In it for the Long Haul

Chapter 8:
"Everything He Owns Fits In Two Paper Bags"

Chapter Rating:
PG

Story Notes:
This was another chapter that I struggled to write. I ended up redoing this chapter a few times before I got it right.

To recap the story thus far:
In chapter one the boys are just about to graduate from middle school and are choosing highschool classes. We find out that Kyle has punked his look, that Stan and Wendy are together again, and that Kenny has vowed to become a success and escape his abusive family. As we went on, Stan convinced everyone to befriend a surprised Pip, becoming a fivesome. And we discovered that Cartman's mother only has a few years to live.

In chapter four the fivesome (and Wendy) desperately tried to protect both Pip from the bullies of South Park and themselves from the natives of North Park High School, a city that HATES South Park. After a shocking one-two punch from Pip though, the group was accepted leaving the rest of their class who had abandoned them to fend for themselves. At the end of the first half of the school year Cartman wins both $50 and a bit of respect from Kyle, only to receive more devastating news about his mother's condition that same night. Kenny has a revelation that proves his father's angry accusations about being a fag true and he is beaten to within an inch of his life and left to die. Kyle and Cartman find him and get him to a hospital in time to save Kenny's life but he'll be disfigured for the rest of his life...

Kyle's POV

To say that my mother was pissed off about my sudden disappearance yesterday morning would be an understatement. To say that she was ready to pack up my things and send me to a religious boarding school somewhere in Tibet because I'd supposedly become a delinquent would be a closer bet... It probably didn't help matters that the first thing I did when I walked into the house instead of giving an immediate explanation of my whereabouts and begging for her forgiveness was to try to get a hold of Stan, Wendy, and Pip at the big party of the weekend at Lee Anderson's.

She just stood there screeching at me while I talked over her voice to Stan on the phone letting him know the basics of what had happened. After he promised to come over with the others in the morning so we could visit Kenny and we'd hung up I was left with nothing to do but listen to her ranting for the rest of the night. But I was just too emotionally drained to even try to explain what had happened to shut her up.

So now that Pip and Stan are standing in our doorway this morning she's trying to tell me that I can't go. I look to my father, but as usual he doesn't seem to want to say anything to contradict her.

"You can't just go running off with your friends whenever you feel like it young man" she says as I continue to stare pleadingly at my father. He looks at my mother nervously but finally gives his input.

"Shiela, it's not for playing. Their little poor friend is in the hospital. There was a write-up about what happened in the paper this morning.." He trails off, leaving no actual strength to his statement.

"The answer is NO Kyle." Stan has an angry look on his face, like he is about to say something to her in my defense. But I quickly cut him off.

"You know what Mom? Screw you! I'm going, and you can't do anything to stop me." I motion my two stunned friends toward the door. But before I can make a move myself she catches a hold of my wrist.

"This delinquent act of yours has gone on long enough mister. I won't be talked to like that in my own house, and--" A strong jerk of my arm frees me from her grip and cuts off her newest rant. My mother's eyes go wide.

"I'm going" I repeat and walk out the door. But before closing it I have one more thing for her to think about. "You know Mother, I'll remember this day if something terrible happens and YOU'RE ever hospitalized. Since apparently only delinquents want to visit those they care about more than once." I slam the door behind me.

The walk to Wendy's house cools me off for the most part and as the four of us make our way to the hospital I fill them in on more details of yesterday's events.

"But what about Eric? I would think that he would want to visit Kenneth today also. They are best friends after all" Pip asks as we reach the doors of Hell's Pass.

"Cartman is a master of manipulating the rules Pip. He convinced the hospital to let him stay overnight in the waiting room. I'm sure that he's been in there with Kenny since he woke up this morning.

As we approach room 113 I can hear Kenny's familiar voice in the hallway.

"Did you know that there are 156 ceiling tiles in this room?" There is a pause but no response. "I can't think of anything that rhymes with 156 tiles though." Again there is a pause with no answer. "...For my poem, you know."

The sight that greets us is nothing like what I had expected. Kenny is laying propped up with several pillows in his bed wearing white pajamas with a few green strips. The bandage covering his eye has been kept off and the void where his right eye once was is staring us in the face. Surrounding him on the bed are several dictionaries and thesauruses. They all are propped open with bits of paper marking different pages. A stack of notebooks and an open box of scattered mechanical pencils are also at his side. There are also several coloring books and markers strewn near the foot of the bed. A purple marker is actually being clutched between his toes. Three hastily quieted gasps behind me are proof that the others are looking at Kenny's face rather than this strange collection of items littering his hospital bed.

