Chapter 5: I Can Handle It
Kenny
Sheila fed us really good food. Honestly, I didn't really know what I was eating, I was too busy trying not to yell at the next person that said my name. I didn't know why, but I felt worse than I did yesterday, or even the day before. I ate as much as I could, frankly because I had no clue where my next meal was coming from. Sheila, Jerald and Ike were deep in conversation. Kyle sat across from me, and his mom encouraged him to eat slow. Kyle looked like he wanted nothing at all. The meal ended, and we all cleared our dishes. I started helping Sheila.
"No, Kenny." she said taking my plate from me gently. "You're the guest." she said in her all too familiar drawl. "Go up to Kyle's room, and you two just relax. It's okay."
"Let me just help." I said smirking at her. "Just this once."
"No, Kenny." she said touching my arm. "It's fine. Take my son up to his room." she said into my ear. "He looks pale still. I don't want my Bubula to be sicker than he was. It scares me."
"Don't worry, Ken." Ike said smiling as I walked over to Kyle. "Dad and I'll take care of it. We'll help mom."
"Meet us up there." I said as I pulled Kyle's chair with him still in it, towards me.
"I can handle it." Kyle said softly. "I just need a glass of water."
Out of absolutely nowhere, (Or at least, that I am aware of.), Ike brought out a brimming glass of water. Kyle took it, and tried to drink. His weak hand trembled a little, and a drop dribbled down his shirt. Ike walked forward and held the glass for him. I sighed, as Ike caught my eye over Kyle's head.
"Thanks." Kyle said bitterly to Ike.
"Sorry." Ike mumbled taking the glass away. "Meet you guys up stairs."
Kyle gave me a piercing look. As if daring me to move a muscle. He stood, and I waited for a while.
We both started walking. I watch as my tiny ginger walked slowly in front of me. He stopped at least twice, before we got to the hall and the stairs. He swayed a little, and I placed a hand on his back to steady him.
"Kenny, I'm fine!" he said coldly. "Don't."
"What if I was Mysterion? You wouldn't object to him treating you like this, would you?"
"Get… your… _fucking… hand… off me." Kyle said speeding up. He let out a moan and suddenly, his knees fell out from under him. I climbed the two stairs separating us and grabbed him before he hit the ground.
"You can handle it, huh?" I asked hoisting the light little Semite into my arms.
Fresh tears filled his eyes as I carried him to his room. He gave me a killer stare as I closed the door behind me.
"Don't cry, Kyle." I said lowly. "It's okay."
"Fuck you." he mumbled. "Put me down."
I gently set him down on the floor as if hot fire had burned my fingers. That fuck you had slapped me in the face.
"Would you like me to leave?" I asked gently.
"I don't… I just… No." he whispered softly. "I haven't seen you in a while, Ken. Look, I'm sorry for being a dick. But I feel like everyone's treating me like I'm so special, and I can't do much for my own self. I can take care of myself, Kenny."
"I know." I said smiling down at him. "That's what makes you who you are."
He sat up and his face whitened. He stood up, and swayed a little as he stumbled to his bed. He collapsed on to it, exhausted. I felt so strange and angry. I had to get out of here. Just then, Ike came walking in.
"I have to go." I said looking at him. "You gonna stay with Kyle?"
"Wait!" Kyle pleaded. "Why are you leaving? I thought I just told you not to."
"I have a couple appointments to keep. I don't wanna be late." I said seriously. "I have to leave in a bit."
"Ugh!" Kyle let out a frustrated groan. "I hate you, Kenny." he spat. "You're such a douche bag."
"I'll see you later, Ike." I said smiling. "Bye, Kyle."
I walked off down stairs pulling on my hood. Gerald and his wife came walking over to me.
"You leavin' Kenny?" Gerald asked confused. "I thought you'd be spending the night."
"Naw. I've got things to take care of at home." I said smiling. "I'll drop by."
