NOTES: This was sort of a hard chapter to write. I tried to keep it funny and emotional at the same time. Sometimes its a little ooc, but it couldn't be helped :) I hope the song was ok, it was the only one I could think of.
It was raining. Go figure. It always did, on days like this. Funerals that is. Any funeral was always bad enough. A child's was worse. A friend's was worse. Raining just added to the already solemn effect it had on people. Stan stared at himself in the mirror. His hands by his side, one of them clasping his red tie. A light knock on the door caught his attention but he didn't turn around. "You ready to go champ?" His father asked, in an unusual calm and serious tone. At least, unusual for him.
"It won't work. The tie. I can't get it to work" Stan continued to stare at himself, dressed in a dark grey suit.
Randy walked fully into the room, dressed in his own black suit. He turned his son around and knelt in front of him. He silently took the tie from his hand and began to place it around Stan's neck in the proper fashion. He tightened the last knot and pushed it up to sit at the boys collar and said "There you go bud"
"Why do people die?"
Randy's mouth opened, he knew his son was going through a hard time. He didn't want to be a dick. But he always usually screwed up in these situations. "It's- it's just part of life son" was that right? He guessed not by the look on Stan's face.
"Part of life!? What part of life is that? The part where you're just ten years old thinking you've got one hell of a life ahead of you? Or the part when you're just innocently visiting your Grandmas and the cab explodes!"
"Stanley-"
"Does god decide whose time is up? Does he sit up there, on his little god damn pedestal cloud thinking. Hey- screw this kid; he's next"
"I don't know! God!"
A tear appeared at one of Stan's eyelids, his mum soon appeared in the door way; hearing all the shouting. "What's going on? Randy don't yell at a time like this"
"I'm sorry Sharon! But- Stan should learn that it's not just fun and games- he should just- god!" Randy stormed out of the room. Yeah, he really did suck. He clearly panicked, and more then over reacted.
"Mum?" Stan looked up at her, he didn't know what he should do.
"I'm sorry Stanley. You know your father. Are you ready to go?"
"What do I do?"
"About what hun?"
"Do I remain stoic? Do I cry?"
"You do whatever you feel you have to Stan" she held her arms out and then embraced him. She then stood up and said "We'll be waiting in the car when you're ready" Sharon smiled at him and then left.
Stan sighed, he stood there thinking. What if it was his turn soon? Or Kyle's? Stan shook his head. He couldn't overthink this. It would cause more major issues with his life. He frowned and finally walked out of his bedroom. Just as he shut the door, his sister was stood by the small table on the landing. "Not today" he said. He couldn't deal with her crap today, she always gave him crap. For no reason. Without a word, Shelly moved toward him and gave him a quick hug. "Shelly?"
"Chin up. Turd" she then left him dumbfounded on the landing. Was this how it was going to be? People tiptoing around him now? He guessed it was normal. He was just going to have to deal. At least for a while. He could let go when he was alone.
Stan shut the door of the house and got into the back seat of his dad's car. They pulled out of the drive way and headed down the road. A phone began to ring, Sharon dug her cell out of her purse. "Hello?" Stan kept his head hung low, not even listening to the one sided conversation. "Yes. Ok, I'll tell him. We'll be there in a moment" Sharon disconnected the call. "That was Sheila. Apparently Kyle is refusing to come out of his room. He says he's not going to the funeral"
"Poor little guy. Must be hard. Losing your best friend like that" Randy replied.
Stan looked up then. Were they serious? "What? Cartman and Kyle were not best friends. They hated each other. Kyle and I have been best friends since preschool, How can you not know that?"
"Buddy, I know you're hurting all right. But you can't just move in on someones bff. At least not right away"
"What the hell does that even mean? I'm not moving in on anyone dad. Kyle is my best friend. Seriously. Geez!"
"Anyway, Stan. Sheila asked that you go talk to Kyle. See if you can get him to come out. She said he might listen to you" Sharon said as she turned to talk to her son.
