Ezell
zipped up his jacket. The night was getting colder and he still needed to meet
up with his friends at “The Hangout Place.” He hadn’t seen them for a while,
but that was his mom’s fault. “Stupid mom!” He mumbled, kicking a pebble.
“Trying to fucking ground me! I don’t need those stupid pills! I’m perfectly
healthy!” He began to grumble to himself. “She blames me for everything! For
dad leaving…” He picked up a twig. “For her alcohol addiction…” He forcefully
hit a tree trunk with it as he walked on. “… And for us being so fucking poor!”
Out of immense anger, he threw the stick across the street and watched it break
from hitting the ground at such a speed.
A
cold gust of air slapped the back of his neck, causing him to pull up his hood.
The cool and dark of the night calmed him down, gave him time to think. But
most of the thoughts that invaded his head were harsh and morbid. They used to
scare him. But after several years of it, it was normal. Besides, his friends
helped him through it. They told him that it was normal, including all the
stress and blame he was undergoing.
“Ezell!”
A voice cheered. The poor boy was snapped out of his thoughts when an all-too-familiar
voice called out to him. He whipped his head to the left only to see Rina, his
friend, standing across the street. “Come on! We’ve been waiting. And you know
how impatient Avery gets.”
Ezell
stopped and stared at her. She was leaning against the gate, her dirty blonde
hair draping over her shoulders. Her slender figure was slightly exposed with
her short shorts and small tank top that showed off her belly ring. Her green
eyes shimmered in what dim glow the moon and stars gave off. The boy felt his
face heat up as he walked across the street towards her.
“Maybe
you should try putting some clothes on. It is getting colder, ya know.” He
grumbled. He wanted to hug her… even kiss her, but not in that outfit. Other
parts of his body would get a mind of their own. And besides, Rina was WAY out
of his league.
As
they walked down the path to “The Hangout Place”, Ezell noticed a black and
purple line around her neck. “R-Rina… what’s that?” He asked.
The
girl just smiled at him. “Isn’t it cool? It’s a tattoo~” She laughed. “If you
look really closely, it’s actually words~!” She ran her finger across it. “It’s
some poem about something called ‘The Hanging Tree.’ It’s pretty dark, but
cool.” She flashed him a smirk. “We should get matching ones.”
Ezell’s
face went red as her eyes met his. The rest of the walk was pretty silent
except for demanding thoughts telling him to make a move. The entire time he
managed to keep his hands behind his back.
Soon
enough the two kids had come up to “The Hangout Place”, only to see Avery
sitting on a rock with Yoko, the petite Asian girl, sitting backwards in his
lap as they were basically eating each other’s faces.
“Gross!”
Rina scoffed, lightly tugging a strand of Yoko’s long, black hair. The little
Asian girl let out a soft yelp as she felt her head being pulled back. She
quickly turned around and smirked when she saw Rina behind her.
“Jealous?”
She teased, draping herself all over the boy she was sitting on. Ezell’s eyes
widened. He’d never seen Yoko like this.
“A-As
if!” Rina shouted, stomping her foot defensively. Her face got all red and she
turned away, crossing her arms.
Ezell
faked a laugh. No one seemed to notice the jealousy that coated it though. Good
enough for him. He looked at Yoko and she made eye contact with him. As soon as
that connection happened, her face lit up and she gasped happily.
“Ezell!”
She squealed, jumping off of Avery’s lap and into Ezell’s arms, giving him the
biggest hugs. “I missed you! You haven’t been here in so long!” The seventeen-year-old
boy was in shock by this sudden act from her. She was usually so calm and
quiet.
“M-My
mom tried to ground me…” Ezell muttered, slowly releasing himself from Yoko. He
looked at his shoes. “That’s why I’ve been gone. She uh… she thinks I still need
to take those pills to help me think straight. And... And I don’t! I hate
having to choke them down! So lately… I-I’ve been throwing them away. She found
me out…” His voice began to waver. “And she keeps blaming me for shit that
isn’t my fault! I try to tell her that I--”
“She’s
a bitch.” A male voice spoke from behind Yoko. The eighteen-year-old girl
turned around, revealing Avery, who was behind her with a lit cigarette between
his fingers. He was leaning against the rock, a puff of smoke leaving his lips.
“Hit her next time.” He grumbled.
Ezell
laughed nervously. “I seriously worry about your sanity sometimes, Avery.” He
joked. The troubled child brushed past Yoko and stood in front of the smoker.
