Carry On

4: "Indifference"

Summary: Summertime has begun, which means: no school, no work except for the Impractical Jokers, beach babes, ice cream, and parties. As for Sal, ...he's... doing ...okay?...

July 7th

Spring was over and summer just started. On the surface, everything seemed perfectly normal as everyone was enjoying their summer break; but Brian knew this was not the case.

2 months ago, he, Murr, and Joe unanimously and secretly made the "Water Soaked" challenge a punishment without Sal's knowledge or consent. Brian vividly yet remorsefully remembered that day like it was yesterday: he, Murr, and Joe laughing at Sal's face and spraying with water guns, Jiggy telling them what he'd witness after Sal ran out of the park and showing them Sal's broken cellphone, him having restless nights during those 2 days while dreading on where Sal could be after he disappeared, and Sal's disheveled appearance and deadpan expression once he'd resurface after going missing for 2 days (in which Sal still refused to tell them his whereabouts during those 2 days to this very day).

Brian sighed remorsefully, disgusted with himself for his reckless and immature actions. How could he have been such an asshole? After all the punishments he, Murr, and Joe had made for Sal, how could they have not known that Sal would react so badly to that one?

Brian snorted bitterly; he knew the answer to that, though he tried to deny it. He couldn't speak for Murr and Joe, but he believed Sal reacted so badly to that punishment because:

1.) It wasn't supposed to a punishment in the first place, and also, it wasn't even his idea; it was Joe's. It wasn't pre-planned or anything, Joe just came up with the idea right from the spot and they just went along with it like that without telling Sal. It could be against the rules to do something like that, but they all agreed to bend the rules and let that happen. What's wrong with that? Brian shook his head in disagreement at that question. Okay, maybe they knew what they did was wrong and they knew that Sal wasn't going to happy once they'd reveal to him it was his punishment, but they never thought Sal would be so furious to point where he was seen crying, smashing his phone into pieces and making himself disappeared for 2 days straight; that wasn't their intentions. Brian shook his head again in disagreement at that statement. Okay, maybe it was their intentions to make Sal angry by having the child actor messing up on purpose to Sal's annoyance because c'mon, Sal was just fun to mess with because of his reactions; they agreeably said Sal was easy to punish because: his neurotic tendencies, multiple phobias, and timid attitude. How could they have known he would get so angry like that? That when a horrified expression slowly plastered on Brian's face as a realization hit him. Maybe they knew Sal would get so angry like that like they'd expect that to happen. Brian's expression then softened into a half heartbroken and half guilty look at that realization as he thought remorsefully, "Maybe we did knew he would be so pissed like that and we were too damn selfish and inconsiderate to care." Brian sighed sadly as he remembered his stupid choice of the words that day when Murr asked if it was against the rules.

"We are the rules, we make the rules, why does it matter?" Brian asked rhetorically in an uncaring tone.

Brian remorsefully shook his head again in disagreement at his old comment as he thought of the second reason to Sal's reaction to his impromptu punishment.

And 2.) You couldn't say, "No", to a punishment; no matter how: scary, humiliating, painful, disgusting, or embarrassing it was, and especially if wasn't supposed to be ...a punishment at all... Brian groaned internally in remorse at that last part; otherwise, the Joker would get kicked off the show. Sal should know that. Of course, he knew that. They all made a pact years ago that you couldn't say, "No", to any punishments or you off the show. Brian had a hunch that Sal really wanted to say, "No", to some of his punishments and risked getting kicked off the show but decided against it for their sake and the sake of the show. Brian, albeit worried, was not in the profession to continuously embarrass his best friend by telling the others what was going on with Sal (despite his job description). However, the awkward distance Sal had built between him, his concern for Sal's wellbeing, and his respect for Sal's privacy was starting to crack at the foundation. Brian understood that Sal was, as many punishments and challenges had deemed him, the "sensitive guy". And he knew that sometimes the things that built up inside him could be released from pressure at any point. It wasn't that this was the first time Brian had seen Sal at the end of his emotional rope - in fact, Brian had seen the man at his limits more times than he could count on his fingers and toes, but never like how Jiggy described on what he'd witness that day. The thoughts tumbled around sporadically in Brian's mind as he thought pointedly, "Maybe since he's getting older, he's getting softer." That could be a possibility, but still, it didn't justify their words and actions on him. It was their job to check on one another and make sure each other was okay, (especially for Sal's sake, but they failed to do that that painful day) and to get over a punishment, move on from it and let it go. Brian recalled he had some bad punishments in the past, but he managed to get over them, move on from them, let it go them and not take them so personally; unlike Sal, who could be very irrational (especially whenever we made jokes about him without any malice in them) by refusing to let shit go and just move on, y'know; he just need learn not to take shit so offensively like that. But of course, that definitely wasn't the case right here.