Suck It Up

Chapter 8

It had been a few days since Yok had confronted his mother over the phone and he wasn’t doing well in the slightest. If he wasn’t at his house drunk then he was at the garage either drinking or smoking as many cigarettes as he could.

The others had all noticed but didn’t say anything. They assumed Yok would stop eventually. After a few days, Gumpa decided to confront him about it.

Yok was sitting on the couch in the garage smoking when Gumpa came and sat next to him. He didn’t look at him and just kept smoking.

“Do you have any alcohol?” Yok asked.

“No. It’s all gone.” Gumpa said.

Yok groaned and kicked the table in front of him. He wanted to drink again. He didn’t want to be sober anymore.

“What’s got you so upset that you are smoking a pack a day and drinking till you black out?” Gumpa asked.

“It’s not important,” Yok said.

He put out his cigarette and stretched. Yok didn’t want to talk about it. He didn’t want to remember the things his mother said.

“Yok did something happen?” Gumpa asked.

Yok tried to ignore Gumpa by going over and starting to work on his bike. He should’ve known Gumpa would follow him. Once Gumpa was worried about one of the boys he didn’t stop pestering them until he knew what was wrong. Yok was thankful that Gumpa cared but currently he didn’t want to talk about anything.

“You know you can trust me Yok.” Gumpa said.

“There’s nothing to talk about. I’m fine.” Yok said as he roughly slammed down one of his tools.

Yok glared at Gumpa as he waited for him to say something.

“I know there’s something going on. Any amount of you trying to be rude or intimidate me won’t work.” Gumpa said.

“I talked to my mom alright!!!” Yok shouted.

Yok looked away from Gumpa as he began to cry. He hated that talking about his parents made him cry. He felt like he shouldn’t be so hurt by the way they were. It was just them. In Yok’s mind, he was still craving his parents' attention and approval.

Gumpa sighed and sat on the ground next to Yok.

“I assume it didn’t go well?” Gumpa asked.

“Of course not. She still sees me as that stupid worthless delinquent. I mean granted I’ve still been breaking the law but it still hurts that she won’t even give me a chance.” Yok said in a shaky voice.” I want her to love me. No matter what I do I’ll never be good enough.”

“Family isn’t who you are blood-related to Yok. Family is who cares about you and supports you no matter what you do.” Gumpa explained.” Family is the people you choose to keep around.”

“It would still be nice if my parents liked me. At first, they supported me in doing art, and then they stopped. Then they turned Akk against me and I was left alone. Always wandering around by myself. Staying out late into the night.” Yok began.” By the time I was fourteen I was drinking and smoking. I was always getting into fights and vandalizing things. I was always arguing with Akk and my parents. Then I got kicked out.”

Gumpa gently pulled Yok into a hug and held him close. Truth be told Gumpa could see his younger self in Yok. He had once been in a very similar situation as a young teen. He wanted to help Yok in any way he could.

“I didn’t have a home for a few weeks until my new mom found me. I was so thankful she took me in. Then you found me and brought me to be in the group with the others.” Yok said quietly.” You saved me when I was in such a bad place mentally.”