Title: What Would You Do?
Author: The Love Mutt
Rating: R
Summary: Fic based on the City High song of the same name.
Tai stopped as he flipped through the pages of his yearbook. He rarely looked at it, but he was cleaning up his apartment and found it, later on he would think of it as an omen. But for now he was just looking at old faces. He stopped when he got to Matt's picture. Matt. It had been years since he'd seen him, Matt had left after grade 8, shortly after the original Digi-destined's falling out. They'd all parted on bad terms, except for Sora who continued to be Tai's friend, so Tai wasn't too concerned. Now, as he looked at the old picture, he wondered why TK and Matt suddenly left. He hadn't gone to their parents to ask where they were, he wasn't that concerned, so it was a mystery.
He was pulled from his revere by a loud female voice. "Baby, come on!" Sora called from the other side of the door. Her yelling was accompanied by banging. Tai stood up and started walking to the door.
"I'm coming, hold on." He opened the door just before Sora knocked again. On her arm was a tall green-eyed brunette with freckles. With her free arm Sora grabbed Tai and pulled him out the door.
"Come on." Sora urged. They were walking, the club was in walking distance.
The girl, Jennifer, laughed at Sora's impatience. "It will still be there later," she told her.
Sora was still excited and hurried up. Tai looked at her and smiled. She'd changed a lot over the years, but she was still Sora. And when she was excited about something, she let nothing stand in her way. Tai didn't see what the big deal was, but he wasn't a lesbian. He wished he could be for a night, but this paragraph isn't about his fetishes. Being an equal opportunity kind of guy he wasn't really bothered by the fact that all the clubs and bars near his home were straight.
Tai didn't see why they needed to be here in the first place. He wasn't looking for anybody and Jen and Sora were already together. He chuckled to himself remembering how they met. He'd been there.
Tai was going well over the speed limit, even though he new another ticket meant a license suspension. He'd was muttering profanity to himself as the officer approached, not really paying attention to what was going on in the passenger seat. When the officer asked them to roll down the window Sora started crying out of fake embarrassment. "It's my fault," she told the officer. When Jen asked Sora to explain, she told her all about her fake bladder problem and that Tai was trying to get her to a bathroom on time. She'd even poured water in her lap to make it look like she wet her pants! It worked.
They'd gotten to know each other, Sora eventually told Jennifer the truth, and they fell in love to live happily ever after.
Tai, on the other hand, was still single, and the girls wanted to hook him up.
#
The club thing is really a waste of time when you turn away all the advances made upon you. And Tai got plenty, both male and female. He'd told the girls he wasn't looking for anybody. It was a nice night out and the girls obviously wanted to get friendlier, so he told them he'd walk home alone. He strolled along in the darkness, not realizing he was entering the red light district. (Incase you don't know, that's where the hookers be at, remember that song, red light special? ... all alone, if you want it tonight, I'll give you that red light special, all through the night. ok, back to the story).
He realized where he was when a very forward man approached him. "Hey," a soft, almost feminine voice said. "Looking for a good time?" Normally, Tai would ignore something like that, but there was something in that voice that was familiar. He turned to find himself staring into the larger green eyes of his ex-best friend.
Matt didn't look like Matt. He was even thinner, and there were stress lines on his face that the old Matt didn't have. For a moment, Tai's breath caught, then he spoke. "Matt?"
Matt's eyes lit up as he realized his was Tai, then he lowered his head in shame. "Tai?" he said, looking at his shoes rather than Tai. "Is that really you?"
"Yes, It's me."
Matt grinned at Tai. "Hi Tai. I'm a whore."
From the expression on Matt's face and what he'd said, it was obvious he was very high. Tai knew he had to get his old friend off the streets. Tai reached out and grabbed Matt's hand. "Come with me," he said.
Matt jerked back from the touch. "Ok," he said. Then he told Tai his prices. "10 bucks for a hand job, 20 for a blow job, 50 to fuck me, and 80 if you want me to fuck you. Kinks are extra." (Note: I have no idea how much whores charge, hence the screwed prices.)
Tai looked shocked at what Matt said. "I don't want you like that Matt," he said. I just want you to come with me and talk. You can spend the night at my place if you want."
"150 for the night."
"Come on Matt," Tai told him as he began to walk toward home. Tai wanted to talk to Matt but as soon as Matt sat down he passed out, presumably from the drugs. Tai was partially sickened, and partially relived that he'd gotten Matt off the street before he passed out alone and vulnerable.
