Hey guys just letting you know my mother is expecting a baby she is going to have it on the 16 she already has two little ones and is going to need a lot of my help. So if I don't upload every other day as I planned I am sorry I can't really help it. Also, I wanted to make things a bit easier and put make the words from Malcolm's text to speech device in bold. So enjoy the chapter.
Meatlug followed each command while Drifter struggled after each time he got one right a treat was given and I struggle to get his attention back again. That was the way Drifter was though, after a while of working on the training we went back inside cleaning up my coffee mess and getting on my homework. After I sat in my room looking to the blank white walls still deciding on what I would paint on them. I decided I should look through my old photo book to spark some ideas, I watched as pictures from my first birthday to a week before everything happened were contained in a span of one book. I turned the page and found a CD the plastic wrapper it was in had “When you think he is ready” written in black sharpie. I took it out and put it into the CD player watching as the once great graphics of a video looked like an old video game. I saw my mother sitting down on a couch alone I froze not remembering ever watching this video. I had thought it was some birthday or holiday, My mother looked to the screen and my father crept over into view and sat next to my mother resting a hand on her leg and at her smiling. “Son we have to tell you something important,” I paused the video and looked around making sure I had not fallen asleep and this wasn’t some sick dream. I then stood and scanned the house for my father as if he would magically appear. I went back upstairs with my dogs at my side petting them for comfort I pressed play, “We think you are ready to learn the truth that the world isn’t as great as it seems. Your mother is amazing and I am well I am here.” My mother elbowed him chuckling “Oh stop it how many times do we have to make this…Because you are my first child and I am not really from here my world seems so different from yours. You scan every little detail and explain little things as if you were trying to make a rocket science yet detailing it crystal clear.” My father looked to the camera and I felt my body drop and he cleared his throat why would they make this video and not just tell me this in person did they know they were going to die? “The truth is your father and I are different from other people by the time you find this you may already know...” My mother smiled and grabbed my father’s hand “I grew up in a home where being different was so normal so I don’t know what it’s like to grow up like this.” I watched as my mom smiled the screen fuzzed and glitched her voice was too messed up to understand, I felt tears run down my face as I watched my dad stand and cut off the camera after a brief goodbye. I clutched Drifter’s collar and buried my face in his fur feeling as tears dripped down into his fur Meatlug nudged me and curled up to me after a minute of crying I went to my room and began to paint. Buckets of colors stood on a ladder as I soaked the brush and with each stroke colored my world. I stood for hours creating an outline of this masterpiece that would swallow the white wall that once stood. I watched as Meatlug ran down the stairs Drifter followed I quickly cleaned my hands and followed them downstairs. A knock on the door echoed throughout the house, I slowly crept to the door and checked the peephole it was pitch black. I unlocked the door and opened it slowly looking to the person to see the homework buddy from the bathroom he pushed on the door as he pushed me into my house. I backed up and patted my leg Meatlug sat by me and looked to me, “put em in the kennel unless you want to be sued for a hospital bill of a dog bite and have the cute little thing killed. I spun around and gestured my dog to get in their kennel Meatlug watched confused only having been kenneled for bad behavior which was close to impossible. He got closer and touched my face gently stroking it and walking toward me sending me to back up into a wall. He put his hand around my throat and I watched as he pulled a knife from his pocket and followed the curves of my face with it going over my ear chuckling. “Shall I even it out?” I pushed down his hand and escaped his grasp only to be tripped he sat on me and put the blade to my stomach lifting my shirt he ran the cold blade over my stomach “You always skip the showers now we know why, look at these scars you are skin and bone.” He put his hand to my throat barely pushing me down while his other hand gently pushed the knife to my body sending a pinch of paint throughout my stomach. I couldn’t see what was going on but