Chapter 23

It was a Saturday night and Cartman was on his couch watching an episode of Terrance and Phillip. He had his bowl of Cheesy Poofs, his six pack of coke and his feet laid on the table for maximum comfort, meaning he was set for the night.

"Cartman" Kenny came out from the kitchen.

"What now Kenny?" He didn't turn his head to look at Kenny, he was more focused on the tv.

"I need you to come with me"

"Say what now?"

"I'm going to go somewhere and I need you to come"

"Are you shitting me now? It's fucking Saturday! It's night time, Terrance and Phillip is on, I got myself perfectly relax, and you want me to give all that up just to go with you?"

Kenny was thinking about it. "Yeah, pretty much" he said calmly.

Cartman was pissed at the way Kenny took his comfort as a joke. "Well fuck you then, I ain't leaving my spot" As he stuffs his face with cheesy poofs.

"Oh come on Cartman don't be like that"

Cartman ignored him.

Kenny was thinking of something to say to Cartman to convince him to go. "Ok, how about this. I'll give you half of my food for two weeks if you come"

There was a pause before Cartman responded

"God damn it! I hate you so much right now Kenny..." when Kenny heard that, he knew that Cartman was considering it and that there was probably a good chance he would accept it.

"What do you say Cartman, do we have a deal?"

Cartman thought about it long and hard. On one side he can just sit here and relax for the night, on the other side he gets more food for two weeks. This was just annoying him to another level.

"Fuck! Fine, I'll go..." Cartman couldn't believe Kenny won.

"Alright then, let's go"

The two boys got their shoes on and went outside. While walking, Cartman noticed that Kenny was carrying a bag with him.

"Kenny"

"What Cartman?"

"Why do you have a bag with you?"

"Well to carry it, duh!"

Cartman didn't like how Kenny gave him such a retarded response.

"Seriously Kenny! What's in the fucking bag?"

"Just some food, that's it"

"WHAT?"

"Shit Cartman, what now?" Kenny didn't like how he screamed, it was a bit too loud for his ear.

"Dude, the deal is shit if you're going to give away food you asshole!" Cartman was truly enraged by this, almost more so than he went on the diet.

"Jeez Cartman calm down. Don't worry man, I told your mom already I was going to take some food away, so she's going to buy some more later to replace it"

"Well she better" Cartman seemed to have calm down after hearing that. Kenny gave out a breath of relief. Looks like he was able to prevent Cartman from going ape shit, for now at least.

The two were walking for another five minute until Cartman realized something.

"Kenny"

"Yeah?"

"I got a question"

"Shoot then" hoping to answer his question.

"Where the FUCK are we going anyways?" Kenny never did told him where the two were going

"Don't worry Cartman, I'm sure you know where we are"

Cartman didn't respond to that, he just took what Kenny said and looked at where the two was. There were houses that look like it was being torn up. The streets were filled with beer bottles, syringes and hobos who were close up to garbage bins that were lit on fire. He realized where he was going, he was in the ghetto which meant one thing... he was going to Kenny's house.

Kenny was fully capable of going to his own house without Cartman coming, it was his own house after all. It was that he needed Cartman's presence in order to make it more easier for him. Kenny has always lived in the ghetto for his entire life and still till this day hates it. He hated seeing how people's hopes and dream were lost here. He hated how society forsake them, even though it makes sense why they would. He hated how every time he would walk back to his home that it reminded him that this was where he was raised... He just completely hated everything about it and couldn't stand coming back here, but Kenny had an objective to do and he planed to see it through.

Surprisingly, Kenny's street got even more dangerous than usual, he wasn't for sure why, but it was probably due to some gang activities or something. Kenny was always afraid of bringing anyone to his house, due to the fact that it was the ghetto and most of the time people were usually scared. Except for Cartman, he was the only one who didn't show any fear, which even impressed Kenny. It was probably due to the fact Cartman was the most sadistic person there was, so nothing could really scare him, more to the point that some of the people here were afraid of Cartman. The only reason Cartman would never come was because Kenny was poor, and there was nothing to do at his house. Which he couldn't blame Cartman after all. For crying out loud he had a damn colecovision and man was that old and useless.

