AN: Trying my hand at a grimdark feels fic (I think that's what it's called). Totally experimental. Let me know if it's a hit or a miss.
"Thank you, Charles, you may leave now."
About time thought 10 year old Charles 'Chucky' Lee Ray, collecting his book bag from the side of his chair and leaving the classroom. He didn't make eye contact nor say farewell to Mrs. Grady. The old bat had kept him in after school detention for a whole hour. It was daylight saving time this time of year, and it's the worst feeling in the world when you walk out of school and the sun is already setting.
Not Chucky's first detention and most definitely not his finest. No fighting or butting heads with the usual suspects who found antagonizing him the equivalent to recess. No, this was for a more upsetting reason.
The girl, the one who always seemed to pester him during lunchtime at the table where he sat alone...he knew her name, Tiffany. That's really all he knew about her, that and her last name started with V. Everyday, she would come to him, lunch bag in hand wanting to sit with him, to talk with him. Some days, Chucky would arrive at the cafeteria and she would just be sitting there waiting for him.
It pissed him off, she pissed him off. Chucky had been taught to be 'good' (subjective) throughout his boyhood. Through the calm and gentle nature of his now deceased father and the ugly wrath unleashed on him by his step mother. What his father saw in that woman he will never know. Chucky lived by the notion that he will be 'good' as long as those around him would let him...and leave him alone. Friends were a challenge to him. In fact, most of the kids in his class found him scary. The scary, quiet kid and Chucky, well, he was perfectly fine with it.
The detention though. Tiffany had once again met him during lunch and for reasons stated above, Chucky just wasn't having it. There were much better ways to tell her to shoo, but Chucky decided to go with "Leave me the fuck alone, you stupid bitch! I keep telling you, I don't want to be your friend! Just fuck off!" He had his stepmother to thank for that oh so colorful vocabulary.
Tiffany had ran out of the cafeteria crying, face in her hands. Whether or not she directly told a teacher what happened or someone just caught her in the hallway or girl's bathroom and questioned her. And the rest is really history. Chucky didn't regret what he said to her. At least now, he would be able to enjoy his lunchtime without any strange girl requesting his friendship.
Chucky sighed as the school doors shut behind him. The sun was still in the sky, but it probably one had an hour and half before it wouldn't be. Funny, the last time Chucky went through those doors it had just finished rising.
It's about a ten minute walk from school to his house. The sidewalk just beyond the schoolyard would take him there. He fiddled with his backpack straps before heading around the school.
Before he turned a corner leading into the yard where recess was held, Chucky suddenly heard something. The unmistakable rattle of a chain link fence, like when a foul ball hits it during a game of kickball or someone being thrown into it. The school did have one of these, to keep the perimeter established.
Then he heard a scream. It was brief and shrill, and highlighted with fright. Chucky gasped and pressed himself to the brick wall of the school and shimmied over to the corner. He calmed his breathing before slowly peeking his out around it.
Tiffany was there. Chucky wondered what she would still be doing here so late after school. She couldn't have had detention, maybe she was a member of a club...but wouldn't that mean she would sit with them at lunch? It didn't make sense.
Tiffany was the one whose scream he had heard. She was pressed against the fence by a much bigger girl. Chucky had seen her in the halls a couple times. She was an upperclassman, not in the fourth grade like they were. She had to be in at least sixth grade. Tiffany was trembling, she had her in a death grip around her neck. Chucky tilted his head worryingly.
"Felicia...I-ARGH!" Tiffany struggled to get words out, but the bigger girl's (apparently named Felicia) other fist shot out from her side and directly into Tiffany's gut. Chucky covered his mouth as Felicia then threw the smaller girl to the ground, they were on a blacktop mind you. Tiffany lay on her side, both hands gripping her stomach as she coughed and heaved for air. Her face was convulsing and her eyes tightly shut.
"Fucking A, Tiffany!" Felicia growled, standing over her and then kicking her in the side, hard. Tiffany cried out again while, Chucky still in hiding muffled a scream of his own. He had experience abuse like this first hand, but to see it done to someone else…
"What's the one rule we got, Tiffany?" Felicia asked, pacing around her.
