Here is Chapter 4! Thank you to everyone for all of the comments and follows, it means a lot to me. I hope you enjoy.
"Dennis!" Mr. Kim shouted.
"You need to move faster! The tables are still dirty!"
The lack of sleep combined with the recent tragedy in his family had taken a toll on Kenny. He wasn't able to keep up with the amount of business that City Wok had for the weekend. He didn't want to come in for work, but he had to work as much as possible for the sake of his remaining family. But despite his best efforts he would continue to fall behind throughout the rest of the day, and continue to be scolded by his boss. Kenny wanted nothing more than for the day to be over.
Once he was finally done work, he spent the next couple of minutes leaning against the building. Sweat was dripping from his forehead, he was struggling to keep his eyes open, and his body felt sore and weak all over. It was going to be a long walk home.
Kenny walked liked a mindless zombie on his way home, with nothing able to break the trance he was in. Not the children that played around him, or the city noise, or even the attractive brunette that was only a couple of feet in front of him. It wasn't long before Kenny lost his sense of direction entirely and started walking into the middle of the road. His lack of attention made him walk in front of the green van of a distracted driver; which left him a bloody corpse in the middle of the road.
After being resurrected by his curse, Kenny would not awake till noon the next morning, where he would be greeted by his mother sitting on the side of his bed.
"Kenny, where were you last night?" Carol asked.
Kenny didn't have an answer for her.
"Kenny, you can't do this to me right now, I was worried sick about you."
Kenny noticed the time and tried to get out of bed to head to work.
"You aren't going anywhere!" Carol shouted.
"(But mom, I have-)"
"You aren't going anywhere! I already called City Wok and let them know you are done for the rest of the break."
"(What!?)" Kenny responded.
"(But mom, we need the money)," said Kenny.
"What YOU need is to take some time to settle down before you destroy yourself," Carol responded.
Carol took a deep breath before speaking again.
"After everything that has happened, do you really think I could handle anything happening to you?" Carol asked.
Kenny merely looked down unable to respond.
"Now there is something I need to tell you," said Carol.
Kenny looked back up at his mother.
"I'm going to be working full-time at Olive Garden from now on."
Kenny was surprised at what he had heard, but also concerned. Carol had been given a full-time position at another restaurant not too long ago, but had walked out on the job only two weeks after getting the job. But after everything that had happened, he knew his mother wanted to be better, and he wanted to believe in her.
"(You mean that?)" Kenny asked.
"Of course I mean it," Carol replied.
"I doubt I even need to tell you this, but that means I need you here to look after Karen more than ever."
She was right. Not that he would ever let anything happen to Karen under any circumstances.
"(Where is she?)" Kenny asked.
"In her room with her crayons. I already told her you were alright and that you just needed some time to rest," said Carol.
"She was worried sick about you last night, so please; if nothing else, don't put her through any more pain."
Karen was as unaware of Kenny's curse as everyone else, and he felt that was for the better. Kenny wouldn't know what to do if he found out that his innocent little sister knew how often her brother experienced death.
"I have to go to work now, so rest up and take care of Karen. I won't be back till late tonight, so I'm counting on you," said Carol.
"(Everything will be fine, I promise)," Kenny replied.
"I'm proud of you. You know that right?" Carol asked.
"(I know)," Kenny said with a small smile forming under his hood.
Carol kissed her son's forehead as she walked out the door. Kenny took a deep breath as he finally got out of his bed to head to the kitchen to get a glass of water. He noticed there was less trash around the house than usual. It was a good change of pace around the house for it to be less shitty. It was still shitty, but it was better.
"Looks like someone finally decided to get up," Kenny heard while he took a sip of his water.
"(I thought you would be out by this time David)," Kenny responded.
"No, not today, the other two are taking care of the field work today; against my better judgment," David replied.
Kenny was glad that his family was no longer selling drugs, but having renters who paid through drug money was probably the next worse thing. Kenny avoided getting into any personal fights with David and his goons. He didn't want to put his family into any further danger if he could help it.
"(Not able to find better help?)" Kenny asked.
"If I did, I wouldn't be living in your garage now would I?" David responded.
"But that does bring me to something I wanted to talk to you about."
Kenny turned around to face David.
"I heard what happened with your mom earlier and how she called your boss and told him you were done," said David.
"I thought maybe I got held by offering you a share of our profits… if you're willing to give us a hand in-"
"(I'm not doing it,)" Kenny interrupted.
"Really? I thought it would have been perfect for you," David responded.
"You'll have a flexible schedule, you're way smarter than those other two idiots, and we both know you have experience with drugs."
He wasn't entirely wrong, but Kenny knew he couldn't be baited in by David's offer. He knew he couldn't get caught selling drugs and be in trouble with the law. He couldn't risk leaving Karen in the household without him.
"(I'm not fucking interested,)" said Kenny.
"That's a shame, you're making a horrible mistake," David said as he walked away shaking his head.
With his mother working more, Kenny wanted to believe it would be enough. He wanted to believe that his mother would not screw this up. He kept the thought in his head as he finished drinking his water.
"(Please let it be enough,) Kenny said to himself.
And that is another chapter down. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments. I will get the next chapter out as soon as possible.