Chapter 1: Traveling Companions

December 22nd, 1987 - January 13th, 1988

“Ahhhhhhh,” I let out as I sat down into my bubble bath. “It’s good to be home.”

I was virtually alone at my mansion.

Quiet. Perfectly quiet. Nothing but the sound of my movements in the water.

So peaceful ... So relaxing ... So...

“Boring!” I yelled, listening to the echo with a grin.

“NICE AND BORING!” I screamed enthusiastically.

The phone rang. I didn’t answer it.

Something made a noise in the other room.

I didn’t care. There was no one there, and I knew it. It was probably just the wing settling.

I fell asleep in my bath and woke up all pruned up and a little cold.

“Well, enough of that shit,” I said, having had my fill of what my mom called private time.

After leaving Joey’s, I had spent the weekend and Monday with my parents and the twins. I’d practically worn out the twins having marathons of sex that were more like empathic wrestling matches, and my dad and I spent most of Sunday afternoon playing with different variations of the rats to see if we could match the Harrison Group’s version. We joined the Conners for their first Spaghetti Monday since we had been abducted, but when I refused to play poker afterward and Joey got into a bit of a mood, we left.

Seeing how I was in a mood myself, my mom insisted I took a little time out and do something alone, something relaxing, something I couldn’t get stressed about, and they dropped me off at my mansion before heading back to Marlfield.

I spent most of the morning Tuesday checking on the greenhouses and my employees, then had a quick fuck with one of them when they offered. After half a bottle of drink and going around the world with her, twice, she left thoroughly satisfied and I had gone for a soak in the bath feeling I probably could have gone for another round trip or two. I had spent most of the time in the bath wondering if I should call one of the ex-ring slaves up for a little fun. Sex was a hell of a lot easier when you were in awesome shape.

The truth was, I felt more stressed trying to relax than I did if I was out running from the devil himself. I simply couldn’t relax when I had still had something hanging over my head.

So I got myself warmed back up in the shower real fast, then jumped into my clothes and took off for Joey’s house.

“Hi,” I said with a grin when Margaret answered the door. “Can Joey come out and play?”

“Shit,” she said, letting me in. “Don’t start pulling that on me again, Timmy. I thought I had you trained by now.”

“Sorry, Momma Connor,” I said over my shoulder. “I guess it’s been so long that I forgot I could just walk in. I’ll try and remember next time, ‘kay?”

“That’s fine. Tell that grandson of mine if he’s going to lick the beaters, he better get his butt in the kitchen.”

“Aw!” I whined. “That used to be Joey’s and my job! What did you make?”

“Chocolate chip cookies. Sorry, Timmy. Grandchildren first, sons and their best friends second.”

“Shit. I bet he even gets to sit in the good chair, too.”

“You know it, sonny,” she said just as she re-entered the kitchen and I got to Joey’s door.

“Hey Joey, what do you say we...” I said, stopping when I found the rest of the Harrisons had finally arrived.

Sarah, Joey, Tommy, Stan, Gina and Denise were all sitting on Joey’s bed, looking at his photo album. Denise and Stan looked a little bored, but with Tommy on Stan’s lap commenting on every page, I guess it couldn’t be too boring, could it?

“Hey. I see you got here earlier than you thought,” I said, standing by the door since the room was pretty full already.

“Richardson helped out a little,” Stan said with a friendly nod.

“Shit, Tim,” Joey said without looking up. “You know, I think you’re in practically every picture I’ve taken.”

“You’re the one who always wants to go to take pictures of places, then has to have someone in the picture that you know. Hey Sarah. Do you remember this?” I asked, pulling out the baseball card Joey had given me the previous Christmas.

“No, I don’t think so,” Sarah said. “Why? Is it valuable?”

Joey was looking at her with a hurt expression, but everyone except me was watching Tommy as he examined the slightly worn card.

“Well, to me and Joey, it’s priceless,” I said softly, more to Joey than her.

Joey said calmly, “You gave it to me right before you went away.”

“Then why does Tim have it?” Sarah asked, glancing at me before noticing Joey wiping his eyes. “What’s the matter, bro? Did I say something wrong?”

I said, squeezing in next to Joey and the headboard, “Joey gave it to me last Christmas. It means a lot to him - and to me.”

Joey said, “It’s the only thing I had that you had given me. It’s just a stupid card, but...”

