Okay, this is just a random idea that I came up with.
"You stupid, lazy little brat!" Ray flinched as he was struck round the face. His head snapped back and he tasted blood. Suddenly, everything seemed to burst out of him.
"I'm not stupid, I'm dyslexic!" he yelled back at his tormentor. "You know that!" Struggling for words, he gave up and switched to Chinese. "You are the one that's stupid! Not me! You should be in prison for hitting me!"
"No Chinese!" Another slap accompanied the harsh order. Ray spat, unable to verbalise his rage in any other way. There was an audible gasp, and Ray drew back, eyes widening in fear. He had gone too far. Much too far. As he cringed to the floor, mumbling apologies, he heard the woman who was hitting him being drawn aside.
"Calm down, darling. Remember, the social worker will be coming in only a few days. We don't want him marked, now do we?" The drunken woman slowly shook her head, shooting Ray a look of pure hatred. Ray kept his head bowed, not daring to look at his foster parents. He could feel his body trembling, a reaction to the shock of being hit. "Ray?"
"Yes, Shane?" He kept his eyes on the floor.
"You can go to bed now." The edge to his foster father's voice said that, despite the polite phrasing, this was not an option. Mumbling a hurried goodnight, Ray fled upstairs and flung himself face-first onto his bed, sobbing into the pillow. The scene of his drunk foster mother ripping up his school report and flinging the pieces into the bin replayed themselves over and over again in his mind's eye. She hadn't seen his outstanding marks in Art, PE and Music, she had just turned straight to English and Maths, which had shown, as usual, Fand gone nuts. He let out a broken sob, then wiped his eyes and began to silently prepare himself for the social worker's visit in a few days, where he would have to pretend that everything was brilliant. That he wasn't hit daily by both of his "carers", that he wasn't picked on in school for writing back-to-front, that his life was excellent. Excellent enough for Shane and Naomi to foster another child.
"It's not fair..." he mumbled drowsily. "I'm only ten...I shouldn't need to do this..." His voice faded as he dropped into sleep.
"Why, Sallie, so nice to see you again!" Naomi beamed, her smile open and welcoming. Only Ray, standing behind her, could see how her hands were shaking. He smirked. Naomi had been stone-cold sober for just over three days now, and she was hating every minute of it. He gave his social worker a shy nod as she walked past him into the lounge and sat down on the dark-red sofa, the one that Ray had been hit round the head with a chair leg when he attempted to sit on.
"Hi, Ray!" Sallie smiled at him, her blue eyes friendly.
"Hi..." Ray shuffled his feet. He had always found that it was easier to act shy when anyone came round. It gave him an excuse to look questioningly up at Naomi or Shane, when in reality he was checking to se if what he was doing would get him a beating later on.
"How's school?" Sallie asked. Ray grinned bashfully.
"S'okay. I got an F for English and Maths, though." Sallie pulled a face.
"Never mind. It can't be helped, can it?" she asked cheerfully. Ray shook his head. "Anything else?" This time, Ray's grin was real. He had been dying to share this information with somebody.
"I got an A in Art, a B+ in PE, and..." He trailed off, grinning widely. Sallie grinned back at him.
"And? Come on, the suspense is killing me!" she joked.
"I got an A in Music!" he said in a rush. Sallie's face lit up.
"Oh, that's wonderful, Ray!" she exclaimed, holding out her arms. Without a seconds hesitation, Ray flung himself at her, burying his head in her ample chest. "I'm really proud of you, sweetie!" Sallie told him, her voice jubilant. "What did I tell you, huh?" He grinned and sat up on her lap. Naomi stepped forwards.
"Ray, darling, could you go outside while Shane and I have a chat with Sallie?" Reluctuantly, Ray began to walk out of the room.
"Wait, Ray." Sallie turned to look at Naomi, her face serious. "I think that it would be a good idea for Ray to stay. After all, the sooner the two of them get to know each other the better, hm?" Clearly much against her will, Naomi nodded, sweeping her strawberry-blonde hair out of her dull hazel eyes. She reached out and sat down, pulling Ray down next to her. Ray sat very still, trying not to wriggle or do anything that might attract her attention. He only half-listened as Sallie began to talk about the child that they would be fostering. A boy, eleven years old, with slight behavioural problems... He yawned despite himself, waking up in an instant as Naomi pinched him sharply on the inside of his wrist. Sallie leaned towards the door.
"Kai!" she called loudly. "Come in!" The lounge door was opened loudly and a boy stood there, arms folded definantly.
