Chapter 10 – What Friends Are For…?
Mrs. Nancy Tucker opened Craig's bedroom door and walked right up to his bed. She let out an exasperated sigh before reaching down and tapping him on the shoulder.
"Craig? Craig!" She spoke down at her still sleeping son. "Wake up! I don't care what your excuses are; you are not going to miss another day of school."
Craig slowly opened his eyes and looked up at his mom in a confused manner. He wondered for a moment if he were still dreaming. The young ten-year-old boy was emotionally unable to do much of anything for the last few days, let along face the other kids at school. It seemed during that time his mom was sympathetic, but now, she was acting as if nothing happened.
"Don't you look at me like that," Nancy snapped. "Hurry up, and get out of bed. Your dad said he'll drop you off at school since you are about to miss the bus."
"Mom, don't you remember?" Her son squeaked.
"Remember what?" She sighed.
Confused, Craig swallowed before saying, "...Kenny...?"
The blond woman looked perplexed at her son. "Kenny...?" She thought for a moment as she tapped her finger onto her chin.
"Wait, he's that strange boy in your class, isn't he? One of McCormick's kids... What about him?"
Craig's mouth dropped. A thought crossed his mind. Maybe he dreamt the whole thing, either that, or his mom completely forgot everything. He cast his eyes down to the floor as he let out a small sigh.
"Nothing," was all he said.
"Craig, stop goofing around - get up and get dressed. I want you downstairs and ready in five minutes!" She barked. Nancy then turned and stormed out of the room.
With a small groan, Craig crawled out of the bed and traded his pajamas for his regular school clothes before shuffling his feet out of the room and down the stairs. He silently wished he could just disappear, so he wouldn't have to deal with his classmates. The fear of them hounding him with questions of what happened to him haunted his mind.
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As Mr. Thomas Tucker drove around the corner, he and Craig noticed the school bus had already dropped off the students and most of them had already gone inside the building. He pulled up along the curb and turned to his son.
"Would you lighten up, boy," he sighed. "You've been moping around at home all week. Now go have a good time at school, alright."
Again, Craig looked confused. He pondered on what was wrong with his family all morning. Without saying a word, the boy jumped out of the car and closed the door before he walked up to the school. Once inside he made his way to his locker, where his friends Clyde, Token, and Tweek were.
"Ngah, you're here!" Tweek twitched in surprise. With a shaky hand, he closed his locker after retrieving his books for the morning class.
"Yeah man, were you sick or something." Token asked, turning away from his locker.
"What…?" Craig asked with a raised eyebrow. He shook his head, went up to his locker, and started turning the dial to unlock the door.
"There must have been something going around, because Kenny was away for most of the week too. He showed up today though." Clyde said.
The instant he heard that, Craig dropped the books he grabbed. With a shocked expression, he spun his head to look right at Clyde.
"Hey Craig… You alright…?" Token asked. The African-American boy placed a concerned hand on the other boy's shoulder.
"Did you say Kenny was back?" Craig asked, looking wide-eyed at Clyde – ignoring Token's question at the same time.
"Um, yeah, see… He's over there at his locker." Clyde explained, pointing down the hall.
Craig looked past his friend and saw the familiar orange parka. He wondered if he was seeing things. The boy was sure he saw Kenny die in his arms due to a bullet shot in his back. What made it stranger was that no one, including his parents remembered that fact. It was when he noticed his friends Clyde, Token, and Tweek looking at him strangely.
"Dude, are you sure you are ok? You look like you're going to be sick or something." Token again asked.
"Aaag, oh Jesus, please don't get sick here!" Tweek spazzed as he tugged at his hair roughly.
"Um," Craig thought quickly. "I'll meet you all in class." He said before sprinting off towards Kenny and his friends.
"Craig, what about your books...?" Clyde asked, pointing down at the pile.
Craig paused briefly to look over his shoulder. "Could you put them on my desk? Thanks."
With a lost expression, Clyde, Token, and Tweek watched Craig run briskly towards the other group of boys.
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"Kenny, are you sure you are feeling better? You still look very tired." Kyle asked with concern heard in his voice.
"Totally, I hadn't seen you so quiet before." Stan added with the same concerned tone.
"Ah, you know poor people. They are always skipping school, because they have nothing else going for them in life." Cartman snorted.
"Shut the fuck up, asshole." Kenny snapped his voice muffled through his orange hood. He slammed his locker door closed and pointed a threatening finger at Eric.
"Jeez Kinny, what's up your vagina?" Eric Cartman scoffed.
"Yeah dude, chill." Stan reasoned.
Kenny let out a frustrated groan and banged his forehead up against his locker.
"Well, you got admit, Kenny, you were gone almost the entire week. You never even bothered to call and let any of us know you were still alive." Stan pointed out.
"I'm fine!" The poor boy growled through gritted teeth. To him this was an all-too-familiar routine with his friends. Every time he came back from death, his friends would ask the same questions.
A tap on his shoulder, made Kenny irritated enough that he spun his head around and glared at whoever bothered him.
"What?" He snapped. His eyes instantly widened with surprise when he saw the person that poked him. "Oh, hey Craig, what's up?" He added with a calmer tone.
