Colored Floodlights

After serving three tours in Afghanistan, Roy Calhoun, whose mind now often works on a sixth-grade level, comes home to Jacksonville, Florida to try and live a normal life, which is difficult to do with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He is fortunate enough to be introduced to a psychologist named Parker Boyce, who not only treats him with therapy but befriends him as well. Parker grew up in California but has recently moved to Florida with money he inherited when his wealthy father died. He takes Roy into his upscale home in an affluent neighborhood of the 1% and treats him like he is a part of the family, even hiring him as caretaker and helping him start classes at the local community college. Parker’s wife has a younger sister, Roberta, who lives in California with their mother, a waitress and a recovering alcoholic. Roberta comes to visit Parker and his wife and a romance begins to develop between Roberta and Roy. She convinces him to attend some of the Occupy Wall Street 99er protests that are going on in major cities all over the country. With help from his Xanax prescription, Roy attends rallies with Roberta in Atlanta, Washington DC, and finally in Jacksonville, although he never really seems to understand the 1% vs. 99% confrontations that take place at these events. He spends very little of his time experiencing Afghanistan flashbacks and is able to function well with therapy and meds, until a moment comes one day when he loses control and shows a side of himself he has tried to keep hidden from everyone else.