Making new friends was never easy for him, since majority of people were always afraid of Kenny, that he was part of some gang and they would never give Kenny a chance to show that he wasn't part of one. Kenny has always been happy to have Cartman, Stan, Kyle as his friends and Bebe as his girlfriend because they accepted him for who he is, and it made his life enjoyable, compared to the street of where Kenny live. Well except for Cartman, who rarely accepted him because he was poor, but that was fair since Cartman pretty much never accepted anything else unless it was free food and Kenny was far from that, he hoped. He would rather not experience death through cannibalism, although it would be his first time dying to that.

Cartman and Kenny soon arrived at his house. As they were walking to the door, the two of them saw a meth lab outside.

"Wow Kenny, seriously?"

Kenny knew what Cartman meant by that, all he could do was sigh.

Kenny went to open the door... it appeared to be unlock, which didn't surprise him because who would want to steal from his place, I mean they only had a colecovision to steal, so if anybody wanted it, go nuts.

The two of them entered the house, it appeared that nothing has changed, again he was only gone for two months anyway. Kenny saw no one was in the living room.

"God damn your house smells Kenny!"

"Really?" Kenny took a deep breath of his house and it did seem to smell terrible, like rotting corpse, a smell Kenny was too familiar with. Kenny was surprised to smell it, never once in his life had he smelled it before when he was living here. It was probably due to the fact he's been living in Cartman's house for a quite a bit now, so the smell was rather unexpected.

"I swear Kenny, I really hate you right now"

"Ha, when don't you hate me?"

Cartman then rubbed his chin. "Good point"

A girl soon appeared from the stairs, wearing a blue dress that looks like it was for sleeping. It was covered in a bit of dirt. The girl had long and straight brown hair, she had bangs that were right above her eyes and she had a bit of dirt near her left eye. Kenny was smiling, it was his sister.

"Kenny!" The girl ran down the stairs.

"Karen!" Kenny kneeled down and had his hand opened.

The two met and hugged each other for what seemed to be a minute or so.

Cartman was watching, but he didn't bother to comment though, he just stood there silently.

"Kenny, I've miss you so much!" Her head was buried into his chest, tears were coming from her eyes.

"I've miss you too Karen" Kenny smiled, as took his hand to dry off his little sister's tear.

Kenny was expecting Cartman to make some comment to Kenny and his sister hugging, like calling them pussies or something, but surprisingly he didn't, he remained quiet.

"So Karen, how you've been doing for the past two months?"

"Oh nothing much Kenny, just working on dumb homework and stuff"

"That's good Karen"

"Also... there's this boy that I kind of like" Karen blushed as she said.

"Oh no, you are not allowed to like any guy, EVER!" Kenny was very protective of his sister, being a guy, he knew how guys were and what they wanted from girls. Kenny in no way wanted Karen to be in a relationship with any guys.

"Oh come on Kenny, that seems a bit unfair" She said in a pouty face.

"Stop being a little whiny bit... baby about it Kenny, I'm sure she can take care of herself" Cartman almost forgot that Kenny restricted anyone from swearing in front of Karen. Kenny didn't want her to learn it from him or his friends. He knew that people in school swore a lot, including their parents, but he was hoping he can delay her from swearing as long as possible.

"Yeah Kenny, like Eric said" She said with a smirk on her face that was similar to Cartman's. Cartman saw that Karen's smirk was like his, and he found it pretty funny.

Kenny hated that Karen and Cartman were on the same side, it felt rather weird, and something he wouldn't be able to win. Cartman was right also, although she was bullied in the past, Karen has grown stronger due to that and her living conditions, though Kenny wished she didn't have to be stronger to in order to survive in her own house.

"Oh yeah Karen, I got something to give you"

"Huh?" Karen wanted to know what Kenny was going to give her. Kenny in the past would give her extra food, some toys for her to play, and some extra clothing he bought with his money. She was always happy to receive anything from Kenny.

"Here" Kenny dug into his sweater pocket and pulled out an Ipod.

"An Ipod! Oh thanks Kenny!" She hugged him once more, took the Ipod, plugged the headphones into her ears, and was playing with it on the couch.

Cartman was rather confused at this point.

"Kenny, how the fuck did you afford that Ipod?"