"That's because she knows that Kyle is my best friend"
"Ok sweetheart"
"Mum, you have to know that. Come on"
"Ok sweetie" Sharon turned around to face the front again.
"Stan is pretty emotional right now. We should just agree with him for now" Randy told her
"I know. Its a rough time for him"
Stan frowned "Jesus Christ" he muttered, there was just no point. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Shelly. Tell me that, at least you know what I'm talking about"
"Our fricking dog knows you and Kyle are best friends. Our parents are just stupid"
Stan sighed. "Thank you"
…...
Stan looked back at their car parked over the curb. His dad gave him a thumbs up. Stan rolled his eyes as he turned to knock on the door of Kyle's house. The door was opened by Sheila, Stan gave her a small smile. "Oh hi Stanly. Come on in. How are you doing?"
"Ok I guess"
"I understand. Could you talk to Kyle for me? I can't seem to talk any sense into him. He'll listen to you"
"Yeah, we're best friends afterall"
"Oh I know. Since preschool"
Stan smiled. Kyle's Mum maybe a little pshyco sometimes. But at least she wasn't so ignorant. Stan made his way up the stairs.
Kyle stared at the picture on his desk. A picture of the four of them. Him, Stan, Kenny and Eric. A simpler time. It was one of those rare moments, when the group got along, no arguments. Back when they played detectives. He continued to stare at the picture. Eric giving his smug little grin at the camera, back to back with Kenny holding pretend weapons. Kyle and Stan on opposite sides of them, holding their own pretend weapons. "I'm not falling for it. Not this time. I know you. Its not happening" He poked the image of Eric. "I know you're still out there fatass. You maybe fooling everyone else. But you're not fooling me" Kyle jumped when a knock on his door sounded. "I'm not going Mum!"
"Kyle. Its me" came Stan's muffled voice
"Stan?" Kyle walked to the door and opened it.
"Hey"
"What are you doing here? I thought you were going to the funeral?"
"I could say the same to you" Kyle rolled his eyes and stepped aside to allow Stan to enter his room.
"Did my Mum ask you to talk to me?"
"Actually yeah. Kyle-"
"Forget it. I'm not falling for it"
"What? Not falling for what?"
"Cartman" Kyle shut his door. "I know this is his way of getting to me"
"Dude"
"No Stan. He may have everyone else fooled. But I know the truth. Pretty soon, he's going to come out of his god damn hiding space. And be all like nah nah nah nah nah nah. Ha ha ha ha ha ha. I made you miss me. I made you sad"
"Really Kyle?"
"It's all a rouse Stan"
"Kyle. We saw the car blow up. We watched it explode, right in front of us. There was nothing left. No trace"
Kyle looked at Stan, the boy was genuinely upset. "Wow. He really has got to you all this time"
"Kyle. Come on. Please just come to the funeral. If you don't believe it that's fine; if not for Cartman. For me? I sort of need my best friend right now"
Kyle failed to say anything else. He could see how sincere Stan was. "Argh. Fine. But this means in no way I've fallen for his scams"
"Sure. Whatever you say" Stan walked to the door and opened it "I'll wait outside" he shut the door and stood against the wall. He really believes Cartman is faking. He really is in denial. I guess we deal with grief in different ways.
The door opened and Kyle stepped out wearing a black suit with a red tie. "Ok. Let's go"
"Thanks Kyle"
Kyle sighed and the two made their way down the stairs. "Oh! You're here. You finally ready to go bauba?" Sheila said as she placed a hand on her sons shoulder. Kyle frowned, his hands in his jacket pockets.
"Yeah. I'm ready"
"Good. Gerald! Kyle's ready to go" Gerald came into the hallway from the kitchen with Ike in tow. Ike had been dressed in a small little dark blue suit.
Stan seemed surprised. "Mrs Broflovski? Isn't Ike a little young to go to a funeral?"
