Of Rage And Love

“Jimmy?” He looked up as he walked out of the bathroom, his eyes falling upon Tunny. His friend was leaning against the counter, a look of apprehension clear on his face.

“Why are you here?” He didn’t stop walking, feeling his temper flare back up again.

“You might not wanna go out there.” Tunny put a hand on his friend’s arm to stop him, and was fixed with a glare for his troubles.

“Why the hell not?”

"I just -"

"I don't know why you're suddenly acting like you give a shit, but I would advise you to let go of my arm and let me leave." It was a thinly veiled threat, and something resembling fear flickered across the younger boy's face for a fraction of a second.

"Jimmy, fuck, when did I say I didn't give a shit?"

"You didn't need to say anything." He glared.

"I completely understand why you're pissed with me, but please try and see this from my side? She'll be heartbroken, Jimmy."

He briefly remembered his initial guilt from earlier, and the look on Rach's face when the words 'we were talking about leaving' had left Tunny's mouth. He sighed, and Tunny removed his hand from his arm.

"So you're lying to her, then?" It was a simple enough question. Tunny chewed on his lip. "Whatever, we'll talk about it later." Jimmy decided it was best to make allowances for his friend. He needed one ally in this town. "Why can't I go outside?"

"Because you'll end up getting arrested."

"The cops are out there? What's the big fuckin' deal?" He frowned.

"No, that's not what I mean. M-" Tunny was interrupted by a shrill giggle from outside.

Jimmy's eyes narrowed further.

"M-J?"

"Jimmy please don't do anything stupid -!" Tunny tried in vain to get a grip on his friend as he strode out of the door.

When he got outside, it took Jimmy a moment to process the scene before him. A handful of the gang had returned, one of them being Mary - his wayward kind-of-girlfriend who was nicknamed 'Mary-Jane' (or M-J for short) for reasons that were obvious once you'd known her for about a minute. She was clutching a brown paper bag in one hand... and the other was tangled in a head of brown curls as she shoved her tongue down the boy's throat. As the two of them came up for air, he realised that the boy in question was Jason.

It was probably a good job he'd never liked him anyway.