“Oh, Joey,” Sarah said, hugging him. “You know what? I had something of yours that I kept too. Do you want to see what it was?”

“Sure,” he said, straightening up after ending the hug.

“This,” she said, taking off a locket from around her neck and handing it to him.

Joey said, confused, “I didn’t give this to you.”

Sarah teased, “Look inside, stupid.”

“What is it?” he asked, picking up the gray lump of ... something.

“That is one of your baby teeth that I pulled from your mouth the day...”

“The day you LEFT! I remember that! You tricked me!”

“You were so gullible,” she said, smiling. “That reminds me. Tommy, how’s that tooth doing?”

Joey said warningly, “Don’t listen to her, Tommy. She stole my tooth and I never got my quarter from the tooth fairy. Do you have any idea how mad I was? A quarter was a lot of money back then.”

I jerked and said, “OH! Hey Tommy. I nearly forgot. Your grandma said that if you’re going to lick the beaters, to get your...” I said just before a streak of blue and red flew out the door.

“DADDY! Those are MY BEATERS!” Tommy exclaimed, running after Stan.

“Heh. Remember when we would fight over the beaters?” Joey asked, staring at the picture he had taken of his hand.

“Yes,” both Sarah and I said.

Joey chuckled, then sighed.

“Hey. You okay?” I said, feeling his heart sink.

He looked up from the photo album at me and said, “I used to dream about having Sarah here for Christmas. And now that she’s here. Well, there’s someone still missing, that’s all. Mom, Dad, Sarah, you...”

“That’s why I came over,” I said, giving him a guy hug across the shoulders. “Let’s go call and see if they’re home.”

“Who?” Sarah asked as Denise and Gina silently left the room.

“Suzi,” we both said instantly.

Joey added, “Our ... She was our girlfriend before...”

When he didn’t continue, I stood up and said, “Come on. Let’s go so we can be back before dinner.”

Joey nodded, then when I moved towards the door, Joey stood up to follow, but then said, “Tim?”

“What?” I said, looking back from the doorway.

Still standing next to the bed, Joey said, “Hey. Come ‘ere.”

“What?” I groaned, confused as I went back over and sat back down.

“No, stand back up ... That’s better,” he said before stepping into my space and planting his lips over mine.

That kiss would be the last Joey and I would share for a long time. I regretted that I had not allowed myself to enjoy it more, but after all the kissing and sex we had had the past few months, my response was less than adequate for someone who meant as much as Joey did to me.

When he ended his gentle but long kiss, I said, “You’re welcome.”

I don’t think Joey noticed the shocked look on Sarah’s face as we left. I wondered what she thought the two of us had done while in Wally’s suite if we hadn’t at least been kissing. I let it go, and I had figured Sarah had too.

After we had called to find that Suzi was out with some school friends, Joey and I tried to find something to do while our hearts were sinking into our stomachs.

Luckily, Joey’s dad arrived with the freshly cut Christmas tree, and while Joey went to help with that, Sarah asked me if she could have a word with me in private.

Sarah felt disturbed with something, but I had no clue what about until she outright told me.

“You haven’t been ... messing with Joey’s mind, have you?” she asked bluntly after locking Joey’s door behind us.

“What?” I said, my face draining of color while I felt myself go cold.

“You have. Haven’t you,” she said, holding her temper in.

“What makes you think I’ve done anything to Joey?” I said, getting angry myself.

“Oh, like I’m supposed to believe that Joey, my little brother, actually wanted to kiss you? Look. I don’t have a problem with you or anyone else being gay or bisexual. But I do have a problem with someone forcing my brother to be something he isn’t, especially by someone who he thinks is his best friend.”

“He thinks!? You think I? That he? That’s bullshit, Sarah! That fucking BULLSHIT!”

“Don’t lie to me, you little cock sucker,” she said, poking my chest with her finger. “If I find one little thought altered in his head, one little hidden memory in his mind, I’ll ... I’ll...”

“That’s the thanks I get. After everything I did. Everything I went through! And YOU have the ... the ... FUCK YOU, Sarah!” I said, releasing a monstrous shock wave of rage that literally knocked her off her feet as I turned and almost ripped the door off its hinges.

“Tim! What’s wrong!” Joey asked as I passed him in the hall while I headed straight for the front door.

“Ask your FUCKING SISTER!” I said, slamming their front door behind me.

I was angry. No. I was furious. But most of all, I was scared shitless. If Sarah found the rat ... The rat I had made ... The rat I put in Joey’s head ... Oh God ... If she pulled the rat out and restored him...