"Oh, I got some money from your mom as allowance, did some people favors for some more money, and Bebe chipped in once she knew who the Ipod was for"

"Well Kenny..."

Kenny stood up and looked at Cartman. "What?"

"Looks like you aren't as useless as I thought you were"

"Ha, very funny Cartman, but for real, thanks" It felt nice to have Cartman make a good comment about him, even with the way he twisted it.

Cartman didn't respond back to him though.

"Ah, typical" Kenny annoyingly thought, Cartman ignored him when he said thanks to him.

Kenny went to the couch, and sat beside Karen.

Kenny pulled out one of her earphones. "So Karen how do you like it?"

"It's awesome Kenny!"

"Glad you like them" Kenny was happy to see Karen enjoying it, she deserved something materialistic.

"Oh Kenny, where have you been for the past two months, I was worried sick about you"

Kenny totally forgot to mention where he was the entire time, Kenny was feeling like a douche after realizing that.

"Sorry about that Karen, I was at Cartman's place when I was gone, his mom allowed me to stay when I left the house, sorry again that I didn't tell you"

Karen then looked up to see Cartman. "I can see why you didn't call back, you were probably having lots of fun with your best friend" Karen said cheerfully

"Pffft" Cartman turned his head away from the two of them and folded his arms.

Karen was wondering why he reacted like that. Kenny on the other hand found it pretty funny.

Cartman didn't like it when people said him and Kenny were best friend. It was true that the two were best friends even though he would never exhibit it, but it was just that Cartman didn't like the title "best friend" because to him it meant faggy relationship due to Stan and Kyle being butt buddies.

"Don't mind him, that's just Cartman being himself"

"Oh" sadly, Kenny was telling the truth.

"I also brought you a bag full of food" He handed the bag over to Karen.

Karen opened the bag to see that there was lots of food inside, more than what's she eaten in two years. Karen, like Kenny was a bit too skinny, but Kenny has gain some weight due to living in Cartman's house which was a good thing since his ribs would used to have shown when he's naked. Kenny looked at his sister and had a worried look.

"Karen, where's dad?"

"Oh he's upstairs, why?"

"I need to talk to him"

"Oh ok"

"Stay down here with Cartman, I'll be right back"

"Ok Kenny"

Kenny then walked upstairs to find his dad. He went to check his room first to see if there was any changes. Looks like there wasn't any, his sheets were even in the same position before he left the house. He went inside Karen's room next. It appeared a lot like his room, it had almost nothing in it. Just a bed, a night table, and a little mirror on the night table. He walked over to the night table and picked up the mirror and looked at it. It was the same mirror he bought for her back at the carnival a few years back. Kenny still remembered that day so vividly.

He and Karen were visiting the carnival. They had no money (no surprises there), but Karen wanted to see what it would look like and so he did. The two walked around the entire night, enjoying all the nice rides and lights that was presented there. As they were about to leave, Kenny spotted something he couldn't believe, a ten dollar bill. He ran over there with Karen and got the bill. He wasn't for sure why he was lucky with that ten dollar bill, but he sure wasn't complaining though. When he rose up from picking the bill, he heard a noise, a stomach rumbling. It wasn't his, but Karen's. It was pretty obvious that she was hungry, so he took her to a concession stand to buy some food. Karen wanted a candy apple, but he told her that it was better to get something fat and meaty since it be more be more healthy for her because she was quite skinny. Karen really wanted that candy apple, but she knew Kenny was right and got the meaty food. Kenny bought her a hamburger with some fries and drink.

Kenny watched her eat her food with great happiness. It was Karen's first time eating a hamburger and fries. Her face melted from the deliciousness from it. He couldn't tell if it was a good or bad thing that it was her first time eating it. Kenny smiled the entire time he was watching Karen eat, watching her being happy felt so great, better than being high on cat piss. Once she finished eating her food, she felt something weird. Karen couldn't tell what this feeling was, but it felt like she couldn't move. She told Kenny this and he started to laugh.

"Karen, that's called being full"

"Being... full...?" The concept was very foreign to her, and a bit to Kenny too.

"It's a feeling you get when you finally eaten enough for the time being"

"Oh..."

