Chapter Two - A Home-Cooked Meal
Nancy Tucker led Kenny upstairs as she carried her semi conscious son in her arms. She moved quickly towards the bathroom when she started to hear Craig coughing up some lake water. The tall blond woman stopped and turned to Kenny.
"Wait here," she instructed him.
The little blond boy nodded as he rubbed the numbness out from his arms. Kenny felt concerned when he heard Craig's cough became louder and the sound of fluid been ejected. The gross vomit sound was making Kenny cringe in disgust. Then he heard a sound that he thought he'd never hear - the sound of Craig crying.
"Come on Craig; let's get these wet things off of you." Mrs. Tucker's voice softened as Craig continued to whimper and sob.
A moment passed before Kenny heard the toilet been flushed, and Mrs. Tucker walked out of the bathroom with her trembling son, wearing nothing but a large towel around him. Nancy glanced down at Kenny on her way into the hall.
"Let's get you into some dry clothes as well." She suggested.
Without a word, Kenny followed them into Craig's room. Mrs. Tucker sat Craig on his bed and went straight to his dresser. She pulled out two pajama bottoms, and long-sleeved tops. In the next drawer, Craig's mother grabbed two pairs of woolly socks.
She turned to Kenny, whom stood at the bedroom doorframe with the uncertainty if he should come all the way in, or not.
"Here. You can put these on." Mrs. Tucker noticed Kenny hesitant in taking the pajamas and socks from her. With a reassuring smile, she added. "It's ok, I'm sure Craig won't mind you borrowing his clothes till yours can dry off. Now take them and go change in the bathroom - leave your wet clothes and I mean all of them, including socks and underwear, on the pile that's on the floor."
"Ok," Kenny replied in a quiet voice.
After when Kenny took the clothes and headed down the hall, Mrs Tucker sauntered back to Craig. He was still sniffing back a few remaining tears, as he attempted to keep himself warm with towel. She placed the Red Racer pajama bottoms and socks on the bed. With the top still in her hand, his mother pushed it down over his head. As she guided each of his arms through the long sleeves, she looked at him in the eyes in a serious manner.
"So, are you going to tell me what happened to you? Why were you soaking wet, and why did that other boy carry you home?" Nancy spoke in a hardened nasally tone.
Unable to control himself, Craig began sobbing again. A little frustrated, Nancy grabbed his upper arms and shook him lightly.
"Stop that!" She barked. "Stop crying and tell me truthfully! What happened?"
It took a few attempts for Craig to control his sobs. He rubbed his eyes and nose with the towel before finally explaining what had happened.
"I w-was at Clyde's house and l l-lost track of t-t-time, so I r-ran home." His words stuttered as his body shook uncontrollably. He paused as he thought carefully on events that followed.
"Ok, what happened next?" Nancy asked as she helped her son into his pajama pants.
"W-when I r-ran through Stark's P-p-pond," Craig continued, "an animal j-jumped out at me and-and I tripped, and landed on t-the ice. The ice br-broke before I could get b-b-back to shore, and I f-f-fell in the w-water."
Mrs. Tucker finished pulling on Craig's socks to look at her son in the eyes. "Oh Craig..." she nurtured him by stroking his hair back gently.
"I r-remember drowning and-and I c-couldn't get out." The raven-haired boy sounded like he was on the verge of crying once again. The horrifying memory led him to realize how close he was to death. "Th-that is when I s-s-saw Kenny grabbing me and p-p-pulling me out."
"Sounds like you were lucky that boy was around," Nancy nodded. "I'm going to get some blankets." She added, patting her emotional son on the head. As she got up, Nancy grabbed the damp towel off the bed before walking towards the hall.
The second his mother left the room, Craig curled his knees up to his chest and allowed a few tears to fall freely down his cheeks. He lowered his forehead as he shivered once more. A sob escaped from his throat, before he felt someone looking at him.
Craig re-opened his eyes and looked up to see Kenny at the bedroom door. He had on Craig's spaceship pajamas. Kenny looked rather concerned towards the raven-haired boy. Craig, however, frowned and narrowed his eyes at him.
"A-are you going to t-tell everyone at school about t-this?" He snapped at the blond boy. "Are you going to s-say how I started cr-crying?"
Kenny glanced down at the floor. His frown grew longer. After a moment, he looked back up at Craig.
"I'm not Cartman, Craig. I won't tell anyone about this, I promise." He said in a soft, gentle voice.
