Hey! Title change; this was originally "Cries Of A Madman", but I decided I really don't like that title. I haven't for a while. So, I've finally changed it. Next step, rewrite the first part to line up with my newer work...

So. More Mal in juvie stuff! Child abuse of various forms is mentioned here, so if that's squicky for you, then skip this one.


"What are you guys talking about?"

Vince and Cole stared ahead at the tan boy who leaned over their table and between them, regularly turning his head to face both of them. They had both finished their lunches and were having a chat while waiting to be sent back to their cells, but this strange boy with his hair in his eyes had interrupted them.

"Um..." Cole, a short but stocky boy who had just arrived in the facility, stared past the newcomer and at Vince. "Who's this guy?"

"Weird. Ignore him," Vince answered.

"That's rude," said the tan boy. "I just wanted to know what you guys were talking about. Something about parents?"

"Yeah, parents," Cole answered. "About how awful our-"

"Ignore him, Cole," Vince said. "I told you, he's weird. Completely nuts. I used to share a cell with him. He yells at himself in his sleep, and he spends a lot of time with the nurse for cutting himself up with glass, at least when he's not cutting other people-"

"We're not talking about me, are we?" the newcomer said. "Come on, I'm bored. Can't I have a bit of conversation while we're out of our cells? No one else wants to talk to me."

"I wonder why not," Vince spat.

"Come on, Vince, he doesn't seem so bad," Cole answered. "Look at him, he's so scrawny! What's he gonna do to us, even if he is weird? Hey, skinny, what's your name?"

"It's Mal."

"Do you wanna sit down?"

"No thanks, I don't mind standing," Mal said. "So, what were you saying? Your parents were awful?"

"Yeah! They were the worst!" Cole said. "I'm so glad I'm away from those assholes now. Juvie is way better than home!"

"Wow, they must have been terrible if you prefer being locked up," Mal said. "What about you, Vince? Were your parents bad, too?"

"...yeah, they sucked," Vince said, finally resigned to the fact that Mal wasn't going anywhere. "They always yelled at me and made me feel like I couldn't do anything right. If that's how they felt about me, then they don't deserve to have me living at home."

"I'm really sorry to hear that," Mal said. "My parents weren't any good, either. Tell me, what's the longest they ever left you home alone?"

"Huh?" Cole said. "What are you talking about?"

"I think mine was four days," Mal continued on. "Maybe five? It all blended together after a while. I was seven at the time. We didn't have any fresh food I knew how to make, but I did find something old in the back of the fridge. Whatever it was, it made me really sick, and there was no one home to do anything about it. I think both parents thought the other one had me. Probably thought it was a relief they didn't have to look after me that week."

"...erm... my parents never did that," Cole said, now regarding Mal with a suspicious eye.

"No? What about you, Vince?"

"No, not mine," Vince said. "Would have liked it if they left me alone for five days, but they never did."

"I see," Mal said. "Well, what about the stairs?"

"What about them?"

"How many times did they throw you down the stairs?"

Vince and Cole exchanged looks before focusing on Mal again. Cole slid his chair back somewhat. Vince was right; this guy was weird.

"Why the hell would they do that?" Vince asked.

"Beats me," Mal said with a shrug. "I think a couple times were because my room was messy. Never was sure, really. All I knew was, dad was pissed off, he didn't have anything to do, so... right down the stairs. I broke my arms a lot from that. Teachers thought it was an accident, so they never said anything. Anything like that ever happen to you guys? I mean, since your parents were so awful, I'm sure they did something like that."

"Listen, Mal, this conversation has been... interesting," Vince said as he started to stand. "But I'm done eating, so maybe I should go-"

"But we're still talking!" Mal said. "You can't leave now! I want to know how awful your parents were! Did they ever slam your face into the wall?"

"No!" Cole cried out in horror. "That's awful! Who would do that?!"

"Awful parents like ours, of course!" Mal said. "I lost a tooth that way once. At least, I think that's what did it. Could have been any number of things. I still have the gap, see?" Mal demonstrated by sticking his tongue inside the gap where a tooth once was."Yours never knocked a tooth out? They actually sound really nice. Unless they're awful because they let someone else hurt you? Maybe your mom left you with one of her druggie friends and he made you take your clothes off, maybe he touched your-"

"You're disgusting, Mal!" Vince snapped and slammed his hands down on the table as he stood. "My parents would never do something like that! That's just sick!"

"Then what did they do to make them so awful?" Mal asked, his head tilted in what appeared to be honest confusion.

"They were always up my ass about everything!" Cole insisted. "Be home before curfew, stop smoking weed, get a job, stop bringing girls home! They were so strict! They wouldn't let me do anything!"

Mal locked eyes with Cole, his expression blank.

"Is that all?" Mal asked quietly. "You hate your parents because they wouldn't let you smoke weed?"

"Y-yeah!" Cole said in a quavering voice, his bravado faltering. "They were so boring, they don't know how to really be a teen these days! Yours were the same way, right, Vince?"

"Cole, shut up, I think he's getting pissed off-" Vince hissed through his teeth.

"Yeah, his were are bad as mine! I'd rather have any other parents than the ones I got! Vince is right, at least if I got left alone for a few days I wouldn't have them bitching at me! It'd be the best days of my life!"

"I see." Without another word, Mal walked around the table and stood behind Cole. After a few silent seconds that convinced Cole that Mal had walked off entirely, Mal clutched a clump of Cole's brown hair in his fist and tugged.

"You're spoiled!" he snapped. "That's all you have to bitch about? You need to work for a living?! Boo fucking hoo!" As Mal screamed, he slammed Cole's face into the table with a sickening thud.

"Dude, what the hell?!" Vince cried out.

"No one ever did this to either of you, did they?!" Mal continued to shout. "You never felt that before?! Here, have another!" Cole's face came crashing down. "And another! Still prefer this to home?! Still think it's worse to not have constant access to weed and booze? You spoiled brat!"

"Dude, cut it out!" Vince said. "Stuff still sucked for us, even if we didn't see any of that weird crap you just made up!"

"Made up?! Made up?!" Mal said with a laugh. "You think I made all that up?! If your first thought is that I made it up, then you're both spoiled!" Mal continued to chant, slamming Cole's face down with every word. "Spoiled! Spoiled! Spoiled!"

"No one could be that fucked up to their kid! That's insane!" Vince said.

Mal scoffed, then threw Cole down to the floor.

"Mal?"

"I'm done here," Mal said as he turned around. "That conversation wasn't nearly as fun as I thought it'd be... damn, now I'm just pissed off..." He slid his hands into his pockets and sighed. "I'm not even in the mood to fuck with you guys today... maybe tomorrow, then." Without his trademark whistle, a rare silence in Vince's experience, Mal walked out of the room to parts unknown.

Groaning, Cole gripped the edges of the table to pull himself back to standing position. "Wh... what was that about...?" Cole asked, breathing heavily. Blood gushed from his nose and lower lip.

"I have no idea. I told you, he's weird. Don't talk to him anymore. He's too easy to set off. Come on, let's go to the nurse... it looks like he smashed your nose up really bad..."