We're finally going to switch to what's going on with the main four by having a chapter focus on Kenny. What do they think of Tweek missing? Do they even care? Let's find out.
Chapter 3 – Kenny
Kenny had grown very handsome in four years. His hair was longer so that it draped into his eyes, and his face had grown sharp. He wore an orange hoodie reminiscent of his old parka that he always wore up. He was handsome, but not a lot of people seemed to notice.
When news of Tweek's disappearance hit the town, it wasn't until Wednesday before a lot of people started taking it seriously. A lot of people, including Kenny, just assumed he had spazzed out and would be back the next day. When he didn't, many started to get worried. What had happened to Tweek? Had he run away? Or worse, had someone abducted him?
This was the topic of discussion between Kenny and his friends as they stood at the bus stop. Appearance wise, the four friends had not changed much. Stan was the tallest of the four, and he still kept his black hair neat and tidy under his hat, despite the fact that it had grown a bit longer. The most drastic change was that he now bore a faint scar under his left eye. No one could remember where he had gotten it, not even Stan himself.
Cartman had managed to turn about 50% of his fat into pure muscle, so he was still large, but now he could be intimidating as well. He was the second tallest of the four, almost matching Stan's height, but not quite. His hair was always neatly trimmed, and he had managed to lose his second chin.
Kyle was the shortest (with Kenny being the second shortest), which annoyed him. He wasn't short, but being smaller than Eric meant that the larger boy could tower over him and exert dominance over him. Kyle had started straightening his hair, which made it longer than most of the guys in their class (and Kenny often teased made him look like a girl), but he didn't care as he claimed it was more manageable that way. All three boys still wore their old hats.
"I wonder how long it will take the police to start searching for Tweek," Stan wondered as they stood by the bus stop, "I'm sure his parents called them right away, but you know how lazy and incompetent the police are in this town."
"Whelp, I guess we'll never see Tweek again," Cartman said in a fake sad voice, "I hope Craig at least had one good bang with him. Although, knowing Tweek, probably not."
"Gross, Cartman," Kyle scowled.
"What?"
"I wonder how Craig is taking all of this," Kenny wondered out loud, "I didn't really see him yesterday."
"Well, I know he attacked Jackson at lunch," Stan told him.
"Jackson?" Kenny clarified, "That homophobic asshole?"
"Yeah," Stan replied, "Apparently Jackson was saying some rude things about Tweek and Craig attacked him for it."
"What a wuss," Cartman sneered, "Jackson talks big, but he can't take a punch. I mean, he's eighteen for God's sake! What asshole gets held back four years in a row?"
Kyle let out a sigh. "I just hope wherever Tweek is he's ok," he muttered.
Their conversation halted as the bus pulled up. They got on, taking their regular seats up front. Kenny was annoyed that he always had to sit next to Eric. Some days it was all right, but when Cartman was in one of his "I want to start something" moods, it made Kenny angry that he wasn't strong enough to sock Cartman in the face. And today it seemed like Cartman was in that mood. Cartman leaned over to where Kyle sat next to Stan and poked him in the arm.
"Hey Kyle," he sneered, "Maybe someone kidnapped Tweek. And maybe whoever did it will come back for you. Wouldn't that be great?"
Kyle angrily rolled his eyes. "We don't know what happened to him, jackass," he snapped. Since Eric was no longer as fat, Kyle had dropped the fat ass insult a while ago. "Keep your insensitive comments to yourself."
"Who's going to make me?" Cartman asked, "You?"
"Don't tempt me," Kyle hissed.
"Eric, don't provoke him," Kenny sighed.
"Don't tell me what to do!"
The bus stopped again and Craig, Clyde, and Token climbed on. Craig had his head down and refused to look at anyone, while Clyde had a comforting arm around him. Kenny felt so bad for Craig. It must've been hard for him to lose his boyfriend, one of his closest friends.
Kenny quickly turned to Cartman and cupped a hand over his mouth before he could say the insensitive thing he had obviously been about to say. Cartman mumbled into his hand, and Craig passed by him without noticing.
"What did you do that for, Kenny?" Cartman asked, as the three took their seats in the back of the bus, "I had a really funny joke to tell Craig about dead people!"
"And that's exactly why I stopped you," Kenny pointed out, "I don't think you want to walk around school all day with a black eye."
Cartman grumbled something like "I could take him" under his breath, but made no further comment until they got to school. The hallways were buzzing with chatter, and the rumor mills were flowing. Kenny swore he heard someone say that Tweek had simply returned to his home planet, while someone else said he had been a government spy the entire time.
"Is this all people are going to talk about now?" Stan wondered as the four friends went to their lockers.
"Apparently," Kyle muttered, "But then again, this is the biggest thing to happen in a while. Not much has gone on recently."
"Well, I hope it passes soon so we can go back to being bored," Cartman said.
