"Whatever happened back home doesn't matter!"
"Yes it does! Don't you see? Whether I like it or not, it follows me! You wanna know what happened? I went home, to my old neighborhood to tell them about this- this amazing adventure to the south seas I was going on. And yeah, yeah I was bragging. Y'know I just wanted 'em to know that I was doing something worthwhile for a change."
"What's wrong with that?"
"They said that I changed. That I was throwing in their faces that suddenly I was better than them. I thought I was talking to people who actually cared."
"So what happened?"
"One guy stood up for me. One guy. He got shoved, and a fight broke out. I tried to break it up but someone pulled a knife and, he got hurt. Perfect day."
"Is he ok?"
"Yeah. But, now the cops are after me."
"But if it wasn't your fault-"
"Doesn't matter. I was there, I wasn't supposed to be, someone got hurt. Strike three. Where am I supposed to go now?"
"You're already there! Without you we'd be lost."
OoOoOoOoOo
Jackson could practically hear the rain pouring down again as he relived that conversation with Melissa in his mind. He shook himself out of it, looking over at the cop that was driving, then at his new social worker.
"So where are we going?" he asked in what he hoped was a casual voice.
His social worker glanced back at Jackson.
"To the hospital. There's someone who wants to see you."
"Who?" Jackson asked, careful to hide the tremble that wanted to creep into his voice. He was scared it was his mom, scared that something had happened to her. But would they let him see her?
"Kurt McCoy."
With one name Jackson was thrown into another memory, related to the first but much harder to remember.
OoOoOoOoOo
"Wow, listen to him talk! Mr. Cool! Mr. Adventurer! You think just 'cause you're going on some stupid little camping trip that you're better than us?!"
"I didn't say that, man!" Jackson said defensively.
"But that's what you meant, isn't it?" Another one of them stood up and started walking towards him. "You think you can just barge down here and start talking to us all high-and-mighty just 'cause you tagged along with us before you went to your rich kid school? Quit throwing this junk in our faces! You're not better than us!"
He shoved Jackson backwards.
"It's not like that guys, I just want you to know that I'm actually doing something good with my life!"
They all stood up and started to walk towards him.
"And we're not? You saying we're some kind of losers just because we're not going swimming with you on some island?"
"Guys, knock it off!" Jackson exclaimed. "That's not what I'm saying!"
"You've changed, man."
The biggest one, the leader, shoved Jackson, then all of them started pushing him.
"Knock it off, guys!" They all turned around to look at the one guy standing up for Jackson. "Leave him alone!"
"This has nothing to do with you, Kurt," the leader said, advancing slowly toward him. "And I'll leave him alone if I want to!"
With both hands he shoved Kurt against the wall of the alley they were in. Kurt lunged at him and pretty soon they were tangled up, hitting each other.
"Stop it!" Jackson yelled, trying to pull them apart. Two more seconds and everyone joined in, ganging up on Kurt. Jackson was simply shoved to the side, but he dove back in again, trying to pull Kurt out of it.
Then he saw the knife. The sun reflected off it so brightly it was impossible for anyone to miss. A scream of pain rang through the dark alley. Everyone backed away from Kurt, including the leader, who was holding a blood-stained knife. Jackson caught Kurt in his arms as the teen stumbled and fell, gasping for breath.
"Let's get out of here, dudes!"
They all started running, except the leader. He spat on the ground, then dropped the knife right next to Jackson.
"Later, loser." And he ran.
Biting down his anger Jackson focused on the hurt teen in his arms.
"It hurts, man," Kurt groaned. "It hurts so bad...."
"Listen, Kurt, don't worry, you're going to be fine."
Jackson looked up and groaned. In the entrance to the alley he saw a man's silhouette against the sun. The man was holding a cell phone to his ear. Jackson could hear his hurried words perfectly.
"C'mon, I need the cops right now! I was just walking by this alley and I looked in and there's two kids, one of 'em is hurt, I think the other one hurt him! Wait, I see a knife on the ground, right next to that kid, it was definitely him. Just get some cops over here fast! And an ambulance! Yeah, yeah, no problem....."
The man continued to talk quickly, telling what street he was on. Jackson groaned and carefully lowered Kurt to the ground, sitting down next to him, trying to stop the bleeding.