"Well I ever feel this again?" Karen asked him.

He looked back at her, a question that he painfully already knew the answer too...

"I don't know Karen..." Kenny wanted to say 'yes', but there was no way in hell he was going to lie to her like that. "... but I'll do my best to make you have that feeling again!" That was not a lie.

She smiled back at him. "Ok Kenny" Karen believed in her big brother.

After giving Karen a break from being full, the two resumed walking again. Karen wanted to see it still even after already seeing it all, but he didn't mind though, it was a lot better than being in his house. While walking, Karen spotted something that she couldn't stop looking at. It was a mirror, one that had a handle on the bottom. She ran over there and Kenny followed, wondering why she was running. When the two arrived at the little shop place the carnival had, he noticed what Karen was looking at. It was just a little pink mirror, he didn't see what the appeal was, but that was probably because he was a guy. He bought the little mirror and gave it to Karen. Karen's face illuminated when she held that mirror. Kenny watched her the entire time, enjoying that little mirror of hers. Her smile was so big, that not even 4th grade Cartman's body could compare. It was a scary thought, but a good scary thought.

That night soon became Kenny's happiest day ever. Seeing his sister that happy was the most uplifting thing ever, it made him forget the shitty place and lifestyle the two of them had.

He looked at the mirror again and noticed that there was a little crack in the middle. It wasn't really big, it was just a little dot. "Looks like I better fix that soon" Kenny knew that cracks could expand very easily.

As he was putting the mirror back on the night tale, he noticed a doll on her bed. He looked at it and remembered that it was the same doll she used to carry around when she was little. He smiled a bit, he was glad to see it was still there. He got and exited the room. Kenny went to his parents room, he saw that his dad was waking up from a nap. He went to put his cap on and saw Kenny at the front of the door.

"Oh, hi son"

"Hey dad" Kenny walked inside the room, closing the door.

"Glad to see your well Kenny"

"Thanks"

"Anyway dad, there's a reason why I came here.

"Well what is it?" curious to what his son was going to say.

"You need to get a job"

"Ha, tell me something I don't know" Stuart found it pretty funny.

Stuart went to pick up his bottle of scotch

"Seriously dad, I'm not joking!" Kenny sounded angry now. It stopped Stuart from drinking his scotch.

"You need to get one, and soon dad" Stuart was looking at Kenny with a confused look, he then placed his scotch on the night table.

"Ok Kenny, why do you care now?"

"I've always cared about you having a job, but it's because I'm worried about Karen"

"Why? Karen is doing fine, she doesn't go to the hospital as much as you do" Stuart was trying to make this situation a little lighter, though Kenny didn't find what he said funny at all.

"Fuck! This is no time to be joking!"

Stuart stopped laughing as he heard that.

"Karen is malnourished, she's too skinny for a 12 year old girl"

Stuart wanted to say something, but he knew it was true. Kevin, and Kenny have been malnourished too in the past, but it seemed to be a lot worst for Karen though. "But we have welfare for that" Stuart was actually serious when he said that.

"What? Are you kidding with me now dad?" Kenny was furious when his dad said that.

"N-no"

"How the FUCK does welfare help when you and mom spend it on alcohol!"

"Listen here Kenny..."

Kenny has had it with Stuart. He grabbed his dad by his shirt and pushed him to the wall. The collision to the wall knocked down some photos of Stuart, Carol and the kids.

"Now you listen here DAD!"

Stuart looked at his son with fear, Kenny's eyes was filled with rage. He stood there and said nothing.

"You have a little girl down there, who is barely surviving in her OWN household. She's got to live in conditions that is unsafe for anyone, let alone a girl of her age! She barely has anything to eat and drink, for FUCKS sakes you have fucking pop tarts for dinner! Do you know how that makes me feel? How it makes Karen feel? To have two parents who get drunk and fight against each other every FUCKING night! How do you think that makes her feel, to have parents who neglect their own kids!

"B-but son..."

Kenny tighten his grip on Stuarts shirt. "NO dad, no fucking excuses. You got to step it up, as a husband! As a provider! As a FATHER to Karen! This is in no way a life anybody should live, especially not Karen!

Stuart was dead silent when Kenny told him this.

