The Evermore Dissociate(Creek) - Chapter 39: Chapter 39

It wasn't long until excited, yet tired legs that ran through the fields, kicking up daisies that caught beneath their shoes whilst chasing down their friends, turned into uncomfortably numb butts as the children rested on the hard ground. They panted through tight chests as they sat beside the monkey bars. All except Token and Kevin who climbed on top of the bars with their legs dangling through, playfully kicking at each other's shoes. Kevin's tiny grunts passed between the two of them as he kicked out, his shortness giving him a disadvantage against his opponent.
Craig was silently watching them, his hand blocking the sun from his eyes as he peered up from the ground. He barely even noticed when Jimmy stood up, brushing himself down as Clyde passed him his crutches. Craig barely even heard the goodbye Jimmy called over his shoulder as he walked over to his dad's car.
It was getting late, and by late, I mean seven o'clock, but for a bunch of fifth graders who had a set bedtime, that's late enough. If it was winter, the streets would already be dark and vacant. There'd be snow so deep it covered the bottom of the slide, wind would blow violently through the leafless trees, or through the disheveled hair in it's wake. But it wasn't winter, fortunately enough it was summer. The sun still shined high in the sky with gentle winds that calmed sensitive skin. The ground they sat on was warm to touch, and the metal of the slide was painful for whoever decided to play on it.
Craig barely heard his friends that sat beside him, calling out a chorus of goodbyes to the one they call Jimmy. He barely saw the hands that waved, or the one that waved back from across the parking lot. Instead, his pale blue eyes stayed trained on Token's muddy sneakers that dangled from the monkey bars, swinging back and forth carelessly. It was only until said sneakers jumped down and on impact, sent dirt into Craig's eyes, that he was snapped out of his daydreaming. He muttered profanities and he rubbed his eyes, scowling up at Token who blocked the sunlight with his body, grinning down at his friend.
"I have to go. Mom will kill me if she finds out I haven't started my homework."
"We have homework?" Clyde asked, climbing to his feet as he stared, dumbfounded by this new discovery.
"Yeah, from Miss Harvey's class, last Wednesday." Token affirmed.
"Crap."
Craig watched beside him as Tweek rose to his feet, his fingers twitching as he anxiously scanned the playground, more specifically the gate at the far end as a bunch of older kids made their way in, squeezing their bikes through one by one. Kevin climbed down from the monkey bars, and as soon as his feet met with the ground, he was rubbing the red patches on his sore hands.
"Are you walking my way?" Kevin asked Token, still too engrossed with his hands to see his friends reaction, but thankfully he received a verbal reply.
"It's the only way I can get to my house, so what do you think?"
"Alright smartass, a yes would've been fine."
Token rolled his eyes, looking to those he considered his real friends to quietly mutter a goodbye, before stalking out of the park with Kevin right behind him. Craig huffed as he stood up beside the remaining two, Clyde and Tweek. Both of them looked ready to leave, feeling uneasy with the older kids making their way over, now that the last one had squeezed his bike through.
"Oh Jesus! Can we leave too?" Tweek pleaded out, wide eyes darting between his two taller friends.
"Mm, ya. I wanna add this stick to my collection." Clyde said, pulling the stick from his pocket to twirl it between his fingers. He'd decided about fifteen minutes ago, back when they were catching their breaths, that it was a keeper, deeming it worthy to bring back to his house.
"You know a dog probably peed on it, right?"
"No way dude, it was dry when I found it."
"Pee dries."
Non of what Craig was saying was deterring Clyde from his new possession, he simply shrugged his shoulders, smiling down at the stick as he made a start to the parking lot, pointing the stick in front of him as it lead the way. Craig and Tweek silently looked to one another for a few seconds, before they actually decided to follow their friend, the short blonde walking faster so that he wouldn't be the one at the back when the older kids arrived. Craig didn't mind all that much, walking tiredly as he stared at the ground, kicking the odd stones he passed at the back of Tweek's legs.
Within five minutes of sensless running about, Clyde suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, spinning around to face Craig and Tweek with a small smile. His shoes scraped across the ground as he came to stand in between his two friends, while curious eyes watched as he snapped the stick in half, disregarding one end while he show cased the other.
