So, as predicted, the total story will indeed be 16 chapters, I just finished writing the final part today.
Theguy547: Happy to hear it helped, nice way to have a distraction from being sick. Kenny's definitely going through it, too bad it's affecting the others pretty negatively too. Wait and see!
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Alone at home, Carol attempted to organize what items she could get her hands on. Picking up her daughter's doll that she tossed to the center of the hatch window over the dining table between their kitchen and living room. It was a miracle she could convince the girl to leave that thing behind for school. Tucking her hair back, Carol went and folded a knitted blanket of her own skill and folded it in two, throwing it to the couch's back. She overlooked her work. Fidgeting with things was all she could do as of late to help cope with the new changes in her system, getting used to the adjustment of newer antidepressants.
A knock unexpectedly came from beyond the door. She turned quickly on her heel and went to answer without anyone to presume as she opened up. Upon seeing the friendly faces of Sheila, Sharon with a wine bottle, and Liane of whom carried a homemade casserole.
"Oh, hi."
Sheila smiled. "Hi there, Carol. We just wanted to stop by if you weren't busy! Have a quiet lunch."
"Well, how nice," Carol considered. "Wouldn't hurt."
She let the ladies in, letting them make themselves comfortable as Liane placed the dish on the table and Sharon followed Carol to the kitchen. "Hardly hear of people just stopping by. No folks bein' neighborly like that in modern days."
"Barely that I can remember," Sharon said, grabbing some glasses as Carol reached for four plates. "You need a knife, Liane?"
"No, hun. I have." She called from beyond the hatch with Sheila.
Sharon and Carol reentered with the dishware and utensils. "You ladies want some water or somethin'?" Carol asked.
"Not with what I'm drinking." Sharon commented, pulling out a bottle opener for the wine as the other few chuckled in taking their seating. Sharon helped serve them each a glass as Carol took over in cutting the caserole. "Thought we'd check in, Carol. See how you're holding up?"
Carol snorted slightly, scooping a piece onto a plate and passing it to Sheila. "The wine will bring it outta me, aight'..."
They continued to hum in contentment as they all found a seat. "Are you, then?" Sharon continued to ask.
Carol took that first sip of wine almost as a probe. "I am," she agreed. "Fancy-schmancy medicine may be the reason, but as long as the kids are holdin' up fine."
"Of course," Sheila said. Seeing as Carol wasn't that bothered about being asked, Sheila figured on continuing. What else were their intentions other than showing up and checking in? The woman nearly lost her heart along with her child not over two months ago by now. "You ever think about therapy?"
Carol tapped a nail against her glass, thinking about the expenses of it. "Not on my kinda plate right now. Stuart just settled down at that auto place, but I'm so focused on the kids and whatnot. Kevin just made the soccer team."
"Oh, good for him." Sharon commented. "He's grown taller since the past few months. And Karen, my god, I can understand her chirp more and more!"
"Lil' thing," Carol cooed over her daughter. "Got the world wrapped around her finger."
"How you say no to her is beyond me," Liane agreed, lifting her glass to her lips. "And dear Kenny?"
Carol's eyes softened. "Mah lil' trooper."
"Oh, he's been working so hard, Carie." Sharon expressed gently. "No less than you. I don't think I could ever have done what you've done."
Was it an underestimation of the power and love a mother had for their child? On occasion. Let alone a woman working for a family already on welfare with every penny that came their way. Kenny's life nearly taken could've very much killed Carol, and the fellow moms could understand completely why. What wondered them was how Carol so much survived it all. They've had an occasional awareness of her depression that was driven into full force when Kenny got sick, and the bumpy tracks made them realize how communal mothers had to be to other mothers.
"I think if he hadn't been so eager to get back to school an' whatnot," Carol said. "I woulda kept him home a lil' longer."
Sheila nodded eagerly. "Well, it was quite mighty of him to have wanted to go back to school so quickly. Such a strong boy."
"Yes," Liane agreed. "With our boys there, maybe he couldn't just stay away."
Carol slanted her lips gratefully. "An' good thing he has 'em, too."
On the courtyard's steps alone during recess, Kenny circled messy drawings in the snow by a finger. Not interested in playing as the other children's chatter was just humming to his ears. He felt like he could sink into an abyss and erase his own traces in this world so nothing of him could be left behind. Even if choosing to be alone, it was still amazing how isolated he felt.
He'd taken maybe four out of eight required pills in the last four days. He wasn't sure if it was because he'd become less motivated, or if he was trynna prove something. Whatever it may be, he didn't accomplish what he thought he could do in feeling a natural reconnection with his body. Some type of ease and control. He hadn't been as angered necessarily, maybe not having anyone to take it out on, but that unused anger just woke up his inner demons more to yell at himself from the inside. Being the reason there was always a blank frown on his face because he couldn't fight them back. Just let them scold him.
