Good Friend

Playground

It's a short drive, he takes me to the old playground we used to play at when we were kids.

"Do you want a jacket? I brought an extra one,"

"Sure," I say just to ease his nerves. I put it in and we go out to the playground, he walks to the swings and motions for me to sit in the swing next to him, I comply.

"Do you remember our first time here? We were so little," he says half smiling to himself.

"Yeah, we met here," I say back. "That was when my dad first started hitting me, you asked why I had a black eye and I lied and said I got it from fighting pirates for their gold."

His smile fades a bit, "yeah, we still had lots of fun here. And you discovered your talent for telling stories," he says trying to lighten the mood.

"Not that it will get me anywhere, at this rate I don't have much going for me."

"Don't say that!" He jumps off his swing, "you have a lot going for you! You are incredibly smart and talented! I will not sit here and let you talk bad about yourself!"

I was taken aback from his sudden outburst, though in all honesty, he was a ticking time bomb. I bite my lip, he is such a good amazing friend, he has taken care of me and dealt with all my bullshit since the first day we met.

I get up from my swing and hug him, we just stand there and hug. And then it all just comes  out, I start crying. He hugs me tighter and promises not to let go until I feel better.

We stand there for at least an hour, just me crying and him holding me. Finally, I am ready to let go, there are no more tears, even if I wanted to I don't think there are anymore.

We climb up the small rock wall and sit at the edge of the top tower of the playground. He puts his arm over my shoulder and I rest my head on his shoulder. I fall asleep there, the safest place I know, the playground with my best friend.

"You piece of shit!" I hear my dad shout at me as I try to do homework.
"You can't do anything! Why do we even keep you around?!" He starts walking, zigzagging, towards me.
"Are you ignoring me shit head?!" He shouts louder while sipping some of his beer.

My mom walks in, "stop! Just let him do his homework!" My mom begins crying.

"Why?! He is just gonna fail anyway! Because he is a fucking idiot!" I can't take it anymore, I try to hit him before he has the chance to hit me.
He catches my arm right before it hits him, "You try'n to hit me boy?! You want to be a tough guy now?! I'll show you tough guy!" He twits my arm and punch's me hard enough to knock me out for a few minutes. I wake up and he is hitting my mom. I try to get him off but he over powers me and I end up on the floor again.

My mom makes a run for it, my dad still hitting me. I grab his bottle he put down to start hitting me and hit his head with it. He knocks out long enough for me to run, so I run, and plan on never stopping.

I wake up crying in my friend's arms, I didn't think there was anything left, I guess I was wrong.