Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me, they belong to whoever created them.
A/N: Thanks to my anonymous reviewer; Marie! I hope everyone that's reading enjoys this chapter.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. That was the mantra that was currently on reply inside of Shawn's mind. I knew it was stupid to trust them, Shawn mentally scolded himself as he walked down a backroad towards the trailer park. Shawn thought that what his mother did had caused him the ultimate sense of betrayal, that was she did caused him the most pain he would ever experiance in his life, but Shawn was wrong. Cory and John's betrayal dug so much deeper. Verna had left Shawn as a hypothetical open, gaping wound and Shawn foolishly expected Cory and John to sew him but up, but instead, they added insult to injury by pouring alcohol in his wounds. How could Cory think he deserved this? And John pratically threw him into that wall. Both of which were incredibly traitorous things to do.
Shawn's world was collapsing around him so he did the one thing that he learned to do in these situations, he ran. And Shawn was going to keep running until he felt safe again. In other words, he was going to keep running until he was as far away from these people as humanly possible.
Shawn's plan was to go back to the trailer, pack a bag, steal as much money as he could find and take off for the bus station. Then he was going to buy himself a ticket to somewhere, anywhere but here and once Shawn got to where he was going, he planned on getting a job. Maybe he could even get a fake I.D. eventually. Shawn wasn't stupid, he knew that he would probably end up on the streets, but he also knew that even the streets would be better then where he was right now.
Shawn turned the corner and got to the Pink Flamingo Trailer Park. Shawn took a deep, steadying breath as he walked towards his trailer with trepidation. Shawn was hoping that nobody was home, because if they were then he would have to wait for them to leave before he could get inside and then he ran the risk of John or Cory coming over to warn his parent's about what happened.
On the long walk over here Shawn had come to a conclusion about this whole situation. He needed to make things simpler for himself, so he could process the situation. Shawn decided that this whole mess was black and white. Verna was black, evil, for hitting him. Chet was evil for taking her side. Cory was evil for blaming Shawn and John was evil for making his back hit the wall. So, Shawn needed to get out of the evil area and into a good area. Shawn figured that running away and living on the streets was probably more of a gray area, then a good area, but he also supposed that the streets could be considered good compared to where he was now.
Another thing Shawn decided on his walk was that he needed to change. If Shawn was going to survive this situation then he had to become a totally different person. Cory and John's betrayal dug deep, far deeper then Verna and Chet's betrayal, and Shawn decided that he needed to become more soldier like. No more crying over people who obviously don't even care about him, and no more crying over the ever-increasing pain he was in. Shawn put himself in a type of 'war mode.' He was going to survive this, even if no one else wanted him to.
Shawn approached his trailer with caution. There was virtually no way to tell if someone was home right now, but Shawn had come up with a plan. If someone was in that trailer, regardless of it was Verna or Chet, then he needed to draw them out. If no one was inside, that was great, but he needed a way to find out. So, Shawn decided to incite a fight. If his parents were home, then someone would bang on the door to come get them to break up the fight before the cops showed up. If no one was home, then someone would bang on the door, but no one would come outside. Shawn's plan was foolproof.
Shawn edged around the side of the Connors' trailer and peeked around the corner. He smirked to himself, the people at this trailer park were so predictable. Ronnie, recently twenty one, was sitting in his lawn chair with a beer in hand, and several cans around him. He was a large man with a beer gut. He was of average height, maybe five feet eleven inches and had beach blond hair and intensely beet-red skin (probably from the last two months he spent outside, drinking himself into an early grave.) He was only sitting outside because now he was legally old enough to drink, and didn't have to duck inside every time he heard a police siren.
One trailer over was another man, Mark. He was tall- at least six feet three inches. Mark was also a very pale white and he had dark purple bags under his eyes, which were mostly hidden by his dark black hair. He was smoking a cigarette outside his trailer door. Mark smoked outside because his wife, Maratha wanted him to. And, if Mark didn't abide by Maratha's no smoking rule, then he had to sleep outside for a couple of nights. That is why Ronnie and Mark didn't get along well. Ronnie would get drunk (or be sober) and call Mark whipped, so Mark would retaliate by saying that at least he's dating someone who's not a blood relative. Things would always get pretty ugly from there.