He looked up across the way to where most kids occupied the center courtyard. Kyle reached out his arms to catch a tossed football from Stan and pull it into his chest as he turned around in impact. Coming to face Kenny's line of vision that the boy in the parka didn't mean for him to see. Kyle smiled and waved. Kenny simply rolled his eyes and looked somewhere else. He didn't bother to acknowledge a hurt Kyle awkwardly occupy himself with the game of catch again. Yikes.
Honestly, Kenny didn't care how harsh he was being. How he hadn't said a word to his friends in days and even if he had to, it was out of getting them to leave him alone. He didn't owe them anything and with the way he barely trusted his parents talking over his head, he hardly thought his so-called friends earned any trust either. Maybe Kenny couldn't trust anybody so long as everyone thought they were a damn expert on his dystrophy.
The lumps of two shadows suddenly shifted over where he was making marks in the snow. Kenny nearly shot up to yell at the boys to leave him but when his angered gaze looked up it only slightly softened at Wendy Testaburger and Bebe Stevens standing over his seat on the step.
Wendy looked a little warier compared to her usual bright confidence. "Hi, Kenny.."
He relaxed. "Hi.."
Wendy looked to Bebe for assistance. The girl with the bright blonde curls looked just as cautious. "We...kinda have something to tell you. About those sixth-grader boys."
Odd for these two particular messengers to be the ones, but Kenny nodded in listening nonetheless.
"A while back we saw you arguing with them in the parking lot," Wendy referenced the specific day Kenny remembered easily. "Um, it looked kinda bad and we didn't mean anything bad by thinking we should tell-"
"-it's just.." Bebe intervened. The way these girls seemed off-putting made Kenny think he was being too much of a hard-ass with those who had nothing to do with his situation. Wendy and Bebe hadn't done anything Kenny could care about. So what if they snitched on a stupid argument he lost?
"We told the principal.." Wendy said. "I'm sorry."
Kenny refrained from circling the snow, drawing back his finger.
Bebe exchanged a look with Wendy. "We didn't..want anyone's parents to know...we were just worried."
Truthfully, Kenny could care less. That first spat with the sixth graders a while ago seemed like a grain of salt compared to everything. "It's okay...really."
"Really?"
"Yeah.."
"Can we sit?"
He wasn't necessarily looking to be full-filled by company, but he had been lonely for a while now. Scooting over, he nodded in invitation. The girls sat by him as he rubbed his gloves together in apprehension.
"I hope you're doing better?" Wendy half-asked.
Kenny nodded again, not wanting to get into any detail. Bebe and Wendy continued to carry the conversation as Kenny made slight input, but not too much based on his lack of energy. Even if he didn't ask for this specific company, the two girls made the lonely recess for him much more appreciated.
Kenny walked through the halls passing other students after the final bell. Willing to get home as quickly as possible so he could be alone again. His books remained tucked under his pit with both hands firmly in his pockets. His gaze was slightly astray towards the ground but his brow was in a straight line from the frustration that had not left his eyes for days. He looked up in noticing a few fourth-grade boys but looked away as soon as they took notice to him. Those that watched consisted of the usual of Stan, Kyle, and Cartman, along with Craig, Tweek, and Butters.
Cartman threw a nod. "Sup, Kenny."
They were only given the cold shoulder by the boy who continued to walk. Barely acknowledging their presence as if they were just a row of lockers. He made way to his own locker down the way from their eyesight, stubbornly putting down his books and turning the combination of his lock.
"This is ridiculous, it's been a week." Kyle finally said.
Tweek watched in his anxious manner as Kenny toss his books into his locker. "You guys really..! Cracked him out..!"
"Hey, he lost in on us," Cartman defended. "We didn't do anything."
"We kinda did." Stan argued. "I mean he said himself he didn't want our help and we went-"
"But what help is he giving himself, Stan-" Kyle stopped, tired of arguing with his friends about this for the past week now. It also didn't help Kenny's whole 'everyone thinks I can't think for myself' argument.
Stan leaned against a locker with a thud. If Kenny didn't walk away from them whenever attempting to talk, he just didn't answer. He somehow managed to avoid working with Stan, Kyle, and Cartman in class, but according to the others, he wasn't all that talkative with anyone else anyway. The personal walls that broke down when Kenny first got sick were built back up, only this time they were impossible to climb over than they ever had been before.
"Hold on," Stan said, walking Kenny's way.
"He won't listen," Cartman warned.
Nonetheless, his friend kept forward in going up to the boy who'd completely cut himself off from everything. Kenny eyed Stan approaching from the borders of his hood, slowing down in his storage of books as he pulled out his bag to pack up.
Stan stopped before Kenny's side, clearing his throat. "Hey."
As per always lately, he didn't say a word in return. Continuing to collect his things so he could leave.
"We're still having that sleepover at Kyle's on Friday, y'know."