"You gotta go man," Kurt whispered shakily through clenched teeth. "Leave..."
"No way," Jackson answered. "I can't just leave you here!"
"Dude, go!"
Jackson could already hear the sirens. They were coming. Coming for him.
"Kurt, stop talking. Just take deep breaths."
"I'll be fine, Jackson. Just go!"
"Kurt, I can't..."
Leaning up, grimacing, Kurt grabbed Jackson's collar and pulled him closer.
"If they find you here they'll think you did it! Go Jackson!"
Without another word Kurt fell limply against the ground, unconscious. The sirens grew louder, and suddenly flashing blue and red lights shone across Kurt's pale face.
"I'm sorry," Jackson whispered. Then he stood up and started running.
"Hey, kid! Stop! Get back here!" It was the guy who had called the cops. Pretty soon Jackson heard someone running behind him. Without thinking about it and without knowing how much it would affect his life he looked back. It was a cop he knew.
"Hey, Cody Jackson, stop running!"
The cop kept yelling but his voice got further and further away. Jackson had always been a fast runner, and pretty soon the cop stopped chasing him, but Jackson didn't stop running until he was out on the street. Then he stopped by the alley's entrance just for a few minutes.
"You knew that kid?" one of the cops asked.
"Yeah, Cody Jackson. He's been to juvie before. He must've hurt this guy."
"Think we'll be able to catch him?."
"Not right now, he's a fast runner. Let's just get this guy into an ambulence."
Jackson began running again.
OoOoOoOoOo
A million questions ran through Jackson's mind as they pulled into the hospital parking lot, but he didn't ask any of them. He just walked silently into the hospital with the social worker and the cop, rode in the elevator with them, and silently walked into Kurt's room.
When he walked in Kurt looked over at him and smiled.
"Hey, man."
"Hi," Jackson said softly, filled with guilt for leaving Kurt in the alley. "How're you?"
"I'm doing ok," Kurt answered.
"Why are you still in here?" Jackson asked, sitting down next to Kurt's bed. "In the hospital, I mean. It's been about a month."
"Yeah, but when that guy stabbed me...let's just say it did more damage than we thought."
"I am so sorry I left you, man," Jackson said softly.
"You kidding? Dude, I wanted you too, don't worry about it."
"I guess I'm in for it now," Jackson said softly, glancing back at the cop and the social worker.
"What are you talking about?" Kurt asked.
"They think it was me, don't they?" Jackson asked in a whisper.
"You think I would let them think that?" Kurt answered. "They know it wasn't you. Man, I told them. I told them everything that happened. Plus, a cop was off duty and he overheard Brad bragging about it." Jackson remembered that Brad was the leader who had stabbed Kurt. "They arrested him. You're off the hook, man. Maybe in a little bit of trouble for actually being down there, but nothing serious. Didn't they tell you?"
"No," Jackson, said with a confused look.
"That's because we wanted you to hear it from Kurt," the social worker said from where he was standing next to the cop at the back of the room. Jackson had practically forgotten they were there.
"Thank you," Jackson said to them, suddenly realizing how nice it was to hear it from Kurt. All the other social workers he had never seemed to care anything about him. Maybe this one was different.
"So what about you, man?" Kurt asked suddenly.
"What are you talking about?"
"I wanted to see you. I kept asking about you but no one said anything. I thought you were mad at me. Why didn't you come till now?"
"They didn't tell you?" Jackson asked.
"Didn't tell me what?"
"They didn't tell you what happened?"
"Obviously not," Kurt laughed. Then he grew more serious. "What happened?"
"Where do I begin?" Jackson asked with a little laugh. He explained to Kurt about how the plane had crashed and about what had happened on the island.
"So all the time I was in this hospital bed you were off having life or death adventures in the Pacific?" Kurt exclaimed.
Jackson laughed. "I guess you could put it that way."
Kurt leaned back in his bed and smiled. "I'm glad you're alright man. Thank you so much, for everything."
"Thank you, too," Jackson answered. "And whatever you need, Kurt, I'm here for you."
"Just come visit me every once in a while," Kurt replied. "I don't have a lot of friends or family to visit."
"Hey, you have a friend right here, and you always will."