Briefly, Craig was speechless. He simply stood in front of Kenny with his mouth hung open.
"Um, you ok?" Kenny asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.
"Hey, Earth to Craig..." Stan waved his hand in front the stoic boy's face with a chuckle.
Craig shook his head and focused his thoughts on what he wanted to say. "Ah, h-how's your back, Kenny...?" He stuttered. "It, um, kind of looked painful," with a pause, he swallowed a lump in his throat, "...almost like getting shot or something..."
Kenny's eyes widen with shock. He instantly wondered if Craig was talking about the incident during their attempted escape from the cult.
"Craig, you are not making any sense." Stan glanced up at the usual stoic boy.
"Dude, you hurt your back? When...?" Kyle asked Kenny in shock.
"Um, guys..." The poor boy snapped out of his stunned trance and turned to his friends. "I need to go talk to Craig about something. I'll catch up to you in class, ok." He muffled through his enclosed hood.
"I see... Are you going to suck on Craig's balls or something?" Cartman asked, before sputtering a suppressed snicker.
"God, you are so immature." Kyle hissed.
Before any of the boys could ask more questions, Kenny grabbed Craig's arm, ran down the hall, and disappeared around the corner.
"See, I told you. Notice how eager Kenny is..." Eric proudly pointed out. Again, he let out a chuckle before turning and heading to class.
Both Stan and Kyle rolled their eyes with an irritated groan before following their obnoxious friend.
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The second Kenny barged into the boy's bathroom with Craig; they instantly saw Butters finishing his business at one of the urinals.
"Oh, hey fellers..." Butters chirped when he noticed the other boys. He zipped up his pants and wondered over to the row of sinks to wash his hands. "Come to use bathroom before class starts too, huh?"
Craig and Kenny stood panting from their hurried motion to the washroom, both unsure of how to respond to Butter's question. They glanced at each other; hoping one of them would have an answer to give.
"Um, yeah..." Craig finally nodded. He casually sauntered towards one of the urinals and pretended he was about to use it.
Kenny did not say anything. Instead he went straight for one of the sinks as Butters walked away to grab a paper towel. The poor boy turned the tap and ran the water as he removed his orange hood. Cupping his hands, he filled them up with the running water before splashing his face.
"You guys have been away from school for half the week. Were you two sick?" Butters asked out of curiosity.
"Uh-huh..." Craig answered in a lie.
"Gosh, I sure hope you two are feelin' better now." The simple-minded boy wondered.
Kenny still did not respond. He turned off the tap and reached for a paper towel from the dispenser.
Nervously, Craig felt it was up to him to answer for the both of them.
"Yeah, we are...thanks..."
"Well, I'm sure glad to hear that. I would hate to catch what you boys had." Butters nodded. "Anyway, I suppose I will be heading to class now. See you fellers there."
"Um, sure, see ya..." The young Tucker boy replied.
Kenny carefully watched as Butters walked out through the door in the reflection of the mirror. He quickly turned, then squatted to see if anyone were in the other stalls before rushing up to the door and locked it shut.
Craig stood, unsure of what to say. Then Kenny spoke up. "Tell me everything you remember." He demanded walking up to the taller boy, and pointing a figure at him.
"Um, why...? Did the cult erase your memory again?" The blue-clad boy looked worried.
"Craig, just humor me, ok!" Kenny snapped. His eyes showed fear, of what it was unclear.
"Ok, where do you want me to begin?"
"Um, two weeks ago... Not last Saturday, but the Saturday before..." He instructed.
"Ah, ok." Craig swallowed another lump in his throat before he began. "I was at Clyde's house that afternoon, and headed home when I realized it was getting late. As I ran through Stark's Pond, I tripped and landed on the icy lake. When I fell in the water you came and pulled me out, then carried me home on your back."
There was a brief pause, Craig watched Kenny's reaction, and when the blond boy nodded, he continued.
"Y-you stayed the night and your dad came and got you in the morning. Later that week, my dad got tickets to the basket ball game and I invited you to join us. After the game, we dropped you off at your home. Later we found out that someone kidnapped you and your mom. About two days later, the cops found you and your mom, and took you two to the hospital. At that time, you didn't remember anyone or anything, not even your own name." Again, Craig stopped then asked, "Is any of this making sense to you, so far?"
Slowly, Kenny nodded his head. "Yeah, continue..." He requested softly.
"So, yeah..." Craig took a deep breath before pacing back and forth while adding, "Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and I visited you and was asked to stay the night with you...like a sleepover party. I woke up later that night to go to the bathroom. During that moment, the cult came, shot everyone with tranquilizers, and started to take you out of the hospital. I was able to grab you then tried to keep you away from them, until they lucked out and captured us. A few hours later, they tried to sacrifice you so they could open a gate that will release some kind of Demon God or something. That's when you said something, only it wasn't you, but some kind of God creature."
"You're talking about Yog-Sothoth," Kenny explained in a low voice.
"Oh yeah, that's him. Well, He said the cult was denied access to the Gates and that they were out of luck...or something like that...The cops showed up just after one of the cult guys shot you in the back." With a nervous gulp, Craig glanced up at Kenny. "That's when you died...at least, I thought you did. The last thing you said to me was that I 'wouldn't remember.' I don't get what you meant by that."