"Don't forget, Kenny, don't make yourself a stranger." Sheila said hugging me.
"Thank you, Mrs. Broff. I'll see you guys later."
I pulled my hood completely over myself, and sank back into the familiar smell of cigarettes and cologne. I tightened my hood strings and left the house swiftly. I closed the door, and walked off. My dad used to be Kyle's dad's best friend. They were inseparable. But did my dad ever have fantasies of banging his best friend? I didn't think so. I fucking hate my life.
I headed to Token's place, as his parents wanted me to polish some furniture. They paid well, so it was always a good thing to have them call on me for odd jobs that may need doing. I ended up doing a little more than I thought, and I came out of it with two hundred bucks. My next appointment was Jimbo's gun shop. I did everything he asked me to, while he hovered around with Ned Gerblanski.
"So, how about you blow me, and I give you fifty?" Ned asked coming up behind me.
"Sick, Ned!" Jimbo yelled. He was so like Stan in that way. He always yelled when something was said that he didn't like.
"I'm not kidding." Ned said in his robo voice.
"I'm not kidding." I said smiling. "I have to go. Thanks again, Jimbo." I said smiling. "I have to go."
"What about that fifty?"
"I need to take care of stuff. I'll think about it." I said as I left.
With four hundred dollars in my pocket, I needed to do certain things. First, I went and got groceries. I was loaded down, and I spotted the last person on earth that I wanted to see. Cartman was sitting with a couple burly guys talking.
"And his mama cries. … Cuz if there's one thing that she don't need, it's another hungry mouth to feed, in the ghetto!" Cartman sang making my stomach drop. "How many people did you have to fuck for all that?" he asked. "Or did you take it up the ass, Kinny? I heard Cal's mom wanted to adopt you? Is that true?"
"Fuck off, fat tub." I said as I walked past him.
"Your family's poor, Kinny!" he yelled as I walked on. "Kinny! Poor piece of crap."
On my way to my house, I thought about everything that happens, and how it all had to affect me in some way. How ever since I can remember, I've lived in a too poor place with only a cheap ass PSP that I found in a trash can, and hardly any wardrobe but the clothes that I wore with my Mysterion suit, and my too faded jeans with the orange coat that smelled like smoke and cheap perfume. I couldn't help sighing as I rounded a corner and stepped into the darkness of my neighborhood. What am I kidding. My trailer park. I stepped around a broken beer bottle, and kept on going. Kenny, why haven't you killed yourself yet? Oh yeah. You can't die! I was reminded of that every time I felt even one bit suicidal these days. I remembered that look in Stan's eyes as he begged me not to be absent from their lives for too long. I fucking hated South Park.
I almost turned ten when I told my friends what happens to me. We were all playing heroes and our team split into two. It was the coon against all of us. They all had their little made up power, and I had my real power. I was Mysterion, the immortal. I could get burned to death, decapitated, shot, everything. Picked at by disgusting rats, and everything. And no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't stay dead. So, I figure, why not put my life, or whatever it is, to good use. Before I could stop and think about myself a little longer, I was standing right outside my house.
I walked into the house, and mom was lying on the mattress in the middle of the living room. She looked up at me.
"Hey Kenny!" she said in her distinct Texan twang. "Whatcha got there, Kenny?" she asked.
"Food." I said through my hood. "Wanna cook?"
She got up and followed me to the kitchen. Dad was leaning up against the counter smoking a cig. I stared at him to see if he'd acknowledge that I was even around. He looked up, and looked at me.
"Kenny?" he asked. "Where the hell have you been?"
"Around." I said simply. "Yourself?"
"Here." he said in his own drawl. "What are you doin'?" he asked turning to my mom, who was looking through the groceries.
"Gonna cook us a meal! Mah son's not completely worthless, now, is he, Stuart?" she asked bitterly.
"I'm going to find Karen." I said leaving the room before the fighting started. If I saw one more person burst out into a mood, I was gonna break myself.