I would lose him forever...

.

.

.

I ended up in a bar.

They gave me my drinks for free.

Jack, my old buddy, my only true friend, was there.

He and I are very intimate, you know.

The bartender was all too happy to make sure I wouldn’t go without Jack.

I made the bartender very happy.

I made everyone happy.

Everyone was happy at my bar.

Everyone but me.

Everyone but me.

This guy comes in off the street and sits down next to me.

He orders his whiskey, then says to me, “Girlfriend problems?”

“naw ... boyfriend’s sister problems.”

“Ouch. Been there myself. Older or younger sister?”

“Older.”

“She thinks you’re the reason he’s gay. She can’t accept that her brother might actually have been the one who wanted to suck you first. Stupid bitch.”

“Yeah, stupid bitch,” I said, nodding.

“You know what I do when that happens?”

“Wha’”

“I come here and get drunk,” he said with a grin.

“Heh.”

“Name’s Zack.”

“Tim.”

“Hey, Tim. You know, I had a good friend named Tim when I was growing up.”

“Did he have an older sister?”

“Yeah. Stupid bitch.”

“Stupid bitch,” I agreed.

“Thank God I only have two brothers.”

“No sisters?” I asked, looking over at him for the first time. He was a thirty-something looking skinny man, blonde-headed, fair skin. He sort of looked like an older Joey but with brown eyes.

“Nope. You?”

“Nope,” I echoed as I looked back down at my booze. Then I frowned, “Uh, two adopted.”

“Any brothers?”

“Yep. One.”

“Oh yeah? How old?”

“Uh ... minus six months.”

“Minus ... Oh. The old lady got knocked up, eh? Who was he?”

“My pop.”

“Whoa. Didn’t see that one coming ... You get along with him okay?”

“Yep. He lets me do my thing, I let him do his.”

“That’s cool. My pop threw me out of the house when I was sixteen.”

“That sucks ... Why?”

“He caught me fucking mom.”

“Oh. My dad keeps trying to talk me into doing that.”

“He does?”

“Yep.”

“Whoa. Didn’t see that one coming either.”

“Nope.”

“Have you done it?”

“Done what?”

“Fuck your mom?”

“Nope. Not gonna either.”

“Why not, man?”

“Cause, it’s wrong.”

“Who the fuck says that?”

“I do.”

“Oh.”

“You ever have a girlfriend while you had a boyfriend?”

“Nope. You?”

“Yep. It was the besth thing that ever happened to me.”

“Wow. Did she have an older brother?”

“Yep.”

“He didn’t like no fag fucking his sister, did he?”

“He was suckin’ another guy off the lasth thime I saw him. I don’th think he cares.”

“Whoa. Didn’t see that one coming.”

“Nope.”

“You know what I do after I get drunk?”

“Wha’?”

“I find someone else who’s drunk and ask ‘em if they wanna fuck.”

“Nope.”

“Nope, what?”

“Nope. I don’t wanna fuck. I’m not drunk enough yet.”

“You know? Me neither...”

“Wha’ his name?”

“Derek. What was yours?”

“Joey.”

“Joey ... I love you, Joey. Yeah. That’s a good name.”

“Yep.”

“Fuck me, Joey ... Suck me, Joey ... Wow ... That’s a really good name.”

“Yep. You know wha?”

“What?”

“Maybe I am drunk enough.”

“I’m nawt.”

“Here,” I said, handing him my glass. “Twy thith,” I muttered before letting my head plop down on the counter.

“Shit. Whaths in this?”

“Don’ remember. Drink.”

It took him a while, especially when he had the bartender refill it. When he finally drained it the second time, he looked at me with a lusty grin on his face.

“You ever been drunk while another drunk blows ya before?”

“Nope-hh”

“Wanna?

“Yep-hh”

“Godda do it in the bathwoom. Too many people here.”

“Nope-hh. Do it here. No one will see.”

“You shuw?”

“Yep. Sure. Suck me, Joey.”

“You jus’ call me Joey.”

“Yep. ‘Cause you are. Your name is Joey, “ I commanded.

“My name is Joey,” he echoed.

“Suck me Jo...”

“Timothy Jasper Brandton!” an all too familiar voice cried out from the door. “You’re drunk again, aren’t you!”

“YEP!” I said with false glee.