As the day started, Kenny found he had trouble concentrating. He always got worried when he heard of someone, especially young people, disappearing. It made him start to worry about his younger sister, Karen. Even after four years, the McCormick's financial situation had not gotten any better, so they still lived in poverty. Kenny was always afraid someone would break in at night and rob them, not because they had anything worth stealing, but because they were an easy target. And even after four years, Karen was still very shy and reserved. Kenny worried about her all the time.
During study hall, Kenny decided to use the time to search the web and see if there was any news on Tweek's disappearance. He went to the computer lab and took a seat next to David who was playing a computer game. He decided to start with the local newspaper and today's articles. He searched through the website and finally found a story about it.
It claimed that there was very little information on Tweek's disappearance and that the police had no leads or suspects at the time. The only thing they could say is that it was very likely Tweek had been abducted. Kenny sighed with annoyance. A lot of good that did. He wasn't quite sure what he was hoping to find, but it wasn't this. Maybe a where he had been seen last, if the police suspected foul play, or anything. It didn't give Kenny any reassurance.
Annoyed, he tried looking up related articles. He found a story from North Park about someone who had abducted a bunch of kids and was never found. The children he (or she) had abducted had never been found either, and that was ten years ago. It made Kenny depressed that someone would do such a thing. So, he shut off the computer and tried to focus long enough to get some work done, but he couldn't concentrate.
At lunch time, Kenny sat with his friends as always. As the four made idle gossip, he couldn't help but notice Craig and his friends at a nearby table. None of them were talking at all, and Craig was resting his head in his arms, not eating, while Clyde talked to him in a quiet voice. It made Kenny think of the North Park article.
"I hope this whole thing doesn't turn into a repeat of what happened in North Park ten years ago," he said out loud. Stan, Kyle, and Cartman looked at him.
"What happened in North Park ten years ago?" Kyle wondered.
"Apparently several kids went missing," Kenny explained, "The police never found out who did it, and no one saw the kids again. Apparently, whoever did it left very little evidence or clues, and they had very few suspects. It sent the town into a panic, and people became incredibly paranoid. It's very sad when you think about it."
Stan shuddered. "I hope that doesn't happen to our town," he said solemnly, "The police didn't have any leads at all?"
Kenny shook his head. "About twelve kids were taken, and the police couldn't even piece together what they had in common other than they were all relatively the same age and went to the same school," he told him, "They're probably not even alive anymore."
"Aw dude, you're making me sad," Cartman said, "I'm tearing up. You're bumming me out, man. You're bumming me out."
Kenny rolled his eyes at him. "Anyway, they never caught the man. Or woman," he concluded, "Some people think whoever did it skipped town before they could get caught."
"That's what I would do," Cartman told him, "But I'd be discreet about it. You know, not draw any attention to myself."
"We'll be sure to keep that in mind," Kyle muttered. "Anyway, hopefully this isn't the same and Tweek is an isolated case."
The others agreed.
The rest of school went by slowly. One of the last classes Kenny and his friends had was gym class, which was a pain. They shared the class with Jackson and his thugs, and he was always pushing others around in the locker rooms. He also made homophobic comments about Tweek, who also shared their gym class, but the only reason nothing ever really came of it was because Craig was there as well to protect him. Kenny felt really sorry for Tweek, as ever since he started dating Craig, he stopped showering with the other guys, as it embarrassed him, and he was afraid the others would think he was checking them out or something. Since gym was the last class of the day, Tweek always got out of showering by putting on deodorant and claiming he would shower when he got home.
As expected, the gym teacher just had them all run laps for half the class, then divided them into random sports for the next half. Then they were told to hit the showers. Kenny wasn't self-conscious about showering naked with a bunch of other guys. He had got past that phase a long time ago. He did, however, wish that they could have one shower without Jackson opening his fat mouth.
"I'm really glad that fag is gone," Jackson said loudly to his buds, "I don't want him staring at my dick while I'm showering."
"Like anyone would want to stare at his micro penis," Kenny muttered quietly to Stan, Kyle, and Cartman. The three of them snickered.
Kenny noticed Craig and Clyde standing a short distance away. As Jackson shouted more obscenities, he saw Craig getting more and more angry. His hands were starting to ball into fists. As hot as a naked shower fight sounded, Kenny was glad that Clyde was murmuring in Craig's ear, calming him down. He gently led his friend out of the showers and back into the locker rooms to get dressed.
The four friends followed them back to the locker room and also started getting dressed. Right when they finished, Jackson came in, wrapped in a towel, still talking loudly.
"I hope whoever kidnapped that fag is giving it to him good," he was saying, "You know, sticking it in him? Then that will teach him for- "Jackson didn't get to finish his sentence as he was suddenly slammed against the lockers.
Craig had the older boy pinned, glaring with pure hatred at Jackson. "What did I tell you about making comments about Tweek?" he snarled. He grabbed a handful of Jackson's hair and slammed his head against the lockers. Jackson already had a bloody nose, but now his mouth was starting to bleed.
Kenny and the other guys watched in fear at Craig's outrage as Clyde desperately tried to calm him down. But Craig was taking no notice of his friend.
