T o Raymond, it did not make any difference. He had never seen the movie Rainman which starred Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. He did not even know that Dustin Hoffman's character was also named Raymond. All he knew was that he loved his brother Tom very much; and that he loved Nicole too, because he knew that his brother Tom loved Nicole very much. He would never hurt Nicole, because he knew that Tom would never hurt her.

B ut Raymond loved Nicole also for a different reason, something he could not communicate to both Tom and Nicole because of his autism. Raymond loved Nicole because she owned twelve mannequins which Raymond doted on. Nicole owned a shop which restores old gown and clothes and the mannequins were used to display them.

W hat Raymond did not know was that Tom and Nicole understood his attachment to the mannequins, that to his brother and sister-in-law, Raymond taking care of the mannequins was Raymond's way of taking care of Tom. For although Raymond remembered that their parents died in a car accident and that he had to take care of Tom when Tom was barely 12 years old, Raymond did not know that it was because of him that the two brothers did not end up in a home.

T here was a 6 year difference between Tom and Raymond, their parents scared to have another child because of Raymond's condition. Tom's arrival to this world was unexpected and unplanned, which came out to be a blessing and a joy to their parents who only had a few years to live as it turned out. Raymond was legally an adult when their parents died and Tom hid Raymond's autism from the Social Welfare. Tom who was very street smart at an early age understood what would happen; so he coached Raymond to answer the questions of the social workers so that they would not suspect the truth.

D uring those years, the two brothers supported themselves from the insurance money that their parents left behind. Raymond took a job at the local bowling alley arranging shoes, balls and pins, something he did very well because of his autism. If Raymond did not have a job, Tom would have been sent to a home and Raymond would be intitutionalized.

A fter Tom finished high school, he worked days and studied nights until he got accepted to the Police Academy. He also started taking care of Raymond. In a way, Raymond understood that their roles have changed, but to him, Tom was still his baby brother. That was until Tom and Nicole got married, moved into an old warehouse which they refurbished and made into a home and Raymond found out that there were such creatures as mannequins. Raymond found twelve creatures he could dote on and take care of.

T here was another reason why Tom and Nicole encouraged Raymond's affinity to the mannequins. It was because of Raymond's attention to details. They understood that it was partly because of his autism. But to Nicole, she suspected that there was a designer inside Raymond's brain which was trying to get out.

N icole had seen Raymond look at old clothes where he would see the patterns and copy it exactly. He knew where a bead was missing or a lace torn, and could extrapolate what was the original condition. Raymond was a big help to Nicole, which she told her husband constantly when Tom worried that Raymond might be a nuisance in the shop.