South Park: Senior Year

15. Puke

      Clyde slides a belt through another pair of pants that have become too big for him.
He pulls his red and white letterman jacket on and heads down the stairs.
     "Perfect timing, let's go." His father says.
     Clyde follows his father out the door and hops into the front seat. Clyde taps his legs with his fingers, impatient to get going. He was very excited to see Beth. He hadn't seen her since Ruth's two year old birthday

After a few hours of driving, they made it. Clyde's neck was sore from sleeping the whole ride. They pull into his sister's driveway and Clyde quickly hops out, rushing to the front door. He knocks, his dad waiting behind him.
"Clyde!!" His sister opens the door, smiling from ear to ear. She pulls him in for a tight hug.
"Hey, Betty." He smiles back.
A brunette toddler peaks out from behind his sister's legs. Clyde crouches down to greet her.
"Hey Ruthey." He waves.
She stays cowering behind her mother but smiles shyly at Clyde.
Beth picks her up. "That's your uncle Clyde, Ruth. Can you say hi? Hi Clyde!" She waves little Ruth's hand for her.
Clyde chuckles before following his sister into the house. Her husband, Jack, is setting the table in the dining room.
     Suddenly, Clyde's stomach growls. He'd almost forgotten about dinner and now his mouth was watering.
     "What are we having?" His father asked exactly what Clyde was wondering himself.
      "Tacos, mom's recipe." Beth explained, sitting Ruth down in her highchair.
     Clyde takes the seat beside his sister, Ruth directly across from him. Their father sits at one end of the table and Jack sits at the other, after setting out a plate of tortillas and several bowls with toppings into the middle of the table.
     Clyde was about to reach out and serve himself but then his sister reminds them all to say grace. Embarrassed, Clyde quickly puts his head down and takes the hand of his sister and father.
     Once the prayer is finished, Clyde loads his plate. A small enough portion that his sister or father wouldn't say anything, but not too big either.
     However, once Clyde finishes his first plate he finds himself reaching for seconds, and then thirds. He hadn't had his mom's taco recipe in ages and he couldn't get enough. After five or six tacos though, he began to feel nauseous. Clyde stared down at his plate, trying his best to focus and suppress the feeling, but it was too much.
     Clyde stood and ran to the bathroom. He barely managed to shut the door behind him and make it to the toilet before he puked. He puked again and again until his throat was sore and his stomach had been emptied of everything he had just put in it. Tears burned in his eyes as his head hung over the bowl.
     "Clyde?" He heard his sister call from outside the bathroom.
      "Mhm?" He called back.
      "Are you okay, kiddo?" She asked.
      "Yeah." He grumbled before throwing up once more.
      A few moments later, his sister cracked the door open and peeked inside. Clyde turned his face away, not wanting her to see his vomit-covered mouth. Snot was dripping from his nose and tear stains ran down his face.
     "Here, let me get you some tums and a toothbrush." His sister offered, exiting the bathroom.
    Once she had them she set them on the counter and left him alone to clean himself up.
    Clyde stood, flushing the toilet. He went to the sink and rinsed the inside of his mouth and lips before swallowing the tums and brushing his teeth. Luckily, he hadn't gotten any vomit on his shirt.
     He stepped out of the bathroom, light-headed and limbs tingly. The back of his tongue ached from throwing up so violently.
     His father and sister were sitting in the living room, waiting for him. Ruth played with blocks on the carpet in front of them.
     Clyde plopped down on the couch beside his sister. She wrapped her arm around him.
     "I'm sorry for getting sick." Clyde mumbled.
     "Don't be. It's okay." She smiled softly. "Are you feeling any better now?"
     Clyde shrugged. Physically, he felt awful, but on the other hand, he hadn't a calorie from that meal left in his body. Turns out the dinner he was dreading didn't want him to eat it either.
     "Hey, Dad." His sister said. "How about you two spend the night?"
      "That would be nice, but Clyde has school tomorrow morning." His dad declined.
      Clyde frowned. He really wanted to just sit there with his sister. Maybe watch a shitty movie with her like they used to.
     "Oh, come on. Clyde is sick. You can't send him to school when he's sick." Beth winked at Clyde.
     Their father thought for a moment before letting out a long sigh they both knew meant yes. "Well, alright. But we leave at noon tomorrow."
     "Yes!" Both Clyde and his sister exclaimed.
   
     Clyde stayed on the couch that night while his father got the guest bedroom. Sometime around midnight, his sister came out of her room. Clyde peaked up from scrolling on his phone.
     "Hey." She smiled, sitting down on the couch by his feet.
     He sat up. "Hey."
     "How are you feeling?" She asked.
     "Better." He told her. His stomach still felt horribly empty, but he'd grown used to that by now.
     "That's good." She grabbed the TV remote. "Wanna watch something?"
     He nodded. "Yeah."
     She scooted closer, tucking herself under the blanket with him before turning on The Office, a show they'd binged together over and over. She rested her head on Clyde's shoulder.
     "I wish you guys came to visit more often." She said.
     Clyde glanced at her. She looked sad. "Me too." He admitted. "Maybe Dad will let me take the car to come down by myself sometime." He offered.
     "I'd like that." His sister nodded.
     It didn't take long before his sister had fallen asleep, still leaning on Clyde. He was extremely sleepy too but didn't want to move to lie down in case he'd wake her, so he stayed upright, eventually falling asleep, his head leaning against hers.