“Stay here” he said. “I’ll calm him down. You wait for Roy and Jimmy.”

Tony drove up the road and spotted John near the house. John had ripped a large frond from a palm tree and was brandishing it in his right hand, using it as a shield to protect himself. Caught in Tony’s headlights, he threw his free hand up to cover his eyes. Even from a distance I could see that John looked like a trapped insane child. There was something so sad about seeing him that way, I couldn’t bear to look at him.

Tony got out of the car and slowly walked toward John. Although Tony was visibly shaken by the tortured look in John’s eyes, he walked straight up to him and said simply, “What’s the matter John?” John looked at Tony for a long moment, then collapsed into Tony’s arms and began to weep. Tony cradled John in his arms and rocked him back and forth. He stroked him and spoke soothingly to him. “Nobody loves me… nobody cares about me” John cried out in despair.

“We love you, we care about you” Tony kept repeating. John thrashed around in Tony’s arms, but Tony was strong enough to hold him still. No matter how violently John tossed and turned, Tony held on to him. Eventually John became calm enough to be led inside.