Be Somewhere

Ricky thought for a moment that he should open his eyes, but decided against it. There were people screaming, and smell was nauseating. The air reeked of old blood and antiseptic. Diseases clung in the air and made it thicker. Every breath he took hurt his throat as the wet air pushed itself towards his lungs. Everything hurt, now that he thought about it.

He couldn't tell who was screaming; their words were muddled and fuzzy. Static burst in his ears and he groaned. The forest was supposed to be peaceful and quiet; what had these cretins done to destroy it? Everything was supposed to reek of plant decay, not flesh decay. The rain had soaked through his clothes overnight. Why wasn't he wet?

Ricky knew that he would only find the answers to these questions beyond his shut eyelids.

People's voices started to make sense and he tried his best not to groan again. Richard was here; that made sense, he had been there before. Annoyance swept through him when Danny and Brad's tones rang through the air as well. His mother's was absent, another thing that confused him.

Carefully, he peeled his eyes and screamed when the sudden bright lights burnt his retinas. The noise was still overpowering and it was starting to give him a headache.

“Ah god! Why the fuck is everything so bright?” He didn't even stop to take a breath before continuing: “And why are you all so loud?” His response was a long pause of silence where only their shallow breaths could be heard. After eternity passed, there were cheers and sighs of relief.

“Jesus Christ, kid. We thought we'd lost you for sure that time!” Richard grinned down at him and Ricky had to fight hard to keep the contents of his stomach down. A wry expression fell on his face when the bitter taste of iron invaded his mouth as he bit his tongue.

“If only you could be so lucky,” Ricky hissed, “Now someone tell me what's going on before I decide to throw a temper tantrum that will get you all thrown out of here.” Brad and Danny snuck sly, displeased glare in Richard's direction. The silence in the room was becoming more obvious and it was starting to get on his last nerve. “I'm waiting,” he said with as much venom as he could throw into his voice. Doors slammed open and Ricky was left without a reply as doctors started to pummel him with questions

“Do you feel okay?”

“No.”

“Does your head hurt?”

“Yes.”

“Does your stomach hurt?”

“No.”

“Are you having troubles breathing?”

“Yes.”

“Do you remember anything?”

“No.”

“What happened?”

“I don't know! Can you leave me the fuck alone?” The doctors filed out of the room resignedly; scribbling on their clipboards as they went. A quiet click signaled that they had all left the room and Ricky continued to glare at the people in the room as he waited for an answer to the question he had asked earlier.

A mosquito buzzed and caught Ricky's attention. Apparently he wasn't the only one who smelled day-old blood. The pest circled and looped above people's heads and finally settled on a victim. Ricky almost gagged at it's choice. There was something familiar about this man, though the anesthesia made his mind unclear and he couldn't quite place where he had seen him before.

“Why the fuck is he here?”

“Ricky, this is Dr. Marques. He's a social worker and a trained therapist. He's here to see why you jumped out the window,” Richard replied with a slow, persistent patience. “We were all kind of hoping you could explain your logic with that one...”

Ricky bit down on his lip again. It was true that most of them wanted him to spill his guts, but Richard was praying that he wouldn't. They all knew, anyway. It was just proof that they were lacking. He thought back to the argument he had had with himself before he fell asleep the night before and came to the same conclusion that he did then.

Aggie couldn't handle foster care.

The social worker looked at him with pleading eyes and Ricky just stared coldly back at him. He had already betrayed her once this week, he wasn't about to do it again. His glare flickered to Richard and then to Danny and Brad. He lifted his chin and replied with ice in his tone.

“I don't remember,” He meant for the words to ring out strong and clear, but instead they fell quiet and came out as more of a hushed murmur. “and you still haven't explained what's going on.” His voice gained more of the qualities he had wanted in it to begin with as he spoke more. It was the therapist who spoke next and Ricky glared at him more than he did everyone else.

“Mr. Bofante, I know that this may be hard for you to do, seeing as you're such a caring parent and all; but could you please give us some privacy?” Richard turned towards the door but hesitated. He glanced back at Ricky and Dr. Marques reassured him. “It'll just take a moment, I promise.” Reluctantly, Richard left and the doctor continued to speak. “Ricky, could you tell me what actually happened? The story that your parents gave me makes no sense whatsoever.”

