Chapter
3- Teenage Lobotomy
Hmmm… This is hard to
do, and so it might be very short. Also, for those who don't dye their hair groovy colors like Pink, Blue,
Green, Purple or whatever, When Joey washes his hair, the dye doesn't come out
all the way, so it is still bright pink. I don't know why, but I dyed mine blue, and it the water washed blue for
about a week after the initial dye-job. I haven't dyed it in a month, and so it has faded to a soft and pretty
blue green. (The rest of my hair is brown;
I just streaked it blue in the front.
Joey opened his eyes to
darkness. He had found that his mohawk
was no longer sticking up, and that he was in a strange place. Strange, because he had a bed with soft
blankets, and strange because the place didn't smell like Tobacco and
beer. Strange because he wasn't being
beaten. He sat up and walked forward
and looked out the window to the city street below. He vaguely remembered what had happened that morning at County,
but it was hard to think with a splitting headache. He grabbed ahold of his head, and opened the door to his
bedroom. Dave was sitting on his couch
watching the 11:00 news when he noticed Joey. "Well, look who's up!" Dave said
softly. Dave made room for Joey to sit
and he moved in and sat down close to Dave. "How are you feeling?" Dave
asked. "I dunno. My head hurts like hell, but the rest of my
body…It feels pretty good." Joey
said. "Well, I have something for
that." Dave said, going over to his
backpack and pulling out a syringe and a bottle of fluid. Dave filled it, and came over to Joey. He rubbed alcohol on his arm and looked up
at Joey for approval. "What? This is the kid who has the balls to have
his tongue, nipple, and both ears pierced, and you ask if it's okay to stick a
needle into my arm?" Joey asked. Dave smiled and injected the medicine into
his arm. "Ok. That'll start to work pretty soon. In the meantime, since you've been sleeping since 2, I'll bet
you're hungry." Dave said. Joey nodded. "Well, I ordered pizza. That's the great thing about Chicago. You can get pizza at any time during the night, and no one asks
questions. Same thing in Brooklyn. Just not in the small towns like Akron, NY
where they roll up the red carpet at 8 p.m. or earlier." Joey smiled. "Not the talker, are you?" Dave asked. Joey shook his
head. "I'm..uh, nevermind." He said. Dave looked at him, questioningly, but Dave knew the kid was afraid to
talk.
Joey
looked miserable now, and it was obvious that even though the boy had been put
through hell, his father was the only one he had ever had to love, and he still
loved the guy. Dave had felt the same
way, but after a long time, he realized that his dad hated him, and so didn't
deserve to be loved. And even that took
therapy to admit. "Well, I think you
need to take a shower. In the words of
Dr. Weaver, that is an order. The
towels are in the closet by the door." Dave said. Joey stood up and
walked into the bathroom. He stripped
down and looked in the mirror for a moment. He wasn't a bad-looking kid, not even with the hair, or the piercings. Joey reached down and idly fiddled with his
navel ring, before finally taking it out and laying it on the bathroom
counter. He did the same with his
nipple ring. He stuck his tongue out,
and looked at the metal barbell that was in his tongue. He remembered when he got it when he turned
13. His friends had taken him to the
mall with one of their parents and watched as the man pierced a hole through
the tongue. Here was blood and a lot of
pain at first, but it was worth it. He
and a close group of buddies had it done, as a sign of their togetherness. Joey snapped out of his memories and turned
the faucet on for the shower. He found
the shampoo and watched the bottom of the tub as his pink hair-dye was washed
out slightly, turning the water pink. He found the soap and lathered his body and rinsed it, loving the
feeling of a nice warm shower. It had
been so long since he'd had a warm shower.
Dave
went to his room and grabbed a pair of boxers when he heard Joey shut the water
off. "Joey! Here. I found these in
the 'Christmas presents from mom' drawer. She bought them too small, but I kept them to keep her happy." He said, handing him a pair of army-green
boxers. "Oh. Thanks." Joey said. Dave took his dirty clothes and decided to
do a load of wash. Joey slipped into
the bathroom and threw on the boxers, towel dried his hair, and grabbed his
jewelry. He fumbled with his nipple
ring as he walked back into the main apartment. He clinked the two pieces of metal together and Dave grimaced. "Didn't that hurt?" Dave asked. "At first. After the first week
or so, the pain goes away, and the soreness stops." Joey said, putting in his navel hoop. He sat at the kitchen table, across from Dave. "Open your mouth." Dave asked, seeing the glint of metal. Joey did so and stuck out his tongue. "Ouch!" Dave said. "You'd better believe it!" Joey said. Dave lifted his shirt a little to show a tattoo of a scorpion. "Cool!" Joey said, hair flopping forward. "Yeah. It tickled more than it
hurt. Maybe someday you'll get
one." Dave worded his sentence
carefully, as not to get Joey's hopes up. Dave served the pizza and they each ate two slices. It was clear that Joey was tired, and Dave
was even wearier. "Well, I had better
get to bed. You're free to use anything
in the apartment, except for the pornos in the video cabinet." Dave said. Joey raised an eyebrow. "Just
joshin' ya! The pornos are hidden
well. If you wake up early, just use
whatever you want, except the beer. Stay the hell out of it." Dave
warned. Joey nodded. "Sure thing, Dr. Dave." Joey said. "And you don't have to call me that, you know. Unless you want to." Dave
said, trying not to make him feel rejected. "Night, 'Thrasher'." Dave
said. "Night, Dave." Joey said, smiling another angelic grin.