#
When Matt woke up he was sober. He didn't remember where he was until he saw Tai looking at him expectantly. "Matt," Tai said, "we need to talk."
Tai began grilling Matt, asking him all sorts of questions, how did he end up that way, where he'd gone after he left, why he left, why he was doing this to himself, why didn't he get help. When he finished asking his questions Matt was about to cry. He began his story.
"TK and I ran away because our father abused us. Raped us. He'd always done it to me, but when mom snapped and he gained custody of TK I knew we had to leave. See, he'd never really hurt me, I just had to corporate and everything was fine, physically. TK fought him every step of the way, and most nights I'd find him only half conscious in a puddle of blood. I was scared for his life.
"After we left, he started hurting himself. He said that since dad wasn't 2doing it for him anymore he had to do it for himself. Some bullshit about how he wanted, needed his physical pain to match what he felt inside. I didn't really get it and I didn't want to. Tried to ignore his multiplying scars. I'm sure he didn't mean to kill himself, he wouldn't leave me, would he? After all, he was needed. I needed him. The baby needed him."
"The baby?" Tai interrupted.
"Yes, my son. He's the reason I do this. I myself am not worth it, but he needs to eat you know. His mom left me. Well she didn't leave me, she got arrested. She was even more of an addict than TK."
Tears fell freely from Matt's eyes. His stomach hurt from the convulsions of his sobbing. He felt better though, now that he'd gotten it all out. Tai would take care of him. Tai didn't think of him as a whore. Tai would help. He could begin to heal.
Matt looked to Tai, fresh hope shining in his eyes. He saw Tai looking in his wallet, counting bills and grinning to himself. He felt Matt's eyes on him and looked down at the blond. "How much did you say a blow job was?" he asked.
He wasn't looking for anybody after all.
City High - What Would You Do?
-boys and girls, wanna hear a true story / saturday night was at this real wild party / they had the liquor overflowing' the cup, about / five or six strippers trying' to work for a buck / and i took one girl outside wit' me / her name was loni / she went to junior high wit' me / i said, why you up in there dancing' for cash? / i guess a whole lots changed since i seen you last
-she said...
what would you do / if your son was at home / crying all alone on the bedroom floor /' cause he's hungry? / and the only way to feed him / is to sleep wit' a man / for a little bit of money / and his daddy's gone somewhere / smoking' rock now / in and out of lock down / i ain't got a job now / so for you this is just a good time / but for me this is what i call life
-girl you ain't the only one wit' a baby / that's no excuse to be living' all crazy / then she looked me right square in the eye / and said, everyday i wake up hoping' to die / she said, nigga i know about pain 'cause / me and my sista ran away, so my daddy / couldn't rape us, before i was a teenager / i done been through more shit, / you can't even relate to
what would you do / if your son was at home / crying all alone on the bedroom floor /' cause he's hungry? / and the only way to feed him / is to sleep wit' a man / for a little bit of money / and his daddy's gone somewhere / smoking' rock now / in and out of lock down / i ain't got a job now / so for you this is just a good time / but for me this is what i call life
ooh
then she said, what would you do if?
-get up on my feet /and let go of every excuse
what would you do if...?
-'cause i wouldn't want my baby / to go through what i went through
what would you do if...?
-get up on my feet / stop making' tired excuses
what would you do if...?
-girl i know if my mother can do it / baby you can do it
ooh, ooh, ooh / yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
what would you do / if your son was at home / crying all alone on the bedroom floor /' cause he's hungry? / and the only way to feed him / is to sleep wit' a man / for a little bit of money / and his daddy's gone somewhere / smoking' rock now / in and out of lock down / i ain't got a job now / so for you this is just a good time / but for me this is what i call life
-what would you do / if your son was at home / crying all alone on the bedroom floor /' cause he's hungry? / and the only way to feed him / is to sleep wit' a man / for a little bit of money / and his daddy's gone somewhere / smoking' rock now / in and out of lock down / i ain't got a job now / so for you this is just a good time / but for me this is what i call life
come on
what would you do / if your son was at home / crying all alone on the bedroom floor /' cause he's hungry? / and the only way to feed him / is to sleep wit' a man / for a little bit of money / and his daddy's gone somewhere / smoking' rock now / in and out of lock down / i ain't got a job now / so for you this is just a good time / but for me this is what i call life