Funky Drummer Demons
Chapter 3
By: Shorty Carter

This chapter is dedicated to a wonderful teacher and respected person, Mr. Aaron Cheadle. He has been serving in Kuwait for most of this year, and will continue to serve this summer and most of the upcoming school year. Without his teachings and just being there for me, I would have never developed into the person and writer I am today. Pray for him and his family.
"Above all things, never be afraid. The enemy who forces you to retreat is himself afraid at that very moment." -Andre Maurios
You call me crazy man you make my day
My state of residence was disarray
At every party and as far as anybody knew
Everything was cool, but
The truth was bottled up inside of me
I was as lonely as a man could be
And my 200 friends couldn't fill the void in my soul
It was a giant hole.
-dc Talk (can't remember the title)

"Get up! Up! Move it! Come on! Church starts at 10! Let's go!" With Shorty in a skirt and Vennie as close to one as she dared go, the two went down the hall, banging on doors and throwing open a few. Dc Talk music blasted from the stereo, alerting everyone to the fact that it was way too early in the morning.
"That wasn't a suggestion, you lazy bums! Come on, out of bed!" They finally resorted to using their weapon of mass amusement, as the Marshallites called it. Normal people knew them as squirt guns. Barging into rooms, they began to soak anyone still in bed. Most of the girls had gotten up and were stumbling towards the bathroom, but most of the guys got the full soaking treatment. Shorty ran across a few duct taped Villagers and laughed, knowing it was the work of Vennie and Trash. When she came to the room Blink and Race were sharing, she noticed one of the boys was missing. And she hadn't seen him stumble out, either.
"AHHHHH!"
"Well, I know where Race went." She went to the front door, opening it and finding a duct taped Racetrack only in his boxers. "Race, what are you doing up there?" She ripped the tape off his mouth, letting loose a yell from the boy.
"They did it! That Vennie girl and Trash!"
"Diane, what is this poor boy doing taped to the door?" Shorty's aunt asked, still in her robe.
"Sorry Aunt Sherry, guess some of my friends got a little too rowdy last night." She started pulling Race down, asking, "Hey Auntie, is Josh almost ready? Church is in an hour."
"He's just getting dressed. I'll send him and Katie over when they're finished."
"Thanks." Shorty finally got Race down, laughing when he high-tailed it for his room. She met Vennie in the hall again and the two began inspections, seeing who was dressed for church and who wasn't.
"Mush! Jeans are not church wear! You got nice pants; you wear 'em! Skittery, no shirts with writing! No Puck, you may not wear your Hockey outfit. Church wear guys! Follow the girls' example!" People groaned, some heading back into their rooms to change. Shorty finally gave up and barged into rooms, not caring what she saw. Spot nearly fell over backwards, yanking his pants on. Vennie laughed from the doorway, pleased to see the leader blush.
"Nice abs, Spotty-boy. Love the ducky boxers."
"Spot, I've seen a guy in boxers before. Quit blushing." Shorty picked up a shirt and threw it at him. "Put this on and actually wear a belt. Same goes for you, Cowboy." She left, doing the exact same to Mush, except Mush actually fell over with his pants still around his ankles. Finally everyone was there and ready, and off to church they went, returning home sometime after lunch.

The drummers sat in silence as the two fought in Demon's room. The sermon at church that morning had been about telling the truth, even when it hurt. Pastor Jim, Vennie's dad, had used an example of rape and telling no matter what. As soon as the service was over, Demon's questions had started. Short had held off answering as long as she could, but the fight was steadily getting worse. No one dared to stop the two. "Why can't I know? My God Shorty, I love you! I deserve to know!"
"Quit yelling at me! I'll tell you when I can handle it! Just quit yelling!"
"It happened a while ago, Shorts! They've been locked up; they aren't going to come after you!"
"They have been tormenting me since that night Demon! Quit yelling!"
"But I don't understand!" She walked out of the room, over to her room, slammed the door shut and locked it. The rest of the kids watched on in shock, wondering what had just happened. Demon walked out, face fallen. Vennie got up, followed by Josh, and went to talk with Shorty. Demon sank to the floor, putting his face in his hands.
"I really messed up this time."

The kids didn't see Shorty till breakfast the next day, and even then she didn't speak. She drove her carload of drummers to school in total silence. Half of the drumline was in first block together, so they headed there straight away. They're first class of the day was Speech and Debate.
"Good morning class! Today we're going to do a little debate!" Mr. Cheadle exclaimed, his normal happy goofy grin on his face. "Let's see, Ms. Carter, Mr. Bayerkohler! Up to the front!" Shorty and Demon made their way to the front, not looking at each other. "Open topic!"
"Open topic? I really don't want to do this, Cheadle," Demon begged.
"No, you and Carter! Debate something!"
"Anything?" Cheadle nodded. "Okay, Demon, why don't we debate whether or not someone should be forced to talk about their past? Or how about not yelling at someone who's been abused?"
"Shorty, I-"
"No, let me talk. You really want to know? All right, I'll tell you. I was raped by my father, but he did it the last night at the house. And when he was done, he and mother beat me. The neighbors could hear, they knew something wasn't right. My parents then literally threw me out the door, and then father came after me. He had something shiny in his hand, and this mad look on his face. I thought he was going to kill me, that my life was over.
"But that didn't happen. The neighbors called the police, and some of the men came and restrained father. The ambulance came and they took me to the hospital." She stopped to take a breath, her eyes bright. "You know how long I spent at the hospital? 3 months, Demon. And I was so shaken by all the yelling outside that they had to move me to an isolated room. When I finally could come home I went to live with my Uncle. My sister was already there, but I couldn't stand to look at her. I stayed away from all guys, staying mostly in Katie's room crying in her little arms. Finally one night, while I was sobbing my heart out again in fear, Josh came and comforted me.
"He sat up with me all night, and then and there I decided I would get on with life, with his help. But I still couldn't stand yelling. So I took up drumming. When I picked up a pair of sticks I could just beat out all my fear and anger."
"Shorty-"
"You wanted to know; well, now you know." She turned and fled the room, leaving behind shocked and tearful faces.