"I swear dad! If anything happens to Karen because you didn't care for her! So help me GOD I won't kill you right where you stand! Kenny was serious about it, no bullshit, he meant it.

Stuart couldn't believe what his son was saying to him, his son's words were too true. Kenny soon lighten his grip on his father until his feet was on the ground again. Kenny has never been so angry before in his life, Kenny himself couldn't believe the amount of anger he was able to generate and release.

Stuart then went to his bed slowly, and sat on the edge of it.

"I-I'm sorry Kenny..."

"Well at least you said it, but that's not gonna do shit though. If you want to apologize to me, then get a job, and stop Karen from living this kind of life.

"There's a reason why I've never brought this up till now dad"

Stuart stopped looking at the ground and looked up to his son.

"The reason I've never cared about what you did was because I never gave two shits, I just accepted that you two were going to be like this for my entire life. But I soon cared once you and mom brought Karen into the world, and knowing the life Kevin and I have had, no way I wanted it for her. Plus with me not able to die, it makes my life a little easier, but it doesn't erase the pain I feel about you and mom. I don't care what happens to me, I'll bounce back, and if I ever truly die, then I guess that's it for me, but Karen doesn't deserve this. She deserves a better life than what she's living right now. I'd give up my life in a heartbeat if it meant Karen can get a better life than this, but unfortunately I don't got that option. That's why you must be the one to give her the option of a better life, you and only you can provide that for her dad"

"That's it dad, love or hate me if you want, but please don't let Karen feel... how I feel now, I don't want Karen to feel that her parents have failed her in life"

Stuart was reflecting on what Kenny said to him, knowing his son was right about everything "O-ok Kenny, I'll try"

"Don't try dad. Do!" Kenny was done what he needed to do.

"That's it dad... I guess I'll be leaving now"

Kenny walked out of the room.

"Kenny, wait!"

Kenny was half way into the hallway before he heard his dad, he stopped for a second and walked back into his parent's room.

"Yeah?"

"Do you wanna stay for the last poptart dinner we'll have?"

Kenny at first was confused at what his father meant. He soon caught on to what his father meant and finally smiled at his father after this entire time. "Yeah, sure dad"

Meanwhile downstairs, Cartman was still with Karen. The two of them were looking at each other, not knowing what to say. Surprisingly the two of them have never talked to one another before, so the two of them knew nothing of each other, other than their relationship with Kenny.

"So Eric..."

"Yeah..."

"This is awkward isn't it"

"You're telling me kid"

"Um... I was wondering if you knew much about relationships?"

"Huh, why?" Cartman was wondering why Kenny's little sister would be asking this.

"I was wondering if you could give me some advices, if you were good with them or not"

"Why don't you ask Kenny for this kind of stuff, he is your brother last I checked"

"I would, but you know how defensive he is about me liking a boy"

He recalled the little dialogue the two had about Karen liking a boy. "Good point kid, ok shoot. What kind of advices do you want?" Cartman has never really been in a relationship, but he thought it couldn't be so hard.

"Well there's this boy I like in my class, but I don't know if he likes me back. We're friends but I don't know if he would want to be more than that"

"Hmm, anything else I should need to know"

"Well yeah, he's kind of different"

"How different? Are we talking like Jew kind of different or what?"

"Oh yeah to be precise"

"This can't be good" he said in a quiet manner.

"Huh?" Karen heard something from Cartman.

"Nothing, continue"

"Well he is Jewish, there's something else to it, his head is shaped a bit weird, he said he's Canadian"

"Uh huh... w-wait a minute" A light bulb flashed in his head. The boy was Jewish, that narrowed it down quite severely, he was Canadian, now how many Canadians actually lived in South Park.

"By any chance is his last name Broflovski?"

"Yeah, his name is Ike Brofovski, but how did you know that?"

"I unfortunately know his older brother"

"Oh ok"

"Wow..." Cartman thought in his head. Kenny's little sister likes Ike, who's Kyle's little brother, although this couldn't go so well, it would be interesting how the two older brothers would react to this in the future.

"Well Cartman do you think I should ask him out?"

Karen was being serious, she wanted his advice. This was rather difficult for Cartman to say really. He didn't even know why he agreed to hearing about Karen's issue, but he now got himself trap in this.

