"THESE BROKEN THINGS"

PART ONE

The last bell of the last class of the last day of school Sophomore year was the most relieving sound in all the world. Everyone got out of the place like it was on fire. I managed to catch up with my buddy Kenny despite the huge crowd.

"Hey Kenny, man we going somewhere with the guys today? "

"Yeah dude I guess if we can find 'em!"

"I know, this damn crowd, huh?"

We both stood on our toes looking around for the familiar faces we were talking about, Kyle and Cartman, our best friends since we could remember.

"Where the hell are they?" he said.

"I think they had math last, maybe there around back"

"Hey there they are!"

Two guys came out from the front door arguing. It was them. Cartman looked cool as always, wearing some leather jacket and worn out jeans. Even though it wasn't really cold out considering it was now summer, but it wasn't exactly hot either it was more like March than June. Kyle was just a normal guy, wearing normal clothes and looked weak standing next to Cartman.

Kenny ran up to them, like a little puppy dog, but Kenny wasn't a follower. He was a do-er. Always the idiot who did it first. Although most of the time he fell under Cartman's shadow. Always doing what Cartman said to do. I guess he kind of look up to him. I had no idea why though.

I walked up to the guys and followed them.

"Hey Stan" said Kyle.

"Hey, so where are we going?" I asked the group expectant of Cartman to answer as always.

"Yeah man we gotta do something today its finally summer!" Kenny said.

" Alright, alright lets do something tonight! We'll meet at the tree house around 8:00, got it?" Cartman said in a mysterious tone. I assumed for dramatic affect. He loved that shit.

As we split at the end of the school drive way I begun thinking what could Cartman possibly want us to be at the tree house for. The tree house is were we always meet up for something important, its just some kid's abandon tree house that he grew to old for and now its ours.

Last time it was to plan out how we would make it to the concert of the century without raising suspicion from out parents. We managed to sneak out and get to the concert. We had the best time and its all thanks to Cartman's devious plans of escape.

Of course the tree house isn't in anyone's back yard, just in the woods. it's a little weird that some one would just let there kid build something alone in the middle of no were but hey, who am I to judge?

Maybe Cartman was planning something big, for summer. I couldn't stop thinking of what it could be, the suspension was killing me. It was then that I had to hold my thoughts, because I was already home.

"Hi sweetie, how was your last day of school?" My mom asked when I walked in.

"Good I guess, although Mr. Garrison had a lot to say about us." "Alright honey, well I've got to go to work for a few hours, I'll be home later with your sister, ok?" she said.

"what time?"

"Around 9:00 or 9:30 sorry its so late, but I've really got to get some paperwork done"

"Its cool mom, don't worry" I said .

Then she left for work and the house was silent. I sat and played video games for a while when suddenly my door bell rang. It was Kyle.

Turns out the suspense was killing him too. We played video games for a few hours and talked about it. What was he planning? Was it gunna be good? Is it even legal? We discussed it all. Finally it was 7:40. We could get going now. We both ran out the door leaving a mess of chips, soda cans and other snack items that were half gone behind us. Kyle tripped on the stairs out front and we both laughed. We were really excited to see what Cartman was up to even if we wouldn't admit it.

We finally made it to the tree house and the sun was just going down. Kenny was already there and Cartman was no were to be seen. We questioned the fact that he was even coming, until out of no were his face appeared in the window yelling something stupid so he could freak us all out.

"Did I scare you losers!" Cartman said.

We all denied it. Cartman took a map out of his pocket. It was obviously printed off the computer and was in black and white with red marker all over it. It was a map of the United States. We all look confused.

"This summer … Eric T. Cartman brings to you the ultimate summer adventure! We are all going to… Florida!" Carman said.

We all looked disappointed, there was no way we could go to Florida, and who cares. A hot sweaty state were there are a lot of theme parks. This was such a let down to all of us, or so I thought.

"Cartman, that's stupid we cant go to Florida!" Said Kyle.

He was most likely as disappointed and pissed off as all of us were. He's just not good at hiding it.

