CHAPTER TWO – 911

When Kenny was sure Butters was asleep, he carefully slipped out from under the blanket and snuck out of his room dragging his parka behind him. He knew he was getting in way over his head with this and would need help. Butters couldn't do this alone, and Kenny knew that he alone couldn't help him. He only had a vague outline of a plan in mind with no real details, and he hoped what he was about to do was a good first step. He pulled his phone from the pocket of his parka and sent a text message to Kyle's phone:

need you to call me asap 911

kenny

Twenty seconds later his phone rang. He quickly answered it. "Kyle?"

"Hey Kenny." It was Stan. "Kyle's in the shower. I've never seen you put '911' in a text before; are you okay?"

"I'm okay, Butters isn't though. I couldn't think of who else to call, it's the middle of the night, and it's the kind of thing that a lawyer might need to get involved in, so I was thinking Kyle's dad—"

"What could Butters have done that he might need a lawyer for?"

"I found him tonight, chained up in his backyard freezing to death inside of a dog house."

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a moment, then "Jesus Christ!"

"Yeah. I don't really know who else to—"

"Hey, Kenny, Kenny…Kyle's back now, tell him what you just told me."

He heard the phone switch hands, then Kyle's voice: "Hey Kenny. What's going on?"

"I was just telling Stan. About an hour ago I found Butters chained up in his backyard, almost naked, freezing. I cut him loose, and he's here with me now. That sick fuck of a father of his is going to come looking for him, and I'm not letting him go back there to any more of that. He doesn't want to go either, but I don't know if there's anything I can do except kill his dad to—"

"That bastard should rot in prison!" Kyle snapped. "He won't be able to take him anywhere from there."

"And," Kenny went on, unperturbed. "He doesn't want to get his parents in trouble. I know that's a lot, and I don't agree with it, but he insists and he's ready to dig in his heels about it. I thought maybe your dad might have some ideas. Um…I hate for you to wake him, but—"

"Oh Kenny, he's not even here now. My parents took Ike to some midnight movie he wanted to see. They won't be back for at least an hour."

Despite his frustration at having to wait, Kenny couldn't help but smile. "So… you two have got your whole house to run around naked in, huh? Sweet!"

Kyle laughed. "Yeah, something like that. Look Kenny, as soon as my dad gets home I'll tell him what you said. One of us will call you and we'll go from there, okay?"

"Sure Kyle. Thanks."

"Kenny, how's Butters doing? Is he…okay?"

"I've got him warmed up. Another couple of hours and he might have lost some of his toes though. I hope he's asleep. But…no, he's not really okay. He's scared shitless, doesn't know what's going to happen to him, and I can tell he's miserable. He doesn't have that…you know, spark…that he always has, that thing that makes him Butters."

"Ouch," Kyle said. "He's in good hands right now Kenny. Go take care of him, and someone will call you soon."

"All right Kyle. Thanks again." Kenny hung up and snuck back into his room. Kenny could tell Butters was asleep by his deep even breaths, so Kenny didn't ask this time as he gently climbed under the blanket with him again.

0-0-0-0-0

Kyle slowly closed his phone and looked at Stan. Even though they'd only been together as a couple instead of just lifelong best friends for about five days now, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world for Stan to be naked and Kyle to be wearing only a towel around his waist, his hair still damp from the shower. He couldn't think of anything else to say, so he settled for: "Wow."

"I know," Stan replied. "Poor Butters. Did I hear Kenny say that he didn't want his dad to go to jail?"

"Yeah. Which is stupid." He stared down at his cellphone, wishing a little that that text message had never come, or that they'd waited until later to answer it. He hoped this drama didn't spoil the mood of their last hour alone together.

Strangely, Butters' name had come up just a short time ago. After a session of passionate lovemaking (on a blanket on the living room floor in the same spot they used to sit and play video games and Guitar Hero as kids), they had laid together talking, and the conversation had worked its way around to the reproductive habits of various other life forms. Kyle mentioned the barnacle, which he stated "has the largest penis in relation to its size in the entire animal kingdom."

"And then there's the tumbleweed," Stan had said. "It just rolls around the prairies and plains, bouncing from place to place wherever the wind blows it, spreading its seeds everywhere it goes."

Kyle kissed Stan's chest. "Imagine if people reproduced that way. That wouldn't be much fun!"

"I bet Butters would like it," Stan said and they had both laughed at the images that conjured up in both of them. Kyle bounced his head gently off Stan's belly, rose a foot, dropped back to his belly and bounced again…and did a perfect impersonation of Butters' voice saying "Look! I'm Butters!" and they had laughed for two minutes, naked and tangled up in a blanket in front of the silent living room TV. Twenty minutes later, Kyle's phone had buzzed with an incoming text. They both hoped the phone call afterward hadn't ruined the rest of the evening.

Kyle set his phone on his dresser and turned to Stan, who automatically came to lean against him, their heads resting on each other's shoulders. "Nothing we can do now until my dad gets home," Kyle said, speaking against Stan's shoulder as he wrapped his arms around him.

"I can think of something," Stan replied. He waited until Kyle's body told him that it was okay to proceed. His fingers loosened the towel around Kyle's waist so it fell to the floor. "We still have an hour or so before your parents get home; come on…let's not let this spoil the mood. Butters is in good hands, like you said."

Kyle grinned. "Okay…where this time?"

Stan thought for a moment. "The kitchen!" They ran down the stairs and through the living room, Kyle pausing to grab the blanket off the floor as they hurried through on their way.