That was when Craig noticed Kenny shaking too. He began remembering, once again, that his classmate risked his life by braving the icy lake, and pulled him out of the water. Not only that, but he took off his own jacket to cover him up. Then Kenny used some of his own body heat from his back to warm his frozen chest until they made it to his house.
Craig felt an enormous weight of guilt pressing down in the pit of his stomach. It was unfair of him to speak down to Kenny like that. Before he could say an apology, Mrs. Tucker walked back in with two fleece blankets.
"Here you go, wrap yourself in this." She instructed to Kenny as she handed him a yellow blanket.
Kenny took it, and did as told. He wrapped the blanket over his head and shoulders. The blanket was bigger than he was, so it draped on the floor around his feet. Kenny hugged himself in the newfound warmth from the yellow fleece; he ended up covering his mouth too. With a deep breath, he inhaled the fresh clean smell of the blanket.
Mrs. Tucker walked up to Craig, and wrapped him up in a baby blue fleece blanket.
"Ok, let's get you boys downstairs, and we can call your parents Kenny." She said, picking up her son.
Kenny muttered something through the fuzzy cloth material. Nancy turned to the boy and looked at him questioningly.
"What was that?" She asked.
The little boy lowered his arms so his mouth was free to speak more clearly.
"I said my parents aren't home. My mom is working at the Olive Garden tonight, and my dad had to go out somewhere. Both of them won't be home till late."
Nancy's jaw dropped in shock. "Who... who's looking after you...? An older brother...? Sister...?"
Kenny let out a small sigh, before he spoke again. "My older brother is hanging out with his friends, and I dropped my little sister at a one of her friend's sleepover party."
"So what you are saying is that no one is at home right now." Nancy confirmed. Kenny nodded an affirmative.
"Alright," she sighed loudly. "It's settled then, you will stay here till we can contact your parents."
Without saying anything, Kenny followed Mrs. Tucker back downstairs. She placed Craig comfortably on the couch and pointed at the empty spot beside him.
"Sit," she ordered the poor boy.
Right away, Kenny crawled up onto the couch and sat by Craig's shivering body, Nancy nodded approvingly. She picked up a remote control and turned on the TV. She then handed it to Kenny.
"Here, you two watch some TV while I go make some hot coco, and finish making dinner." She announced before heading to the kitchen.
Kenny lifted the remote and clicked channel one level up and saw a Sponge Bob cartoon was on.
"This ok...?" He asked Craig.
Craig, who wasn't even looking at the TV lifted his eyes off the floor to glance up at the blond boy. He gave a brief nod before casting his eyes back down on the floor. The guilty feeling in his stomach made Craig realize that Kenny deserved to know he's appreciated. The raven-haired boy opened his mouth and turned his head to Kenny.
"I'm sorry!" Craig blurted out sharply.
Kenny removed his eyes from the TV to look back at Craig curiously.
Feeling he needed to elaborate, Craig continued. "I mean, upstairs. What I said, I-I didn't mean it."
Craig paused as he thought of what else he wanted to say. His shoulders shivered, so he tugged the blanket tighter around him. Kenny glanced away, feeling somewhat awkward.
"Thank you. I owe you my life." Craig spoke up again.
Kenny had to smile at that then shook his head. "That's ok," He shrugged. "You don't have to owe me anything."
"I'm serious," the raven-haired boy inched himself a bit closer to the poor boy. "You need anything... Anything at all, no matter how small or how big it is, you just ask me ok."
Craig's over eccentric behaviour left Kenny feeling somewhat uncomfortable. Kenny was used Craig's usual stoic nature. The look in Craig's eyes made him seem desperate, as well as, scared. Not only that, but he was shivering again. It made Kenny feel sorry for him. He stretched out his arms, offering Craig to share the space in the yellow blanket.
"Sure," that was all Kenny said. Craig leaned in against the blond boy as he wrapped his arms around his slowly thawing body.
The front door opened, and Mr. Tucker, along with Craig's little sister Ruby, came walking inside the house.
"Hey, we are back from Ruby's dance class! What's for dinner?" Thomas Tucker shouted as he took off his shoes and coat.
He turned to notice the two boys hugging and wrapped up in fleece blankets. Thomas raised his eyebrow, as Ruby started giggling at the sight of them. Realizing the situation, Craig and Kenny blushed and gradually pulled apart from each other.
"What the Hell is going here?" Thomas demanded. He looked over at his wife as she walked out of the kitchen with two cups of hot instant coco in her hands.