"Guys, were gunna tell out parents were going on as road trip and then we'll make a break for Florida. Were not going to Disney, were going to the night clubs and the bars! Were going to party. I know this guy who can get us fake ID's and everything. All we gotta do is be there ….. And pay up front. Now if your not a bunch of pussies I suggest you guys get cash and get packin'. Were getting' hot weather and bitches!"

We all looked at him. We were all thinking it. This was genius. We had to get money, and fast. With just one look I knew this would be the best few weeks of my life.

Until I got home. As soon as we were done planning, we all left the tree house, and ran home fast. We needed to get home and get permission to go on a fun filled 'road trip'. As soon as I flew open the front door I saw my mom. She did not look happy. My smile quickly disappeared into a vacant stare.

"Stanley! What were you thinking? This room is a mess! I'm so sick and tired of your irresponsible behavior!" She yelled.

"Mom I'm sorry but it was mostly Kyle's fault. He ate almost all of this. Its just a little mess I'll clean it up, don't get pissed at me because of this. Seriously, its not a big deal."

Needless to say I cleaned the entire living room and went straight to bed that night.

The next morning I went down to the kitchen half asleep. My mom greeted me with some pancakes and I sat with her while I ate. It was my mom, my dad and I all at the table. My sister was upstairs trying to look good by putting way too much make-up on as usual. It took her hours for her to do something that I saw as completely pointless. She always looked the same to me.

I looked at my parents in an awkward silence. I decided I should ask them now, the guys will want to know and I was sure I could talk them into it.

"So … The guys were planning to go on this road trip and invited me, its only for a few weeks, I think I might wanna go." I looked at them in anticipation.

"Oh no son, road trips always involve drugs!" said my dad.

"What? None of my friends do drugs, we'll only be gone for a few weeks, not the whole summer!"

"I know you don't do drugs son but I didn't either, then I went on a road trip and hit the bong. Its real risky sending you out there on your own!" My dad argued.

" Dad! What are you talking about you've never been on a road trip!"

"Now you know why!" he said. I looked at my mom.

"I'm sorry Stanley but you're completely irresponsible and I don't just mean about yesterday I mean about everything. Like the time you burned the school down because you were smoking or the time you went to a drugs and sex party with celebrities or the time you kidnapped baby cows to protest and I can't imagine all the times you haven't been caught. The answer is no, and don't argue!" She was angry.

I said fine, and walked away. I got dressed and locked the door to my room leaving a "Keep Out" sign on it. I climbed out my window, on to the first floor roof and slid off into my yard.

What was I gunna do? The guys were gunna have the time of there lives in Florida, partying and probably getting all the girls they wanted while I stay home, playing video games and cleaning. What about when they get back? Will they want to come back? I needed to get to Florida. But they were going for weeks, I couldn't run away for that long. I'd never be allowed outside my room again. I'd probably be watched every second. Then I was calmed down a bit by the fact that maybe the other guys parents had said no too. I would find out that day, later back at the tree house.

PART TWO

As I ran from my house, anger and disappointment took over. I looked back at my window. Then at the one bellow it and saw my parents talking. I turned back around and ran to the corner of our street. I took a left, then a right and finally saw Kyle's house. I went to his window and opened it. I climbed in and fell onto his floor with a thud. He turned away from his computer spinning out of his chair.

"Stan, what the hell! Couldn't you have gone to the door?"

"That would be no fun, though." I smiled.

It was funny how afraid he had gotten. I sat on his bed still laughing. He sat next to me.

"Its not funny! I thought you were gunna kill me dumb ass!"

"Alright, sorry" I slowly stopped laughing.

He looked at me expectantly. Then I told him that my parents said I couldn't go on the "road trip". I was really upset. I mean think about it. What would you do if all your best friends were going on an awesome adventure, and you were left behind.

"I hate this.. I'm gunna miss out on the best adventure we've ever had." I said.