“Welp. Guess thath mean we won’ be fucken,” Zack/Joey said.

“NOPE!” I said painfully when my mother pulled me to my feet by my hair.

“YOU are SO GROUNDED, mister!” she spat as I struggled to stay on my feet. “Making your pregnant mother look all over town for ... Wait a moment. Did you do anything to anyone in this bar?”

“Yep!” I said as she let go of my hair and I fell on my butt.

“Well? Get busy putting them back the...”

“Nope,” I said as I happily, quite joyfully passed out.

“Shit, I’m nervous,” Joey said, ringing the doorbell the next afternoon.

“Yep,” I said without looking at him.

Joey asked crossly. “What is with you and the yep nope shit?”

“Don’t know. Just picked it up somewhere,” I said simply, rubbing my temples.

“Hello, boys,” Suzi’s mom said, opening the door. “She’s in the living room with her brother. Tim, before you leave, I’d like to see you. It’s about Jason.”

“Uh, okay. You might have to remind me, though. I’m feeling a little under the weather...”

“So I heard,” Betty said, letting me know she knew all about my night out with Jack.

Before we entered the living room, I said to Joey, “You never answered me. Are you going to do it or am I?”

“Well, you never answered me. Sarah told me what she said. I’m still really pissed at her, and you had every right to be mad. But ... Why did you get drunk last night? You don’t drink when you’re angry. You drink when something is bugging you. Something you don’t know how to deal with.”

I sighed. “I guess ... I guess she’s a threat to me. I’m afraid you’ll ... You’ll want to spend more time with her than with me.”

“What? That’s it? That’s what’s bothering you? Shit, Tim. You think of the stupidest things to get all bent out of shape for. Sure I’m going to want to spend time with her, but ... She’s my grown-up sister. Not my brother that’s my age. Sarah and I don’t have that much in common anymore. She’s a different person than she was, and so am I. Right now, we’re just ... You know. Lost in our memories together. This morning she even pulled her “I’m not finished yet” shit in the bathroom. She was in there for almost an hour!”

I said crankily, “Are we going to do this or what?”

“What? Oh. Yeah. Can’t we just do it together or something?”

“You do it. I’m still fighting a headache,” I said grumpily. “And DON’T you think about using the share link to help me with it. It’s my headache and I’ll suffer through it, thank you very much.”

“Well, after the last time, I wasn’t going to even offer,” Joey spat. Then in a gentler voice, “I’m done. Let’s go in.”

“I’m sorry, Joey. I’m just not feeling very good about myself, that’s all.”

“We’ll both feel better after seeing Suzi, so come on.”

We walked in the room, then froze, finding Suzi in a passionate kiss with her own brother on the couch. Joey and I looked at each other, then turned around and went back into the safety of the hall.

“Shit,” we both said.

Joey asked, “Well?”

“Well, what?”

“What do we do?”

“How the fuck should ... Hey. You remember what happened the last time Suzi was screwing around with her brother?”

“When did they ever ... Oh ... Oh yeah...”

We both said in hushed voices, “Let the parents walk in on them.”

We were about to go find Betty when Betty found them.

“WHAT do you two think you’re DOING! I THOUGHT I had made myself CLEAR about you doing that kind of thing! It’s no wonder your father is having problems with his stomach again.”

“Mom!” Suzi whined. “I was just showing him how I kiss! Really!”

Jason said, “Yeah, mom! We weren’t fooling around! I wouldn’t do that after everything she’s been through.”

“Well, knock it off anyway. Jason, I swear. If you don’t stop giving me that ... that smile, I’ll slap it off your face so hard you won’t remember your name!”

Jason said softly, “Shit, mom.”

“Did you just cuss in front of me? Did you? Where’s the soap? Where’s the GOD BLESSED SOAP!”

Joey said, “Shit, Tim. She’s losing it.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Not exactly how I wanted Suzi to see us again for the first time...”

But I stepped into the room anyway, and said, “Suzi?”

Suzi gasped and froze. The couch was sitting in the middle of the room with its back towards us, along with Suzi’s and Jason’s.

“Suz?” Joey said, breaking the sudden stillness of the room.

“Joey? Timmy?” Suzi said without turning towards us.

“Yeah, it’s us,” Joey said.

“Are you sure you’re there? Jason? Are they really there?”

“Yeah, they’re there, all right. What’s wrong, Suz? Turn around and look.”

