He didn't know what was worse: barely surviving a war, watching your best friends die in that war, going relatively insane because of that war, or being left homeless because of his insanity due to the war. Well, surely there were worse things besides all of the war-related events. Such as how he was pretty much forced to live behind an old school bus in a crappy ass school and how he had to constantly deal with the loud voices of the incredibly careless students. But, there was one boy whom which he actually enjoyed spending his time with.

He first met him at the beginning of the school year. He and two other snot nosed brats were trying to harass him. Of course, the boy stood up for him, which he found very flattering. Like as if he were the only one that knew he wasn't actually a full-fledged freak job.

It was almost like he was a modern day Boo Radley and the boy was a modern day Scout. Everyone feared him except the boy, who was the only one to actually meet him. Yes, before he entered the war, he spent all his days reading. He absolutely loved reading books almost as old as he was.

Now that the war caused him all of this damage, he couldn't sit still for five minutes (let alone read a book) without having horrid flashbacks of his best allies dying in his arms on the battlefield. No longer could he enjoy the works of Edgar Allen Poe, William Shakespeare, Harper Lee, or.....anything else. True, he loved reading classic novels, but he absolutely adored the older works more than anything. He was still surprised to this day that he was able to get away with watching the children's play on "Romeo and Juliet".

Even though his insanity took a major toll on him, he was still sane enough to cry at the death of Romeo. He never did marry, so if there was anything in the world he longed for more than to be able to read again, it would be to know what true love was. He knew that he would never figure it out by just watching snot nosed teenagers play "Romeo and Juliet". In fact, the only time before the death of his sanity that he felt love was for his sweet Mary Lou.

She was the golden child if there was one. Her beautiful blond hair, tan skin blending perfectly with her gorgeous complexion, rainforest green eyes shining down at him in the cold nights..........she was absolutely perfect. She was his one and only. Until her untimely death due to the greedy clutches of a brain tumor.....

A cold tear formed in the elderly man's left eye. If only he could've been there one last time to tell her good-bye. But still, he knew she was looking down at him at the very moment, proud of whatever choice he made. But still, he knew damn well that he didn't wasn't actually "in" love with her.

They were young and clueless....that was all. Once he began to think about it, he realized that he'd never actually took the time to think of what exactly true love really was. He loved Mary Lou, no doubt. But, he didn't see a life with her.

Now, it may have just been the war's many affects on his brain, but now (finally) he began to slowly realize what true love actually was. The boy that stood up for him, the one that actually took his time to visit him behind the old abandoned school bus.....HE was the one he wanted. He felt lost whenever the boy didn't come to visit him. But, at the same time, he felt used whenever he DID show up.

See, the only reason the boy ever even visited him was to learn some old-school, army styled moves. But, he knew that he could somehow get something out of the boy by making him bring old radio parts to him. He had been working on a top secret project for years...a project that would surely get his sorry ass out of Bullworth once and for all. Away from all the horrible memories.....but at what price?

So that he could never see the boy ever again? So he could never watch the children perform Shakespeare? So he could never remember his true roots? What kind of awful man was he?

Even though he knew he'd never be able to see him ever again, he figured it wouldn't too much of a loss to the boy. He dated all of the loose whores that attended the school (both male and female), so why would he need an old, washed up, ex soldier? He at least felt proud enough not to boast about his love issues unlike the other students (have any clue how annoying it is to hear things like "Why'd she leave me, WHY?" or "Why you gotta be that way, Lola?" or maybe, perhaps, even "What girl love Russell?" ?). He often smiled upon hearing these things because he knew that one day love won't matter to the boys and they'll all find someone better for them that will constantly remind them of how much better their lives are without the jezebels they stayed with.

As he wiped his eyes, he noticed a sound that always had his heart beating at the speed of light. Once he turned around, he noticed Jimmy Hopkins walking towards him with a radio transistor is his hands. His heart spoke to him, screaming "I need you" within every beat his heart made. But he would never let him know.

"Alright now, you ready to train?".