Funerals Are Lame!

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!”