Kenny's POV
God Mr Heynham really does drag on and on and on… why did I choose computer sciences in the first place? I'd never be able to afford Denver Community College let alone a top university to study computers in. I guess it's just like everything else. I enjoy the technicality of computers so I absorb way too much information. I can guarantee that I'm the only one here to actually learn besides just firing up the internet and looking at funny cat videos. Jesus Christ really?
Well I say the only one – I guess there's one other person here willing to at least try to learn what's going on. It just happens to be Kyle fucking Broflovski. Godammit. I suppose it's not so bad, I sit in the back corner of the class, lay my head on the desk and forget about the world around me. That way if anyone were to actually know I'm here I'd be able to see them looking at me and pointedly ignore them. Especially Kyle. Although to be fair most people would look round and probably ask what my name was and when I joined the school. Seriously is it really that easy to forget someone. If it was I don't think I'd be suffocating myself every night with the feeling that I screwed up the best and only thing I had going for me.
"…Now in terms of computer architecture and engineering I'd like to talk about infrastructure that you may find in small-medium businesses situated in and near Denver, more importantly the backbone of virtually any computer network infrastructure and this would be…?"
The class falls silent. Everyone looks at the teacher in anticipation of the answer being given to them. When it's clear that that's not going to happen I move my elbow to one side and without raising my head utter one word. "Servers"
"Very good… class very good I'd like to talk about servers" He doesn't even have a clue where that voice came from, let alone that it was me that answered. No-one would believe little old Kenny would actually know something!
"Now, who can tell me what a typical hard drive set up is in server hardware? How about you Broflovski?"
My ears prick up but my head remains unmoved as I wait in anticipation. No matter what I think or feel I still love the sound of Kyle's voice. Even when he's screaming at Cartman. Even though it pulls my heart left and right with every new syllable. He just has such a calm and melodic voice. It reminds me of the times he's picked me up when I'm feeling like shit, or when I used to get kicked out the house and wander the streets. So kind and welcoming and… fuck sake those days are over Kenny, snap out of it!
"Um… I guess you'd have 4 or 5 hard drives set up linked together and they're be a RAID I think and the operating system would be installed over all the disks to prevent data loss?"
Kyle had a basic grasp, but I couldn't tell if he was just being modest as to not upstage everyone or he genuinely didn't know. I knew he could go into so much more detail, but then again I heard a slight nervousness in his voice. I guess you're not as high and mighty as you think…
"Good, that's a good start, now can you elaborate for me on RAID technology and maybe give some examples?"
"um… I… uh" wow – Kyle was falling fast. I think this calls for a little self-satisfaction…
"A RAID is a Redundant Array of Independent Disks, and it used to spread system state and file system data across a larger amount of disks to provide fault tolerance in the event of an emergency or disaster such as a hard drive failure. There are both hardware and software RAIDs, and debate still goes on about which is best. Hardware RAIDs are prone to hardware failure and need to be programmed through BIOS settings or pre-programmed prior to installation, whereas software RAIDs provide more reliance in terms of update and reinstallation but also don't fully operate until the OS is loaded. There are also different layers of RAID – RAID0, RAID1, RAID5, RAID6 etc and again this causes interesting debate. RAID0 is a simple striped drive where data is written across all disks, however there is no tolerance for fault. If one drive goes the array fails. RAID5 compensates for this by providing the same striping but with parity that provides each drive with data from all other drives, thus if one drive is destroyed it can be rebuilt automatically using the data from the other drives. Each RAID solution has differing costs, benefits, drawbacks and implications so they need to be tailored to the individual situation, however RAID5 is generally the most popular array layout choice."
Wow. I take a breath and keep my gaze focused on the teacher. I know from peripheral vision that the whole class is staring at me. And I don't mean just looking. They are jaws to the floor, eyes wide staring. Mr Heynham quickly readjusts to the answer I've just randomly given.
"That is the best answer I've had in my three years teaching at this school. Thank you very much Mr…"
"McCormick. Kenny sir"
"Well Kenny, I can see you'll be going far in this class for sure"
He turns around and continues on with the lecture from where I left off. Just as I go to rest my head back on the desk I notice… He's still staring at me. Not quite as wide eyed before but he's still staring. I half-heartedly smile and raise both eyebrows to try and signal surprise, before lowering my head back down to its original position. I can't help but smile into my arm. Kyle looked at me…
I walked home that evening with way too many thoughts going through my head. For some reason I was trying to decipher what that look from Kyle may have meant. And I don't know why. He was in shock no doubt. Kenny McCormick had apparently outsmarted him in what was probably one of the hardest subjects. Kenny McCormick shouldn't have been able to outsmart him in anything apart from domestic abuse 101 and living with frozen waffles 101 right? God I need a drink. I need a Pabst, or better yet, I need a fix. No – no I can't have either, even if just for the reason that my parents would either "flip the lid on this shit" (the "shit" being me) regarding the Pabst, or they'd lose a month's food because of the meth. Dammit nothing is simple.