I walked into my room, and found Karen sitting on the low twin bed against the wall. That's all my room held. The low twin which was only two feet high, and a clock radio that was always on low. Kyle had given it to me for my birthday. Right now, it said nine fifteen. The carpet was stained with blood, vomit, and had cigarette burns all over it. There was a smell of perfume that hung in the air as I came walking in. Karen was lying with her eyes closed on my bed.
"Ken?" she asked sighing. "Why?"
"Cuz dad's a lazy ass bum." I said sighing.
"Yeah, but even if you're lazy, get the hell up and find a fucking job." she said simply. "It's really not that hard."
"I told him that." I said sitting beside her and taking her hand.
"And?" she asked squeezing mine.
"And he said," I imitated him quite accurately if I do say so myself. I pulled my hood off so that my voice wouldn't be muffled. "Kenny, if finding a job was that easy, don't you think I would have one? I wouldn't be waiting in the unemployment line."
Karen laughed a little girl giggle and sat up. She snuggled up to me, and I wrapped her up in my arms.
"Kenny." she said laying her head on my shoulder. "You smell nice."
"It's cologne and smoke, Karen." I said bitterly. "I don't smell nice."
"Compared to the rest of the house?" she asked. "You smell nice, Ken. It's a familiar comforting smell. You know? I grew up in your arms when mom had me." she said smartly.
I wish I grew up in her arms. My mom's, that is. But I grew up in the fucking street. Really. No joke. Seriously, you guys.
"Kenny, are you okay?" she asked. "Are you sad?"
The fourteen year old had inherited my ability to read people very well. She used it to her advantage a lot.
"We gotta get out of here." I said sighing and leaning against a pillow. "I love you, Karen."
"Me too, Ken." she said kissing my cheek. "You're so warm." she said yawning. "Anyway!" she said standing up too soon for my liking. "I was gonna go spend the night at Lisa's."
"Is that Red's sister?" I asked as the image of my high school class mate, Red, came into my mind.
"Yeah. I thought I would go. I asked her today, because I thought you were gonna be gone again. Mom and dad are fighting so bad."
At least they didn't call her worthless. At least they didn't beat her! At least they didn't use her to put out their fucking cigarettes!
"Stay out of the way, okay?" I said simply. "They can get bloody, those fights. You want anything before you leave? I just stocked up the fridge."
"It's a Styrofoam cooler with ice in it, Kenny." she said smiling dully at me. "Anyway, what did you bring?"
"I brought a bunch of shit. Let's brave the storm and go down, yeah?"
I watched them eat contently. For the first time in days it was quiet, and dad seemed to be a little happier. God, my life is a busted nut!
"I'm talkin' tuh you, Kenny!" my dad yelled.
"What?" I asked looking up and pulling off my hood.
"Are you still friends with that boy, Stanley?" he asked.
"Yeah. Why?"
"Haven't seen him or your little racist foul mouthed friend either." he said chewing on the steak mom had cooked to the best of her ability. "How about that scrawny little friend of yours, with the red hair?" he asked. "He still your friend?"
"Yeah, dad. Kyle." I said as my heart skipped a couple beats at the sound of me saying his name.
"Nice. Hopefully you two never grow apart. Somehow, I don't see you married."
"Naw. Mah Kenny's gay!" my mom piped.
"What?" I asked laughing a little. "What would make you think that?"
"Look at yuh, Kenny?" she said smiling. "You whore yourself to every man or boy, in town." she said smiling. "Not only the girls."
"Puts food in your stomach, don't it?" I asked leaning against the counter with my dad. "Besides, I figure whoring myself will make a man out of me, pops."
"When I said make a man out of yuh, I meant a tough man. Not a dirty whore." he said bitterly. "At least Kevin did something with hisself."
"Because he finished ha school, Stuart!" my mom yelled. "Kenny's still in school!"