I knew having had these feeling before he was carving words into my stomach with a very sharp knife which was ‘fun’. His blade moved to my cheek and I flinched as the blade went to my eye he laughed and began to dig the knife into my cheek. After doing both cheeks my forehead and my wrists he stood letting me stand dripped blood off my fingers and onto the tile he pulled out his phone and got closer to me he cut off my shirt and trimmed my shorts to booty shorts. He pushed me down as he took a video “awe little mama’s boy, fucking fag what do you got to say for yourself?” he paused and nodded “you might want to speak up I can’t hear you… or maybe you didn’t hear me. I mean how could you with that.” He got closer to my jacked up ear, Meatlug barked and I gave her the hand sign to stop she whined and growled. “Get this the little fag let me walk right into his house thinking I’d give him some nasty fag shit even put his dogs up for me.” Walking around my house he grabbed something and came back a photo of my mother was in his grasp. I watched as he threw it down and stepped on it “I bet your mama crashed the car just to try to kill her disappointment too bad she failed.” He got closer and closer he pushed my face down and grabbed me by my hair and pulled me to my knees “Are you a little doggy?” I looked down and he pushed my face to the tile “Whine little doggy…” I didn't move or make any noise and he kicked me and pushed me to whine each time I refused and when he finally gave up, he left. I didn’t move and just laid there my back, stomach, face, and wrists bleed pinches of pain filled my body. I laid on the cold floor the noise of Meatlug’s whining faded in and out along with my vision. I feel asleep and when I woke up my dad was holding me and crying “Oh my God Malcolm!!? Who did this?!” I looked out to see the door wide open and the night sky pouring in, I sat up and slowly stood. “Give me a name you can’t just let them get away with everything.” I scanned my pockets for my text to speech and found it on the ground I picked it up and closed the door the robotic voice rang out as I looked to him “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming home I could have made you dinner?” My father sighed and questioned me every chance he got, he even tried grounding me and trying to take away my things but didn’t have the strength to do it when he looked to my face and torn body. After a quick dinner, I ran upstairs and grabbed the CD and put it in front of my father. He looked at it and paused “That a movie you want to watch?” I nodded and we watched it putting it on the Tv, the moment my mother was on the screen his face poured with tears. When it ended he pulled me into a hug careful of my cuts, I pushed him away and questioned him about my mom was trying to say he brushed it off and ushered me to the bathroom. We went upstairs and I sat on the bathroom counter as he pulled his med bag from the closet having once been a firefighter he had saved so many people but not being able to save his wife broke him and he took the job of a simple trucker. He bandaged each wound with shaking hands the sight of blood no doubt sent him back to the night of the crash. “I am so glad I have you, sport…” He rubbed my head and Meatlug whined he patted Meatlug’s head and reassured her that I was going to be just fine. My dad and I watched one of his bad old movies that we watched each time he happened to come home. He asked about school and questioned me about my answers as he did each time. “I don’t have work tomorrow…” I looked to him in fear that he would come to my school and question each teacher about what I had been doing in my free time at school. “You wanna stay home and just chill?” I shook my head as I pulled my text to speech from my pocket and felt my heart sink as I pressed the speak button “I have a big test tomorrow maybe next time.” I looked at him and smiled and he looked at me, I could see that he saw my mother as his eyes darted away and he clenched his fist and took a deep breath. I watched as he looked back to the Tv and sighed as if he didn’t know what to do anymore. I typed and stood as I pressed the button, “ Dad...I’m gay.” I thought of the piles of other people’s homework that laid on my desk and made my way upstairs. Meatlug and Drifter followed me, I sat in my room looking at my painting of an unfinished eagle I looked to the pile of homework and thought of my mother. I took the homework and put it in the trash, I smiled and began to work on my eagle as the night came to an end I looked to the finished outline of an Eagle I heard a knock on my door I looked to see my dad standing in the doorway. “So… there any cute boys at school?” I chuckled and shook my head and he sighed “Bummer… Whatcha working on kiddo?” I grabbed a paper