"Hello, Kai." Naomi plastered a wide smile on her face. Ray inched away from her carefully. Kai's eyes flicked to her, but he said nothing.
"Kai..." Sallie prompted. Kai rolled his eyes.
"Naomi." He nodded his head stiffly at her, sounding bored. Ray studied him carefully.
His hair was spiked up with at least as much gel as Ray used, and appeared to be two different colours. The front part was grey, while the back part was dark-blue. It was really weird. Ray blinked, and kept on staring.
His eyes were a deep, dark red, like blood. His skin was pale, and his cheeks were covered with four triangle tattoos, two to each cheek. At eleven, he already had visible muscles, and was wearing a tight grey T-shirt with navy tracksuit bottoms which empathised this fact.
Suddenly, he noticed that Ray was staring at him. With snake-like quickness, his eyes locked with Ray's. They held each other's gaze for what seemed like an eternity, then both dropped their eyes at the same time.
Sallie stood up and gave the two boys an approving look.
"I see you two are already sizing each other up!" She laughed softly. "Well, I'd better get going. See you both later, yeah?"
"Bye, Sallie!" Ray called.
"Later." Kai said quietly. Sallie gave them a quick smile and left, shutting the door behind her. Ray tensed up, waiting, as he knew Naomi was, for the second that the front door slammed shut. The slam came, and Naomi got up and went to the drinks cabinet, with an absent-minded command for Ray to show Kai around the house. Uncertainly, Ray got up and motioned for Kai to follow him.
"Okay," he whispered, double-checking that there was no one around. "These are the only rules you'll ever need to know, okay?"
"You said okay twice." Kai pointed out matter-of-factly.
"Hey, I'm nervous!" Ray grumbled. "Right. Never go near Naomi after she's drunk more than three bottles, two if it's vodka. She starts hitting you for no reason, and she isn't too fussy about leaving marks. Shane..." He shivered despite himself, bad memories rushing up in a wave. He swayed, feeling an arm clasp his shoulder and steady him.
"You all right...Ray, isn't it?" Ray nodded briefly, cursing himself for losing control.
"I'm fine. Anyway, Shane hits for fun. He knows about leaving the marks, so he'll swing stuff at your back or your head." Kai nodded, apparently taking all this in, the slight twist of his lips indicating his disgust.
"They sound like a right pair of twats." he said flatly. Ray checked the hallway anxiously yet again, before nodding in feverent agreement.
"'Specially Shane. He's a...za zhong...Sorry, I don't know the English..." He flushed with embarressment and trailed off. "It's like...dog...y'know...girl dog...girl dog with puppies..."
"Son of a bitch?" Kai suggested. Ray grinned nervously and nodded again.
"Yeah, that's it." Kai nodded in reply, a faint, barely visible smile appearing on his lips. Ray hesitated again, then smiled back.
"Gary, would you stop kicking the back of Ray's chair, please?" the teacher asked, annoyed. Ray felt something nudging his elbow. Against his better judgement, he took the small piece of paper and unfolded it.
Coward Chinky thicko!
He sighed and refolded the note, putting it in his trouser pocket along with the others that he recieved pretty much constantly, and tried to pay attention to the lesson.
At break, the older boys all crowded round Kai, sizing him up. As Ray walked nearer, hoping that Kai wasn't getting into trouble, one of them spotted him.
"Hello, Ray!" he said loudly. Ray mumbled a greeting and tried to shrink away. "Remind me, Ray, do you sunbathe a lot, or is your skin just like that naturally?"
"If your face is like that naturally, I can't see what you're teasing Ray for." Kai said coolly. The boy swung round.
"Are you insulting me?" he demanded.
"Ooh, ugly and stupid." Kai murmured, not even looking at the boy. "Should I be running yet?"
"Oy, watch your mouth, you-"
"You threatening me?" Kai's voice was deadly quiet. Ray watched, fascinated. "Because I could tell you that would be a very bad idea. But then, if you were as clever as you seem to think you are, you wouldn't've opened your mouth in the first place." The boy swore loudly and aimed a punch straight for Kai's face. Kai caught the fist easily and twisted it to one side. Amazingly, his eyes were still closed. The boy backed off, clutching his throbbing wrist and struggling not to blub. Kai opened his eyes and gave the boy a long, hard stare. "You mess with Ray, you mess with me. Understood?" He didn't raise his voice, he didn't need to. The crowd disappeared without a second thought. Ray walked nervously up to Kai.
"Kai...I...that was...thank you." he said at last. Kai gave him another quick smile.
"Don't mention it." Ray grinned.
