A Broken Crew

Chapter 25

"Sometimes that's all you can do, kid. I know it kills August, no matter how much I tell him not to worry about it. Ya'll have too big of hearts, and that's what messes you up. You care too much. It's dangerous, you'll just get hurt." He flipped an egg. "I used to be like you too. Cared too much. Worried about my mother, loved her, tried to protect her from the old man. And you know what I got for that? She ran off with another man, and on her way out, signed over full custody of me to that trash. That's all it gets you kid. Spit in the face. People don't care if you give your whole heart. They'll still throw it away. You can't save everyone, so you should worry about taking care of yourself. I wish August would do that. He has to push himself too hard to help others. It's foolish."

Kacey sighs softly as he thinks about what Dakota says. He's quiet for a little while, just thinking. "But... But without the people that care so much... There would be too much pain and no happiness at all.. " He hops back up on the counter. "And sometimes, caring so much is how people hide things that's wrong. They take care of others because they don't want them to hurt to. Without people who have big hearts and care.... I think it would be a very, very bad world. "

Dakota shrugged. "In my opinion, it already is a bad world." He put an egg on a plate. "Full of trash like my old man and the kids who hurt November. Did you ever hear about that? What happened to him?"

Kacey shakes his head, suddenly curious. "No? What happened?"

Dakota set the plates on the table. "Sit down, it's a long story." Kacey nods and sits down, his attention on Dakota.

"I didn't know November when we were younger, none of us really did until the last year of middle school. But everyone kind of had an idea of who he was. Ever since November was born, his vocal chords have been messed up, as well as his hearing. When he came to school, he had his hearing aides. Back then, he still actually tried to talk. His voice was a little better than it is now, though not much. It was raspy and jagged, and he was hard to understand. He was super cheerful though. Until some of the boys started to bully him. I remember when it started. They would make fun of the way he talked and pull on his ears and scream into them." 

"He was so confused, until he finally started to get what they were doing. This went on for a long time. In middle school it started getting worse." He paused for a moment, playing with his food. "They would yank out his hearing aides and his ears would bleed. They would try to make him eat things like dirt and rocks and dead animals like mice. I remember the mouse."

 Dakota paused for a second, a sadness filling his eyes. "They did it in front of the whole class. None of us could really do anything, we were just kids. They shoved it in his mouth and wouldn't let him breathe until he swallowed it. Eventually he had to, because he was choking. When they let him go he threw up blood and ran out of the room crying. None of his knew what to do. We didn't want to get bullied either. We got to 7th grade, and something really, really bad happened. I guess whatever they tried to make him eat had a nail or metal in it, and he cut up the inside of his mouth and he nearly swallowed it. I can't imagine what that would've done to his insides. Anyway, he didn't tell anybody and he got blood poisoning and tetanus. When his jaw started locking up, he still didn't tell anyone. Until he was desperate. Even then, he wouldn't say why or how it happened."

"The doctors told him he had permanent damage to his mouth. It was and still is painful for him to smile and talk and do anything with his jaw, even eat. And around the same time he learned that he would lose his hearing completely. It was devastating for him. His parents tried to figure out who was bullying him, but he refused to say anything. He was scared too. He was totally heartbroken by everything. So he tried to kill himself."

"He was going to jump off of a bridge. But Kaaria and Jocelyn found him. Kaaria grabbed him and pinned him down. November still managed to drag himself and Kaaria over the bridge. Kaaria busted up his ankle in the fall and November hit his head. Gideon saved them. I was there for that part. We were all supposed to meet up. Instead, we all ended up taking a trip to the hospital with Kaaria and November. His parents were so sad. It was then that we decided we weren't going to sit around and let those kids bully him anymore. We told his parents everything, despite him not wanting us to. Those kids got expelled. We began to befriend November. And gradually, he became so much happier."

Dakota smiled a little. "He still sometimes struggles with dealing with his voice and mouth problems and his hearing, but he's doing better now. But those kids. They caused him damage that would permanently affect him for the rest of his life. The world is full of trash people." Dakota grew quiet at the end, finishing his eggs. "There's pain even though there is people who care. They probably get way more then they would if they just didn't care. That's why I don't believe in being optimistic. It's just another way to get hurt."

Kacey is shocked, but something clicks. "That's why November got so upset when he spoke to Mikko!" His eyes are wide. He thinks for a few minutes, finishing the last of his eggs. "Wow... I guess the bad really does outweigh the good a lot of the time." His voice is small and hesitant.

"Yup. It stinks, but there's not anything that can change that." He put his plate in the sink. "People still try to bully November, but we don't let them. They're scared of the rest of us." He chuckled and gestured at himself. "No one wants to mess with me."

Kacey nods. "I can see that. People used to bully me all the time before my friends found out." He taps his eye patch lightly. "That's why I'm half blind."

Dakota looked at him absently. "I can't really relate to bullying, I was never bullied. But it does do terrible things to people." Kacey nods in agreement, yawning cutely.

"You tired kid?" he asked. "It is like 3 am, you probably are tired." "Ye-" he yawns again, "ah. I've been up all night.""Then go sleep kiddo." He put the plates in the sink. "I'm not tired, but you go and rest." Kacey shakes his head, fighting back another yawn- and failing. "I don't wanna.." But it was a useless protest, as he had already laid his head down on the table and fallen asleep.

"Silly kid. Rest while you can." Gently, he put a blanket over Kacey's shoulders and sat down at the table next to him, pulling out his phone. He noted three voicemails from a blocked number. When he saw the number, he growled and deleted all the voicemails without listening to them. "Nice try, mother." he said. "As if." He slammed the phone down in anger. He stared out the window, lost in thought.

Kacey slept peacefully, not even disturbed by the noise Dakota made slamming his phone down. He looked even more peaceful and childish when asleep. Dakota glanced at him. "Such a kid." he said. "I remember being his age." Then he laughed. "He's only 2 years younger than me, but it feels like such a difference."

A face peaks into the kitchen silently, then the faint sound of a limping step and the ruffling of feathers can be heard by those with sensitive ears. A stumble, a hand on the wall, then the steps continuing.

Dakota glances up. "Grey?" he says. "It's like 5 am, you should still be asleep." He stood up. "What are you doing?" Grey looks at him blankly for a moment before awareness snaps in his eyes. "I'm... I don't know." He shakes his head.

"Go back to bed then, you don't look well. I'm just wide awake. Do you need anything?"

Grey shakes his head again and turns to go, limping back out of the kitchen again, a hand on the wall the whole time. Dakota watches him absently. Life's not easy for anyone right now, is it?