Chapter 7: Chapter 6—Rubbing Salt in the Wound
That following Monday, Stan and Kenny stood at the bus stop waiting for Kyle.
"Hey," Kenny said. "Isn't Cartman supposed to be coming back to school today?"
"I think so," said Stan. "It's been a week. You think Cierra will be coming too?"
Kenny shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know either," Stan replied. "But after what happened on Friday—"
"Seriously!" Kenny exclaimed. "I hated her too but that was pretty harsh."
"Yeah," Stan agreed. "You think Kyle really hates her?"
"Maybe," Kenny mumbled. "But maybe Cierra won't even show up today."
"I wouldn't blame her," said Stan. He stared down at the snowy ground then looked back up at his hooded friend. "What is Cierra gonna be like now anyway? She's done being Cartman's stand-in right?"
Kenny nodded.
"So, what happens now?"
"I don't know, dude," Kenny mumbled as he shrugged his shoulders again.
Soon, Stan and Kenny heard sloshing footsteps heading toward them. Sure enough, they belonged to their green capped, redheaded friend. Kyle came to Stan's side and stood silently.
"Hey, dude," said Stan looking towards him. "You ok?"
"Yeah, why?" asked Kyle.
"Well…after Friday—"
"Oh, that," he said flatly. He sighed. "I-I'm ok. I guess I was just—I let her get to me, that's all."
"Oh," Stan said simply. "Ooookay then."
The three friends stood in silence for a while until Kyle broke it once again.
"I was pretty harsh wasn't I?"
Stan hesitated but eventually nodded. "Yeah, dude. Just a little."
"Hmm," Kyle mumbled. "I don't know if I want to apologize." Kyle turned his head to Stan and Kenny. "I meant every word of what I said you know."
"I know, dude," said Stan. "But…ouch."
"Yeah," said Kyle. "I know."
"Hey, fags. What's going on?" said a distant nasally voice. Cartman approached the bus stop and took his place between Stan and Kenny.
"Hey, fatass. You finally out of the hospital?" asked Kyle.
Cartman inhaled and responded, "You know, I'm not really in the mood to talk to you right now, Kyle."
Stan and Kenny looked to each other confused.
"Not after what you did to my cousin."
"Where is Cierra anyway?" asked Kyle.
"None of your business, Kyle," Cartman spat. "I'm in no hurry to have her associating with riffraff like you anyway."
The school bus arrived and Cartman was the first to get on. Kyle held onto the railing as he climbed the bus's steps and felt something sharp cut his thumb. He grunted softly but quickly sucked off the blood as he entered the bus. Cartman was sitting near the aisle and as Kyle passed by him, he saw Cierra sitting beside her cousin. She was wearing a dark grey ski cap that was so tight on her head it could've passed for her hair. As she stared out her window, Kyle also saw in her reflection that the dark circles she'd had under eyes last Tuesday were back and just as dark as her ski cap.
As the bus pulled in, all the children got off but Cierra stayed behind, still staring out her window as Cartman got off and left her. Cartman huffed and puffed as he caught up to the other three boys.
"You really did it this time, Kyle," he said sharply. "Cierra hasn't said a word all morning 'cause of you and your gay speech on Friday."
"Hey, don't go blaming me, fat boy," said Kyle. "You never should have tried to make her be like you in the first place."
"Oh, so all of a sudden you know what's best for my family?" asked Cartman. "Who do you think you are? Friggin' Dr. Phil?"
"No! And why would she ever want to be like you anyway?" asked Kyle.
"I was just teaching her how to deal with the assholes of the world! Hippies, poor people, Jews like you—she's got no idea how to deal with them! I was doing her a favor!"
"Yeah, and now the entire school hates her! Great job," said Kyle sarcastically.
"She just needs some more practice," Cartman said waving a hand in front of Kyle's face dismissively.
Kyle swat it away and said, "What she needs is someone to really help her." Kyle's eyes went wide as he'd realized what he had said. He found himself going back to the bus for Cierra but felt extremely confused. Wasn't this the same girl he had said last week that he'd hated?
As Kyle came back to the school bus, he saw Cierra still sitting in the same seat where Cartman left her. Her face was pressed against the window and she didn't even bother to look any direction but down. Kyle threw a snowball to her window and her head shook to attention. She looked down towards Kyle with narrowed eyes and came to the bus's closed door.
"What do you want?" she asked with a groggy but irritable voice, the doors muffling her voice.
"Cierra…"Kyle began. "Look…I still think you're pretty annoying. But…what I said last week was… a little harsh."
Cierra's brows relaxed at Kyle's words.
"Kind of," said Cierra. "But…you were just telling the truth," she admitted. "I really did suck at being Eric."
"Well, you're not being Cartman's substitute anymore, right?" Cierra looked up to him and Kyle looked away as he continued, unsure of what to say next. "You think maybe…now we could see the real you? Instead of the fake-Cartman you?"