"Speak when you're spoken to, you broad." my dad said bitterly.
Karen started wolfing down her food. She knew better than to remain here too long. The next words that came out of my dad's mouth hit me like a fucking piano over the head.
"If anything, your mom and your sister should be the ones sellin' theirselves." he said bitterly. "Who wouldn't wanna bang Karen? Who'd wanna be fucked by a kid smellin' like cigar smoke."
"You're the reason that smell hangs around here, dad." I said trying to smile. "Anyway, I have to go, speaking of whoring myself. I've got a few dates to keep."
Before they could say anything, I ran off. I went into the bathroom, and changed into my costume. Mysterion was something I had to hold on to. A personality that boosted my own. I could handle things better that way. I walked into the hall way, and into the kitchen just in time to see my dad lunge for my mom. I got in between them, and got socked in the mouth.
"Don't!" I said roughly as I pulled him to the ground with me. "How many times have I told you, old man. I'm watching you. You could at least try to keep a calm temper."
"If you lived with this slut, you wouldn't be calm either!" he yelled as I stood up and stared down at him. "No one asked you anyway, Mysterio!" he yelled.
"Mysterion!" I said smiling at him. I knew he couldn't see my face. "What the hell are you doing here?" I asked looking at my sister.
"I live here." she said with a mouthful.
"Well, get yourself together, and I'll take you to Lisa's."
"How do you know?" she asked glaring at me.
"Because I am stocking your house!" I said loudly. "And you two need to start treating your children like children, and not like brothers and sisters. Or punching bags, for that matter."
"Don't tell me how to raise my kids, you asshole!" my dad said standing back up. "I'll show you how to keep your fucking pansy little mouth shut!" he said pulling off his belt.
It was one of the few fights with my dad that I won. I always won when I was mysterion. Like I said, I had more confidence in my alter ego, than in my own self. Kenny was a whore, a weak worthless shit. Everyone looked to Mysterion, and was afraid of him in some way. I finally subdued my dad, and knocked him out cold.
"Did yuh kill eem?" my mom asked worried. "He better not be dead, purple boy!" she said bitterly.
"I knocked him out. He'll be fine. He'll wake up soon. Maybe not today. Maybe by mid night, I don't know. Just leave him alone. I'll be back later."
"Thanks, mystery man." she said as I left.
I walked my sister to the house where she was expected to be. She sighed.
"He left again without saying goodbye."
"Who?" I asked as I pulled her under my cloak.
"My older brother." she muttered. "I hate it when mom and dad go all ape shit on him. He really does have feelings." she said softly. "And he's trying way more than all of us."
Karen's words hit me hard. I smiled down at her, and she turned her head. I pushed her head back to face the right way.
"Why can't I know?" she whined.
"Because, you wouldn't be able to deal with it." I said smiling. "_I can't deal with it."
"Will you find him?" she asked. "You can find him, and tell him I love him. I don't know when I'll see him again."
"Kenny?" I asked.
"Yes, Mysterion! Are you deaf?" she said coldly. "I need him to make sure he stays alive. I don't know what I would do if anything ever happened to him. He's the sanity in my house."
"Look, kid, he'll be fine. Okay? You can trust me on this one. He's probably with one of his friends right now." I said sighing heavily. "Maybe he's looking for more jobs, or something."
"No. Something tells me he's by himself. He wasn't doing well." she muttered. "And we're already at Lisa's. I hate you."
"What did I do to you, girlie?" I asked. "I just brought you safely to your destination."
"You don't even wanna bother to slow your walk down enough to talk to me, kid." she said sighing. "Who are you, anyway? Craig? Token? Stan?" she asked.
"No." I said smiling.
"Well, who are you? Clyde? Naw. You don't have his build. Anyway, look for him, and say hi."
"I'll wait until you go inside." I said simply.