Kenny grabbed his math notebook for homework, holding it hesitantly before slipping it into his bag. They were planning this night for two weeks much to all their excitement. But, what fun could he have at all anymore.
"We still want you to come," Stan said, attempting to capture Kenny's hidden gaze. "We still wanna be friends."
Kenny remained stonefaced, though he laughed his ass off on the inside. Yeah, just pretend nothing mattered and go play video games at Kyle's and be babysat by all of them. That was so much like Stan, Kenny wasn't sure whether to be shocked or not.
"Will you?"
Kenny kept collecting his stuff one by one, unwilling to go any faster for the sake of his sanity.
"C'mon, Ken," Stan urged. "You know we wouldn't do anything without thinking it would help. Have we ever given you a reason to think it was because we think you don't get what you've been through?"
Kenny zipped up his bag, hooking it over his shoulder by the strap.
"I'm here for you, dude."
Stan almost repelled back from the slam of Kenny's locker. Now facing the eyes through the hood's opening that wasn't persuaded by his offer nor the same reason they've tried to give him all week. Kenny stepped forward, and for a moment, the raven-haired boy saw the hurt masked underneath his vexation.
"..then where were you when I was in the hospital?"
Stan froze with a recollection so regretful, he knew Kenny could see it in him. Kenny never verbally blamed Stan for not visiting him in the hospital out of grief during that time. Nevertheless, the blond boy stuck his chin in and walked off past him. He made his point here enough.
Stan remained with less of what he wanted to accomplish, and guilt kicking his heart instead.
Kenny walked from the hallways lockers into the school's grand hall foyer nearing the front entrance. He beelined without any care put towards Jared and his crew hanging out nearby in a place they never did of all days. Fucking perfect. Especially because they were quite literally blocking his only exit. Based on everything Kenny's fought tooth and nail for though, he wasn't gonna walk all the way around to another doorway like some pussy.
Jared sipped his Coke can on a leveled step to the side of the South Park Cows floor logo, watching the traveling hood. He swallowed the final sip as he crunched the can in his fist. Lazily arching it behind his head as Kenny just barely rested his palm on the push-in handle of the exiting door. Jared thrusted the can and it hit Kenny in the back of the cranium.
The others bursted out into laughter as Kenny remained still. The can dropped to his feet with a jitter against the floor and he turned to the older kids. Fed up enough with everything.
"I thought it'd help your muscles!" Jared mocked. His friends laughed harder.
Kenny pinched his features. It wasn't even a good joke and yet his patience was spread far too thin lately. "Won't help yours, with your wuss barbie legs.." He left with one last flip off to Jared. The others laughed, and Jared's nose scrunched as anger stormed his eyes.
Kevin tossed and turned in his bed out of sheer annoyance. His chance for sleep was deprived due to the agitated muttering happening right outside his door. Goddammit, couldn't his parents find somewhere else to take it to? He folded his pillow in half, with one side over his other ear like mufflers in an attempt to block them out. They'd been distressing about Kenny or something related all night. Of course over things that hadn't changed at all lately.
He saw how his younger brother came home and acted numb. For days now he kept quiet over dinner and if ever checked on in his room he was probably laying in bed doing nothing or homework otherwise. Neither had he gone out with any of his friends as of late, which was all Kenny wanted to do not a month ago, if Kevin remembered correctly.
Unable to take whatever it was they were talking about in front of his door, Kevin kicked his blankets off and sat up in bed. Jumping from his mattress and trudging over to his door in a sleepy walk. He weighed down a heavy hand on his knob in laziness and pulled himself gently to the wood, turning the knob and creeping it open only slightly, depending on how warranted this conversation was.
Stuart remained with his arms crossed as Carol exited Kenny's room. His door was to the left across the hall from Kevin's view. Carol shut it behind her without any care to its loud sound as she met with her husband.
"I'll try," Stuart grunted, willing to raise his tone if it got Kenny to stop being so secretive.
"Will you stop?" Carol held a palm to his chest in a halt. "Nothin' I do is gon' help."
Kevin remained attentive through his drowsiness. His mom's usual persistence in cramming her kids into telling her the truth was probably one of her most prominent parental, yet irritable talents. Either Kenny is changing, or their mom was.
"That's not my boy!"
"Give 'em time, Carie."
"Time for what?" She continued to argue with slight panic shaking her voice. Kevin always knew when his mom was on the verge of tears. She seemed especially shaky and uneased lately. Out of the other corner of his eye, he could see the slight crack opening of his sister's doorway across from his, understanding her peep-in of the conversation no doubt either. Carol shook her head before pointing her chin in the direction of Karen's bedroom. "Back to bed, baby."
There was a moment, then her door clicked shut softly. Kevin kept clutched on his door handle heavily as he sighed under his breath.
"You too, boy."
He looked up, seeing his father's demanding and watchful eye look at him through the dark doorway crack. Kevin rationalized no further action needed to be done to strain this mess they were in and closed his door for the night.
To be continued...