"Walah, it's a wand." Clyde announced. Craig raised an eyebrow, while Tweek actually looked amazed. "You shall now call me Harry Potter, the greatest wizard of all time."
"I'm not calling you that."
"I want one!" Tweek gushed.
""You can't, only I can have one."
"He can have whatever the hell he wants." Craig drawled, partaking in a staring contest with Clyde who was adamant there could only be one.
The two of them were stubborn though, and a competition between these two dorks could last their entire lives, deeming whoever died first the loser. Tweek knew this, so did everybody else that's ever met them, so of course Tweek stepped between them flapping his little arms about to gain their attention.
"Jeez, I'm not that bothered about it." Though this was a lie. He'd love to have a stick and be able to run along side Clyde, pretending to be Ron Weasley as they fought off the bad guys, yet the hassle wasn't worth it. Maybe some other day when Token was around to convince Clyde to let everyone have a wand.
Clyde smirked, still looking at Craig who slightly glared back, watching as Clyde toddled off to the side, where an older man was walking their way. The brunette aimed his wand at the man, calling out a stupid spell, while the guy tried his best to ignore the kid.
"Ngh- he's going to get us killed." Tweek worried, his trembling fingers latching onto the sleeve of Craig's jacket, the way he has done so many times in the past. The regular occurrence is something Craig is unfazed by, almost as though he doesn't feel the small weight holding onto him.
"We could pretend we don't know him."
And so they did just that, walking a leisurely pace behind Clyde as he made weird little noises to the strangers he'd pass, drawing way too much attention to himself, attention his friends would rather not be apart of.
The walk would be a reasonably long one from the park, to their homes, though non of them really minded, even as time went on, Clyde still found ways to amuse himself with his gross little stick. Tweek loved walks, never failing to mention it whenever they walked more than five minutes, it was almost as though he was trying to convince himself that he did, but strangely enough, it was more so the scenery he loved, rather than the walking itself. Seeing all the different houses that sometimes would have a cat or dog sitting in the front window, peering outside, Tweek would always wave at them, no matter how many times Craig would tell him to stop.
So maybe it was a slight white lie when saying non of them minded the walk, Clyde didn't, and neither did Tweek, but Craig was another story. Anything that required effort was something he hated, so when he has to walk a fifteen minute journey home, you know he isn't enjoying it. Nevertheless, he stayed quiet, not being one to talk a whole lot unless it was during a game. He loved games, enough to walk, run and even use his voice to socialise, to actually socialise.
He curiously looked to Tweek, still attached to the sleeve of his blue jacket as the blonde looked down at their feet, trying his hardest to sync up their steps, awkwardly prolonging his right foot midair when he stepped in hopes that would work. Eventually it did, only costing him his dignity.
Tweek seemed to realise he was being watched, his eyes widening in alarm when he noticed Craig had been watching him. His cheeks turned a light shade of red from his embarrassment, though, the bizarre actions made Craig grin, his stomach twisting when Tweek smiled back.
Craig liked Tweek's smile.
He didn't know why, but he did. Maybe it all came down to how strange it was to always see Tweek so anxious and scared, only for him to smile like he had no care in the world. Like he'd never feared a single thing in his short life, and Craig liked that.
"Pew pew." Clyde interrupted, standing in front of them as he shot his friends with the stick, which made no sense since it was supposed to be a wand, not a gun. Craig huffed, his finger twitching to flip the brunette off, suddenly feeling annoyed as he turned to him with a glare.
It was only then that Craig realised they were on his street, more specifically outside his house. That was the reason Clyde had become more of a nuisance than he was before, since when he'd looked back to say goodbye, he noticed the other two weren't stopping.
Craig looked from Clyde, to Tweek, trying to shrug his sleeve free from the little fingers holding on, but it was no use, Tweek was making it as hard as possible, gripping on like a starved crab that had caught it's first meal between it's pincers. Craig attacked the fingers with his own, trying to pry them off, but Tweek was stronger than he looked, chuckling away playfully as he fought against Craig. The noirette had to force himself to look away, fighting the blush on his cheeks.