Tiffany only whimpered, still clutching her stomach.
"What's the one fucking rule we got, Tiffany!?" Felicia knelt down and screamed in her ear. Tiffany winced.
"I'm…" Tiffany's voice was strained as if she was trying to resist sobbing, "I'm not allowed to see you during school…"
"Why?" Felicia then grabbed her by her hair and pulled her back to her feet so she faced her, Tiffany screamed and her hands moved from her gut to her temples, "Why, Tiffany!?"
Tiffany couldn't stop it anymore, tears were now sliding down her face and she sobbed in fast paced intervals.
"Be-because...I'm a.." she sobbed.
"A what?" Felicia pulled around at her hair. Tiffany cried out as her head lolled to whatever side Felicia commanded it to.
"F-Felicia, please stop! You're hurting me!" she whimpered.
"Because you're a what, Tiffany!?" Felicia just yanked on her hair some more.
"Ah! Be-because I'm a little shit!" sobbed Tiffany as if this had been rehearsed, "I'm a little shit...y-you don't want me around because I-I make you look bad."
"Fucking right when I was talking to Max!" Felicia couldn't grip her hair any tighter, "Just because no one will ever love you doesn't mean you have to ruin it for me! Back home, we're sisters. But here, I don't fucking know you! Got it!?"
"Y-yes," Tiffany nodded, "I-I got it! P-please! Stop it! It hurts!"
Chucky's heart was pounding. He didn't know Tiffany had a sister. For this girl who had once annoyed him to no end, he felt pity. He couldn't imagine how much pain Felicia caused her when they were home. Like him and his stepmother, Tiffany didn't have an escape from her big sister.
Felicia let go of Tiffany's hair. It didn't take long to notice that her little sister's face was red from the crying. She smirked.
"Aww, are you crying, Tiffany?" she roughly grabbed her face and toyed with it, squeezing it and shaking it, "God, I hope when mom and dad split up dad takes you. I hope he takes you far away. Far away from mom and I."
Tiffany suddenly spat directly into Felicia's face. The wad just narrowly missing her eye. While she wiped it from her face, Tiffany gave a half smile of victory. A victory that was short lived.
"You fucking little bitch!" Felicia punched her sister in the face, a hard and lingering blow. The fact that Tiffany didn't loose any teeth was pure luck. Again, she cried out as she fell to the blacktop, the ground scraping her legs as she collided against it. The sobbing resumed as she laid on her chest and struggled to get up.
"I ought to punish you," Felicia said, maliciously, "I don't have a belt so...no worries, I'll improvise."
"H-huh?" Tiffany moaned.
Felicia knelt down beside her bike, the one she and Tiffany would often use to get to school if none of their parents drove them. It had pegs on the two back wheels to allow for a two person ride. Felicia then removed the chain.
"I think we'll make it two instead of five, I don't want you dying on me," she said, straightening out metal links.
"Two wha-" it suddenly dawned on Tiffany, "No...no Felicia! Not that! Please! No!" She started thrashing around when her older sister held her down by her head.
"No! No! No! Please!" she continued to shriek.
"Tiffany, c'mon, the more you move the more this is going to hurt…" Felicia paused, "Actually, it's gonna hurt like shit regardless so...go insane."
Chucky was muting shrieks of his own from his hiding place. Both hands pressed over his mouth and eyes widened to the limit. He frantically looked around. Why was there no one else around? Where are the teachers at? Why isn't anyone helping her? Tiffany shrieked again.
"P-please Felicia, I promise! I-I'll listen! I'll be a good sister! You won't ever see me at school again!" Felicia hummed.
"Oh, I believe you. I just don't think the chain does."
She lashed out with the greasy bike chain. There was no crack or snap, just metal tearing through flesh. Tiffany screamed in agony. The chain tore through her dress' back, right through the cloth. It dragged itself across her skin, cutting shallow canals of ripped skin. It ran a couple inches above her tailbone to the upper region of her back. The bleeding was instant, some of the blood even splashed a little during the strike. Tiffany continued to scream, but her thrashing was weakening.