Shawn nearly smiled at how simple his plan was and how effective it would be. It was almost as if the Universe was trying to reassure him that running away was the right thing to do.
Shawn looked around the ground for a beer can and didn't have to look very hard. There were several scattered around him. Shawn picked up the filthiest one he could find and filled it with dirt. The dirt mixed with the leftover beer that sloshed in the bottom of the can and created a disgusting mud-like substance. Shawn smiled; perfect!
Shawn glanced around the side again to make sure that he was unnoticed. Satisfied that Ronnie was to drunk to notice him, and Mark was too angry about the injustice of being forced to smoke outside, Shawn brought his arm back, aimed for Mark's head and hurled the can as hard as he could. Immediately, he ducked back around the trailer and was nearly giddy with relief at how instantaneous everything began to happen.
A loud crack sounded and Shawn knew that the bottle hit it's target. Thankfully, it was just your average beer can and it wasn't glass, so it wasn't as if Mark was going to be seriously injured.
Shawn nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard Mark's loud, angry, "HEY!" It was at that moment that Shawn realized how much adrenaline was rushing through his body right now. His breathing was erratic and Shawn felt like his heart was going to burst right out of his chest, fall to the ground and start hopping around like an injured rabbit. Shawn's entire body was shaking madly and he was tapping his foot against the ground anxiously.
Shawn decided it was time for phase two. Shawn peeked around the corner again and his eyes nearly popped out of his head. Mark was sporting a bloody nose and Ronnie was getting punched in the gut ruthlessly. Shawn gasped out loud and raced around this trailer to Mark's, trying desperately not to be seen.
Shawn had originally thought that this whole scene was going to go a bit differently. Shawn figured that he would have enough time to sneak by Ronnie and Mark before they even started fighting because, usually, Mark and Ronnie liked to talk trash first. Ronnie was either too drunk, or Mark was too angry, to put up with that today, Shawn guessed.
Shawn finally made it to Mark's trailer and banged on the door before turning and sprinting in the opposite direction. He could tell the fight was really heating up now, because the sounds of flesh hitting flesh came more frequently and were even interrupted by their loud and furious yells.
Moments later, almost half the trailer park was either at the fight, or moving towards the fight. Shawn was hiding behind a large pile of trash while he waited for someone to come bang on his parents door. Shawn had to clamp a hand over his mouth tightly to stop himself from being heard because his breathing was loud and ragged. Shawn knew he needed to calm down, because the only thing he could hear right now was the sound of blood rushing in his ears and he needed to be as alert as possible.
Shawn nearly sighed out loud with relief when he saw Frank race out of his trailer and bang on Shawn's door. Verna came to the door immediately and Shawn swore his heart almost stopped. However, he needn't have worried because a moment later Frank and Verna were racing towards the fight.
Shawn let out a deep breath he had been holding, got up from his hiding spot and raced into the trailer. He bolted into his room, reached under his bed, and grabbed an old backpack. With a panicked fever, Shawn raced around the room and put everything he thought he would need into the bag- clothes, jackets, an extra pair of shoes and some of the more important baseball cards Shawn had collected over the years. Shawn figured that if things got bad, he could always pawn these for some extra money.
Shawn ripped the zipper closed and raced into Verna and Chet's room. He nearly stopped fearfully in the doorway, but the moment of fear was replaced with the terror that Verna could be home any second. Shawn rushed over to Verna's dresser and ripped open the top drawer. With fumbling hands, Shawn dug through the draw's contents until he found what he was looking for: a box that contained all of Verna's money. Shawn went through Chet's draw's as well and found a significantly less amount of money, but took what he could find none the less.
Shawn turned to where he dropped his backpack, fell to his knees beside it, and shoved the boxes inside. Once he rezipped the bag, Shawn stood up and turned towards the door.
Shawn felt as though his body had been drenched in ice water. He dropped the bag to the floor with an ominous bang and gasped loudly. Verna was in the doorway, staring at him with a look that surpassed all looks she had ever given him before. It wasn't just simple anger, or even hate. Verna's mouth was clasped into a tight line and her jaw was locked in place. However, Shawn barely noticed those features because the one feature he couldn't take his eyes off of were her eyes. They were smoldering- burning, with murder.