"I thought so too. But we just can't find a baby sitter at a time like this. Most of of everyone we know are going I think"
"Oh. Right"
Kyle rolled his eyes yeah that sounds about right. The more the merrier right Cartman? Get everyone 'super depressed' over you. Nothing like people crying over you to add to your massive ego. "Jesus Christ" you can't exclaim the lord's name cause you're a Jew. The voice inside his head sounded so real. Kyle looked around the room, his family and Stan were waiting for him by the door. No Eric Cartman. Kyle seemed surprised for a second and then went back to being passive and followed his family out the door.
"Everyone else is going to meet us there" Sheila said as she and the rest of her family headed to their car.
Stan waved to Kyle "See you there"
"K"
Stan got back into the car "Way to go bud" Randy said. He waited for Gerald to pull out of his drive way and then followed after him.
It was more of a turn out then Kyle expected. Of course not everyone was there. But those who were wasn't mostly expected. Mr Garrison/the president. Token, Butters, Clyde and Jimmy. Craig and Tweek were to the right, holding hands. Heidi was there, sitting on one of the chairs; she looked pretty sad. Despite them broken up a while ago; Kyle guessed that she still cared enough about him. She was also back to normal, she'd lost all the weight she'd gained. Stan smiled when he got out of the car as he saw Wendy. Of all the girls to show up, she of all people he thought wouldn't. Kyle followed his family up to all the chairs that had been setup amongst the green grass of south park cemetery. It had stopped raining now, the sun was trying to poke through the clouds; its rays shining brightly against the dripping blades of green. He stopped when he was about to walk past his old teacher. "Mr garr- I mean, president. You're here?"
"Yes Kyle. I maybe president. But I'm not a total asshole. I did teach the little shit for some odd years. Thought I should pay my respects and all that"
"Ye-ah. Sure"
"What's with you anyway? Shouldn't you of all people not be here?"
"Well. I'm, I'm just here for Stan. He asked me to come"
"Figures. Bet you're pretty stoked though right?" Kyle wasn't sure what he was suppose to say. "Don't worry. You don't have to say anything. Everyone knows you and Eric totally hated each other. They all know you're secretly happy about this"
"No. I mean. I'm not happy, not really"
"Right. And I'm not a gay president" Garrison walked away from Kyle and went to find a seat.
Kyle shook his head. He found his friends stood to the side. Stan not with them, he was obviously with Wendy at the moment. Kyle looked to see all of his friends' families, comforting Liane in some way or another. The woman looked pretty torn up, but she was trying her best to stay strong in front of everyone. Kyle frowned. I know you're an asshole Cartman. But I didn't think you'd go this far, just to get to me. Kyle couldn't use past tense. He just didn't believe any of this was real. He literally refused to believe it. He walked up to his other friends. They were all dressed in similar suits. "Hey guys"
"Hey dude" Clyde greeted "Surprised to see you here"
What was it with that? "I know but-"
"I mean, you of all people I didn't think would be here"
"Jesus. You all hated him too"
"Sure. But its not like we could do anything about it. He was kind of like-a weed. You couldn't get rid of it. So you just sort of got used to it being there" Token replied. This made the others looked down in sadness.
"Are you serious right now?"
"Eric wasn't the best of people. Not a great friend. But he was always there ya know?" Butters said
"What?"
"Well, not there. Like there for you. But just there. If not in kind, you could count on him to get a job done. I suppose"
"It's just gonna be weird" Craig said as he and Tweek made their way to the group. "Basically what we're saying is, he was an asshole"
Butters clenched a fist against his palm, tears at his eyelids. "But damn he was our asshole"
They all looked at the short blonde boy. "That's- that's not what I was gonna say. Oh forget it"
"So let me get this straight" Kyle started, he was seriously confused. "You all hate his guts. But you still go to his funeral and kind of say nice stuff because-you're used to him?"
They all nod in agreeance. "Right" Tweek said, twitching only a little.