Feeling weak in the knees, Kenny leaned back against the wall and slid down into a seated position with his knees curled up to his chest.
Craig, again, spoke up.
"Kenny? What the hell is going on?"
The smaller blond boy rubbed his hands up against his face before glancing up at Craig. His eyes appeared glassy.
"How is it you remember all of this? Nobody ever remembers any of my deaths, except my mom and sometimes my dad, brother, and sister too." He said with a shaky voice.
"I don't know. I just know that all of a sudden I wake up this morning and everyone I know forgot what had happened last Saturday." Craig shrugged.
"Something must have happened at that sacrificial ceremony." Kenny stood up so he was almost at eye-level to the other boy. "Craig, think. What happened while I was zoned out during that?"
"Um, ah..." Craig thought. "Oh yeah, I remember I got cut on my arm when I pushed you off those painted symbols on the ground. The weird part was when I woke up the next morning to change the bandage the cut was gone - I mean completely gone, not even a scratch was left."
"H-how did you cut your arm?" Kenny asked nervously.
"I think it was from the dagger you held when you were cutting your arm..." Craig trailed off when he began to derive a conclusion.
"That dagger had my blood on it." Kenny appeared as if he was about to faint.
"What does that mean?"
"It means you, like my parents, are immune to my memory-altering power. You could say it's a power that automatically protects me, and everyone who witnessed my deaths from knowing about my, um, immortality. This power I cannot control either. I just know that my family are not really affected - my mom mostly, probably because we share the same blood."
Slowly, Kenny sank back down in a seated position on the floor - his knees drawn up to his chest.
"You mean no one at school, not even Stan, and the others know what you are?" Craig asked, somewhat excited.
"Well...yeah. You are the only one outside my family that knows now." Kenny confirmed with a nod before he lowered his forehead down on his knees and crossed arms.
"Wow," the brunette boy gasped in awe.
Another silent moment passed between the two boys, until Craig heard Kenny sniffling and sobbing quietly with his face hiding behind his sleeved arms.
"Kenny?" Craig reached down and placed a hand on the smaller boy's shoulder.
"I'm sorry you got involved with all of this." He sniffled, his voice sounding wet. "You could have been killed." Slowly Kenny lifted his head slightly to look up at Craig. Tears were streaming down his face. "Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful, you were there. Not only you saved my life, you saved the world, too."
Craig frowned and drifted his vision to the floor.
"...But I didn't save you. You still died...saving me." He finished in a low murmur.
"We can probably argue about this all day, but I am still sorry you had gotten involved. This is just something I always faced alone." Kenny said with another sniffle as he whipped away some tears from his cheeks with his sleeve.
Craig studied the young McCormick boy. Suddenly he remembered something Kenny told him at the hospital.
"Kenny, you don't have to be alone, not anymore, especially now that I'm the only one that understands what you are going through...other than your family, of course." He told him.
Instead of responding, Kenny withdrew his face back down against his arms that wrapped around his knees.
Craig breathed out a sigh. "It's ok. You don't have to say anything now, but know that I'm here if you need me to be...what are friends for...right?" He said with an encouraging tone.
The bathroom was quiet once more, save for a few sniffling sounds. Kenny slowly lifted his head again. Fresh tears streamed down his cheeks.
"Sometimes when I reincarnate back to life, every so often, I open my eyes to see my parents holding me. Usually I don't wake up till I'm the way I was before I died, but this time, I opened my eyes and saw my mom and dad crying. It wasn't sadness, but tears of joy."
He sniffed before looking up at Craig.
"It's all thanks to you." He concluded with a small smile.
"I don't understand..." The taller boy shook his head.
"You delayed the ceremony long enough that the window to open the Gates closed. If you hadn't interfered, I would have been gone forever, and Cthulhu would have eaten almost everyone in South Park before moving on to the next town."
"But you still died..." Craig pointed out.
Kenny shook his head in a disagreeing manner. "That doesn't matter. It happens all the time."
Before Craig could reply, the bell tone sounded to indicate that class was going to start soon. Kenny smiled once more before standing up onto his own two feet - whipping the few stray tears from his face with the back of his hand.
"We better get to class before Cartman starts spreading untrue rumors about us." He laughed. That been said, Kenny lifted his orange hood and proceeded to cover his head with it. He turned to reach for the door.
"Kenny," Craig spoke, "After school, you want to come over to my place and play some video games?"
Kenny spun himself around to look back at his friend. Two big round eyes were visible behind the orange hooded parka. He blinked a few times before answering the question.
"Yeah sure, sounds like fun." The blond boy muffled a chirpy voice.
Craig could tell he was smiling behind his hood, and smiled back at him.
Not wanting to waist anymore time, Kenny unlocked the bathroom door. The two boys ran down the hall as remaining stragglers headed to their classrooms too. They made it to their class before the second bell rang.
FIN.
Author's Note: Thank you everyone for your support throughout this story. I had fun writing it, and I enjoyed reading your reviews.
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Again, thank you, and stay creative!