of a drawing I had planned out an Eagle with watercolor pride colors filling it and smaller blackbirds surrounding it as if they were trying to attack it. My father smiled and looked to the sketch with such sorrow and sadness “Your mother used to paint like this… she used to pour her feelings into her paintings.” I gently touched my father’s hand and smiled he handed me back the paper “Don’t stay up too late,” he said as he left the room. I looked back to my painting and went to bed the whole house smelled of paint despite the fact I had a huge window in my room that was all the way down. I laid in my bed hoping to fall asleep until 7 am with a few minutes to get ready. I got ready and looked in the mirror I tore off the old bandages from last night it tore off some of the scaps and made them open back up again. I scanned the bag for more bandages only to come up empty. I sighed and fed my dogs holding paper towels to my face when the bleeding stopped I went to school. Walking without a problem due to the fact I was very late. I am most likely going to miss a full class maybe even two, but it gave me time to think about the excuse I would use for my wounds and the CD I just couldn't get it off my mind. I walked into the front office and checked in as a late student the woman at the front office didn’t look at me until she had me a pass she gasped as if she had seen someone die. “Dear God what happened Malcolm?!” She reached out to me and I dodged her hand “You need a hospital!” She picked up the phone and I managed to get her to stop she then dragged me to the nurse’s office and tried to find something to help me the bandages they had were either wraps and tiny band-aids I managed to slip away unnoticed as she asked other teachers what she should do. I got to the 2nd class with only a few minutes left, walking in with my hood up I dashed to my seat after giving my hall pass as I sat down the teacher’s voice rang out “No hoods inside mister Malcolm.” I watched as a few boys turned to me with smiling faces knowing what their friend had done, I took off the hood and laughter filled the room the teacher gasped and asked to see me outside. I pulled my text to speech from my pocket and quickly typed turning up the volume, “I am fine right here..” She scoffed and looked at me “I would expect an 8 grader to realize when someone was trying to help you.” I sat in each class just zoned out thinking about what my mom was trying to say, the day went by quickly when lunch came a group of boys sat next to me leaving a spot open they took out their phones and shoved the video of last night in my face. I watched as the one who did it sit down he laughed and told them my cries were far better in person and that I must make that kind of cries when I get gang banged by at least 4 men at once. When lunch ended I was pushed into the boy's bathroom by the one who had cut me up. “Look, buddy, I can make this all end. Just do everything I tell you and all these guys will stop messing with you. Or you can just cry to mommy or wait you can’t do that. Well, go cry to Daddy oh wait he walked out on you so go cry to your doggies. Oh, wait you can’t do that either…” He dug something out of his pocket a blue collar and a black leather collar, dry blood was crusted onto the tags. I felt my world drop as I thought of Drifter and Meatlug sleeping so soundly in each other’s beds Meatlug barely fitting in Drifter’s bed. I looked to the boy in front of me, tears going down my face, he laughed and dropped the collars on the floor and stepped on them. He reached out and pushed my face to the wall, “It was kinda sad the big one covered the small one just it was their mom… Too bad your mom can’t do the same for you.” I pushed the boy back and he chuckled lightly “You want to fight?” I grabbed him and pushed him into the wall his head slammed into it and he sat and tried to catch his breath I punched him over and over again. My whole body got hotter with each punch, I pulled him by the collar of his shirt and brought him to my face I watched as his face filled with fear as he screamed. A ringing sound filled my head I dropped him and stumbled back my hands clung to my ears I turned grabbed the sink clutched my eyes closed and slammed my head into the mirror. The ringing stopped and I looked to the broken mirror and saw my eyes glowing and red glowing dots on my cheeks the ends of my hair was white. My fingers were red and the tips of them were white as if they had burned then quickly frozen. I clutched my eyes closed and rubbed them and opened them back up everything disappeared my knuckles were bleeding and so was my head. A teacher ran in and grabbed me pulling me off I grabbed my bag and the dog's collars as I was dragged out.
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