People looked at him strangely as he skated home, some commenting on how terrible it was to expose a baby to dangerous things like skateboarding, but he just blew it off and kept going. Wasn't a single fuckin' person gonna tell him how to, or how not to, raise his lil' bro.
Lil' bro... That was a term that would take some getting used to. He'd never known his parents, much less any brothers. He'd grown up in a small orphanage in a shithole town in Texas. He'd grown up with Cal, his only possession at the place. The caretakers there would always shy away from the puppet, and he'd heard them whispering to each other about how he must be some kind of psycho, or how his parents weren't human and they'd left him there to feed on the other children. It had depressed him back then, but now he found it rather funny.
He'd never understood why people hated Cal so much. His mischievous grin and ridiculous attire had cheered Dirk up so many times when he was a kid that he'd lost count. There was one time where another of the kids at the orphanage had managed to steal Cal away from him. He made Dirk chase him around the backyard for a while before calling some of his lackeys to hold him.
The kid pulled out a lighter he'd stolen from one of the caretakers and held it up to Cal, saying he was "finally gonna kill the fuckin' puppet". Dirk had pleaded with him to stop, but he eventually did set Cal's leg on fire. Dirk was never entirely sure what happened next, it was all kind of a blur. All he knew is the second he saw the fire on Cal, something inside of him snapped and the next thing he knew he was cradling Cal in his arms while the bully was lying on the ground, several of his teeth lying on the ground next to him. The kids who'd been holding him back were staring in astonishment.
And then he'd run. Never looking back, he just ran. They'd searched for him, but he'd managed to evade them. Dirk had taken on a new name when he'd run from the orphanage, choosing to leave the old name behind with his old life. It wasn't long till he fell in with Dave and his crew. They'd practically been family to him, though only Dave had seen Cal. He'd described him as "pretty cool, in like a fucked up kinda way." It was through them that he'd found his love of mixing beats and fighting.
A woman shrieked as Dirk haphazardly swerved around her at the last moment, having been so lost in thought he'd forgotten to watch where he was going. Dave started crying at the noise and Dirk stopped the board and took him down off his shoulders. He held the baby at arms length as it wailed, his face the picture of trepidation. The child reached out toward him, his cries increasing in intensity when he couldn't reach Dirk.
"Aw man, just... Here." Dirk said in a hushed voice, holding the child closer. Dave's cries ebbed slightly as he buried his face in Dirk's shirt. Then crying turned into sobs, which turned into a contented humming. Dave pulled his head away from Dirk, wiping his runny nose with an arm before reaching up toward Dirk's shoulders again.
Dirk looked down at his white shirt, now smeared with slobber and snot. "Just fuckin' charming... Thanks Lil' Man..." He said, placing Dave back up on his shoulders and cringing when the mucus covered hands clasped onto his neck. "The hell am I doing this for again?" Dirk asked himself, resuming his journey back toward his apartment.
The remainder of the trip was uneventful, with Dave simply staring at the people on the street. Dirk pulled the child off his shoulders before entering the apartment, and took the stairs more gently than usual. Reaching his apartment, he tossed the skateboard into the living room and laid on the couch, holding Dave above him.
"Man, what in the actual fuck am I supposed to do with you? I don't have a crib or diapers or any of that shit..." He sighed, sitting up and setting Dave on the couch next to him. He looked around the small apartment, swords and wires everywhere. Not exactly the best place to be raising a kid. Dave began fussing and Dirk handed him the tiny shades again, which he'd stored in his pocket since the crater. Instead of wearing them this time though, Dave immediately set to chewing on them.
Dirk moved to take them away from him, but thought better of it. "Yours now kid. If you're gonna eat 'em, go right ahead." Dirk headed over to the second bedroom in the apartment. He and Dave had rented the place together, since Dave's girlfriend would often kick him out for being an "irresponsible prick." The room was mostly barren, save for a shitty mattress in the corner and a small TV on a stand. His friend Dave wouldn't need it anymore, but there was another Dave who did.
He'd need to buy a crib, or better yet build one himself. Couldn't be that hard to build a cage for a baby to sleep in, right? He walked back into the living room and saw Dave had dropped the shades on the floor. He picked them up and rinsed them off in the kitchen sink before returning them to Dave.
"Alright kid, you ready to go out again? Gotta get some necessities and shit." He said, hoisting Dave off the couch. He took the shades from Dave's chubby little hands and placed them on his eyes. Dave's face set into a smile and he reached out toward Dirk. Dirk held him closer and the kid snuggled up to him and fell asleep within moments.
Dirk set him down on the couch gently. He gathered several strips of material from around the house and brought them into the living room so he could keep an eye on Dave and make sure he didn't fall off the couch or some shit. Having a puppet as a best friend, you get to learning a thing or two about making things out of different fabrics. Dirk lashed a few old backpack and dufflebag straps together and under his expert hand a harness soon took form.
He checked the sizing once more before strapping it to himself. The harness hung in front of him and was secured to his chest. Picking Dave up gently, he set him in the harness and strapped Dave in. The kid woke up for a moment, moved around a bit to get comfortable and fell asleep again. Dirk chuckled quietly to himself. "Man, never woulda believed this shit'd be goin' down if I'd gone back in time and told me myself." He said with a sigh.
Dirk scooped up his board from where it had landed. Heading toward the door of the apartment, he regarded the broken lock for the first time in months. He didn't really have anything worth stealing, so he hadn't bothered fixing it. Now though... Dirk headed for the elevator to avoid jostling Dave too much. He'd been having an idea for a new song, and he was bobbing his head slightly as the beat formed in his head. The ding of the elevator snapped him back to present and awakened Dave, who began crying.
Dirk headed into the elevator after two others walked out, looking at him with shock. "Never seen a crying kid before?" He asked, hitting the door close button to stop them staring. Dirk began rocking Dave unconsciously to the beat in his head, and Dave's cries lost enthusiasm before he nodded off once more. Dirk smiled. "Kid's got it, all chillin' when that delirious beat fills him." The elevator reached the bottom a short while later and the two of them were off toward the store for supplies.