Ricky assessed him and decided that he was fairly well up on the ladder as far as social workers went. It was also apparent that he actually gave a rats ass and wasn't going to just let things go if Ricky let slip what he had been going through.

“I'll make you a deal. You tell me what you know, and I'll tell you what I know.”

“I know that your parents say that you have a suicidal background. I know that you've made no less than 14 hospital trips in the last six months. I know that you jumped out your window last night. What I don't know is why.” He sighed and tried to think of an excuse besides the one that he had just been given. but his mind was left blank.

“Suicidal tendencies. Case closed. Can you leave now?” The doctor's eyes narrowed and Ricky could tell that he wasn't buying it. He started to squirm and sharp prickles of pain went through his wrists as
the stitches from his hospital trip earlier that week caught on the sheets.

“Ricky, if you wanted to die from a fall you would have chosen something higher. The cliffs out of town, maybe. Not your third-story bedroom.”

“Maybe I was practicing,” Ricky snapped out before he could stop himself. Sarcasm and snide remarks were becoming more of a reflex than normal words and most people got angry with him for it. Ricky was quite taken aback when Dr. Marques responded forcefully, but calmly.

“Ricky, it was your deal; now follow through with it. I told you what I know, now you tell me what you know.” It annoyed him to no end that this man was trying to twist his words against him to suit his own needs. Ricky would withhold any information that he chose to, no matter how many deals he struck with him. Social workers couldn't be trusted, he had learned that the hard way.

“I know that I was sneaking out to meet someone last night and the landing didn't go over very well. I also know that I shut up in order to keep my parents from finding out. I'm guessing I passed out because I sure as fuck didn't land in a hospital bed when I jumped out my window,” Ricky paused to give the man a heated glare, “Now can you leave? Please?”

“Okay, Ricky. I'll see you next week, then.” The door shut a bit louder then normal and Ricky grinned when he realized that he had made Dr. Marques angry enough to slam the door. He turned to Danny and Brad only to be disappointed to find that they weren't returning his proud smirk.

“does someone want to explain to me why I'm actually in the hospital?”

No,” Danny finally grinned. “that's what you get for lying.”

“You guys are dicks!” Ricky groaned, “Will someone at least tell the cripple how badly injured he is this time?” Danny was about to cave in and tell him until Brad held up his hand to stop him.

“Not until you tell us what actually happened,” Brad replied innocently. Ricky bit down on his lip and then looked up at them solemnly. He was only able to keep his face strait for a few momnts before he had to clutch his stomach because he was laughing so hard.

“Brad? Brad is the one threatening me?” He had to pause to let out a few more chuckles. “And that's kind of an empty threat, anyway. My doctors will tell me if I ask them.”

Someone knocked on the door and Brad went to open it with a scowl still drawn on his face. It was a nurse; she told them that visiting hours were over and that they could come visit him in the morning if he wasn't discharged by then. Ricky waved at them with a wide smirk still pasted on his face. When they shut the door behind them they heard the laughter he had been hiding behind his lips spill over.

When they stepped outside the hospital they found the last three people in the world that they wanted to deal with at that particular moment. Morgan and Tucker were having an arm wrestling contest and Lily was applying lip gloss. The sight made Brad gag and he rolled is eyes when he saw them.

Lily was the first to notice them and she pulled the others to their feet with impressive speed. Her eyes were wide as she rushed over to them. The camera was turned on and she waited for them to start lamenting. They gave no such response and just continued to stare without amusement into the dark lens.

“What happened to Ricky?” Tucker asked while inspecting his shoes.

“According to him or according to us?”

“The truth. Thats what this film is all about, after all.” Brad and Danny exchanged glances and then a smile slowly spread over their faces. Ricky had promised them that everything would be revealed about all of them. Maybe they would give their classmates a gentle nudge in the right direction? Brad looked back towards the hospital once before answering their question.

“According to him he 'fell' out a window. According to us he jumped out to escape his house and his stepdad caught up with him and beat him senseless,” Danny gaped at him and started to shake his head. Ignoring it, Brad pushed on. “He's denying it, of course. God forbid anyone find out that his home life is absolute hell.”

“Brad, stop!” The camera turned to face him and he saluted them with his middle finger. He turned to Brad and sent him a questioning glance. Brad glared at him in return and stuck his nose in the air. “It's not our place to say anything about Ricky... he keeps his mouth shut about us and we keep our mouths shut about him. It's only fair.”

