I'm A What?!

The Car Seat From Hell

     Gatlin was sitting in the back seat strapped into an oversized car seat. His eyes were closed tight, but he was far from asleep.

     After they had been allowed to leave, the two boys silently went to Tim's locker first. Gat wasn't sure what he should do. He was just following Tim and tried not to say anything that would make him snap. He'd been eerily quiet since they left the room.

     Tim violently grabbed his books and shoved them into his backpack. He got his jacket and slammed the door shut, making Gat slightly jump. He turned around and threw his bag over his shoulder. He looked at Gat with so much hate and sneered slightly at him.

     "Well?" Tim said with hate in his voice. "Where's your locker? Let's get your shit and head out of here before anything else goes wrong."

     Gat nodded his head and quickly turned down the next hall over. As he got closer, he gave a slight sigh. His locked had been graffitied... again. He just ignored it and pulled his own books out and quickly put them into his bag.

     Tim looked at all the words on Gatlin's locker. 'Worthless' seemed to be the most popular one, along with a few choice swear words. He really didn't care, and Gatlin seemed to ignore them anyway.

     Gatlin was quick, for that he was glad. He didn't like it when people lingered. He just wanted to get out of the building before anyone really saw them leave together. How was he going to explain this to Howard? He knew that he'd have to have a little there eventually... but this soon? On top of all that, he had to have a full nursery for him by the end of the day. At least the store had little chance of anyone he knew being there.

     "Do we need to pick up your stuff at..." Tim didn't really care if they did or not, but it would be less that he'd have to buy for the thing if it already had clothes and a toy or whatever.

     Gatlin put his bag on his shoulder and looked like he was about to fall over from the weight. He looked down and shook his head with a sigh. "I don't have anything but this bag and the clothes on my back." He sounded sad.

     'What does he have to be sad about? He's about to get a ton of shit. He should be happy.' Tim thought as he turned to head towards the parking lot.

     As they walked through the halls, Gat pulled out the card he'd been given and looked at it. He wondered how much money could actually be on it. He put it back in his pocket quickly so he wouldn't lose it and was about to start reading the paper that he'd been given with it, when they ran into Mrs. Desini... again.

     "What do you want NOW?" Tim was fuming. Gat wasn't really paying attention. He just held onto the paper and sort of stood there like a zombie. He noticed something large that sat behind the teacher and hoped it wasn't for him.

     "I have to make sure that your vehicle is safe." She said in a stern voice. "I'm guessing you don't even have a child safety seat?"

     Tim turned red and Gat looked up at her with pleading eyes. The orphanage hadn't been very far away and he was able to walk to school... he didn't want to be in the same car as Tim. He had no idea if he was a safe driver. And what good was a safety seat really going to do for him if Tim crashes the car? Gat was big enough that the car seat would just be nothing more than a nuisance.

     "I didn't think so." She said disappointingly, like he should have already been ready for this. "So the school is providing this temporary one for you." She stepped aside and revealed the oversized death trap. "Carry it to your car. I need to make sure it's installed correctly before you can leave with your little." She crossed her arms and tapped her foot. Something that had become quite an often thing. Tim and Gat both hated it.