Shawn stormed into his bedroom, fuming with anger. Turner just put his hands on him! He sat down on his bed, he didn't know what to do. He wanted to scream, or fight something, but he couldn't. So he cried. They weren't tears of sadness, but of anger.
Turner could hear the boy sobbing from the other side of the door. He didn't mean to make him cry, he just needed to discipline Shawn, it wasn't like he'd hit him, just prevented himself from getting hit. Maybe that was selfish. He'd never seen Shawn have a breakdown like that. He'd never even seen the kid cry. But here he was, crying. He didn't know what to do, so he locked the door to Shawn's room and left.
He went to the Matthews, maybe they would know what to do.
"Jonathan?" A voice said behind him, It was Feeny. Jon thought for a moment, Feeny had known Shawn almost his entire life, maybe he would know.
"George." He replied.
"Is everything alright? Did you find Shawn?" Jonathan nodded.
"Can I ask you a question?" Jonathan asked, Feeny nodded and invited Turner over to his backyard. They sat down in two of the lawn chairs Feeny had set up.
"So Hunter right? He comes home and of course I start yelling at him. I was furious, but I chose my words very carefully, I made sure to not say anything that would upset him, until I didn't catch myself. Well when he started to leave again I grabbed him, I understand I shouldn't have touched him but I had to hold him back, well the kid started hitting me. He hit me George! I don't understand," Jonathan sighed as he took a sip of the drink George had poured him.
"Shawn Hunter, he's a sad case." George sighed as he looked towards the ground.
"What do you mean?" Jonathan asked.
"Well, one time when he was 7, during class we were talking about healthy and not healthy punishments, and he brought up how his dad beats him up when he does something bad sometimes. I tried to talk to Shawn about it, but he wouldn't really go into detail. Now from that day on however, I took note of everytime he showed up to school with a new bruise, or limp, or cut anything. I called CPS on Chet numerous times but Shawn never seemed to tell them what was happening so nothing ever came from it. But every time I called, the next day Shawn would show up to school more injured than the last. So once I realized that I stopped calling. And then Shawn started 6th grade and the bruises and cuts stopped. Or at least I couldn't see them anymore." As Feeny concluded his story Jonathan sighed. He realized now why Shawn became so frantic, and Jonathan hated himself for it. He should've thought harder.
"Shawn Hunter is a strong kid. I've never seen him cry or break down. But don't mistake strong for good. I fear that if Shawn doesn't let out his aggression, and well trauma, he's gonna go down a bad road."
Turner got back on his motorcycle and drove home. He thought about all the things Feeny told him. God why didn't Shawn tell him his dad used to hit him. Then Turner realized he'd never asked.
He walked through the front door and didn't hear Shawn crying anymore. He went to Shawn's bedroom and knocked on the door. No response. So he walked in. When he opened the door he saw it. Bruises all over Shawn's chest. Scars which were mostly healed except the one Shawn seemed to be treating, which was fresh. Shawn didn't have a shirt on so Turner could see all the healed marks on Shawn's shoulders and neck.
"Get out!" Shawn cried as he heard his bedroom door open.
"Hunter what happened?" Turner asked as he took a step towards the boy.
"Nothing I got into a fight, it's fine!" Shawn said as he fumbled to put his shirt back on.
"Shawn it's okay, calm down. But we need to talk," Turner said as he took the wet rag out of Shawn's hand. He gently pushed Shawn to sit on the bed where he continued dabbing the cut on Shawn's chest. Shawn didn't fight him or anything, he just allowed Turner to do whatever he wanted. He was tired of fighting anyways.
"Shawn what really happened? Why'd you go to Topanga's? The truth." Turner stopped cleaning Shawn's wound and looked at him.
"I just got jumped by this boy in that bathroom. I didn't want you to see and I saw Topanga when I got out. So I went to her house and she cleaned me up. It's all good now." Shawn said, the nonchalant of his response stressed Jonathan.
"Who jumped you? Why? Why didn't you come to me?"
"I don't know." Shawn shrugged. "We don't really talk about our feelings," He started looking down at the carpet. He didn't know what to say. Jonathan sighed,
"Okay, so let's talk about our feelings now," There was a moment of silence before, "Tell me about your dad."
Shawn was silent. What did he want to know? What did he already know?
"What do you want to know?" Shawn spat out, trying to sound relaxed.
"Did he used to hit you?" Shawn bit his cheek. Dammit Feeny.
"No. Feeny started saying that when I was younger for some reason. I don't know why. I would get hurt doing dumb things as a kid, and for some reason he assumed my dad was beating me or something." Shawn lied. Jonathan didn't believe him a bit. But before he could ask another question Shawn spoke again,
"I'm pretty tired. I think I'm gonna get some rest."
Jonathan left the room, not another word was spoken for the night.
At around 2am Jonathan woke up to the sound of cries.
"What the…?" He realized the sound was coming from Shawn's bedroom. As he opened the door, he saw the boy tossing in his bed. His face had tears running down it. He was mumbling things,
"Please…. I'm sorry…. Stop please!" Turner didn't know what to do. The kid he was responsible for was crying in his sleep. They say to not wake up people that are sleepwalking, is this the same thing? Probably not.
Suddenly Shawn had stopped talking. Tears continued to run down his face, but he wasn't talking. Just crying. What is that poor kid dreaming about? Turner bent down towards the bed and tucked Shawn in. He left Shawn's room and put on his jacket.
"George! George! Open up!" Jonathan knocked on Feeny's door. It was the middle of the night. He probably wasn't going to open but Jonathan needed help.
"Mr. Turner?" A voice caused him to turn around. Cory was standing there in an oversized jersey and some sweatpants. It looked as if he'd been awake for a while.
"Matthews? What are you doing up?"
"Well I was doing my homework, but then I heard you banging on my neighbors door, so, now I'm here." Cory responded. He was always a bit awkward, in the way he phrased things. It was something unique about him.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you." Turner sighed as he leaned on the fence dividing the two backyards.
"Well it was your homework so technically already your fault. Why are you trying to get Feeny?" Cory asked.
Turner sighed. He probably shouldn't tell Cory Shawn's personal business. But at the same time the two were best friends, maybe Cory knew something Feeny didn't.
"Nothing, it's just some stuff with Shawn." Cory looked confused.
"What happened?" He questioned.
"I don't know it seems like he was having a nightmare or something, I don't know." Jonathan sighed again, "Earlier today we went out to dinner and he just left out of nowhere. He didn't even tell me where he was going. He said he went to Topanga's, I don't know why, but he's covered in-" Turner was cut off,
"Wait, he went to Topanga's? I wasn't there. Why would he go to Topanga's?" Cory asked, he considered the different reasons why, none of them were good.
Turner sighed, "I don't know kid. Tell Feeny to give me a call." Cory nodded and he began to walk to his motorcycle when he turned around, "Oh and Matthews," Cory turned to face him, "Don't worry about that homework, get some sleep." Cory smiled and nodded, then turned to go back inside.