Dave
heard a machine screaming, and he reached his fist out and pounded on his alarm
clock. When it didn't stop, he lifted
his face from the pillow and looked at the clock. 5:13. Dave then moved on
to his phone, deciding that that was the only other machine besides the
microwave that rang. "Hello?" He asked groggily. "Sorry to wake you, Dave, but we're receiving some traumas in
about 20, and we need your ass down here ASAP. And bring your kid with you. He'll be safer that way." Kerry
said. "See you in a half, Chief." Dave said hanging up. Well, he had to get Joey up.
Dave
almost cried when he saw Joey asleep. He was so beautiful, even with the odd style, and the bony body, he was
beautiful. He was at peace, and that
was all that mattered to Dave. He knew
that he'd have to see the other sides of Joey Ofarim. He sat down on the edge of the bed. "Joey?" He asked, gently
reaching out and shaking the teen's bare shoulder. He moaned and opened his eyes. He jumped a little bit but realized once more that he was safe with
Dave. "Morning Sunshine." Dave said. "Joey yawned and Sat up. "Oh. Your clothes are done, or
if you want, I'll loan you some." Dave
said. "Whatever." Joey said. "Still not much of a talker. You'll get used to it. Keep
hanging around a Malucci, and you'll talk nonstop. Just ask my friends." Joey smiled up at him.
Ten
minutes later, the pair were at the hospital and Joey was plopped in the
lounge. Mark came by and saw him
there. "Joseph. How are you?" He asked. "A little
bored. And hungry." Joey admitted. "Oh. Well, here's some
money. I'll have Dr. Chen take you up
to the cafeteria, and then maybe we'll let you do some errands to keep you busy
during Dave's shift. "Cool. Thanks Dr. uh, Greene." Joey said. "Anytime, Joseph." Jing-mei came
in a few minutes alter. She froze in
her spot. This was the boy that
everyone had been talking about. He was
sweet, yet very odd looking. "Joseph?
I'm Dr. Jing-Mei Chen." She said,
reaching out to shake hands. "I'm
Joey." He said, kissing her hand. Jing-Mei blushed. "It's not that kind of kiss. Before my mother died, she always taught me to be kind to people, and to
be especially polite to ladies." He
said. Now why can't he be a few
years older? Jing-Mei thought to
herself. "Well, Joey, I suppose you're
hungry, so let's get you something to eat." She said, leading the way.
They had finished eating and Dave had finished with the traumas. Joey was found later mopping up the blood on the floor after the traumas. "Hey! What the hell are you doing here?" Dave asked. "I was bored, and so after Dr. Chen took me up to the cafeteria, by the way I owe Dr. Greene three fifty, and anyway they let me do this for fun." Joey said. "Yeah, well, uh…" Dave began, trying to think of something relevant to say. "Have…fun." Dave said.
A
tall man with dark hair walked in. He
was wearing a pair of jeans and a plain black t-shirt. He had a rough look to him, and a faint scar
on the left side of his face, running straight from the eyebrow to the middle
of his cheek. He was very tall, and had
long-legs as he strolled up to the desk. "Excuse me?" He asked. Luka was
the only one around then. "Yes, sir?" He said. "Do you know where I can find a David…uh, Malucci?" He asked. "Sure." Luka said. "MALUCCI!" He yelled, knowing Dave was near. Dave walked out. "Yeah,
Luke? What's u-" Dave looked up. "Scott!" He yelled. "Dave!" Scott said. They hugged each other as brothers should, and then separated. "Joey! I'd like you to meet my older brother Scott. He's the one I told you about." Dave said. Joey shook his
hand. "Hello, sir." He said. "This is Joey. I suppose I'd
better tell you about how and why I have him, huh?" Dave asked.