Kenny looks up from the notebook he has been scribbling away in since we stepped into the room at the sound. "Hi Kyle! Hi Stan! Hey Pip! How's it going Wendy!" He waves enthusiastically to each of us in turn with his uninjured wrist, grinning like a madman. "Eric and I were just writing poetry. You want to join us?" He giggles. "It'll be a poetry orgy."

"Dude" Stan whispers to us, "Cartman isn't even here."

"He's on a quest to find a word that rhymes with 156 tiles" Kenny responds, having apparently heard Stan. He pauses and seems to be thinking hard about something. "Oh, and getting food too I think."

"You're damn right food too" comes a familiar voice behind us. "So if you guys could please get the hell out of the doorway I'll be getting back to babysitting this crack head." Cartman sidesteps past us carrying two cans of pop in one hand and several vending machine sized bags of snack food in the other. "So are you guys here to visit or to take up space in the doorway?" he asks us over his shoulder before turning his attention to Kenny.

"What the heck happened to Kenny Cartman?"

"He's being a crack head because the doctors gave him painkillers, that's what happened to him. He has been all giddy and yammering on and on about poetry nonstop for... What time is it anyway?"

"10:10" Pip answers looking at his watch.

"..over three hours now.

"Painkillers did THAT?" Wendy blurts out, pointing to the dreamy expression on Kenny's disfigured face.

"No, his father did most of that. The Vicodin only added the dopy grin" Cartman answers with narrowed eyes that clearly show that he wants to drop the subject.

"VICODIN!" Stan gasps. "No wonder he's so happy after all that happened yesterday. That stuff can fuck with your emotions. The coach made this whole big lecture about painkillers mid-season because a couple of the seniors were popping Vicodin. He said that they make you feel no pain even if your back was injured, or your leg fractured. But they also make you feel like nothing is wrong emotionally. You could get dumped and have your house burn down on the same day and you'd still feel on top of the world."

Despite how the Vicodin made it seem unnecessary, Kenny ended up being restricted to bed rest at the hospital for another eight days. He is supposed to be let out tonight though, so Stan and I are making a trip to Kenny's house to get his things. As Stan knocks on the door I can't help but hope that Kenny's mom has come to her senses. But any hope of that goes down the drain when she answers the door.

"What are you doing here?" she hisses, clearly irate.

"We were hoping to come and collect Kenny's things" I answer her. "He's moving in with the Cartmans in case you hadn't been told and--"

"Look! I told all you people when I signed the paperwork. I don't want to hear anything more about what happens in that little bastard's life, alright! I don't care where he goes or what happens to him. Just go get whatever you think he wants..."

It takes a lot of my self control not to start screaming at her. But we both manage to hold our opinions to ourselves and we head to Kenny's room. The two of us quickly start throwing what little wearable clothing Kenny owns into a grocery bag we've brought. Most of it is either threadbare from being stretched to fit him as he grew or much too big to fit him because they were Kevin's castoffs. Into the next bag goes a few paperback books that are laying scattered around his room. The copies of Lord of the Flies, and The Incarnations of Immortality in particular strike me as very Kenny-like choices. Next we search around for all of Kenny's notebooks that we know to be filled with his poetry and writing. After finding nearly two dozen of them we scan the room for anything else he might value. Not finding anything, Stan hefts Kenny's school backpack onto his back and we turn to leave.

"It's sad" he said. "Everything he owns fits in two paper bags. I know that if I had to move it would--" Stan stops abruptly as I step down on something littered on Kenny's floor and a loud crack sounds out under my feet. I bend over and pick the item up. It's a tarnished picture frame. Looped around the frame several times in order to secure it in place is a necklace in the shape of half a heart with the letters F. F. engraved onto it... Kenny and Cartman's Best Friends Forever necklace. The picture inside the frame is a copy of one of the many pictures Cartman's mom had taken at our middle school graduation. This one is of all four of us standing together with our little fake diplomas, sticking our tongues out. I look back up at Stan, who has a soft smile on his face at the sight of the picture. We silently add the picture frame to the top of the second bag.

Yes, I realize that it's been forever and a day since my last update. Real life has kept me quite busy, and while that hasn't kept me from writing, it HAS kept me from any of my more involved projects. And this story suffered a bit of hibernation time. It will probably be another wait for another chapter. Lets just say that several life changing things are coming up soon...