Dunc staggered out of the car, and Amanda joined him. She wasn’t sure how he was going to react. But Dunc wasn’t shaking or doing anything more than staring at the scene before him. The western town display that had been burnt to the ground had been rebuilt later that day. If it weren’t for the scorch marks on the ground here and there, it would have looked like nothing had happened. The Halloween decorations had exploded around his house and infected Amanda’s too.
Amanda could see the gates to Dunc’s backyard, and her own was open. The smell of grilling hamburgers and hot dogs filled the air. She assumed Sallie and Dew were somewhere in the mass of people. People began waving at Dunc and walking by, wishing him a happy birthday and leaving. They were dispersing.
Soon their numbers were down to a more comfortable level. Dunc stood there, staring in astonishment for a good fifteen minutes. Amanda got the impression that all the people who were here knew better than to crowd Dunc. They seemed to all want to see how he was reacting and then left with smiles on their faces. She got that weird feeling again that something was off about her perception of Dunc. She was missing something.
“I can’t believe they did this,” Dunc whispered, still looking up and down his yard. It was full of kids running in and out of the houses, laughing, playing, and enjoying dinner. “I don’t understand why they would.”
“It’s your birthday?” Amanda grinned, taking his arm. “Come on, let’s go inside. I haven’t seen your mother or friends or my sister and Dew.”
“Oh, no. Huh, let’s go to the backyard instead. I’m hungry. How about you?” Dunc had the sneaky suspicion if he went inside, someone was going to jump out and yell ‘Happy Birthday!’. That was the last thing he wanted.
Dunc’s friends and mother anticipated that Dunc would try to avoid going straight into his home. They were waiting for him, and the moment he came into sight, everyone shouted, “Happy Birthday.” Dunc staggered back and almost crashed into Amanda.
“Get out of my backyard!” He shouted in response. He glanced at Amanda, his face a mixture of confusion and embarrassment. Then he stormed up the back steps, ran across his deck and into his house, slamming the door behind him.
There was the sound of stomping feet echoing through the house. Then another group of people shouted, “Happy birthday!”
“Get out of my house!” Dunc yelled, followed by more stomping and another door slamming.
“Huh, is he all right?” Amanda winced as his mother approached her.
“Oh, he’s fine. He’ll come down in a little bit and be okay as long as nobody says Happy Birthday to him again.” Dunc’s mother grinned, thoroughly amused by what she had done. “We should go and have a little talk. Hungry? We can talk while you eat.”
Amanda glanced at the house, sighed, then smiled. She had spent the day keeping Dunc in check and stable. He didn’t need her to babysit him, and she wanted one of the burgers she could smell cooking. She also needed to talk to Dunc’s mother about his panic attacks.
***
Dunc took a deep breath as he settled onto his bed in the dark. He needed a few minutes to recover and be alone in his room. He had begun shaking and immediately started doing the things Amanda had taught him to do. He took a long slow breath and closed his eyes, thinking about her. She had been very patient with him and his stupid antics. He was going to have to make up for how he had behaved.
***
“So maybe don’t do something like this again,” Amanda suggested to Dunc’s smiling mother.
“He gets over it. It’s all fine.”
Amanda stared at her. She wasn’t getting it. Maybe it was her generation? Amanda sighed.
“You did a good job keeping Duncan away. I hope he wasn’t too troublesome.”
“No. He wasn’t.” Amanda took a bite of her burger and munched on a few chips thoughtfully.
“Mother.” Dunc stood behind Amanda and growled at his mother.
“Evening, Duncan. Why don’t you get something to eat? I even baked you your favorite cake.”
“Is anybody singing?” Dunc glanced around with a look of panic on his face.
“No. We’re done. Don’t worry about it, Dunc.” His mother chuckled. Dunc sighed in response and went off to prepare himself a plate.
“Amanda, you two should get married.” Dunc’s mother leaned in and whispered. She didn’t want Dunc catching her suggesting this. “As soon as possible.”
Amanda squirmed and blushed. She glanced at Dunc, who was piling a couple of hot links onto a hamburger that already had two patties on it. “We’re not. We’re uh. . .” She scrunched up her face. She still wasn’t sure what they were or what she wanted.
“He loves you,” Hannah stated with a smile. “Can’t you tell? Why wait when it’s certain?” Amanda sighed and took another bite of her burger, thinking about what she was saying. She was Dunc’s mother. She knew him better than anyone. “He loved you the moment he met you. That’s why he’s so shy around you.”
Amanda looked up again to see Dunc laughing about something with Bill. His mood seemed to have improved. He didn’t seem to have any problems talking to his friends. Or anyone else, for that matter. She thought back to the weird occurrences where Dunc outright ordered people around. They listened and did what he told them to. So odd.
“I don’t know.” Amanda finally stated.
“What’s there to know? He loves you. You love him. I can see it in your eyes and the way you look at him.”