Out in the hall, Riddle and Race were on break with their class when they saw Shorty run by, her face red with tears. Concerned for their new friend, they followed her. She ran into the theater, yanking open the door to the roof and racing up the stairs. The metal of the steps sounded in the narrow staircase, followed by the sound of pounding on the roof door. Shorty sank to the metal step she was on, crying into her knees.
"Shorty?" She didn't look up, only sobbed louder.
"Shorty, what's wrong? Shorty, come on. You can tell us," Riddle said, sitting beside her. Race sat on the other side, each of them putting an arm around her. When she finally calmed she looked up, starring at the far wall.
"I wasn't always abused. I lived a nice life. Always had food on the table, always had a warm place to sleep. I didn't even know I was being abused when it started. I thought I was being punished, they always told me I was bad. Then it got worse. When I was 3 my sister was born, and for a while things got better. But it went right back to how it was before. When Kelli was old enough to walk and talk they locked her up in the far room and wouldn't let her out for anything. The place could have been on fire and they would have refused to let her out.
"When I was 10 they whipped me. They used this whip my grandpa used to own, one with little bits of sharp things woven in it. That was a year before they went too far." Shorty went on to tell them what she had told her entire Speech and Debate class. When she was finished they all sat in silence; Race and Riddle trying to figure out what to say.
"Shorty, I-I don't know what to say."
"You don't need to. What's done is done, and all that needs to be said has been done so."
"Is this what you and Demon were fighting about?" Race looked at her, taking her hand in his. Shorty nodded, looking between the two. Maybe Villagers weren't so bad after all.
"Shorty?" They all looked down to see Demon at the bottom of the steps, clearly worried. Race and Riddle took the hint and left, Demon taking their spot.
"I'm sorry, Ryan," she whispered, hesitantly looking up at him. Demon took her hand in his, smiling kindly at her.
"Don't be Carter-girl. I may not know exactly what you've gone through, but I know how you feel. Every time my parents kick me out I feel worthless, like I'm the worst son in the world. But then I come here, and I know everything is gonna be okay." He held her face in his hands, reading her eyes.
"So you're not mad at me?"
"I never was mad at you, Shorts. I could never be mad at you." Shorty grinned, hugging him tightly.
"Good. I don't want to see you mad ever again. I've seen you mad before, and it ain't a pretty sight." They made their way down the steps, hearing a loud bang on the other side of the stairway door.
"God dang it Conlon! Move your bloody foot!"
"No, you move your leg!"
"Great, Seeker and Puck are at it again."
"Best not tell Shorty then. She'll be pissed as Hell."
"Ah! You sat on me!"
"Calm down Swinger, he didn't break anything."
"Not like you could. There's nothing there."
"Alright, that does it. Come here you dirty little gambler!"
"Do you think we should interrupt their orgy? Or just wait until they're done?" Shorty snorted, trying not to laugh too hard. The two cautiously peeked out the door, nearly losing it when they saw the entire winter drum line, plus Josh, all clamoring for a spot at the door.
"Um, guys? Do you want us to leave and come back later or just let you cool down right now?"
"Ha, ha. Very funny. If you didn't know so many ways to blackmail me I'd take you down right here and now," Vennie said, shoving Spot out of the way as she got up. Josh came over, shaking his head.
"Did you two finally say you're sorry?"
"Yes, if you have to know Mr. I'm-a-drummer-wannabe." Demon glanced at the clock, noticing that second block, Band/Choir, was just beginning. He grinned, knowing that everyone had Independent Study, or IS for the block because Mr. Ivers, the band director (Mr. P is the middle school teacher but his passion is drumming. So therefore he is in charge of the drumlines), and Mrs. Christianson, the choir director, were away at a music conference. This meant that the drummers could practice in the cafeteria as a sort of pre-show for the rest of the IS students.
"So, are we gonna go practice or not?" Demon received a chorus of duhs and grinned, walking over to find his snare. "Well then, let's get started! And Bridge! No bitching!" Bridge grumbled, walking over to "her" bells. Shorty headed towards her sister, smirking.
"So, Seeks, what's this I hear about you and Puck 'being at it again?'?" Seeker darted off for her assigned instrument, apparently not wanting to get into this with her sister. "Aw, come on Seeks! You can tell me all about your little romp on the ground with Pucker-up boy!"

There you have it! Chapter wonderful 3! I know, it's dark and touches some major deep topics, but rape has affected my life in a huge way, and I felt this was a good way to express this topic. If you don't like it, too bad. I like it, Vennie likes it, and that's all that matters. I'm sorry, I didn't really get to put all of the people in this chapter. I feel EXTREMELY bad about this. So, here's my promise: all of the people WILL be in the next chapter. I swear. Scout's honor. does little scout salute thing Alright, go off and read some more funky fan fiction! I have drum line practice, so I'm leavin' ya'll. Look for the next chapter within the next few weeks!