And yet everything is so incredibly simple. And it hits me in the face as soon as I walk through the front door and hear her voice. Karen. Everything is simple because I have one purpose left on Earth. Keep Karen safe. Protect her. Watch over her and help her grow and learn and become something. She's the only one left in this town that sees me for me. Not just a piece of meat to slap, not just "the po' kid in skewl" and not as some dumbass redneck trailer trash. She's the reason I try to keep from dying, she's the reason I'm still in school and she's the reason I'm using all my free time making as much money as I can.
She's sitting in front of a broken mirror playing with her hair. I think she's trying to plait it or something, but both sides are mismatched and she's redoing a lot of it. Dad's passed out on the sofa, half-naked and drooling onto himself. Goddamn deadbeat. I understand it's not his fault he got laid off from work but seriously most people wouldn't then sit on the couch and waste away. Clearly my dad isn't most people.
"Kenny, can you help me with my hair. It won't go right!" Karen asks softly as I walk behind her. I take one look at dad and the tv which looks like cowboys and Indians and offer her into my room. She picks up the mirror and with a giggle runs in and dives onto my deluxe, spacious floor level bed. By floor level bed I mean "mattress on the floor" and by deluxe I mean "The rats only have one hole in it so far". I go over to the little drawer in my room and pull it open. There's an iPod and a small portable speaker in there that I pull out, turn on and set to shuffle before taking a seat behind Karen and pulling her closer to me for easier access to her hair.
I ask her exactly what I need to do and she gives good instructions. We sit there for what seems like hours, chatting about school, how her classes are going, how all her friends are and all manner of idle chit-chat while the iPod soothes the mood in the background. I can't even remember the name of this song. It's some old opera song that I thankfully didn't have to sing to in Romania before flying home. Thankfully though the conversation doesn't fall onto my school experience, and the one time she tries to bring it up I counter with a "everything's going to be fine in the end". Karen may only be 13 but she's smart and understands now's not the time for this. I finish up her hair and she has a quick look in the mirror.
"So where are you off to that required that 4 days of hairstyling?" I ask. I figure I deserve an explanation. I mean, unbeknownst to her I'd lost a good half hour of masturbation time for this.
"Oh just me and a couple of friends from school were going to have a look around the Mall in Denver. Apparently there's a guy there that Rachael wants to flirt with or something. I don't know. I just wanna tag along because I like looking at all the stuff in there. It's weird to think one day I could buy myself something from in there…"
God she's so sweet and innocent. So adorable. It's not even remotely fair that she has to live like this. I quickly pick myself up and pull open a drawer beside my bed. I take out a thick textbook that I "borrowed" from the school library 3 years ago and open it. Inside there's a nice compartment cut out of the pages, you know, like how they used to do it in the movies to hide their guns and shit? Well, mine's hiding money. A lot too. That's why it's like this, I know my dad will throw it on alcohol and fuck me my mom would probably think she could afford another baby on this. Pushing those thoughts to the back of my mind I pull out about 6 20 dollar bills and close the book, placing it back in the drawer. I walk up to Karen and take her hand in mine. Turning it over I place the bills in her hand and close it.
"Go grab yourself something nice then Karen. Something you've always wanted."
Without thinking she wraps her arms round my neck, pulling me down so she can kiss my cheek then embrace me in a tight hug. I lift her up and turn around, sitting back down on the mattress and moving her legs to drape over my lap so she's sitting side on. I kiss the side of her head and whisper, "Go on. Don't be late and have fun"
She pulls back and wipes a single tear from her cheek. Her smile broadens and she mouths a quick "thank you" before heading out the door.
I lean back on my bed and let my thoughts wander as I drift off into an early sleep.
Next chapter will start having a bit more interaction between characters. We may find out what happened 5 years ago fairly soon, we may have some drama beforehand, there may be a touch of romance but it may not be major. Maybe a bit of Stendy, maybe I pick someone else for stan. maybe i go off on a tangent and bring other characters in. I honestly don't know yet as I am literally making this up as I go along. These first 3 chapters were written one after the other in one day, based off the first paragraph of the first chapter that just came to my head. if you have any thoughts, ideas, development of plot etc feel free to let me know
please note though, I'm probably going to try and stay away from a few typical fanfic themes - namely kenny being horribly physically abused by parents, students etc. There may be allusions to these themes but i probably won't go heavy because quite frankly - even though he's not real, I can't stand reading about kenny's character in so much pain, and I don't think I'd be able to write it either