"Tong zhou gong ji." he said softly. "It means, "stick together through thick and thin."" Kai nodded and grinned back.
Three hours later, outside the school's main doors, Kai and Ray were leaning on the wall, Kai patiently taking Ray through the maths homework. A large crowd of boys pushed past, nearly pushing Ray over. Suddenly, Kai spun round and grabbed another eleven year-old by his collar. "What did you just call me?" His voice was icy, with promises of violence quivering in it. The boy pressed his lips shut. "Come on," Kai muttered, tightening his grip.
"You're-a-poufder!" the boy choked out. Kai's face went blank.
"Right." he said softly. Three seconds later, everyone was running for a teacher as Kai slammed the boy's head into the brick wall as hard as he could, still with that strange, blank look on his face. Ray gasped in horror as he noticed a trickle of blood running down the side of the boy's face.
"Kai, stop it! You're hurting him!"
"That's the idea." In desperation, Ray grabbed hold of Kai's arm and held tightly. "Kai, please stop it, please-" His English gave way and he started saying the same thing in Chinese. As suddenly as he had started it, Kai dropped the half-conscious boy and turned away, fists clenched. He started walking home, so fast that Ray had to jog to keep up. Ray bit his lip, knowing that the punishment would fall on him.
"Bend over." Shane's voice was cold. Ray obeyed, placing his palms flat on the floor to help him keep his balance. Shane roughly pulled his school shirt off and ran a finger down Ray's spine. Ray shivered at the touch, then bit his lip until blood dribbled down his chin as Shane's belt-buckle landed on his back with incredible force.
"Stupid, disobedient boy!" White-hot pain blazed through the resigned ten year-old.
Ray woke from a restless, disturbed sleep, caused by having to sleep on his stomach. He listened carefully, wondering what had woken him. Faint moans were coming from the room across the hallway, where Kai slept. Wincing at the pain in his back, Ray got up. He needed to make Kai be quiet. Naomi wouldn't care about Sallie or the possibility that he would tell someone in school, if she was woken up, she would hit him, and hit him hard.
The moaning grew louder as Ray gently pushed open the door. With a fearful look towards Shane and Naomi's bedroom, he quickly pulled the door shut. He turned to the bed. Kai was writhing around on the mattress, the duvet lying in a crumpled heap on the floor. Sweat had stuck his hair to his face and he was moaning incessantly. If Ray listened carefully, he could make out words.
"No...don't...please...please...it wasn't my fault - argh!" He jerked as if he had been struck, letting out a cry of pain, his eyes slowly opening, then closing again. Ray ran over to him, gently shaking his shoulder.
"Kai? Kai, wake up!" he whispered. Kai's eyes flew open. He pulled himself up onto his elbows and looked wildly around the room. "Kai, it's okay." Ray told him softly. "You're safe now." Kai stared at him blankly. Eventually, a spark of recognition lit in his eyes.
"R-Ray?" His voice was unsure and shaking. Ray nodded.
"It's me." he confirmed. "Try and be quiet. We don't want Naomi or Shane coming in here." Kai gave a slow nod. He lay back on the pillow, his breath coming in short gasps. "Are you okay?" Ray asked worriedly. Kai didn't answer immeadiately.
"Ray, could you...oh forget it, what am I thinking..." He trailed off, beginning to shiver violently.
"What?"
"I said forget it!"
"No!" Kai looked at Ray and raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"You do have some bite after all!" Ray blinked, unfamiliar with the expression.
"I'm serious, Kai! Tell me!" Kai scowled and rolled to face the opposite direction. "Kai!" He bit his lip, shooting a glance back to the door. Kai sighed and rolled back over to face him. Ray couldn't help but gasp. All the toughness was gone from Kai's expression, leaving a vunerable, frightened shell behind. "What is it, Kai?" he asked softly. Kai dropped his eyes, staring fixedly at a point near Ray's feet.
"I was just...wondering...no, this is stupid-"
"No, it's not!" Ray said firmly.
"All right then." Kai took a deep breath. "Is it possible...would you...sleep in here, tonight?" Ray blinked in bemusement.
"Why?"
"Because...because I'm scared..." Kai's voice was barely audible. Ray's heart melted, seeing the ashamed, fearful look on Kai's face.
"Of course I will." he whispered. "Do you mean on the floor, or in the bed?" Kai shrugged with difficulty, shivers racking his body.
"Whatever." he mumbled. Ray picked up the duvet from the floor and scrambled onto the bed next to Kai. He fumbled with the heavy material, and managed to get it covering both of them. He lay down, pulling the duvet up to his chin. As he got comfortable his left arm accidentally brushed against Kai's chest. He swore in Chinese.
