Good day, mates! When we last left off, Rudy had a breakdown and revealed his true intentions of why he's out to get Russell. And Russell blames himself for it. Things aren't looking good for either of them, and this chapter, we'll see what goes on, and get a little more insight on Rudy's resentment of Russell. I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 10: Resentment

The boys, well, some of them, hung out in the junkyard that Friday. All of them were discussing what went down at the waterfront on Monday and expressed worry for both Rudy and Russell.

"I've never seen Rudy cry so much..." Harold commented, "He never seemed like the type to do so..."

"Speaking of Rudy, I haven't seen him all week..." Donald added.

He was right. Rudy had not shown up to school for the rest of the week. Whenever they decided to go to his house to see him, his mother would always tell them that he didn't want to see anybody. Of course, they understood.

But still... they were concerned for him. Did his mother know what happened?

"Yeah... and Russell hasn't been doing well himself..." Bill spoke up.

And sadly... the same could be said for Russell. He refused to attend school all week, in fear of seeing Rudy. Even though Bill assured him that everything would be okay, his decision was firm. Not to mention, for the first few days, he wasn't feeling well (mostly due to the slits he made on his wrists, but he made sure to keep that a secret from his brother).

At first, Bill was sure it was a small cold... and then Russell started refusing to eat or drink anything.

"And... I think he blames himself for what Rudy's been doing..." The older brother admitted sadly.

"But it isn't Russell's fault... is it...?" Bucky asked.

Albert shook his head, "No... true, Rudy has some grievances with him, but it's not Russell's fault. We just need to show Rudy how great a kid Russell really is... let's stop by his house later, to see how he's doing..."

"That is if he'll even let us through the front door..." Harold commented.

Before the boys could do anything, there was a knock on the door. Albert went to open it... revealing Rudy's mother, "Oh, hi, Mrs. Davis. What brings you here...?"

"Hello, Albert. Do you boys mind if you keep Rudy company? I have to work late this evening, and my poor baby has been feeling down, and I don't know why..." She asked, "I figured seeing his friends could cheer him up. He's home now, but I can bring you, boys, there..."

The boys looked at one another. If Rudy was willing, then perhaps it would be a good idea. Albert nodded, "Hey, hey, hey. That's quite okay with us. We'd be happy to."

Mrs. Davis smiled back, "Oh, thank you. You boys are saints.."

Later at the Davis residence.

"Rudy... you have company..."

The boys waited patiently until their friend came around the corner. He looked... awful. He was wearing his usual clothes (which were wrinkled instead of pressed like normally) but was his orange hat. And he sure didn't look happy to see his friends.

"Rudy, I'll be working late tonight. Your friends are here to keep you company. Your father will be working over the weekend and will be back on Monday. I'll see you later tonight. Will you be okay?" His mother asked.

The boy sighed, before nodding and allowing his mother to kiss him on the cheek, "Okay. I love you, baby..."

"I love you too..." He muttered.

"Don't worry, we'll take good care of him," Albert assured her.

"Thank you..."

With that, Mrs. Davis left. As soon as she was gone, Rudy glared at his friends, "What are you clowns doing here?!" he demanded, "Didn't you get the memo before? I don't wanna see you!"

"Rudy, we came by to check on you. We haven't seen you all week, and wanted to make sure you were okay." Albert told him, "And your Mom asked us to keep you company while she worked."

The rich boy groaned before sitting on the couch, "I should've known! You dudes don't care about me!"

"Of course we care, Rudy. We're friends!"

"It seems to me that you'd be more concerned about the wellbeing of that SHRIMP rather than me... speaking of, where is the little brat? Couldn't be bothered to show up?"

Bill glared at him, "You're the reason he isn't here. He didn't come to school all week either, because he was afraid of seeing you. He blames himself for you hating him after you screamed at us Monday."

Rudy's glare became darker, "Good. I don't want to see him either! With how he's feeling, I wouldn't be surprised if the rat killed himself! He's a little menace to society..."

"Rudy, don't say things like that. We get that you're suffering, but Russell's suffering just as bad. And most of it has to do with what you said to him..." Albert said softly.

"Are you trying to get me to change my mind about the shrimp?! Well, tough luck! I meant what I said! I HATE that little monster! And for all I care, he can go to Hell!"

It took all of Bill's strength to not strangle Rudy right then and there. All of these things he was saying about his little brother, it was pissing him off. But, for the sake of avoiding another incident like what happened on Monday, he kept silent as Rudy continued, "And he better be glad he's not here! Because the second I see him, I'd probably beat the crap outta the brat until he was left as a bruised and bloody pulp! Then maybe he'd know how bad my suffering has been!"

"I don't get it. I mean, sure you and Russell don't get along all the time, but when did this sudden loathing begin...?" Harold asked.

Rudy stood up, his glare ever so deathly and full of rage, "Ever since the shrimp was a BABY! When Bill started bringing him to the junkyard, and he got ALL the attention from everyone else! As if he was the most adorable thing in the world! I admit, I found myself fawning over the kid myself, but then one day when I wanted to show you guys a cool juggling trick, all you cared about was Baby Russell!"

