Speechless – R-U-N– RUNAWAY

By: Taylor Gates

Kenneth (Cedric Yarbrough) asks JJ (Micah Fowler) what’s going on—it’s not often JJ shows up at his house alone at night. He struggles carrying both JJ and his wheelchair up the stairs in order to talk. JJ wants to live with Kenneth, as he overheard his family deciding his future without him there. Kenneth says that although he loves JJ, he can’t let him run away. Before he leaves, JJ sees an old picture of Kenneth in a basketball uniform with a mohawk, but Kenneth is embarrassed by it.

Meanwhile at the DiMeo home, Jimmy (John Ross Bowie) and Maya (Minnie Driver) are finishing up their conversation with Dylan (Kyla Kenedy) and Ray (Mason Cook) about JJ’s future care. Kenneth calls Maya, telling her about JJ overhearing them. He tells Maya to hear JJ out and not do anything weird. When Maya leaves, Jimmy panics and takes Dylan and Ray to a steakhouse in order to stop talking about the issue.

When Kenneth drops JJ off at home, Maya starts out by saying that everything they said was out of love but that it was wrong for them to talk about JJ without him there. The family is going to prove how bad they feel by eating an extremely spicy pepper, but JJ tells them not to. JJ expresses how angry he is, not only at his family, but also Kenneth for driving him home. Maya and Jimmy get mad at this, too, saying that JJ should have the right to way just like every other kid. Maya packs JJ’s suitcase and inquires why he’s running away. JJ wants to see what he can do on his own, but Maya doesn’t understand why she can’t do everything for him. They reach a compromise: JJ will let Maya accompany him while running away if he gets to choose exactly where he goes.

Ray thinks Jimmy’s steakhouse diversion was strange, telling Dylan that emotional talks short-circuit his brain. The two think they can manipulate Jimmy by playing on this. Dylan manages to get Jimmy’s credit card and permission to drink soda, sleep on the roof and curse by saying she has a lot of feelings she wants to talk about.

JJ tells the whole family about Kenneth’s past as a flamboyant basketball star. This excites Dylan, as she finally has another winner she can talk to. Kenneth admits to Dylan that he regrets every second of his basketball career. He became greedy and full of himself, getting dropped from the team after he got caught taking gifts from the boosters. Ray agrees to keep milking Jimmy while Dylan takes a hiatus to fix up Kenneth. However, Ray asks for a robe, which throws Jimmy off and causes Dylan to make fun of him.

JJ tells Maya to drop him off at a casino. Maya even lies to the security guard who questions JJ about his age saying he is her 36-year-old husband. JJ gambles a bit before telling Maya he wants to go to a strip club. Maya tries to be casual and go along with it, but she can’t bring herself to do it. She begs him to come home with her, leading him to challenge her to name one person like him who can exist without someone helping them all the time. Maya can’t and reluctantly leaves him alone to try and survive on his own.

Dylan dribbles a basketball on an empty court. She texts Kenneth about having an asthma attack and suffering a dog bit to lure him there. She shoots baskets and trash talks Kenneth, but he won’t take the bait. Kenneth is adamant he’s happier with his new life until Dylan finds his Achille’s heel: the Corvette he had to sell. He admits he drives past it every morning though he sold the car twenty years ago and the two set off to take it back.

The red Corvette is now dirty, but Kenneth can still envision how it looked when he owned it in its glory days. He uses his old key and he and Dylan drive it through the car wash. Kenneth starts trash talking Dylan, as the old car makes him want to. Dylan is impressed with his creative and savage insults.

Ray apologizes to Jimmy for using him, but Jimmy doesn’t even mind. He wants to help with a problem as small as acquiring a robe. He buys them each one and promises they can always put them on and get real if Ray wants to talk about his feelings. Even though Ray thinks it might go without saying, he tells Jimmy he’s always willing to help with whatever JJ wants or needs.

Maya is sitting in the van when she sees Lee (Zach Anner), a man in a wheelchair, drive away with his pretty girlfriend (Brigitte Valdez). She gets excited and desperately tries to track him down, following them in her car while leaving JJ alone at the casino. She parks next to them, accidentally freaking them out by being so eager and forward. Lee’s hand spasms while trying to shake Maya’s hand and he accidentally tazes her, but she isn’t even mad since he agrees to talk to JJ.

Maya and Lee join JJ at the casino. Lee and JJ talk and Lee gives him advice. His own mom was a lot like Maya, and he let her do everything for him. If he wants to live his life; however, JJ is going to need to make some space for himself and work on being independent.

Dylan takes advantage of Kenneth’s new competitive spirit by challenging him to an eating contest with the leftover peppers—whoever reaches for their glass of milk first loses. They are both so stubborn that they suffer through lots of pain to avoid defeat