"Hmm, let me reflect about Ike. He's pretty cool for being a Jew, a Canadian, and being Kyle's brother. I mean he did score with his Kindergarten teacher after all and she was pretty hot.

"Huh?" Karen didn't understand what Cartman meant by that.

Cartman thought about what he said, maybe telling her that Ike scoring with the Kindergarten teacher in the past wasn't the best thing to do "Never mind what I said, I say go for him if you really care that much, I mean he is Canadian after all, so not a lot of girls will be after him anyways"

"Hey! That's not nice"

"Man, do you got a lot to learn about me kid" he said with a smirk on his face.

"I guess, but thanks for the advice Cartman"

"Just do me one favor Karen"

"Yeah?"

"If you ever go to his house, and if you meet his older brother Kyle, kick him in the nuts for me!"

"Why?" Karen found it a rather unusual request.

"Just do it!" It turned from a favor to a command now.

"O-ok..." she still was not for sure why Cartman wanted her to do it, but she decided just to say yes.

Kenny and his dad soon came downstairs together.

"God damn Kenny, what took you so long, been waiting for a while you know!"

"Calm down Cartman, I had to say a few things" as he looks at his dad.

"Anyway Cartman, we're going to be staying here for a little longer"

"Damn it Kenny, why!"

"I'm going to stay for dinner with my family"

"Wait Kenny, you are?"

"Yep" As Kenny pats his sister's head.

"Yay!" Karen was so happy, it's been a while since Kenny was with the family for dinner.

"Well Cartman, you wanna join in?"

"Um no thanks, I'd rather not eat poptarts for dinner again"

"Come on Eric, it'll be fun" Karen said in a cheerful mood.

Cartman looked at her, he wanted to say no, but somehow he wasn't able too. Cartman wasn't for sure why he couldn't say it, but it was probably due to some poor people voodoo or something.

"F-fine..."

"Yay Kenny and Eric are staying over for dinner" Karen jumped in excitement.

The four of them went into the kitchen to eat 'dinner'. Mrs. McCormick was sitting up the plates when she saw Kenny.

"Kenny, is that you?"

"Yeah mom"

"Kenny..."

"Yeah mom?"

"Where the hell have you been for the past two months!"

Kenny was completely caught off guard from what his mother said.

Kenny chuckled a bit. "Sorry about that mom"

"Well Kenny, get to your seat, we're eating dinner"

"Ok mom"

Everyone got to their seats and ate the poptarts for the night. After like five minutes of eating. Kenny and Cartman had to go now, Kenny was done with what he needed to do, and Cartman did not want to be in this house for any longer.

"Alright Karen, I'll see you later!"

"Ok Kenny" Karen hugged him. Kenny smiled and hugged her back.

"Visit real soon Kenny"

Kenny nodded. "You got it"

She turned and looked at Cartman. "Cartman?"

"Yeah kid?"

"Thanks for the advice" Karen was glad that she talked to him.

"Sure, but just remember what I said before!"

"Don't worry, I won't forget it" she winked to Cartman.

"Sweet!" Cartman also hoped that she didn't forget.

Kenny and Cartman then left the house.

"Dude, what advice did you give my sister"

Cartman was wearing the biggest grin that Kenny has ever seen. "You'll see Kenny, you'll see"

"No seriously dude, what did you say"

Cartman didn't say anymore. He was just wearing that grin the entire walk back to his house.

Finally Kenny returned home... for like one night :P

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. It was a little tricky to make when I first wrote this. Especially when I was editing last night, I added in another scene that wasn't in before which I think turned out pretty well.

Also another little inside note to this chapter, I wrote this chapter after two days when "The Poor Kid" was shown. Plus after reviewing this chapter after like 4 edits now, this chapter is not needed at all for the progression of the story, but I really enjoyed how caring and protective Kenny was towards Karen in the episode and thus this chapter was born XD. I hope you guys felt the same way about the two as much as I do.

Again, thanks for reading this chapter and I really appreciate everyone that's still reading my story :)
Oh by the way, in case anyone was wondering about how much longer the story has left, don't worry, we still have a long way to go :D