"That is just-wrong"
Stan and Wendy soon joined the group "I think they're about ready to start" Wendy said.
Kyle watched the group walk to their seats. "So wrong"
"You coming Kyle?" Stan called.
Kyle sighed "I guess so" you're a monster Kyle, but you're my little monster. Kyle span around, no one behind him. A gentle breeze blew through his usually covered ginger hair. He thought that by showing his hair. It would make Eric show himself. He could picture it. "How dare you show you're ginger Jew hair at my funeral Kahl!" Kyle smiled a little, how pissed everyone would be; then he'd finally be able to say I told you so.
Everyone was now seated. The kids in attendence were sat to the front. Seated behind were their parents. Behind them were a few of the teachers, Garrison amongst them. Out of the students, from left to right sat Kenny, Kyle, Stan, Wendy, Heidi, Butters, Clyde, Token, Craig, Tweek and then Jimmy.
Liane was the first to step up to the front. She was wearing a black dress with a black netted veil pulled back. There was a small closed casket near the podium, with a few red flowers placed on the top "I want to thank you all for being here. I know my boy Eric would love-" she sniffled a little, trying to keep it together. "Would love to have seen this" Kyle snorted quietly, Stan nudged him with his elbow. "I know that a lot people were often mad at him. I know that he did a lot of bad things to people. There were times when even I was often mad. But he was always trying to better himself. In some way or another; Despite his more then obnoxious behaviour" liane almost couldn't hold it together. "Eric was a unique boy. I know what people thought of him. But he was just like any child really. He played, he had adventures, had friends, cried when he was sad, got angry. I used to be judged for being too leniant with Eric. But there are many of us who think their child is a saint, when often he gets into trouble" The parents looked down in sadness, silently agreeing. "He was my baby boy" Liane was crying now, she placed a hand on the casket. "You're at peace now sweetheart. Eric, I love you. Go be with God"
The kids exchanged sad looks, they knew better. Their rascist, manipulative, asshole friend; was definatly not with god. At least, they didn't believe he would be.
Sharon had to come up to the front and steer Liane away from the boy's casket. An arm around her grieving friend as she led her to sit down. They weren't the best of friends, but they were still friends.
"Its heartbreaking. I honestly don't know what I'd do" Sheila said quietly.
"I know what you mean. I couldn't cope if I lost one of my babies" Carol replied.
Kenny frowned as he overheard this. "Are you fucking kidding me" he mumbled.
"What?" Kyle asked
"Nothing"
Mr mackey soon made his way to the front. "Mmkay. I know some of Eric's friends probably want a chance to say something. So err, why don't we have his good friend Kyle come up here. Come on up Kyle"
"Really?" Kyle frowned in confusion as everyone looked at him. "Really?"
Stan rolled his eyes. At least he didn't say best friend. "Just roll with it dude. I don't know either. They're, they're just stupid"
"Really?" Kyle realised they were still waiting for him. He sighed and jumped off of his chair. Wait, maybe this is it. Maybe he's waiting for me to say something nice about him and then he's going to jump out. Nice try fatass, you're not going to get that satisfaction. Kyle stepped up to the podium, the microphone in front of him. He then frowned. "All right! That's enough. Come on Cartman! I think this has gone far enough"
Stan face palmed "Oh no"
"Come on out! I know you're there! You can't fool me. Waiting for me to spew a bunch of nice crappy things about you. It's not gonna happen asshole. I don't buy it, you hear me?" they all stared at him in shock. Stan slowly got off his seat, he didn't want Kyle making more of an ass of himself then he already was. "Let everyone see, see that you're just playing one of your massive cruel jokes. Tell all these people that obviously care just a little bit, enough to be here. That this was all a rouse to get back at me, to try and get me to admit something I never will"
Stan pulled on Kyle's arm. "Come on Kyle. Why don't you sit down ok?"