"Kai, you're freezing!" he whispered loudly. He wriggled round until he was lying stomach to stomach with Kai, then wrapped his arms around him, Kai's shivers vibrating through his body.
"W-What are you doing?" Kai mumbled.
"Trying to warm you up!" Ray told him in a fierce whisper, tightening his grip.
Fifteen minutes later, Kai's violent shivering finally stopped. Ray didn't really want to move, he was starting to get drowsy, and it had been so long since he had been this close to someone who wasn't drunk. He felt Kai's arms creep gingerly round him. He winced, his back still raw and crusted with blood from Shane's belt-buckle.
"Can I see?" Kai asked. He nodded, feeling Kai pull himself up onto one elbow and gently run his fingers over the open welts each with their own little bruise. "I'm really sorry." Kai muttered, laying back down again. "If it hadn't been for me, you wouldn't have got that."
"It don't matter." Ray assured him.
"Doesn't." Kai corrected.
"Doesn't." Ray repeated. "I've had worse."
"So've I." Ray looked at Kai, then away. Kai's business was Kai's business, not his. They lay still for another ten minutes, neither of them falling alseep. "Ray?"
"Yes, Kai?"
"If I tell you something, will you listen?"
"Yeah."
"Okay... Ray, do you remember what that boy called me?" Ray racked his brain, finding the unfamiliar word.
"Um...pooder?" he suggested, unsure how to pronounce it. Kai chuckled hoarsely.
"Nearly. Poufder. It means..." He hesitated. Ray stayed silent, knowing that Kai would either tell him or not. "It means...that you like boys." Ray frowned, completely confused.
"Huh? I don't understand... I mean, I like boys, so does everyone...I really don't understand." Kai sighed.
"You know how Naomi and Shane like each other?" Ray nodded. "It's like that, except you like boys, not girls."
"You mean like...kissing?" Kai nodded. Ray pulled a face. "Kissing's disgusting." He paused. "So, do you?" Kai was suddenly very still.
"Do I what?"
"Do you like boys like that?" Kai let out a long sigh.
"I don't know." he said softly. He closed his eyes and began to talk in a flat monotone. "When I was six, my grandfather put his mouth on my..." He gestured downwards. Ray thought hard, racking his brains again.
"Willy?" he offered. Kai nodded stiffly. Ray screwed up his face in disgust. "Why?"
"Because he liked it." Kai said bitterly. "Then, he used to...kiss me...and do...other things..." He stopped, his whole body quivering. Ray held him even tighter, whispering soothing phrases in Chinese.
"Then, when I was eight, a boy got me really angry in school. And I just wanted to hurt him. What my grandfather did hurt, even more than when he flogged me with the bicycle chain, but it hurt inside. So, I thought that if I could make him hurt inside, I wouldn't get into so much trouble. So, I kissed him...like my grandfather did to me...pushed him over...and he was screaming-oh God, the screams..." He whimpered like a frightened puppy and tried to curl up. Ray let him, patting him comfortingly.
"It's okay, Kai, I'm here." Kai took a deep breath and carried on, his voice muffled and shaking.
"The teacher dragged me off him and started yelling at me. And I asked her why it wasn't okay for me to do it him, but it was okay for my grandfather to do it, and worse, to me." He let out a long, trembling breath. "Since then, it's just been one big round of social workers, children's homes, and foster parents. No one keeps me for long, they're too afraid for their precious little kiddies." Ray hugged him even harder, hearing the jealous bitterness in Kai's voice.
"Well, that's one thing you don't have to worry about!" he whispered, trying to make a joke out of it. "Those two," he nodded his head towards the door, "couldn't care less what happens to me." Now, he was the one talking bitterly! Kai nodded, giving Ray a sympathetic look. Ray blinked in surprise as he felt Kai's arms close gently around him, avoiding the wounds left by Shane's brutal beating. His eyelids drooped and he yawned widely, lulled by Kai's gentle embrace.
"Go to sleep." Kai murmured, letting Ray's head drop forwards onto his shoulder. "You've got school tomorrow. I'm used to sleepless nights." he added, forestalling the arguement that he knew was coming. His own eyes were heavy, and he let his head rest on top of Ray's, closing his eyes.
"Raymond Xiao-Cheung Kon, get out of there right now!" Naomi's furious voice yelled. Ray opened his eyes and stared blearily up at his foster mother. Naomi reached down and pulled him out by his arm, slapping him hard round the face. Ray stayed silent as she hauled him off to the kitchen to get ready for school, slapping and pinching him the whole time.
