Ch. 3: Payback!
Tala's eyes slid open as the sunlight shone in through the open window. Brooklyn had his arms wrapped around his waist and had burried his face in Tala's shirt. Tala smiled down at him, and wrapped his arms around him tighter. Brooklyn stirred a little and opened his sea foam eyes. He blinked a few times to see through the sun shinning on his face, then looked up at Tala.
"Good morning. Sleep well?" Tala asked
"He's got to be joking."
"Who could sleep well with nightmares like that?"
"No..." Brooklyn replied getting up off of his lap
Tala frowned, "Why not?"
"Nightmares."
"Oh...about what?"
"A car wreck I was in."
"Oh."
Brooklyn wandered over to the mess that was originally his bed. He rumaged around and pulled out his suit case. He zipped it open and pulled out some clean clothes. The little pieces of his picture of his father fell out. Tala picked up the one with his face on it.
"Who's this?" He asked
"My jackass of a dad." Brooklyn spat bitterly
"What did he do to make you hate him?"
"He didn't approve of my old girlfriend and insulted her right in front of mine and her face, he shipped me off to this bording school, he's the one who pushed me to do something I can never erase!"
"You're being nice with these acusations!"
"He's done much worse than that."
"Shut up!"
Brooklyn was trembling with anger, and he was desperatly trying to hold in his sobs. Tala came over beside Brooklyn and laid a hand on his shoulder. Brooklyn leaned against his touch.
"What did he make you do?" Tala asked with great concern
"He pushed me to be perfect, and second was not a factor for him. No, I had to do everything perfect for him! He beat me and torchered my mind when I didn't succeed in coming in first. It got so bad that I started hurting myself to release my emotional pain. I was ten. Ten! Your not supposed to be like that when your ten!"
Brooklyn broke down after that and the tears began to flow uncontollably, and he shuddered in times with his sobbing. Tala didn't want to see him cry like that. You'd have to be utterly evil to make this angel cry like that! He pulled Brooklyn into a hug and held him there for a long time, untill someone knocked on their door.
"Why aren't you boys in class?" Mr. Dickinson's voice boomed from the door way, but he stopped yelling when he saw the newest student crying, "What's wrong?"
"He's really upset about something he told me. I couldn't just leave him crying like that." Tala replied
Mr. Dickinson walked over beside the two boys.
"What's wrong Brooklyn?"
"I don't want to remember anymore! It's just too much to take!" Brooklyn was practically screaming
"Shhhhhhhhh...it's okay." Tala soothed, "You don't have to tell us about anything anymore."
Mr. Dickinson nodded in agreement. Brooklyn looked up at them with eyes that were filled with years of hurt. He stopped himself from sobbing and took a shaky breath.
"There, now why don't you go clean up in the washroom?" Mr. Dickinson suggested
"He can't. It's flooded." Tala replied
"Oh? I'll have a custodien come and fix it."
"Thanx."
Mr. D. left the two boys to find a janitor. Tala looked down at Brooklyn.
"I'm sorry I made you tell me that. I didn't know how bad your life was." Tala appologized
Brooklyn shook his head, "No. I'm glad you did. I needed to tell someone that."
"Well, I don't need you to tell me anymore. I think I know enough."
"Thank you. Maybe I'll tell you the rest later."
Tala smiled. He leaned over and kissed Brooklyn gently on the cheek. Brooklyn stiffened a bit, but soon relaxed.
"Whoa. Getting hot in here!"
"Eeeep!"
Brooklyn smiled and hugged Tala again. Tala hugged him back and began to run his fingers through his hair. Brooklyn sighed at the touch. He hadn't felt this loved since Julia died. The two boys pulled apart quickly as the door flung open, and the janitor, Boris, came rushing in. Both their cheeks went a little red. Boris ran into the bathroom, and began attacking the toilet. Brooklyn and Tala watched in amusement.
"Is that how your suposed to clean a toilet?"
"I don't think so...but I could be wrong."
"Shut it!" Brooklyn barked
Tala stared at him with a confused expression.
"Okay. I know you're talking to someone. Who is it?" He asked
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Brooklyn replied
"Try me."
"Nah, it's too hard to explain. I'll tell you later."
Tala gave him a dissapointed look but said nothing more about it. They began to watch the custodian again. Mr. Dickinson came running. From the way he looked you would have thought he ran halfway around the school, but he couldn't have run more than from down the hall.
"He get's tired easily, huh?" Brooklyn inquired
"Yeah, he eats more than Tyson." Tala mused
"Who?"
"Tyson is Hiro's younger brother. He's a lot nicer though."
Brooklyn shuddered. He still felt his cheek swelling from where Hiro had hit him. He gingerly ran his fingers across it. Tala saw the bruise.
"Where did you get that?" He asked
"Hiro." Brooklyn replied
"You're already on his bad side? How?"
"I don't know if I'm on his bad side or not. He only hit me once."
"Akward."
"Well, this is going to take a while. You boys should go off to your remaining classes." Mr. D. inquired
The two boys nodded and grabbed their stuff. Their few remianing classes were gym and L.A.
'Wounderful.' Brooklyn thought
"What? You don't think L.A. is fun? I love L.A."
"And gym is one of the best subjects ever!"
"Shut up!"
"You feeling okay?" Tala asked
"I'm fine." Brooklyn replied
The two of them walked into the large gym, and were greeted by a very angry gym teacher.
"Hey! Where have you two little dudes been?" He practicly yelled
"Up in our room. Mr. Dickinson was talking with us. Is that a crime?" Tala asked sarcasticly
"Alright! That's it! I'm tired of your attitude! Go run the track until the period is over, and I better not see you walking any of it! You got that little dudes?"
Tala shrugged his shoulders and they both went outside in the freezing Moscow winter.
"Jesus Christ! He's trying to kill us by sending us out here!" Brooklyn complained
Tala just laughed and began to run. The period ended quickly and the two raced to L.A. Nothing new was being teached. Judy Tate never really paid attention to her job much anyway. She liked staring at the students she was supposed to teach.
Finaly the day ended and all the students retreated to their room to do their homework. Brooklyn was sprawled across the floor doing his L.A. homework, while Tala was treating a blister on his ankle. The bathroom was cleaned, and Brooklyn's bed had been hauled away. They had yet to give him a new one though.
"God I hate gym!" Tala whined
Brooklyn chuckled.
"Well wear socks next time and you won't get blisters." He stated
"Well aren't you just mister know it all!"
Brooklyn burst out laughing at Tala's srcastic comment. He just found it funny that his friend was complaining so much. Tala smiled and sprawled out across his bed.
"When you're done your homework turn out the light." He stated
A few minutes later the light went out. Tala was about to get to sleep when he heard Brooklyn whisper.
"Move over."
Tala groaned and rolled to the edge of the bed. Brooklyn jumped on the bed and almost instantly he was out like a light. Tala rolled over and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek.
"Sweet dreams, Brooklyn."