“Besides, she’s still my mom. I’m not going to hurt her.” He looked around for
an agreeing nod from either Yoko or Rina, but neither helped him out. They both
stood frozen, staring at their feet.
Avery
stood up and walked in front of Ezell. “Listen here, kiddo.” He blew smoke in
the younger one’s face. “You’re… kind of a man. So man up! Take her down!” A
demented laugh gurgled out of his nicotine-coated throat. “Make her suffer like
she’s made you suffer.” His voice began to heighten in twisted excitement as a
sick smirk crawled up his face. “Break her! Beat her! Ki--”
“Avery!
Shut your trap, you drama queen!” Someone yelled from the trees. Everyone
smiled, except for the target of humiliation. Ezell glanced at Rina in time to
see her softly giggle into her hand.
Avery
threw his cigarette on the ground in frustration, and stepped it out. “Dammit
Trumiter!” He yelled. He yelled. He looked around, trying to find the source of
the outburst. “Come out, you dumbfu--”
“Ah,
ah. Language, bro!” The voice teased. Soon enough, Trumiter, Avery’s twin
brother, hopped off of one of the nearby tree branches and landed right beside
his twin. “Trumiter, at your service~!” He took a bow as Avery clapped
sarcastically.
“Very
funny.” Avery grumbled, turning away from his twin.
Ezell
laughed at their differences. They were identical in looks, except for the fact
that Avery died his hair a bleach blonde. But their personalities varied so
much that it was almost dangerous to leave them together alone.
Trumiter
walked up to Ezell and wrapped a brotherly arm around him. “Dude, I was
thinking… do you remember how we all met?” He laughed, nudging the boy’s
shoulder.
Ezell
looked up thoughtfully for a moment. “How we all met?” He looked at Rina, then
at Yoko. Then slowly and cautiously, his gaze turned to Avery. The blonde man
stared right back, another lit cigarette between his lips and a murderous glint
in his eyes. Something about Avery tonight terrified Ezell. “D-Death. We all
met because of death.” The boy stated, slowly peeling his eyes from Avery to
look up at Trumiter.
Rina
smiled. “You do remember~” She jeered happily. She ran up to him and placed a
hand on his shoulder. “Do you remember the words?” She asked.
Ezell’s
face flushed. “Huh?” He looked down at his shoulder. Her touch was warm.
“Dearly
Beloved…” Avery grumbled, impatiently flicking his cigarette.
Yoko,
who was a bit distant, suddenly gasped at those words. She began to frantically
look around at everyone, as if they were supposed to stop him. But no one
moved.
“We
are gathered here today…” He stood up and walked over to the Asian girl.
She
turned from him and kept her head down. “Stop it, Avery.” She mumbled, her
voice wavering. “You know I hate that.”
The
smoker narrowed his eyes and smirked. He aggressively grabbed Yoko’s arm,
making her cry out in pain as he jerked her around. Ezell began to run towards
them so that he could help her, but Trumiter grabbed his shoulder and shook his
head. “You don’t want to get into that, man.” He stated. The twin glared at his
brother as the blonde made a complete ass of himself.
Avery
got his face extremely close to Yoko’s and snickered. He lowered his voice to a
harsh whisper. “In great memory of--”
“STOP
IT!” Yoko screamed.
“SHUTUP!”
Ezell yelled in unison. He broke away from Trumiter and pushed Avery to the
ground. “What’s wrong with you, you dick?!” Yoko gets enough abuse at home, she
doesn’t need your shit too!” He yelled, standing over Avery. He heard a sniffle
and turned around only to see Yoko rubbing her arm. “Does it hurt?” He asked.
Yoko
raised up her sleeve, showing a huge bruise. “M-My dad got mad again...” She
sighed, looking at her shoes. “He didn’t like how I prepared the meal. He said
my arms were useless so there was no point in having it. So he squeezed it
until I screamed. He… He tries to break me…” She locked eyes with Ezell, making
him feel slightly queasy. “But I will not let him win!” She hissed. “And you!”
She shot an evil glare in Avery’s direction. “You know talking about funerals
bring back awful memories! Why the hell would you do that?!”
Trumiter
stepped in. “We all know Avery’s an idiotic douche bag!” He stated, trying to
find some way to justify his brother’s actions. “B-Besides, funerals are
stupid.”
Hearing
that statement, Ezell glared at Trumiter. How could he say that after what Yoko
had just said? But soon, his look softened when he noticed that she was
slightly smiling.