"Dude, who cares. With Cartman in charge. I can't be too great anyway. We'll have more adventures." Kyle said trying to make me feel better.

I knew he didn't want me to be upset anymore. So I tried not to think about it. Just as if it wasn't going to happen anyway. Yeah I was still disappointed but I tried faking it. Maybe if I pretended I was ok with it, I would be. Eventually. I smiled, and we moved on from it.

We played video games for an hour or so. Once we got too bored we decided to go somewhere else. Kyle got up and I followed him out the door. Soon we were at Kenny's house.

Kyle knocked on the door and his mom let us in. She told us he was probably in his room so we went to his door. It was shut. Kyle knocked in fear of walking in on, well anything. It was Kenny who knew what was going on in there. A broken voice directed us to "come in", so we did. When we opened the door Kenny was on his bed under a blanket and the room was full of smoke. There were bottles and dirty cloths all over the floor. Kyle walked over to him.

"Kenny? Are you ok?" He sounded concerned. Then again who wasn't concerned about Kenny? His parents for starters. Everyone else though, really cared about that kid.

"Yeah, I'm fine, man. Just a little hung over" He said as his voice quivered.

I walked over to them, trying not to trip on anything. Damn was that hard. Then I looked over at his dresser. There was weed laying in bags next to some rolling paper. I tapped Kyle on the shoulder and pointed at the dresser. Kyle was really pissed off at Kenny for doing drugs. I had never seen him more angry.

"Kenny, what the hell is that?" Kyle knew perfectly well what that was.

" What? Oh, that I'm uhm holding it for a friend" He was barley responsive.

I saw Kyle sink. His heart and mine, both at the same time. We just looked at him. I thought to myself. Poor Kenny, his parents are too drunk to even notice him. His brother didn't care and his little sister was counting on him . But Kenny was just a kid. Who truthfully couldn't even handle himself.

Kyle pulled Kenny out of bed and dropped him on the floor. He hit the ground hard and could barley get up. Kyle kept trying to get him up. It was just sad.

"Get up stupid kid" Kyle said picking Kenny up. Finally he stood up, stumbling though. "Kenny, please look at me. You need to stop. Look at yourself'' Kyle was looking into his eyes. He was serious. Kenny jerked and pulled away from Kyle. He got a paper bag from under his pillow and looked at us. His eyes were red, and they had huge bags under them. He was shaking and was scared.

"What time is it?" he said franticly getting his shoe on. Kyle looked at his watch.

" Its 12:00 why?" he said. Kenny rushed out the door and ran to the front door. We followed him. Kyle kept asking him were he was going, but he never answered. We ended up down town.

"Kenny, where are you going?" I asked. He looked at me and said:

"I got a costumer, can't be late."

Kyle looked at him with such disappointment. I thought Kyle was gunna punch him. But Kenny had enough broses already.

He made a turn into an alley way . He looked at us like he forgot we were there.

"Guys, get out of here. Go in a store or something, I'll be right out, Go!" he whispered. Kyle didn't want to leave Kenny there alone. I couldn't blame him but I had to listen to Kenny. I grabbed Kyle's arm and took him into a shop right next to the alley way. Kyle looked at me like I was crazy.

"Are you stupid? He's selling drugs back there. We have to stop him" he whispered.

"No, look if we go back there we'll all get hurt. Just wait here" I said quietly.

"Aww man Stan, we have to help him. We have to save him." He whispered back.

"I know, we will. Don't worry. He'll be fine." I said, and we hugged.

Ten minutes passed and we walked outside. We passed the alley way looking for Kenny. He was standing there looking at the ground. He handed the bag to a tall guy in a black hoodie. We walked right passed the alley way, then heard Kenny. He wasn't talking. It was more like a yelp, but quite. He hit the ground. The tall guy walked out of the alley way and walked down the side walk in the other direction.

We ran to Kenny. He was on the ground. Not making a sound. He held his stomach and looked at us with a black eye. Kyle helped him up. Kyle looked so scared for him. Kenny was a lost cause. He always was. I knew it, and Cartman knew it. He was the baby of the group, even though we were all 17 and he was a raging whore. He was the one we all looked out for. He was the one who would get into the most trouble.

