"I'm Craig," I said in a deadpan voice. It was short and simple, just how I likes things. It was boring. There would be no tears for me. I didn't need sympathy. I still don't. Short and simple. Boring. Plain. Easy.
"If you don't make trouble, trouble won't come to you," my father would always say. My father.
Everybody shifted in their seats, nervous. Some knew what I had been through. They were shaken from the previous stories. I would keep my story short and simple. They responded almost too quickly with the familiar greeting, "Hey, Craig,"
"Hey, Craig," a twelve year old girl knocks on the door of Craig Tucker. Instead of cursing at her through the door, he opens the door and pulls her into the room.
"C-C-Craig, I'm scared.," she says, she is holding back the tears in her grey eyes. The same grey eyes that both her father and brother have, much different from the amber ones of her mother. Craig hugs her tight.
"It is okay, Ruby. We're going to be okay, no matter what," Craig says, sounding like he too is on the brink of tears, but he hides it with his monotone voice. He sounded decisive, as if he had come to this conclusion after hours of study and preparation. He loves her. He really does. The walls are thin, and their parents are angry. Not only are they fighting, but they are fighting over Ruby. She hasn't been doing as well in school recently, and the Tuckers are arguing who's fault it is.
Craig holds Ruby tight. For an unemotional guy, he seems to care a lot for Ruby. He wants to ask Ruby why, but he doesn't want to pressure her. Why she's slipping. He knows she's a genius. Craig is fairly smart, and he makes average grades. Ruby, however, is a prodigy. She wasn't as smart as Ike Broflovski, but she was a close second. Ruby squirms, taking off the jacket she always wears, the one Craig got her for her birthday.
Craig gasps. Her arms are scarred. In South Park, jackets are worn year round. He wants to yell at her, but not because he is angry. He is hurt. He may not be a hero of a brother like Kenny, but he watched over Ruby. All he has the strength to ask is,"Why?"
She looks down at Craig's Red Racer bedspread. She opens her mouth, but can only sob, holding Craig tighter. He hugs her back.
Two months later, the beeping of a heart monitor echoes in Craigs ears. He sighs. Ruby had tried to kill herself. He thought he had fixed this. He thought that he had helped her. She has been unconscious for days.
"Ruby, I'm sorry. I wish I could have helped. Losing you would be the worst. I know when we were younger, I hated you. You know, I guess I was just worried. You have Dad's eyes too, and that scared me. Dad used to be like this. I am trying not to be. I have you, Clyde, Token, Jimmy, Mom, Dad, and I guess Tweek. Mostly Tweek. Ruby, Losing a little sister is the worst, because then you feel like you failed. I used to tease you about the existence of a Little Sisters' Handbook. There isn't really one, you know, but if there was, you would be the author. Please, wake up," Ruby stirred, but a nurse told Craig that she was probably just mentally responding, but Craig like to think she was dreaming. He left the drab hospital room, smiling.
"Please don't cry." Craig said in his boring voice. He had apparently already gotten his tears out. "I didn't come here for your sympathy. I came so that the sideways glances and rumors would stop. I didn't kill her. My parents aren't abusive. She did this. It wasn't her fault though. Craig gripped Tweek's hand. Tweek smiled as if to say,"Good job,"