"Let go of me, Tucker!" Jackson croaked. But Craig held strong, Jackson's struggles to free himself not even phasing him.
"Take back what you said about Tweek!" Craig demanded, slamming his head into the lockers again.
"Get your hands off me!"
"Craig, stop!" Clyde yelled. He grabbed his friend's shoulders and pulled him away from Jackson, who collapsed to the floor. His buds immediately ran to him and carried him out of the locker room.
"Damn, Craig," Cartman chuckled, "Anger issues, much?"
"Don't start with me, jackass," Craig threatened, "I'm not in the mood."
"Seriously, Cartman," Kenny added calmly, "You need to watch what you say. You're going to get yourself killed someday."
"Whatever," Cartman said dismissively. Kenny was fairly certain that if Clyde hadn't been holding his arms down, Craig would have socked the larger boy in the face.
After school was finally let out, the four friends started walking home. Normally they would take the bus, but it was a nice day out and they wanted to enjoy it.
"Did you see Jackson's face when his goons carried him out?" Cartman laughed as they walked, "It was so bloody and disgusting!"
"Ugh, don't remind me," Kyle muttered, looking a bit pale. Kenny remembered that Kyle had grown more squeamish over the years, and was quite disturbed by the sight of blood.
"I think he deserved it," Stan said honestly, "For what he said about Tweek. I mean, the idiot knows Craig can beat him up. It's like he has something to prove."
"Maybe he actually was involved in Tweek's disappearance and is rubbing it in Craig's face because he knows he can't prove anything," Kenny reasoned out loud. He had been thinking that ever since that morning when Stan had said that Jackson had provoked Craig.
Kyle looked at him. "Do you really think Jackson is smart enough for that?" he asked. Kenny shrugged.
"It's just a theory I had," he said, "Why else would Jackson provoke Craig like that?"
"Because he's an idiot," Cartman replied, "I've already said this."
"Maybe," Stan said quietly.
They walked the rest of the way to their houses in silence, too disturbed by the recent events to turn the conversation towards anything positive. Kenny left his friends to go to his run-down wreck of a house. When he got near, he could hear his older brother Kevin arguing with their father. Kenny rolled his eyes. Kevin and Stuart had been arguing about jobs recently. Stuart didn't have one, and Kevin had one that only paid minimum wage. In Kenny's opinion, it was better than nothing, and at least Kevin was getting some job experience, but apparently that wasn't good enough for their dad.
As if he has the right to complain, Kenny thought, bitterly, Dad doesn't even have a job.
He walked into the house, which looked closer to collapsing every day, to find his mom washing dishes at the sink, while Kevin and Stuart yelled at each other. Karen was sitting in a corner, playing with one of her dolls, and doing her best not to cry. She looked up when Kenny came in, and her face lit up.
"Kenny's home!" she exclaimed happily, running over to give her big brother a hug. Kenny returned the hug with a warm smile.
"How was school today?" he asked her.
"It was ok, I guess," she replied, shrugging her shoulders, "Everyone was talking about that one kid who got kidnapped."
"They don't know for sure he got kidnapped," Kenny muttered, "But, yeah, that's all anyone talk about at the middle school as well. I feel so bad. Tweek's parents must be so worried about him."
"It's scary," Karen murmured, shivering slightly, "I don't know what I would do if I was kidnapped. Probably scream."
Kenny smiled a little. "Yes, scream," he said, "Scream as loud as you can so everyone can hear you and come save you."
Karen managed to smile and went back to playing with her dolls. Kenny took a seat on the couch and turned on the TV, turning the volume up as loud as it could so he could drown out the yelling.
"And for tonight's news," the news anchor said, as soon as the TV turned on, "There is still no word on the boy who was abducted late yesterday. There have been no calls, no ransom notes, and nothing for the police to go on. Some people are thinking at this point that he simply ran away, but his parents have said that nothing was taken out of his room to indicate that this is the case." The anchor then went on to give information on Tweek, and what number to call if anyone had any details. Kenny turned the TV off and sighed.
How could someone just disappear like that without a trace?
Feeling cramped in the small house, Kenny hopped off the couch and went outside. He wasn't going to go far, it was starting to get late, but the cool air made him feel better. He took a deep breath and pulled off his hood, letting the night air run through his hair.
Kenny stretched, and was about to go back inside, when he suddenly felt someone right behind him. He tensed his body and started to turn around, but whoever was behind him grabbed him, wrapping an arm around his chest and a hand to his mouth. Kenny tried to scream for help, but he was muffled. He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his neck, and he started to feel dizzy.
"Don't struggle," a voice said in his ear, "It'll only make it worse for you."
Kenny was only aware enough to know he was being dragged towards a black car before he passed out.
Whoa! Now Kenny's been taken! Who except me saw that coming? How will the town react now that two kids have disappeared? And will a certain someone tell someone else what he saw now that Kenny is gone too? Who knows except me? Look forward to the next chapter to get maybe like, two answers!