He finally stood up straight. I just looked at him. I did feel bad for him. I couldn't understand why he was like this though. Why he was so stupid. Why he did these things to himself. I just couldn't understand him. There had to be a reason he was always so fucked up.

He looked at Kyle.

"I'm fine, man. Thanks" he said.

Then he looked at me. That look said everything. It meant everything. I didn't know why, but with that one look I felt him reach into my soul and grab it. Now he was stuck. He was apart of me, more than ever before I could see us hanging out more. I felt closer to him than I ever had. I couldn't have possible known why back then.

We all started walking. Kenny with his hood on as usual, starring at the ground as he walked. In deep thought, I assumed. He always looked like he was thinking about something real important. Kyle and I talked the rest of the way home. Kenny answered with one word the entire conversation.

We kept the conversation alive by laughing and making stupid jokes that wouldn't matter in an hour. As long as they kept us happy for now. That's all we needed.

Once we got back to Kenny's house we sat in his room for a while. Kyle and I continued talking. Kenny sat on his bed. Looking blankly out the window, with his head up against the wall.

Kenny looked over at his back pack. Then up at us. He always looked so out of it. I wondered were he went. I wondered if it was nice. I bet it was.

"Hey Stan, can you hand me the pack in the front pocket" he said looking at his back

pack. I looked at it too, and opened that pocket. I threw the pack to him, and he caught it.

"Thanks ,man."

Kyle looked away in disappointment as Kenny took a lighter out of his pocket. It was one of those cheap ones from CVS. He light up his cigarette and looked out the window again, smoking it.

"Kenny I better have time to air out after you smoke that!" Kyle said.

"Don't worry, were going to the tree house. You'll have time" he said calmly.

Time passed and Kyle became more angry with every cigarette Kenny smoked. Finally Kyle stood up and took the pack from him.

"No more Kenny. Not one fucking more while I'm here." Kyle yelled.

"Fine…" Kenny said exhaling a cloud of smoke. "Not while you're here" he laughed.

"A lot of shit happens when no ones here" he said dully. Kyle knew he ment drugs.

"Kenny , please stop it with this stuff… all of it. I hate seeing you like this. High all the time. So calm, its scary. Your emotionless. What the hell happened to you?" Kyle said.

"too much, too fast." Kenny said putting out his last cigarette. He pulled the covers over himself. Kyle sat next to him. You could see how uncomfortable Kyle was. He got up.

"I've got to go… I'll see you guys over at the tree house…" Kyle said. Then he left.

PART THREE

Kenny looked at me as Kyle walked out of the room. I just looked at the floor, there was just too much tension. Kyle cared too much about Kenny to see him slip away, and even though Kenny couldn't see it I could. Kyle didn't want to be around him when he was like this.

Kenny pulled a paper bag out from under his mattress. He glanced at me and said "Hey man hand me some rolling paper, will ya ?" as he motioned toward it. I tossed it at him, and it landed on the bed. He took out some weed and rolled a blunt. Then he sat back with his head propped up by his pillow and light it. I walked over to him and sat on his lap. He blew the smoke right in my face and I took the blunt from him. He looked at me surprised.

"You wanna give that back kid?" he smirked. I ignored him at stared at it for a bit. Then without hesitation I took a drag. He looked at me, jaw dropped and eyes wide. "Dude! You don't smoke weed, what the fuck are you doing?" He said. I looked at him.

"Well I just did." I said calmly as he took a drag. We laughed and started talking. Thinking we were having some deep conversation, but really I think we were talking about socks.

Soon the blunt was almost gone. Kenny got hungry and so did I so we walked to seven eleven and got a bunch of junk after we calmed down a bit. We ate so much that our stomachs hurt. We were both on Kenny's bed (which was just a mattress anyways) that was covered in snack wrappers. We smelt like marijuana and Doritos. Kenny and I begun to get tired. He lied down and I lied next to him. We looked at the ceiling which had a poster of a girl wearing a slutty bikini on it. He closed his eyes but I left mine open tried to ignore the poster so I could focus on what Kenny was saying.

