CPS.
[Nova] Did he seem happy before?
[Akihiko] As a retarded kid? I dunno. We talked Yu-Gi-Oh. Uh, he gave me Go-gurt…
[Blast Ant] He gave me Go-gurt too!
[Akihiko] I’m guessing his mom thought it was fine, but man, y’know these people grow up, right? You’re basically gonna have to parent them until they or YOU die. If you can’t raise a retarded kid or an autistic kid or a blind or deaf or blind and deaf kid then don’t fucking have kids. God dammit. And of course he lost his job during the fucking pandemic, everyone’s being laid off, what the fuck is this guy gonna do now? I doubt he can type up a résumé.
[Ansel] He’s homeless and the libraries are closed. Even if he knows how to use a word processor, I doubt he can type one.
[Akihiko] Shit, you’re right. Now I just can’t help but see the guy homeless, shivering, overstimulated, and choking to death on COVID on the streets. Damn, man. That could’ve been me.
[Blast Ant] That could’ve been me.
[Ansel] You know. The cops were nice to this guy, but they weren’t nice to you. Nuh-uh-uh don’t you start with that detective. Anyway, what gives? Do you need to act more cognitively disabled, Ant?
[Blast Ant] Oh, yeah. They didn’t come at him with guns or anything. How strange—
[Iseul] Is it because he’s white
[Ansel] Oh.
[Akihiko] Oh.
[Julia Verne] Oh my god.