Chucky had fully hidden himself, not daring to witness this. Muffling his own cries was no longer his concern. Instead, he had his hands over his ears. He couldn't listen to the screams anymore.
"Aw, shut up," Felicia clamped her hand over Tiffany's lips, "We only got one more to go." She drew back the chain.
"Mmmmmmmmmmm!" Tiffany's shrieking protest only came out muffled. She could only do that and shake her head vigorously.
Felicia again whipped her sister's back, hitting the area next to the gash she had already created. Tiffany winced and let out a silenced cry. Her tears soaked Felicia's hand covering her mouth. She was sobbing profusely now. The new gash was no more deep than the first one it was parallel to. Like before, the clothing had been ripped away by the metal and the gash overflowed with blood. The grease from the chain stained them with a layer of black smudge.
"There," Felicia cleaned the chain with the section of her sister's dress that wasn't ripped away, "We're done."
Tiffany remained on the ground, her back slowly arching as the gashes bled freely down her sides and onto the blacktop. She slowly turned herself over to her side in the fetal position, pulling her legs up to her chest. Felicia nonchalantly placed the chain back on the bike then mounted it.
"Your ass is walking home today," she said coldly, "Try to be home before it gets dark if you don't want mom to worry...or don't if you want to make your sister happy." Felicia chuckled before flipping the kickstand and peddling away.
Chucky was gasping. For most of his developing life, he had known cruelty, having experienced it first hand by the hands of his stepmother. He had been locked in a room for days, shouted at and verbally assaulted, and beaten. Only though when his stepmother attacked him she had the courtesy to use a belt or the ol' wooden spoon. Never resorting to anything extreme has what he has just witnessed. What the hell did he just see, anyway? It couldn't have been cruelty and it wasn't abuse. Those words would be too generous to describe. He saw evil. Pure, relentless evil. And to Tiffany. Little Tiffany V, who seemed so happy all the time. Who only wanted his friendship. Now, he was beginning to regret what he had said to her at lunch. It was such a shame that it took something like this to make him see that.
Tiffany was still trembling when he walked over to her. The sunset casted his shadow upon her. She didn't need to look up to know someone was there. Chucky just stood over her.
"Hey," he couldn't help but be a bit awkward here, "...Tiffany."
Tiffany found the strength to turn her head upwards. She need only to see him once before her gaze fell back on the blacktop.
"Go away," she told him, pitifully. Chucky shook his head.
"I don't think I'm gonna do that."
"Leave me alone." Tiffany seethed. The tears slowly began to dry up, but her face was still red from crying. A purplish brown bruise was now forming on her jawline as well.
"You're bleeding, you idiot," said Chucky, "Here, just let me help you." He took her gently by the shoulders. Tiffany, taken back a little, allowed him to do so.
"1, 2, 3." Chucky, with her cooperation, was able to get her standing again. Tiffany swayed to her sides as she regained her balance. She was now seething, her back felt like it was on fire.
"Let me see it," Chucky instructed her. Tiffany turned around and presented her back to him. Chucky gave a nervous hiss through his teeth. The gashes were pretty much as previously described, only now the blood was running down her back. The grease left behind was surely not sanitary for those wounds.
"That needs to be cleaned before it gets infected," said Chucky. He threw off his book bag and took off the button down dress shirt that his stepmother always made him wear to school. Normally, he would have a tie over it, but he had lost it. Stepmother wasn't too happy about that, he's got the bruises to prove it.
He placed the shirt on the now hiccuping Tiffany (when you cry so hard and you suddenly get the hiccups) and tied the sleeves tightly around her midsection. She just stood in silence while he did this. Only sound she would make was a moan if he tied it too tight.
"That should stop the bleeding, I hope," Chucky said.
"How much did you see?" Tiffany suddenly asked.
"Enough to know that you need help. No worries, I'll walk you home, they'll probably take better care of you there." Tiffany's eyes immediately widened and she violently grabbed him.
"No! No! Don't! She'll be there! I don't want to go home!" she shook him. Chucky sighed.
"Then where are you supposed to go?"
