A quick word about Willis, LMNO

[Richter]

Gary never knew when to leave well enough alone, especially when it came to his older brother.  Maybe that's just how brothers are, sometimes.  It certainly could explain it, but the way it went down, and what happened afterwards, we all could never really excuse OR blame Gary or Willis.  Maybe we should have seen it all coming.

No matter who else is in your family, the eldest brother is often like the front bumper of life.  Some things you just have to learn by default, and they're often the ones to do it.  Like Willis's little stint with the "Tarantulas".  Now to be fair they weren't much of a street gang.  They'd get shit just for trying to buy a dime bag, and were walking on eggshells with the rest of Harlem whenever they tagged anything.  They were never quite annoying enough to get put down though.  Not that the bottom of the pond had much in the way of surface tension, but they never got around to breaking it.  God knows they were never big enough to make waves, and never dropped 187 on anything more serious than a stack of waffles.

When Willis had to see the Judge about his escapades with them though, it had an effect.  His time in jail before that left one too.  You wouldn't see it all the time, but now and them he'd just stare, and mutter.  Never know what it was about.  Maybe he was just FINE in that jail cell, and it stemmed back to his brief stint in temporary state residences before Mr. Drummond could get the adoption finalized.  Whichever did it, you could say he was a good, happy kid at heart, but he was never totally ALL RIGHT. 

Oh yeah, there was his time in the military too.  Said he wanted to take after his uncle.  His uncle the Green Beret in Vietnam.  His uncle who he worshipped like a hero, never mind the times he slipped snakes under his pillow while muttering in Vietnamese, or barged into the bathroom with a knife only wearing war paint.  His uncle was the reason Willis joined the military.  His uncle, indirectly, was why he got that oddball posting on the Balkan islands when all that shit happened.  (Fuckign Reagan)  Willis didn't come back the same.

On the day it all happened, Gary was hanging around like always.  Just being himself, you know?  Which is to say he was being affable with a double side order of "little shithead".  He was talking to Willis, and Willis started to have one of his moments.  Gary didn't clue in, and kept asking him.  Over and over.  Then there was the little R+B "Whaaaaaaaatchuuuuuuu Talllkin' 'bout.....Willis?" number. 

However it happened, it was too much.  Willis spun around, and threw a hand out, pinned Gary to the wall he'd been staring at.  A look in his eyes like a wild animal, Willis leaned in, close.  Got right up to Gary's ear.  As Gary stood there, petrified, Willis told him EXACTLY what he had been "talkin' 'bout".

Exactly when Gary died, or of what, is still open to debate.  We found Willis there, still talking, low and frantic to the corpse he was basically holding up. The smell clued us that he wasn't OK, he'd let go in his pants, but Willis didn't seem to notice. When we finally talked him into letting his gnarled fingers out of Gary's shoulder, he stopped talking.  He hasn't spoken since. 

We called a hospital, but we all knew it was too late.  When they both were taken off, that was the only time I've ever seen Mr. D cry.  Gary's death certificate said a lot of different things, in the end, but it was fright, plain and simple.

Willis is still alive, if you want to call it that.  Persistent catatonia, they say.  Not from any disorder they can pin down, though.  Once he finally said whatever he said to Gary, it left him.  He was emptied, hollowed, done.  Whatever it was, it was too much for the life of Gary Coleman 

One thing though, if you ever go to see him, on the ward it's always "Client 583".  Never go on the unit asking for Willis.   

[LMNO]

Nicely done!

[Richter]

Thanks, I still feel like it rang in a bit prosaic though. 

If anyone else is up for a stab at "What Willis was Talkin' 'Bout", have at!

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Thanks, I still feel like it rang in a bit prosaic though. 

If anyone else is up for a stab at "What Willis was Talkin' 'Bout", have at!

Will do.

I liked this one, though.

[East Coast Hustle]

[Dysfunctional Cunt]

Very nice!!

[Eve Hill]

Really like that one!