1981
Boston, Massachusetts
Conan decided to take a walk alone in Boston. He headed to the New England Aquarium, an excellent place to be alone and to admire sea life. He liked to see the dolphins once in a while. He had his comfy Ireland t-shirt on, very proud of his heritage. He thought about his Harvard application while he was walking around the big tanks filled with fishes, of different kinds, shapes and sizes. He thought about having one of his own, since he was planning to go to Dartmouth if he wasn't selected at Harvard, and any other pet wouldn't be allowed.
As he walked, he was approached by Mark and Scott... and some other guys he had never seen before. He tried to lose them, but they recognized him, being that tall and pale, with red hair, it was difficult to hide.
"Oh, hey, Conan." Scott said. "Where is that nice friend of yours?"
"Get lost, Scott." Conan said, as he tried to ignore them.
Mark approached Conan. "Hey, that's not a good way to treat your friends."
Conan rolled his eyes.
"What are you doing here all by yourself, huh? You don't have that cheap whore with you anymore?"
Conan didn't want to fight, but he also didn't want to flee. He ignored Mark and pretended to pay attention to the fish. Mark didn't seem intimidated by the people walking around the Aquarium, and continued teasing Conan. Scott did the same.
"Do you have any cash on you?" Scott asked.
"Yeah..." Conan innocently answered.
"Gimme." Mark said.
Conan frowned, still looking at the huge fish tank. "I'm not gonna give you money."
"Why not?" Scott said.
"Because I don't feel like it." Conan turned to them, and met Scott's fist. He was punched several times in the nose, really hard. It happened so fast, that he could only feel the pain after falling to the ground, his hand immediately covering his nose, in an act of self defense. He wanted to cry. Mostly because of the shame, and the pain. But again, he didn't.
"Tell June I said hi." Scott said, before going the other way, calmly.
-
"How is my boy, is his nose broken?" Mrs. O'Brien asked.
"Broken? Good God. It's a bag of bones situation." said the doctor.
Conan was silent during the whole examination. He was in pain, and he was beginning to think this would never end. All he could think is that he had actually invited June to go to the Aquarium with him. She would end up like him, or worse. He was glad she couldn't make it. As he thought of it, she entered, running. The concern in her eyes made him feel ashamed. He couldn't even protect himself and he was sure June thought he was a failure as a man.
"Are you okay?" she asked. She had a sad look on her face.
"Yep." he said. He didn't want to talk. He didn't want any pity, from anyone. It was a bit selfish.
She came closer and stared at him in the eyes. "Are you sure?"
He looked down, right at her. Even though he was sitting on a chair in the emergency room, he was way taller. "No."
It wasn't everything okay. He was emotionally and physically exhausted. Something had to change. Life, as it was going, wasn't feeling that good. Turns out that he didn't want to live like this, and he had to do something about it.
He had to fight back.