"I'll explain it to you in the kitchen." She said. Nancy turned to her daughter and added, "Ruby go upstairs and get ready for dinner."
The blond woman leaned over and handed the cups of coco to the boys. "Here you go. Drink up. Dinner will be done shortly." She said sweetly.
"Is that hot coco?" Ruby asked, bouncing up and down. "I want some too!"
"Explain what to me, Nancy?" Thomas wondered, scratching his head in confusion.
"Thomas, kitchen, now! Ruby, stairs, go!" The woman barked. She obviously lacked patience.
With a sulk, Ruby stomped up the stairs. Thomas scowled and crossed his arms. He followed his wife into the kitchen.
Craig looked over to Kenny, and the blond boy glanced at him. The two boys sipped their hot coco without a single word been exchanged.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
The Tucker family and Kenny sat at the dinner table, enjoying spaghetti and homemade meat sauce.
Kenny had spaghetti before. Sometimes his mom would buy some because it was cheap, even better, if it was on sale at the grocery store. Usually the sauce she got with it was just plain tomato sauce. It didn't taste at all like he was eating now.
The meat sauce was made with real ground beef, a bountiful amount of vegetables, and different herbs. Though the Tucker family often struggled financially, especially during the slow work periods, it would seem that Mrs. Tucker knew how to make the most of what little they could buy at the grocery store.
Not realizing how hungry he really was, Kenny was almost finished his plate when he realized most of the Tucker family barely ate half. It was then he started to slow down a bit and savor the flavor of the sauce a bit more.
Craig slowly sucked in a noodle from his plate. He still was quite groggy from his near death experience. He still had the blanket draped over his shoulders for extra warmth. The stoic boy glanced up at Kenny as the end of the noodle finally made it into his mouth. He realized, at that moment, Kenny was nothing like Stan, Kyle, and especially Cartman. It rather bothered him now knowing that many students in class, not just his 'friends', took advantage of the poor boy. Kenny seemed to do anything anyone asked of him, and without even asking for anything in return. He almost hated himself for not caring about this before. Craig's father interrupted his thoughts when his loud voice spoke up.
"So, ah, Kenny is it?" Thomas said after a long period of awkward silence.
Everyone, including Kenny, looked up at the tall balding redheaded man.
"You're one of Stuart McCormick's boys, right?" He asked bluntly.
"Yes sir," Kenny replied in a quiet shy voice. He slowly spun his fork in the spaghetti, tangling a bundle of noodles around the prongs.
Thomas shook his fork in the air, as he said, "Aren't you the one that caused a garbage can to explode behind the school last month?"
Kenny froze before the he could put the fork full of spaghetti into his mouth. He slowly lowered the noodles back down to his plate. The look on his face showed embarrassment and regret.
It was true that Kenny was playing around foolishly that day. He realized his error with mixing oxidizing acids, and paper, and mentally promised himself not to do that again. The explosion could have hurt someone, not to mention, killing him in the process. It was certainly one of his 'lucky' moments. Having Thomas remind him of that incident, though, left him with no more appetite to finish his meal.
"Thomas!" Mrs. Tucker spat.
"What? I'm trying to make small talk." He said in defense.
"By accusing him of something that happened a month ago...? He's our guest, and you will treat him as such." Nancy retorted.
Craig noticed the guilty look on Kenny's face, and decided to say something.
"Besides, it wasn't Kenny that caused that explosion," he lied.
Kenny blinked up at him in surprise. No one had lied for him before.
"Oh? Who was it then?" Thomas asked his son.
The question left Craig unprepared. He opened his mouth then closed it before opening it again. "I-I don't know. Someone else from our class..." He thought up as quickly as he could.
"Oh," The father paused for a moment as a wave of guilt washes over him. "My apologies, Kenny," he bowed his head to the blond boy.
Kenny did not say anything. He just looked up at the man in a shy manner.
"Would you like more spaghetti, Kenny?" Nancy asked politely.
The young McCormick child shook his head. "No thank you. I'm getting full."
"Well, I hope you left a little room for desert." She smiled hopefully.
Ruby gasped loudly. "Wow, what are we having?"
"Instant Chocolate Mousse," the mother answered simply.
Craig snagged another noodle with his fork and brought it up to his mouth. He glanced up at Kenny that was watching him with a still stunned expression. Knowing what the other boy was thinking, Craig simply shrugged as if giving his answer to the unasked question.