Tiffany was silent again. Her stare seemed to pierce Chucky's. She just looked at him, big brown eyed like she was subtly begging for something. Chucky sighed.
"You want to come over to my place?" that wasn't a legit question, that was Chucky asking her what she wanted to be asked.
"Please, Chucky?" she whined, "I promise I won't be any trouble." Chucky again sighed as he put his backpack back on.
"Fine," he made his way off school property, "It's just ten minutes this way. Follow me." Tiffany did that.
They walked side by side the entire trip with no words spoken. Funny, it was actually the first time Chucky had anyone walk home with him.
….
Charles,
Will be out until late tonight. Remember to do your homework and chores. And I better see you in bed by the time I get back.
Martha
Chucky skimmed over the note left by his stepmother on fridge while he got the medical kit out from the kitchen cabinet. Wonder what it was this night, hooking up at the drive in or a night at the casino. Probably both. If that's the case, let's hope she didn't lose too much money. The more she loses the harder she hits.
Tiffany was seated on the couch in front of the TV, it wasn't on. The record player was though. Chucky had put on The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band to be exact, it was just wrapping up 'Getting Better'. Little Chucky had always found The Beatles to be the most calming music in stressing times such as this. That and they were his dad's favorite.
"Ok, let's see that back," he said, sitting down next to her and popping the kit open. Tiffany removed the button down 'bandage', Chucky tossed it aside. He would wash it later. The bleeding had stopped, sort of. Most of the blood was dry now, but the wound still did need some cleaning. Chucky got out wet wipes.
"These are just tissues soaked in water so it won't sting." Chucky then gently wiped down the gashes, running his hand up and down Tiffany's back. He was sure to clean not only the wounds but the blood that had dried up around it.
"Thank you, Chucky." Tiffany would shudder a little every time the wipes made contact with her gashes. She seemed so delicate, Chucky wouldn't put too much pressure on her injuries. When he finished up, he started putting gaus on them before putting medical tape over it to ensure that it would stay. There wasn't much he could about the bruises Tiffany sustained, so he just got her some ice.
"Now tell me," said Chucky just as he was finishing up, "How often does Felicia...do this to you?" Tiffany lowered her head.
"I-I can't tell you."
"Yeah, you can. I know what's like. To be smacked around by the people who are supposed to love you. I just...never ever seen something like that." He looked at her with understanding.
"Alot…" Tiffany sighed, "When I do something wrong or I when I try to talk to her while she's with her friends...she's so embarrassed of me. Sometimes I don't do anything, she's just angry and needs to take her anger out on something...me."
"I know what you mean," murmured Chucky, "My stepmom, let me tell you, she's got a mean right hook and is fierce with a belt." Tiffany suddenly put her face in her hands.
"Why?" she wept, "Why does she hate me? Why does everyone hate me? Am I just...unlovable?" Chucky scooted closer to where she sat.
"Hey...no, not everyone hates you…"
"Y-you do," sobbed Tiffany. Chucky tilted his head.
"Huh?"
"You, at lunch, you called me a s-stupid bitch. You said you don't want to see me anymore. You h-hate me."
"I...do not," Chucky said, defensively, "I'm just...not looking for any friends right now. I mean, you seem like a likeable girl, you gotta have some other friends...right?"
Tiffany shook her head slowly with a 'mmm mmm'.
"Oh..what about your mom and dad?" Chucky asked, "They must love you."
"My parents are splitting up," Tiffany said, sadly, "Who's going with who is still being worked out." Chucky reflected for a moment. He never had a complete set of parents in his life. Now, he's hearing that even for someone who did, it still didn't work out.
"I'm...sorry." Tiffany sniffed.
"Felicia says it's my fault...I think she's right."
"Nah," Chucky shook his head, "After seeing her in action, I'm pretty sure she's never right about anything."
"She wants to stay here with mother...she wants dad to take me away," Tiffany broke down again, she wrapped her arms around Chucky and buried her face in his chest, "I don't know what's going to happen to me!" Chucky held his hands above his head. A girl, let alone anyone else, had never hugged him like this before. She was really clinging to him like her life depended on it. He just carefully laid his hands on the crying girl's healing back.
