Walls

Ch 11: Ducky

I withdrew my hand.  It took a moment for everyone to adjust to Felix's past. After a minute or two in silence, I turned to face Ducky, who was sitting two seats away from Felix. I felt like Felix would want us to keep talking so he could drift off for a bit.

'And Ducky? What's your past?'

Ducky smiled weakly and sat up a little straighter.

'Nothing compared to Felix's. I was in grade eleven when they took me last year. I should, technically, be graduating an a couple of months, but ain't nobody got time for that.

'I was never the best in the class academic-wise, but I could definitely make people laugh. The teachers hated me, that's for sure, but I had lots of good friends and that was all I needed.

'My mom walked out on me, my brother Levi and my dad when I was nine. My brother was two, so he didn't really ever get to know her well. It didn't matter, though. She wasn't the best parent.

'My dad was almost always working, to support us, you know. I was always babysitting Levi, but he grew up good. I feel like I should take some credit for that.' Ducky smiled weakly.

'Then when I was sixteen, my dad died.' The cheery mood he had created instantly died. 'I stopped caring. I made sure that Levi had enough food but I barely ate myself. I'd be staying up all night out of fear that our house was going to be broken into and Levi was going to get hurt. I fell asleep in class almost daily. People tried to talk to me but nothing would work. I was just ready to die, I guess. I don't know.

'I was almost glad to get out of there when Darius, Felix and Liv came to get me. I know that Levi is safe and living with family, and that's really all I care about. I'm just so happy that they came when they did.' Ducky shrugged and took a bite of some sort of cake.

I now understood why Ducky had loaded his plate with food.

'But everything's good now. I get to help people and, eventually, I'll get to see my brother again. So I'm happy.' He smiled weakly.

'And I guess that's me.'