RED PARALLEL

Chapter 54: Too Much

Song: Home, by MGK, X Ambassadors, and Bebe Rexha.         

So he would shake, trying to kick, trying to jump away, trying to race through the tight spaces and free himself from the walls, and maybe find a place. A place where he would evade his body and his soul for good. There were obstacles in the way, human and non-human, and his shaking arms would hit them with the crutches, obstinate, no feet on the ground but eventually the one that got shot. He needed an elevator, so he'd get to the top and say goodbye to no one, or maybe that window would do, maybe this time it would work out, half his body was broken already, he wasn't made of rubber, he never was.

But the window was difficult to reach, the people chasing him were difficult to run away from, his shoulders were begging for a break, the plaster had just broken, and the pain was-

He leaned his body against the wall, panting, feeling the white sterilized guards approaching. All for nothing. The eyes shut, frustrated, and his whole body gave up. And he'd slowly slip through the wall, too slow for his taste.

But. No one would grab him and take him back. Why? Weren't they chasing him just a few seconds ago, so why... The eyes made a last curious effort and opened up. And there it was. A huge obstacle that had just got out of a room, in the middle of the corridor, people stuck in dense traffic behind it. No one could pass. The short nurse saw Traviz and apparently felt relieved, seeing him semi-fallen, drained out and defenseless. The animal would soon get back to its cage, it was all under control.

He could've closed his eyes again, trying to sadly enjoy his free moment at the cold wall, with no apparatus around him, but he didn't. Both brown eyes would not do it, because the huge obstacle had moved, on a wheeled chair, rotund and serene, talking to the slim shape that was pushing the chair. The slim shape wasn't listening, though. It halted, and the rotund shape wondered why.

"Traviz?"

The vision of Nate's shocked face and Daddy G in a chair, plus his own name ringing in his ears, was too much for him, so Traviz started crying uncontrollably, slipping down the floor and dropping both crutches. The sound echoed through the corridor and humans and non-humans stood still, watching the boy bursting into tears.

--

They put him on a wheeled chair, too, and that wasn't funny.

"I can walk," Traviz mumbled to the nurse.

"Well, me too," G.Klo spoke, reasoning.

They were in G.Klo's room. Nate and him sort of saved Traviz from the nurse's paws and asked whether he could stay in their room for a while. "He seems to be recovering well, let him stay with us," G.Klo' had hilariously said. Traviz had no idea what to think of, but after the embarrassing show at the corridor, he looked far from wholesome.

An awkward silence filled the small room for at least a minute. He was extremely shocked and touched and relieved and maybe happy and tense and scared and a bunch of other things, sitting on the wheeled chair and looking down, wondering who would be the first to start shouting. Or firing a full length apology. It had to be him, of course, but that was something his mom had tried to teach him but didn't succeed. 

"What happened to you?" Traviz asked G.Klo, and the man opened a smile, while Nate was still frozen, poker faced.

"Some mild surgery, I believe."

"Surgery?"

"He had a heart attack," Nate finally spoke, a little dark, as if the responsible for the damage was standing right in front of them with a pale face and skinny as hell.

"Heart attack? W-when?"

"I don't know..." G.Klo' frowned, trying to recall. "Do you remember, Nate?"

"A month ago," the guy responded, looking straight at Traviz. "A Friday night."

Friday night...

"And you, Traviz?" G.Klo' inquired, looking at the broken plaster.

"He got hit by a car," Nate responded right away. "The nurse told me."

Both Nate and G.Klo' watched him cry again. He'd press the chair's handle and choke, a movie of fucked up experiences running fast through his mind, piercing his chest and pulling out more tears. That was all. Nothing else would come out of him, so ridiculous, if he had just managed to get into the elevator and vanished, but no. He was standing in front of the two adoptive relatives he had missed the most, feeling a great pound of humiliation over his shoulders.

Nate shot a train of words, and Traviz didn't dodge from them. He received all the bullets, willing to get knocked out:

"You son of a bitch. Liar, traitor. We trusted you, we gave you our fucking house, but you didn't trust us, no. Instead, you listened to your asshole friend. I bet he was the one to put the fake story about us willing to get your pop's money, right? Imbecile. We'd never do that. What you did was damn low, motherfucker. You've been missing for decades and we were like 'Is he dead? Is he not?'. And the entire Crib been tryna kill me 'cause I kicked you out, and that ain't fair, ya know. Like, no."

"Nate, calm down." G.Klo' raised his large hand "We have all forgiven you already-"

"Tell me, jackass, where the fuck you've been? HUH? Been bumming in the streets? Smoking pot? Burgling? Selling drugs? Prostituting? Killing? Being in and outta bars?"

"Nate, stop-"

"TELL ME!"

Knocked out by the fucking accurate guessings, Traviz nodded, wishing for stomach punches and kicks, because that'd be the perfect finale. Full combo scolding.

"WHATTAYA MEAN, 'YES'? HUH?"

Traviz nodded again, imagining having a fatal heart attack in front of them. When he raised his head, he saw that Nate was startled, pale. G.Klo' was serious and drawing a concerned face.

"Traviz," G.Klo' spoke. Nate slumped on the bed and covered his face with both hands. "Can you tell us what happened?"

"N-no..."

"If I ask you simple questions, could you nod or shake your head? We ain't gonna argue with you. Nate's had enough. We wanna help you, okay?"

"'K-kay..."

"So tell me: have you been in the West Side, son?"

Traviz stared at his skinny feet for a while. Then, he nodded, neck trembling, terrified to check their reaction, which was total deep silence, a silence that this time meant more than just lack of words.

"Right," was all G.Klo' retorted.

He raised his head, and Nate was now squeezing his bonnet with a lot of strength, head low. Desolated. The picture triggered another wave of tears, it was just unbearable.

"Son," G.Klo' spoke. "Do you wanna go home?"

Man...

He nodded so fiercely that his forehead almost cracked open and dropped the melted brain that was left inside.

"Right," G.Klo' said. "I think this is a special day."

Nate had to rush to stop Traviz because the dude had simply decided to get out of the chair, desperate, willing, anxious, crazy, flooded with what was hidden inside him for so long, the only fucking conviction in his life, that yeah, he was dying to get back home, he had to do it immediately because no, he didn't want to die, there was a damn hell reason to live, and he had to get up and The Crib, The Crib, The Crib...

G.Klo' chuckled. "Easy, boy. Nate, I'll have a word with one of the doctors, see if they can free us."

"F-fine..."

Nate had turned his head and Traviz was getting up again, ridiculously determined. Nate supported Traviz's skinny body and spoke:

"Dude. I'm sorry. It's all my fault. I-I ain't mad at you, you know, I'm just mad at me, forget-"

Traviz went back to choking and sobbing, struck with fucking emotions, and man, that was too much...

"It's alright, dude, we're gonna getcha outta here..."

His face tumbled on Nate's shoulder. "I'm sorryyy..."

"Stop crying, freal... Shit."