"Myst-mysterion?" she stuttered. "Please? May I have a hug?" she asked. "So I could say I did, to Lisa. And that you brought me over here."
"Fine. Cummeer." I said laughing slightly as I hugged Karen.
She leaned up and kissed my hooded cheek. "You know, if you were anyone else, you would've already pulled my hood off." I said smiling.
"That would be rude, Mysterion." she said letting go of me. "That would be very rude of me to do."
"Good ethics, missie." I said smiling.
"I'm Karen." she said smiling back. "Nice to meet you, or whatever."
I waited until she got inside. I walked around the house, and spotted an open window. It was the dining room. I watched as Karen came walking in. Red was sitting quietly with a book in her lap.
"You'll never believe who just brought me here?" she squealed.
"Who?" asked Lisa sitting beside her friend.
"Mysterion!" she squealed.
"You're lying!" Lisa gasped. "You are so lying, Karen!" she shrieked.
"No! I'm serious. He even hugged me!" she squealed jumping up and down.
Karen, did it ever occur to you that you're going crazy over your own brother? Who by the way is gay, and has a serious crush on his Jewish friend? Did that ever once cross your mind? No. I didn't think so. I sighed. No one ever thinks about those things, really.
"Prove it." Lisa said cutting into my thoughts. "Prove that he let you hug him."
"I can't." Karen said laughing. "But I can prove he was here."
I noisily jumped and grabbed on to a gutter pulling myself up on to the roof top. I heard them talking, Karen saying she thought she heard a noise. I jumped off the side of her house, and landed nicely in front of her window. Lisa screamed as she saw me running away. I heard both girls squeal as I walked off. I had to find a place to be. I walked off letting my feet carry me where ever they chose to go. Who am I kidding. I was headed to Kyle's place. I arrived in no time, and found his window. This time, I actually climbed into the tree conveniently placed there. I sat on the branch as I reached out and knocked gently on the window. I waited a little bit before knocking again. The third knock brought a teary Kyle to the glass. He took one look at me, and shrank away. I smiled to myself.
"Open the window, you fuck." I mouthed.
Kyle shook his head. I smiled again. He looked defeated, and opened his window. I climbed slowly, and quietly in. He looked so sad.
"Are you feeling better?" I asked quietly closing the window.
"No. And you shouldn't be here." he said sighing.
"Tell me what happened?" I said as he laid down and covered himself with his back to me. I saw his shoulders shake, and knew he was crying. Oh, God, Kyle. Your tears are too valuable to be spilled.
"I got totally made fun of cuz of you." he mumbled. "You shouldn't come into my room like this, man, I'm a fucking gay weakling." he said softly. "In all sense of those words. I am, gay, and I am, weak!" he said.
"And?" I asked. "I know you're weak, but then again, so am I. I have my own weaknesses."
"Yeah, but I love you." he whispered so softly that I barely heard. "And my best friend, who I thought was my best friend, ripped me apart today for you. He found out I had a crush on a purple jump suit wearing kid who pretends he has super powers."
"But I do have super powers, Kyle." I said as my heart raced. "How do you think I beat the shit out of Cartman for you so many times?"
"Wait, you're worried about the powers? You don't care that I'm gay and totally crushing on you?" he asked turning to look at me.
"Not at all." I said smiling. "In fact, you shouldn't care either. And you shouldn't be so mean to whoever it was that ripped you a new one, or so you say."
"You just don't get it." he said wiping his streaming eyes. "Kenny and I are like super best friends. If anything, I let Kenny into my secret because I thought he'd be understanding of me. You know? But he just kept on making jokes and everything. And I still feel sick."
"Well, just forget about him, and forget about everything else. I'll handle it from here. Close your eyes, and go to sleep."
I grabbed the chair from his desk, and put it beside his bed. I sat down, and smiled. He looked a little sad still. I leaned down and hugged him gently.
"I can handle taking care of you, Kyle. Go to sleep." I said smiling back at him.