Behind Tweek's laughter, Clyde voice rung out, and when Craig peered over and saw exactly who his friend was about to annoy, he froze. It wasn't as though he could stop him either, since by the time he'd found his voice, Clyde had already once again called out another, "Pew, pew!"
Clearly Clyde had no idea who he was dealing with, or who he'd just pretended to shoot, unfortunately Craig did. Clyde stood at the end of the street with his arm and stick extended out to the girl who looked a couple of years older than them. Her ratty hair blew against the wind, making her look even scarier as she glared down at the brunette.
"What did you just say to me?" She hissed through braced teeth.
Clyde sunk lower, suddenly regretting every choice he'd made in life that lead him up to this moment. He couldn't speak, couldn't think properly as he stood in fear in front of the girl. She pushed herself off from the tree she'd been leaning against and put away her phone, standing taller as she stepped toward him to slap his stick to the ground.
Thankfully for Clyde, Craig had hurried over for back up, with Tweek being merrily dragged along from still holding onto Craig's sleeve. Only when he saw the angry girl did he let go, his face dropping as he hid behind his friends with a little whimper.
"Hey, back off, Bigfoot!" Little Craig threatened, puffing out his chest, ready to fight the girl, which in reality was just as dumb as Clyde had been since the girl was taller and twice as angry as Craig. He fought the need to cower when her piercing eyes snapped to him, her attention completely away from Clyde as she found her new target.
"I'll strangle you, you little turd!" She growled, Glaring at Craig, but he glared right back, neither one of them backing down at the confrontation. The terrifying girl cracked her knuckles, possibly to intimidate her opponent. Little did she know, Craig had a great poker face. Having problems expressing your emotions came in handy on the odd occasion. She did however, frighten Clyde and Tweek, who slightly hid behind their stupidly brave friend.
"Shelly! Sweetie, your aunt has made you some dinner!" A soothing voice called out from across the street. Craig blinked as the scary girl ground her teeth, swinging her head around in the direction her mom was standing, then back to the boys.
"I'm gonna beat you up the next time I see you." Shelly whispered her promise to Craig, glaring as she started robotically walking backwards across the road, holding her stare all the way to the house, and only after she'd slowly closed the door, were they was safe again.
The three friends remained silent for a moment, all of them too focused on the window that Shelly was currently glaring out of as she dragged her finger across her neck threateningly. It was only when she was called away, that the girl left them alone, and only then did they feel like they could breath.
Clyde exhaled deeply, pushing his way in front of Craig as he furrowed his eyebrows. "You nearly had us all beaten up by a girl, Craig!"
"Me?" Craig huffed. "You're the one who started shooting her with a stick."
"I didn't realise she was so beastly." Clyde murmured, woefully looking to his stick laying on the road. He wanted to pick it up, it was a pretty stick, but now he wasn't in the mood, and his tummy still felt sick from the confrontation. Maybe he was doing the right thing leaving it behind, after all, it was too much power for one child alone.
Whether he was going to pick up the stick or not, no longer mattered when a car crushed it beneath it's tires. His heart hurt as he looked away at the loss. Craig, however, hadn't looked away, and once the window was down and his mothers head was peering out at him, he raised an eyebrow.
"Craig, why aren't you inside?"
"I'm going in now." He muttered a reply, looking to his shoes.
His mom bit her lip as she paused, watching the three boys that stood on the edge of the path, with only the twitchy blonde looking back at her. "You boys are going to be late."
Tweek was too shy to talk to the woman, and instead of answering, he hid behind Craig. Clyde looked over finally. He could see where this conversation was going and after she ran over his precious wand, she owed him exactly that. "Yeah, my mom wanted me in five minutes ago, but Craig keeps talking to me."
Craig looked up from his shoes to glare at his friend, but before he could retort, his mom directed her own disapproving look while sternly saying, "Craig!" Flabbergasted, he remained silent, staring at his friend with utter annoyance. "Come on in you two, I'll drop you off. Craig, home." She pointed to his house as though he didn't know where it was.
He irritably watched as his friends climbed into the car, with his moms window closing as the car began to move forward. A moment of glaring at it's retreating vehicle passed before he finally stalked his way over to his house, throwing the door open and stepping inside where the warmth tortured him into pulling off his jacket.