Cierra looked down to her feet then back up at Kyle. Her face contorted slightly as she thought but she eventually forced the bus door open and stood directly before Kyle. Kyle gave her a small smile which she returned. As she stepped down, however, Cierra lost her balance and smashed her body onto the concrete sidewalk. The force of her fall knocked her gray ski cap off and under it, Cierra's hair had been cut so short parts of her scalp were showing. Thick messy strands of blond hair were scattered around her and each one had been painted in blood from Cierra's scalp. The cut of her hair was jagged and uneven as though it had been ripped off by hand. Cierra face was buried in the snow on the school's lawn but she managed to pull herself up so that her muffled sobbing was more easily heard.
"Cierra!" Kyle shrieked. "What the hell happened to you?"
Cierra saw her cousin and a group of other kids approaching and tossed a small, opened switch blade knife towards Kyle's feet.
Cartman pushed Kyle aside and held his cousin close. "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO HER, KYLE?!" he bellowed. As Stan and Kenny witnessed the scene they went from Kyle to Cierra to the knife and were thoroughly confused as to what had happened.
Later, Kyle was in the principal's office, whose face was completely stern, with Cierra, still covered in blood, and Cartman who was rubbing her back comfortingly.
"I'm telling you!" Kyle said for what seemed like the 100th time. "I didn't do it!"
"Kyle Broflovski," said Principal Victoria, "This is a very serious situation you've gotten yourself into."
Kyle continued to try to explain. "But I—"
"Assault of another student to this degree is grounds for expulsion, if not juvenile hall."
"What?!" screamed Kyle. "But I—"
"Kyle," Cartman interrupted. "The entire school saw you run to her, and we both know how angry you were at her. But to stoop this low…"
"Cartman, you know I didn't do this! You set this whole thing up!"
"Oh, sure, Kyle!" Cartman quipped. "You think I wouldn't notice my cousin coming to school with her hair chopped off and a freakin' bloody head?!"
"You hid it under the ski cap!"
"But you can't prove that, can you Mr. Broflovski?" asked the principal. "And according to the DNA test Cartman brought to my attention only two people's blood were on Cierra and the knife: Cierra's own blood and yours."
"What?!" Kyle yelled in shock. "But—" he began again but the principal cut him off once more.
"Unless you can prove the culprit is someone else, I'm afraid I'm going to have to suspend you until further notice."
Kyle gasped silently and finally turned to Cierra.
"Cierra, you know I wouldn't do this right?"
Cierra looked to Kyle but then to Cartman and ultimately didn't reply. Kyle looked desperately to find anyone to sympathize with him but found no one.
"I'll be calling your parents to come and pick you up," said the principal. "Eric, take your cousin to the ladies' room to freshen up and I'll call her father."
"Yes, Principal Victoria," Cartman said sincerely. He took Cierra's hand and led her through the office door, leaving Kyle alone.
Kyle was grounded on top of being suspended when his parents had come to take him home. As he left the school, Kyle found Cartman leaning against a locker near the girls' room.
"Mrs. Broflovski?" asked Cartman in the most polite voice he could muster. "If it's all right, I'd like to give your son a stern talking to about hurting other people."
"Alright, Eric," said Kyle's Mom hesitantly. "But not for too long. Kyle is beginning his punishment today." She rejoined her husband down the hallway and as soon as they were out of earshot, Kyle spoke up.
"You shithead," he snarled. "You are a royal asshole, you know that? You know I didn't chop off Cierra's hair!"
"Duh!" said Cartman. "But the evidence stands against you, Kyle. And you can't really prove that you didn't do it."
"If Cierra had said what had really happened—"
"And why would I have?" Cierra suddenly stepped out the girls' room, her head free from blood.
Kyle came directly in front of Cierra and shouted. "I can't believe what you did to me in there!"
"After what you said to me last week? Why can't you?" She pushed past him and turned the nearest corner, her nose in the air.
"I can't believe I actually trusted you again," Kyle muttered to himself.
Cartman faced Kyle and narrowed his eyes menacingly to the young Jew. "Try to convince my cousin she's something she isn't again," he growled. "Just try." He emphasized his last words with a single poke to Kyle's chest. "I dare you." And with that he joined his cousin around the corner.
Stan and Kenny came to find Kyle shaking his fists and growling.
"Jesus, dude!" yelled Stan. "What happened with Cierra this morning?"
"I don't know!" bellowed Kyle. "And I don't CARE! I JUST DON'T ANYMORE, STAN! IF CIERRA WANTS TO BE CARTMAN'S BALL-LICKER, FINE! LET HER! I DON'T—" Kyle rant suddenly came to a halt as he noticed a Post-It note on his shoulder. He took the note and small message that was written on it:
"I'm sorry."
A/N: Well that was a downer ending. But yay! The story's done. Let me know what you think with a review! Maybe I'll write some more South Park fanfics and a sequel to or rewrite of this one! But for now I'm gonna take a break and concentrate on some other projects. Hope you liked reading this story, 'cause I liked writing it.