He was flung into a chair next to Shane. Shane looked up.
"What's all this?" he asked mildly. Naomi told him. Ray got up and tried to run, terror flooding through him. Shane caught him easily and picked him up by his long hair, holding him right up at his eye level. "How dare you!" Vaguely, Ray saw him pick up the sawn-off chair leg that always stood in the corner, then bright lights exploded behind his eyes and he knew no more.
"Ray! Ray, talk to me!" Kai's panicked voice gradually seeped through Ray's confused mind. With consciousness came the pain. Ray moaned and tried to fall unconscious again as white-hot pain blasted into every inch of his body. "Ray can you open your eyes?" A fierce effort, a slit of colour, then blackness again. He realised that someone was holding his hand. "What has that bastard done to you..." The hand holding his abruptly let go. Ray slipped into a pain-filled doze.
Kai ran into the living room and grabbed Naomi by the arm, shaking her hard.
"Come with me." His voice was quivering with fury. Naomi gave him a wary look and followed him into Ray's bedroom. "Look at what your bastard of a husband did to Ray!"
He had never seen Naomi sober up faster. She let out a faint scream and ran to Ray's side, looking in horror at the blood matting the sheets, Ray's small, crumpled body lying in the middle of the mess.
"He's gone too far this time..." she murmured. Kai watched as she knelt down beside Ray, stroking his limp hand gently, suddenly realising what a good mother Naomi could've been if she hadn't discovered drink before kids. Her hazel eyes hardened. "Kai, go and ring Sallie." Kai obeyed instantly.
"Where is he?" Sallie burst through the door, worry written all over her face. Kai said nothing, simply beckoned for Sallie to follow him. He led her into Ray's bedroom. Naomi stood up and gave her a strange look, half apprehension, half hysterical worry.
"He won't wake up." Her voice was suddenly far away. "I've tried, but he just won't..." Kai ran to his friend's side.
"Ray! Ray, wake up! Please!" he sobbed, panic overwhelming him at the still look on Ray's tanned face. He spun round to face the two woman. "What are you fucking waiting for!"he screamed. "Phone a fucking ambulance, you bitch!" His last comment was adressed to Naomi, who nodded quickly and ran for the phone, Sallie following her. Kai went back over to Ray and took his limp hand, pressing it to his cheek. Tears were trickling from his eyes, but he ignored them. As if he was in a dream, he climbed onto the bed and lay down next to Ray, cradling the unconscious boy in his arms. He closed his eyes.
"I'm here, Ray." he whispered. "You can't leave me. Please, please don't leave me..." Even as his voice broke in a sob, he was falling asleep, worn out by the emotions running through him.
Hands were pulling him away from Ray. He sat up, his head spinning, stomach churning.
"Don't take him away from me!" he pleaded brokenly. Sallie placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"It's okay, Kai. You can see Ray later, okay?" Still half-asleep, Kai nodded and swallowed hard.
Ray moaned softly. It was so dark, he was so tired...but he had promised Kai that they would stick together...he couldn't let him down... With a tremendous effort, he opened his eyes. He blinked in the fierce hospital light, seeing the face of a stranger hovering above him. He tried to talk, but there was something in his throat.
"Ssh, Ray, it's okay. I'm just going to take something out of your throat, then you can talk again. All right?" He nodded, fear rising up inside him. Where was he? Where was Kai? The tube slid out of his throat.
"Kai..." he rasped. The nurse blinked, then smiled.
"Oh, yes, Kai. We've had to give him a bed, you know. He wouldn't leave you." She turned away. "Kai! There's someone in here who wants to see you!" There was the sound of rushing feet, then Kai sat down next to him, taking hold of his hand tightly. Ray smiled weakly, seeing the tears glittering in Kai's eyes.
"Don't you ever do that ever again!" Kai told him fiercely. "You've been in a coma for three weeks! I've been so scared..." He broke off. Ray reached out to him.
"Kai..." Kai wiped his eyes fiercely. Casting a quick look around for the nurse, he lay down next to Ray and hugged him gently.
"I've been doing this every time there was no-one around." he whispered. "I would never leave you, you know that, don't you, Ray?" Ray nodded sleepily, resting his head comfortably on Kai's chest. "Tong zhou gong ji." Kai said softly.
"Tong zhou gong ji." Ray replied. Through thick and thin. Nothing would ever part them now. He saw something out of the corner of his eye and smiled.
Well, maybe a very determined nurse...
Well? what did you think? Any good? Tell me if you want me to carry it on.