His scowl softened as he made his way over to the couch where his dad sat with a glass of whiskey in his hand, too preoccupied with passively staring at the television to notice his son sitting beside him. Craig pulled his legs up to his chest, pulling his hat off as he looked to his dad out of the corner of his eye. "Hi." He murmured, once he'd realised his dad wasn't acknowledging him.
Thomas sighed irritably, drawing a prolonged slip from his drink, before pulling it away, instantly missing the strong smell as he turned to scowl at his son. "What you want now, boy?" He muttered, turning his attention back to his drink. "I ain't got no money to give you, if that's what you're leeching after."
Of course his dad would assume he wanted something from him. Weren't fathers and sons supposed to have civil conversations? Craig ignored the comment, playing with his hat that sat on his lap as he spoke. "I found an abandoned tree house today, it's really cool."
"Damn it boy, you're too old to still be messing around." Thomas grunted. "Stop playin' make belief and get yourself a job. Help your mother out here for a change." He tapped his finger against his empty glass, he needed a refill, or should I say, he wanted a refill.
"I'm only twelve."
"And you're lazy."
Neither of them noticed the woman who'd entered the room with grocery bags tucked under her arms as she kicked the front door closed. "Oh, you're one to talk about being lazy, Thomas. Leave him alone."
Thomas curled his lip, holding his glass up to his wife as he huffed. "Fill my glass up for me." He demanded, glaring when his wife ignored him to walk into the kitchen.
Craig peered over to the kitchen, then to the stairs when he heard what sounded like a herd of elephants stomping down them. To his upmost surprise, it was only his little sister, Ruby with her favourite teddy bear grasped in her hands. She bounced down the last step, her eyes trailing over to meet Craig's before they turned into daggers, clearly as disgusted to see him as much as he was her.
Even so, she was down now, and though she'd have no problem turning back around, she wasn't entirely petty, and so she came to sit at the opposite end of the couch, pressing herself as far away from her brother as possible.
She expected it when Craig flipped her off, but what she wasn't expecting, was when he'd reached across to yank the bear from her hands, before tossing it across the room. Ruby stared in horror as her beloved cuddly toy hit the ground silently, slowly turning to look at her older brother in disbelief as she lashed out, throwing herself at him.
They'd fought too many times before, for Craig to know that was always her first move, and so he kicked his leg out, hitting her in the stomach. She made a pained sound upon impact, but that wasn't going to take her down. She grabbed Craig's foot, bending his toes back as she watched with pure bliss as he hissed in pain, knocking against his dad as he tried to escape her hold.
"Stop it! Get off me, you rodent!
"Say you're sorry!"
"No!"
"Say it!" Ruby bent his toes some more.
"Both of you pack it in!" Laura ordered, with the bear safely in her hands as she frowned at her two children.
"Craig stuck his middle finger out to me, then threw Mr Chuggler!" Ruby defended herself, releasing her brother as she happily accepted back her bear when her mother passed it over.
"You'll both be sent to your rooms if you can't behave."
"Will everybody shut the hell up? I'm trying to watch this." Thomas complained.
Craig shuffled back into the sofa, copying his father by watching the screen, though he wasn't interested in the show. Laura clicked her tongue behind her teeth as she headed back into the kitchen, while Ruby glared at her older brother beside her, her bear clutched tightly in her hands.
"Disgusting." Thomas muttered to himself, nudging Craig beside him. "You see this, boy?"
Craig looked to his father, turning to look at the television when his dad continued to stare at the screen. It was of two guys kissing and Thomas couldn't look more nauseous if an old goat had defecated on his face. "Never, you hear me? Never end up like those two faggots."
Craig looked away from the television to glance at his dad, forcing himself to remain neutral as he slowly but tightly nodded his head. Thomas nodded after him, seemingly satisfied with Craig's answer. His stern eyes looked back to his empty glass, once reminding him of his need for more, and so he pushed himself off the couch, his heavy hand dropping into Craig's hair to mess it up before he left.
Craig swallowed the lump in his throat, looking over to Ruby who had already been watching him with a strange look in her eye. He frowned at her, looking down at the hat in his hands as he squeezed it for comfort.