"You're gonna stay right here," he said confidently. Tiffany lifted her head.
"I just don't know...I'm so scared. Chucky, do ever just wish that maybe your mother miscarried you before you were born...or that you just were dead?" Chucky wasn't taken aback by this question, he's thought of it every once in awhile. Tiffany didn't have to wait long before getting her answer.
"No," Chucky said bluntly, "I don't wish that I was dead, I thought about it, but never wished it. I wish that other people were dead sometimes, not me."
"Why?" Tiffany still had not let him go yet, he allowed it.
"Because I know I'm not the problem. Why should I have to die because of what people think about me and do to me? It's not my fault. It's theirs. And you should feel the same way too. You're not the problem, Tiffany. Your family is. You're perfect." Tiffany let him go here.
"You think I'm...perfect?" she repeated.
"As perfect as they come." Chucky smiled.
Tiffany didn't know what to say. She found herself smiling too. The tears that had been falling from her face were still persistent, but only know they didn't seem sad anymore.
"Tiff-OOF!"
Tiffany came at Chucky with such a force that it knocked him on his back onto the couch cushions. She was on top of him, arms around him while her head rested on her shoulder. Chucky laid down wide eyed as he felt her nuzzling his neck. Wasn't really anything else for him to do then return the embrace.
"Thank you, Chucky," she whispered, "It means so much to me to hear you say that."
"Uh...yeah, of course." Chucky was new to this, can you blame him?
"Oh!" Tiffany suddenly shot up, releasing him as she returned to the sitting position she was once in, "Sorry, sorry...I-"
"No, it's ok," Chucky said, "That's actually the first hug I've had in awhile now...I kind of needed it." Tiffany just smiled, blushing madly.
"Hey, Tiffany-"
"Tiff," she said, "You can call me Tiff if you want. My mother calls me that sometimes."
"Ok, Tiff, can I ask you something?"
"Hmmm mmmm."
"Why me?"
"Huh?"
"Why me?" Chucky repeated, "Why do you always come to me during lunch. If you're looking for a friend, there's plenty others who sit alone." Tiffany inhaled then exhaled.
"Because...you're like me," she said.
"How so? I mean, other than the broken families."
"You're scared."
"What?" Chucky snickered, "Scared? What to I have to be scared of?"
"Everything," said Tiffany, "You're scared of waking up, going to school, coming home, your family and just about everyone else. And...I am too. I'm scared of it all, Chucky."
Could this be true? Could Chucky have a resentment of other people just because he's afraid? Now, it seemed to come full circle. That neurotic monster in the dark that he always felt whenever he left his room or came into a classroom. The frightened little bug he became whenever recess was in session or when he came home to Martha. Could it be that fear had been somehow programed in his heart and soul? He didn't want to believe it, but it all seemed too real. Tiffany, just by studying him, completely understood him.
"Say that I am scared," Chucky humored her, "why would you want to be friends with me? You think that we'll just somehow become brave or something? Like I'm the answer to all your problems?"
"No," Tiffany told him, "I'm just so tired of being scared and alone. If we were friends, Chucky, we could be scared together and have nothing to be afraid of."
"Tiff."
"You can say yes or no, I'm giving you that choice. If you say no, I'll never talk to you again. But I like you, Chucky. I really, really like you and I want you in my life. I'm not scared to say it."
For the moment, Chucky was quiet. Then he lowered his head, the only audible sound coming from him was his breathing. Tiffany waited for an answer, but it didn't seem like she would get any. She wasn't going to cry, she had already bled her tear ducts dry today.
"Oh...ok," she murmured, "I'll-I'll just go now...thank you, Chucky."
Tiffany was about to get up when she suddenly found she couldn't. Chucky had taken her hand in his, his fingers hugging the webs of her own.
"Chucky?"
"You're right, Tiff...I'm sick of being scared and alone too." A bright smile spread across Tiffany's face.
"You mean?"
"Yeah, let's be scared together," he said with a warm look.
Tiffany didn't scream with joy or catch him in a bone breaking hug. She just closed her hand, and their fingers were intertwined.