“I’m afraid too. I’ve ... I’ve turned around to look so many times and no one is ever there,” she sobbed. “I’m going crazy. I know I am.”

“Oh, sweetie,” I said as both Joey and I rushed up to her.

Joey said, “Don’t cry, Suz. We’re sorry.”

“You’re not going crazy. We’re really here.”

“Yeah, we’re here. Don’t cry,” Joey said, almost crying himself.

We knelt behind the couch on either side of her, not daring to touch her shaking shoulders or head.

Finally, Suzi turned towards Joey until she saw him, turned quickly the other way to look at me, then turned completely around and grabbed us both around the necks to pull us to her as she started to really cry.

All three of us bawled together for less than a minute, then when Jason stood up, the couch flopped onto its back, Joey and I landing on our backs with Suzi on top of us.

Joey and I made a couple of sniffs before we started laughing, only to be cut short when Suzi grabbed our cheeks really painfully and said, “DON’T YOU TWO FUCKING EVER DO THAT TO ME AGAIN, YOU HEAR ME?”

And then she shoved our faced together and kissed us...

For one moment, I felt whole again. The three of us together. It was the happiest feeling I had felt for months.

But then the moment ended, and I began to feel it happening again. The unnatural corruption ... The overwhelming evil of a soul’s perversion ... And it was coming from ... It couldn’t be ... no...

“no ... No ... NOOOO!” I screamed, scrambling away from them both.

All I could see was Suzi’s penis face and the rat eating Joey’s mind from within. And then another one ... Jason had a rat too. They were damaged. They were inhuman. Unnatural...

Escape. I had to escape. I had to escape from my own senses.

I sank within myself, finding it more difficult to do so without the rage I had felt from Stan’s illusion of Joey’s suicide/murder. But the horror I felt around me gave me the motivation I needed, and sure enough, I soon began feeling the energy of their minds around me.

There was a flash of light in my mind, then another, then another before I could see the symbols with my mind.

The symbols flowing around Suzi, Joey, and Jason all were different, but yet I couldn’t pin down what it was that made them unique. Betty’s were different too, but something about hers was brighter than the rest. They simply seemed ... brighter. There’s no other word.

I wasn’t trying to push myself since my hangover was making everything more difficult in the first place. In fact, my hangover was getting worse, and when I couldn’t stand it any longer, I tried to resurface.

Nothing happened. For some reason, I couldn’t get back to my senses, couldn’t get back to the real world. My hangover seemed to be interfering with my ability to restore the gap between my mind and body, and it was getting worse and worse the longer I stayed there.

And then I suddenly could feel there was more depth beneath me, more room to go deeper into myself than I had before. The pain was getting unbearable, and as I hesitantly sunk deeper, I found the pain lightening as I went.

I was scared. Scared of the pain and scared I may never return to the world around me. I kept going deeper, the pain decreasing as I went, but as soon as I would stop, I would feel it begin its steady build again.

After another flash of light, the pain began a steady climb even as I was sinking deeper. I couldn’t bear stopping for a moment, and pretty soon I was struggling to go as fast as I could while the pain kept growing and growing.

Flash ... Flash ... Flash ... Flash ... Flash, flash flash-flash. Faster and fast I went, all sense of my body was gone, even the vision of symbols had abandoned me. The only thing I could feel, the only thing left in my universe to sense was the pain that would have been making me scream if my mouth was still attached to my brain.

The flashes were becoming a constant brightness inside my mind just as the pain completely overcame me, and I felt my mind seemingly EXPLODE.

Then after it was all gone, there was nothing but nothing, and then even that was gone too...

But then something moved.

A few somethings.

A lot of somethings.

There were things all around me moving, twisting, flying, hitting, speaking, SPEAKING!

Whispers ... Getting louder... “tim ... damn it ... Don’t yOU LEAVE ME AGAIN!”

The light ... The light was coming straight for me. There wasn’t anything I could do. You can’t outrun light. It’s too fast ... Just too damn fast...

It came right at me, flaring all through my being, searing every nerve I had an input for, overcoming me and completely enveloping me, and suddenly I was opening my eyes to see.

“Where am I?” I asked, seeing Suzi’s tear-streaked face looking down on me.

Wiping her cheek, Suzi asked, “Are you okay? We thought you were having another seizure.”

“I ... I think ... Holy SHIT!” I said when I saw the symbols flowing through her mind.

“TIMMY!” she said, as several streams of symbols violently jumped up in speed and completed their cycle much faster than the others.