“Y-Yeah.
Funerals are ongoing and boring. I don’t like dead people.” She murmured,
sniffling.
Rina,
who had been quietly thinking and repeatedly running her finger over her
tattoo, spoke up. “Funerals are useless.” She grumbled, sounding slightly
irritated. “Why do they shove a bunch of sad people in a room with a dead loved
one? They don’t make anyone feel better.” She looked at Ezell. “Don’t you think
so?”
The
seventeen-year-old stared at her like she was crazy. But he just decided to go
along with it. He winked at Rina, and then smiled at Yoko. “Yeah, funerals are
lame.”
~X~
Namine,
Ezell’s mother, continued to quickly jog down the street. “Ezell!” she called
out. “Ezell, where are you?” She began to quicken her pace. Earlier, she had
decided to apologize to him for yelling at him, but when she entered his room,
he was gone. “Ezell!” She shouted, hoping he’d hear. “I’m sorry I yelled at
you. It’s just that… how is the doctor supposed to help you if you don’t take
your medicine?”
She
slowed her jog to a fast walk, and soon from that to a complete stop. She
leaned up against a street lamp and began to cry. Only God knows what happened
to her baby boy. “Ezell, I’m so sorry…”
“SHUTUP!”
She heard a voice yell… Ezell’s voice. Namine looked up and across the street
only to see her seventeen-year-old son in the town’s graveyard.
“Oh
no…” She groaned in a hushed tone. She ran into the gate and hid behind a
nearby tree, watching her son. What could he possibly be doing alone in a
graveyard? Or maybe to him… he wasn’t alone.
“What’s
wrong with you, you dick?! Yoko gets enough abuse at home, she doesn’t need
your shit too!” Ezell yelled at the dirt under his feet.
‘Yoko?’ Namine thought to herself. ‘Yoko… where have I heard that name before?
Isn’t she… oh my God! She’s that little Japanese girl who was beat to death by
her father! I remember now! She was dating Ezell’s friend, Avery. Poor Avery. I
remember, he died almost right after his girlfriend. He wouldn’t stop smoking
those awful cigarettes and developed lung cancer.’
Ezell
looked towards the tree, causing his mother to go stiff. “Does it hurt?” He
asked, concern coating his voice.
‘Is he talking to me?’ She let out a silent deep
breath. Cautiously, she peeked around the tree trunk to see him looking in the
other direction. Soon her mind began to wander back to Ezell’s deceased
friends. ‘Didn’t Avery have a brother?
Oh, yes! True!’ Or at least, that’s what Namine called him. ‘He died as well, I believe.’ She looked
down mournfully. ‘…In a car accident.
True was such a good kid.’ She shook her head, pushing back tears and
turning to check on her son. He shot daggers at a tombstone, but soon softened
after a few seconds.
Namine’s
own eyes widened when she saw her baby boy stare at the tree she was hiding
behind and say, “Yeah, funerals are lame.”
Slightly
frightened by the way he was acting and talking, Namine reached into her coat
pocket and pulled out his Zypexa, pills for his Schizophrenia. She jumped out
from behind the tree. “Ezell!” She screamed, running to her son.
The
seventeen-year-old gasped and turned to face his mother, panic in his eyes. Why
the hell was she there?! “Go away!” He yelled, backing up. He picked up a
pretty sizable rock, remembering Avery’s words about making her suffer. “I’m
warning you!” He growled.
Namine
stopped dead in her tracks, only feet from her son. Her eyes began to fill with
tears. “What happened to my baby?!” she screeched, throwing the pill bottle at
him. It hit his chest and fell to the ground, popping open, the pills spilling
all over. “I want my little boy back!”
Ezell
stared at the pills on the ground. Then at his mother. Unexplainable anger
built up in him. How dare she throw those pills at him. Thos worthless,
brainwashing monstrosities! “Avery was right… you’re a fucking bitch!” He
screamed, raising the rock high. He brought it down upon her head more times
that he could count. Up until her cried died down, until her lungs no longer
filled with oxygen, until her heart refused to pound any longer.
His
legs began to feel weak as he wiped his mother’s blood off of his hands and
onto his shirt. He fell to his knees and stared at his hands. It… it was
staring to sink in. He just… he just killed…
He
covered his face. An overwhelming feeling washed over him and he began to
chuckle. His laughter began to become more and more hysterical. “Know what,
Rina?” He managed between laughs. He looked up at the trees she had hung
herself from. “Funerals are so lame!”