“Fine. We won't say anything about his current situation. That doesn't mean that you can't tell them about how you met him.” Brads displeased expression grew to a smirk as Danny sighed. Triumphant, he wrapped his arms around the boy and softly kissed him on the cheek. Danny growled but didn't shove him away.

“We met when we were seven...” Memories and situations started to run through his mind and he couldn't help but wonder what might have happened if they had met under different circumstances. Would they hate each other? If they hadn't been shoved into hard times together would their friendship be a completely different one or would they be just as close as they were now?

He decided that there were too many “if”s attached to that question. Another question popped into his head before he could suppress it: Would they still be friends after all of this was said and done with? He couldn't answer that one either so he decided to continue with the answer he was already giving the camera.

The gates above the school loomed in a menacing fashion. This place was designed like an old fortress: impenetrable and unescapable. If you belonged here, you were here for life; if you didn't, there wasn't a chance that you could scale the fence to rescue those who were dying inside.

Mademoiselle Moreau's Catholic Boarding School For The Behaviorally Challenged.

Even the name of this torture chamber made him want to give up hope. Danny yanked on his hair and leaned back against the back of his chair. A fresh crop of victims was being imported today. He scanned through them to see if any would suit his needs. Apparently the dreary appearance of the school had already turned most of them lifeless. Not a single smile could be seen in the entire group.

Danny groaned at them. If they weren't going to entertain him, what good were they? They all filed in singularly. He whistled through his teeth at some of them and laughed when they cringed. Normal seven year olds would be nattering among one anther, but if this school had taught him one thing it was eat or be eaten.

These children knew enough to keep there mouths firmly shut for fear of getting beaten. Well,most of them knew anyway. One idiot was singing a song at the top of his lungs. A small smirk flitted across his face for a moment but was quickly replaced by a composed mask.

“Nobody's perfect and I stand accused. For lack of a better word and that's just my excuse,” He sang loudly. The rest of the newcomers were silent and his voice rang out loud and clear. His voice was smooth and Danny had to chuckle at the amount of guts he had. Their school carried kids through kindergarten to grade six. Even the older kids were smiling at him.

“Ricky! Behave yourself and stop that singingthis instant!”

“I thought I was here because I didn't behave myself?”

“No, you're here to learn to behave yourself.”

“Good luck with that, lady!” Some of the kids in the highest grades chuckled under their breath. Danny laughed loudly and started to clap along with the beat of the song. Some of the other kids joined in and Danny wondered where he had come from. Not many kids had the balls to challenge the headmistress on day one.

“To live and not to breathe is to die in Tragedy. To run, to run away, to fight what you believe. And I leave behind this hurricane of fucking lies. I lost my faith to this, this town that doesn't exist.”

“Ricky, don't swear!” It only took a split second for the decision to be made, but Danny decided that this kid was worthy of being his friend. Very few made the list, but there wasn't a doubt in his mind that they would get along famously. Ricky was about to reply snidely when Danny cut him off with another song.

“Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cock-sucker, mother-fucker, tits, fart, turd, and twat!” She quickly grabbed both of them by the arm and started to drag them down towards her office. Ricky had started to laugh uncontrollably and was clutching his side as he was pulled down the long corridor.

“I'm Ricky Bofante. Who are you?”

“Danny DeLuca, resident demon” he replied through a toothy grin. They both snuck a sly glance towards the woman who was yanking on their arms.

“No speaking!” she screamed at them. Ricky narrowed his eyes at her and then stuck out his tongue. It was all Danny could do to not burst out laughing at the boy's immaturity. His eyes widened as Ricky dropped to the floor and sat down in blatant disregard for the consequences. “Stand up this instant, young man!”

“Sorry, I don't speak bitch.”

Danny finished the memory of how they had met with a smile growing on his lips. He was always amazed about how Ricky handled that situation and others that had followed. A voice could be heard screaming through the one of the open windows. Chuckles escaped his lips as he recognized Ricky's voice.

“Do I look like I need a bedpan? No! I am perfectly capable of getting up and walking the three feet to take a piss!”

“Mr. Bofante, I ha-”

“No! Screw off!”

It was nice to know that some things never changed.