"Hey man, why is Kyle always such a bitch to me?" he asked.

"I don't know, he's just worried about you I guess.." I replied..

"What?" he laughed " He really shouldn't worry about me, man".

"Why not?" I asked.

" I've got it figured out. I know my life isn't exactly perfect and shit but hey I'm good the way I am." He said breathing slowly. God damn. That had to be one of the smartest and stupidest things that Kenny has ever said.

"You're good? Dude you stay in your room all day and smoke weed, the only times you leave is for school if you feel like it and to sell it or fuck somebody. You're good! Are you fucking insane?" I said angrily.

" You're mad. I know, but you don't understand Stan. This stuff, this life. Its what I like. I know I sound like a fuck wad but I mean drugs are an escape ok. The world is disgusting, and sometimes you need to leave it without dying." He said quietly. He was tired and his voice sounded tired. It had to be one of the sexiest things about him. Even though I'm not totally gay I had to admit his tired voice gave me chills. Then I closed my eyes too. Everything was quiet. Kenny didn't speak another word. He fell asleep and then so did I.

When I woke up the room was dark. A shade of blue, and the only light come from the moon. It shone through Kenny's window above us. It was quiet and the only sound come from the rain outside and Kenny's slow breathing. I didn't move for a few minutes. I just stayed there. It was perfect. Kenny rolled over and looked at me.

"Hey you're awake?" he said while running his hand though that messy blonde hair.

"Yeah, I haven't been for too long though." I said softly so I could still hear the rain. Kenny looked at me and smiled.

I had no idea what time it was. It was dark out though. That probably meant we were too late to meet Cartman and Kyle at the tree house and I was too late to disappoint them. Which was okay.

I sat up and looked at the room. Still a mess with shirts and pants thrown everywhere. Still bottles huddled around the trash and bags of weed on the dresser. Snack wrappers covered the mattress. There was only a ripped blanket and pillow filled with news paper to comfort us. Kenny sat up too. Then out of nowhere we herd yelling. No, screaming and glass breaking. Karen crying, and Kevin yelling "STOP!" It was so frightening. Kenny didn't seem to care much. He told me he would be back in a minute, then he disappeared out the bedroom door. Only a little light come through the bottom of the door. I could see his parents feet walk passed yelling at each other. Kenny came running in with Karen.

He carried her into the room quickly shutting the door behind him and put her down in the corner. She stood there and he kneeled next to her so he could look into her eyes. He ignored the fact that I was even there, and that was ok. What he did for Karen was so important. He lifted her chin up to meet her eyes.

"Hey, its ok kiddo." he smiled. She let a few tears roll down her face as she stared at him.

" but Kenny, I'm scared" she said. He hugged her tight.

"I know that. It's ok. I won't let anything hurt you." He whispered. She pulled away and smiled. He smiled too. He always knew what to say, even if it wasn't much at all.

"Thanks Kenny. I love you." she said, and he smiled so much that his eyes watered a bit.

" I love you too Karen." he gave her head phones so she wouldn't have to hear the fighting. She sat down in the corner and hugged her knees. Kenny walked over to the dresser and shoved the bags into his boxers drawer. He turned to look at Karen.

"Alright, me and Stan gotta be somewhere so you'll be alright, okay? Remember- " she cut him off in mid sentence.

"I know, I know don't touch anything. Don't worry Kenny." she said. He smiled and walked over to the bed. He opened the window above it and let me climb out first. His room is on the first floor so we got out easily. He said 'bye' to Karen and climbed out shortly after me. He shut the window and there we were, in the pouring rain, at night. It wasn't cold though, so I didn't mind that much. We ran out of his yard and into the street. He looked at me and I looked at him.

"Alright man we've got five minutes to get to the tree house, were not gunna be late!"

