Charles Voyles

Take Off Your Helmet

An oversized space helmet sits atop a five-year-old boy’s head while his arms are folded across his chest. The boy’s legs dangle at the edge of a large lounge chair about a foot above the floor. Two adults sit on a loveseat a few feet facing the child. “I’m Mr. Wright, and this is my wife, Mrs. Wright. I was a friend of your father. Your father asked if something happened to him that we would be your guardians. You know something happened; you saw it. We will be your new parents.” The somber explanation to the boy does not move him. Benjamin sits there, hiding any emotion that he might have under that oversized space helmet.