He walked around the gang, "None of y'all noticed my juggling, you were too busy making funny faces at the baby, or laughing and smiling as he blew spit bubbles. Or take turns playing with him! All eyes were on him, and not me! And it only got worse later on, when the shrimp began to develop a smart mouth bigger than his size! And most of what he had to say was directed at ME!"

"W-W-Well, you got attention then," Donald spoke up.

Rudy sent him a glare that caused the dimwitted boy to shrink a little in fear before he continued his rant, "And of course, whatever he had to say was the best or funniest thing in the world. But when I say something that I think is funny... silence. When Russell says I have no class, everyone laughs! When I say someone has no class... no one cares! You seeing a pattern?! Russell is so loved and praised, while I'm hated and dissed! None of you seem to care when he insults me!"

He suddenly threw a punch into the wall, "But when I finally decide to take matters into my own hands and deal with the insults after one too many, all of you jump on my back! Okay, so I hurt the little shrimp, but you have to understand how I was feeling that day!"

Albert tried to calm him down, "We know how you were feeling, but you went overboard. The issue wasn't what Russell said, but how you reacted to it. You have an anger issue, Rudy. You may not want to admit it, but it's there. And you've been taking anger management classes, right?"

"Yeah.." Rudy snorted, "And they were helping... until school started up, and all this NCE crap started happening again! All because of Russell! None of the NCE stuff would have happened if he never said those three cursed words!"

"No! It wouldn't have happened again if YOU didn't beat him up!" Bill shot back, finally fed up, "That's another problem you have! You keep blaming Russell for your issues when really, most of it was caused by your own actions! You're too stubborn to admit to your own mistakes, so you take it out on the wrong person! You call Russell a monster? No, you're the monster!"

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK!"

Before Bill could react, he found himself pinned to the wall, with Rudy's hands wrapped around his neck, "You better take that back right now!" The rich boy growled, tightening his grip, nearly choking Bill to death.

The other boys quickly acted to separate the two, and after a few seconds, they were able to restrain Rudy once again, while Bill began to catch his breath. As Albert held his friend, he could see tears threatening to fall from his eyes, "Rudy..."

Rudy looked up at Albert, before letting out a sob, "I... I just want more people to like me... to not criticize or insult me... or think someone else is inferior to me in any way... is that so wrong...?"

"No... it isn't. I get where you're coming from, Rudy. But you're going about this the wrong way. And... I guess all of us share some type of blame..."

The rest of the gang looked down as Harold spoke, "Yeah. We're all supposed to be good friends, but I have to admit, we aren't always nice to each other. Maybe we need to fix that."

"Friends don't always get along... but we always have something to say about each other..." Bucky added, "And most of the time... it isn't so sweet. Sometimes it's for laughs... and sometimes... it's not so funny."

"And even I know Russell can be a pain sometimes. We all know that." Bill admitted, "But he is my little brother. I love him no matter how much he gets on my nerves, and we'll always work out problems."

Albert smiled a little, "Then that's what we need to do. Work out our problems with each other. And... just be better friends in general."

Rudy wiped his eyes and frowned, "Wow... it's amazing how long it took for you jerks to realize this? It took me slapping you upside the head with facts for you to come to this conclusion... well, even if that's true, it's a bit too late for me! I still won't change my opinion on that little shrimp! I hate him, and I'll forever hate him! Even if some things are my own fault... you can't deny that he started it..."

He forced himself away from Albert's grip, and went back to sitting on the couch, "And if you're expecting me to apologize to him, then fat chance!"

Albert sighed. It looked like it was going to take a little bit more to get through to Rudy...

Suddenly, the phone rang. Albert decided to answer it, as Rudy was still too upset to do anything. He picked up the phone, "Hey, hey, hey. Davis residence, Fat Albert speaking... yes... we're all here... okay, I'll give it to him." He then turned to Bill, "Bill, your Dad's on the phone. He needs to talk to you..."

The Cosby boy nodded as he took the phone, "Hello? Dad..."

As he listened to what his father said on the phone, his face began more and more horrified and scared. This worried the others (even Rudy looked concerned), until Bill spoke again, "Oh... okay. We'll be there as fast as we can. Okay, Dad. Bye..." He set the phone down, tears glistening.

"What's wrong, Bill?" Albert asked with concern.

"We gotta go... Russell's in the hospital..."

Cliff Hanger! Hanging from a cliff! And that's why he's called Cliff Hanger! Anybody grow up with Between the Lions? I did. Anyways, this was an interesting chapter. So Rudy's resentment of Russell dates backs to when the little boy was just an infant, and it only continued to grow throughout the years. And the other boys feel like they share some blame too, and aim to work to do better, although Rudy's still reluctant. But now, it looks like they'll truly need each other. Next chapter will take place at the hospital, and we'll get an update on Russell. Will he be okay? You'll have to wait and see. I'll see you guys later. And as always, don't forget to review, please. Thank you!