'How fucking perfect' I thought. I followed him the whole way there.

Finally we arrived. Cartman and Kyle were already there, fighting as usual. Kenny and I sat opposite them and just sat for a minute catching our breathe and drying off.

They however were dry. Kyle explained that it had started raining right after he got there and the 'fat ass' (who had actually lost a bit of weight) was already here. Then Cartman made a stupid remark about Kyle's hair and they were off fighting again.

I wonder how Kenny could even stand it. He was always around this bullshit. He leaves a house full of people screaming at each other to come and hangout with people who just sit around and screaming at each other too. Damn I could hardly stand it myself and I was only with Kenny for one day.

"HEY!" I yelled at them. They looked over at me surprised. " Shut the fuck up you too, just stop it already." Kenny laughed at me.

"Not the life for ya, huh?" he smirked.

"How the fuck do you do it dude?" I was seriously wondering. How could he be around this shit all the time.

I looked up and noticed Kyle and Cartman were looking at us. Yup, they were so confused. Not surprising. Kyle punched Cartman's arm, which broke his vacant stare. He shook a bit then come back to the real world. Sucks for him.

"Ok you guys, so what did your parents say?" Cartman asked.

"I'm in" Kyle said smiling, probably forgetting I was there. Real nice Kyle, really smooth.

"Me too man" Kenny said. Cartman looked at me.

"What about you Stan? You coming or are you just gunna puss out?" he teased.

"I'm not pussing out!" I said angrily. " My parents wont let me go". Cartman laughed.

"You're missing out big time asshole." he continued laughing. What a dick.

"SHUT UP FAT ASS!" Kyle yelled. They went off again.

I know Kyle was just trying to defend me, but really? With this again. I would rather he just left it at Cartman being a huge dick as usual. Kyle was my best friend, but sometimes he was a little bitch. Hey, every friendships got problems right? I had too admit he was an adorable little bitch though.

Kenny look out the window of the tree house. There he goes again. Off somewhere else. Not like the places you go when you zone out. More like the places you dream about I assume. I wonder if Kenny was actually deep. Insightful even? Maybe. He could easily be hiding it. Kenny could have been hiding a lot of things. He lived by 'if no one asks, then there is no need to say anything.' I admire that. It was like he had secrets, with out seeming to care whether they were heard or not. The exact opposite of most of South Park.

I didn't want to look away from Kenny. I knew he needed a friend. Maybe me. Maybe I could be that friend. The one he lives for. I wanted to be that person so badly. It killed me to see him like this. So empty all the time. So drained. He's too young to be this sad. I was going to help that kid if it killed me.

PART FOUR

The rain didn't stop but it was late and we had to get home. Well except for Kenny. He could be gone for a month or two before his folks ever noticed he was gone. Kyle and Cartman ran home in opposite directions. Kenny was walking through the rain, staring at the ground.I ran over to him.

"Kenny! Hey man, wait up" I said. He just kept walking until I caught up to him.

"Let's go to your place" he said emotionless. I agreed and we walked back to my house.

We got to my house and climbed in the window. He lied on my bed in the dark. I sat beside him. He took out a cigarette and we talked. We talked a lot. It's what he needed. It's what I was waiting for.

"Man, how do you stand all that fighting bullshit ?"I asked. He smiled as he blew a cloud of smoke into the air above him.

"I just do. Been around it so long, I'm just use to it." he said. I heard foot steps coming up the stair. Kenny scrambled to the open window and held his cigarette out the window. He pretended it wasting ever there. When my father walked in he was drunk.

"Staaaaan!" he said wobbling back and forth. "STAAN!" he yelled with excitement.

"What dad?" I answered.

"Staaan" he whispered. "son…It's time we had a talk Stan!"

"oh my-" I couldn't finish. He interrupted me.

"This is a beer" he said holding an unopened bottle in his hand.

"Okay dad, I know that." He's such an idiot.

"Okay… good." he said and walked away. Kenny laughed with his elbows still resting on my window sill.