"But he's faking Stan, they all should know"
"Yeah dude. Just sit down ok? Calm down a bit" Kyle allowed Stan to lead him back to his chair.
"Holy shit dude" Kenny exclaimed
"Sorry bout that. Um, he's just having a tough time right now" Stan spoke, lying for Kyle to take the heat off.
"My poor little bauby" Sheila said, sniffing into a tissue.
"It's tragic. One minute you're best friend is there. Next minute" Randy closed his eyes "He's gone"
Stan could just over hear what his dad was saying. He clenched his fists in his lap. "God damn it"
"Mmkay...Thank you- Kyle...um, The rest of the students here have prepared a little something mmkay"
"Don't be mad dude" Stan said to Kyle
"What?"
"I didn't ask you to participate with us cause I know you it's not your thing. I know how much you hated Cartman, I didn't want you pressured into anything"
"What are you talking about?"
"Come on up here kids, Mmkay"
All the kids except for Kyle made their way up to the front, Token bringing with him a boom box. They all grabbed a microphone from inside their jacket. Stan spoke first. "We didn't have a lot of time to prepare for this. So er, we just sorta chose a song and- well, that's it"
Token hit play on the box and the song was instantly recognised as I'll be missing you by Puff Daddy.
"You've got to be kidding me" Kyle said with a frown
Stan: Seems like yesterday we used to rock the show
I laced the track, you locked the flow
So far from hanging on the block for dough
Cartman, they got to know
That life ain't always what it seem to be
Words can't express what you mean to us
Even though you're gone, we still a team
We're your family, I'll fufill your dreams
Kenny: In the future, can't wait to see
If you open up the gates for me
Reminisce some time, the night they took my friend
Try to black it out, but it plays again
When it's real, feeling's hard to conceal
Can't imagine all the pain we feel
Give anything to hear half your breath
I know you still living your life after death
All: Every step I take,
Every move I make
Every single day,
Every time I pray
I'll be missing you
Thinking of the day,
When you went away
What a life to take,
What a bond to break
I'll be missing you
"Are you seriously doing this right now?" Kyle couldn't believe what he was seeing. They all hated him. He just couldn't understand it.
Stan: We miss you dude
Token: It's kinda hard with you not around
Know you're in heaven smiling down
Watching us while we pray for you
Every day we pray for you
'Til the day we meet again
In my heart is where I'll keep you, friend
Memories give me the strength I need to proceed
Strength I need to believe
Butters: My thoughts, Eric, I just can't define
Wish I could turn back the hands of time
Us in the 6,
Shop for new clothes and kicks
You and me taking flicks
causing trouble, you egging me on
I still can't believe you're gone
Give anything to hear half your breath
I know you still living your life after death
All: Every step I take,
Every move I make
I miss you
Every single day,
Every time I pray
I'll be missing you
Thinking of the day,
When you went away
What a life to take,
What a bond to break
I'll be missing you
Heidi: Somebody tell me why, one dark morning. When this life is over, I know, I'll see your face.
Stan: Every night I pray,
Every step I take
Every move I make,
Every single day
Every night I pray,
Every step I take
Craig: Every day that passes
Every move I make,
Every single day
Tweek: Is a day that I get closer to seeing you again
Every night I pray,
Every step I take
Butters: We miss you, Eric and we won't stop
Every move I make,
Every single day
Token: Cause we can't stop, that's right
Every night I pray,
Every step I take
Every move I make,
Every single day
Jimmy: W-w-we m-miss you, dude
The parents and the teachers soon joined in for the last singing of the chorus. Kyle looked around, still too in shock to join in. He thought he was dreaming.
Every step I take,
Every move I make
I miss you
Every single day,
Every time I pray
I'll be missing you
Thinking of the day,
When you went away
What a life to take,
What a bond to break
I'll be missing you
The song ended, Wendy wrapped an arm around Heidi to comfort her. Stan and the group walked off stage. Everyone was silent now, taking a moment. Kyle eyeballed everyone "Really?"