She was speaking to me, but the symbols ... They were incredible! They were beautiful. They were...

“Magnificent!” I exclaimed. “This is magnificent! Suz! Stop that!” I said as she shook me. “Calm down! I can see them, Suz! I can really fucking see them!”

I was so absorbed in the incredible sight of the millions of symbols swirling in the confines Suzi’s mind that I wasn’t listening at anything they said. Joey had to scream in my ear before I even responded. And that was just to say, “Whatever it is, shut the fuck up. I’m okay. This is just too cool!”

I guess they saw how incredibly absorbed I was in Suzi’s mind because the next thing I knew, Suzi was walking away.

“Hey! Come back! Oh, never mind,” I said as I found Joey’s mind just as incredibly amazing.

But then he got up and left too, along with Jason and Betty.

“This is awesome!” I yelled out to them. “I can even see them through the walls! HOLY SHIT! I CAN FEEL THEM IN THE NEXT HOUSE TOO!”

A little time went by before anyone came back into the room with me. Joey sat down next to me and started talking, but I simply wasn’t interested in what he had to say. There was nothing that could distract me from the beauty and mystery of the streams of symbols flowing in his mind.

“Hey, do that again,” I said to Joey when I noticed a group of symbols breaking off from the streams in his mind, instantly crossing the gap between us, then apparently interacting with some of my own streams of symbols.

He obliged me, although not because I had asked him to, but because he wanted to know what was going on. I started to understand what he was doing, and suddenly I knew exactly how to prevent his attempt to force me to talk to him. It was just so simple even. Just make these symbols here go over there, and there you have it.

Joey probably tried every tactic he could think of. And then he tried something that I couldn’t help but take notice.

“I can’t believe you farted in my face,” I said, moving away from the invisible cloud.

“Finally! Are you okay? You’ve been mumbling and screaming about seeing things that you’ve got Suzi scared shitless. She thinks you’ve gone nuts, and that she caused it.”

“Joey! I can see them, man. They’re beautiful. And there’s so many of them. A lot more than what we even ... What?”

“WHAT? WHAT are you SEEING!” Joey screamed with frustration.

“Symbols, Joey ... The symbols. Like the ones ... we ... drew...” I said as several streams of symbols in Joey’s mind sped up, and started almost becoming a blur to my new senses.

Suddenly I felt intense pain on my left cheek as my vision was knocked sideways.

“Why’ga slap me for?” I asked him, rubbing my stinging cheek.

“Because you weren’t listening to me! It’s like (something) to (something) (something)...” Joey said before I stopped listening again.

“OUCH! Will you STOP THAT!” I said when my vision lurched again.

“NO I WON’T! I’ll kick the shit out you if you (something) (something else)...”

My vision lurched again, then again the other way, then again the same way it had the first time. I ignored it. You see, I had noticed that I didn’t have to hold my eyes open to watch them. In fact, I didn’t even have to be facing them. I could see them all around me. It was so cool.

If it hadn’t been for the momentary loss of mental function from the sharp blow to my head, I probably wouldn’t have realized that Joey was, in fact, doing a lot more than kicking the shit out of me. But by the time I had opened my one still usable eye, Jason had Joey pinned to the ground.

I carefully let my body’s senses start reporting what they knew, and I quickly found they had a lot to say about what had happened during my absence. Joey had taken the little shovel from the fireplace equipment and had hit me several times in the gut and face before breaking the thing over my head. I had several gashes to my stomach and chest, and I was really feeling sleepy all of a sudden.

I spent four days in the hospital before I realized they thought the blow to my head was the reason I didn’t respond to them. I guess I simply got lost watching the streams of symbols in their heads instead of listening to what they were saying.

I don’t remember a thing about what happened that Christmas. I probably spent all day watching the symbols in all the other people’s heads. I was starting to see there was definitely a pattern to them, but there were just so many of them I simply wasn’t able to find one stream that everyone seemed to have in common.

Finally, I got fed up enough to start paying attention to what the people were saying to me. When I found that I was considered brain damaged. Well, let’s just say I got that straightened out real fast. I wasn’t going to stand being called a vegetable. Or a fruit for that matter.

Joey’s relapse to the rage and physical violence that Steven had encouraged towards me weighed heavily on both of us, and that made Joey feel uncomfortable around me. And I had to admit I was a little uncomfortable around him too. I knew that somewhere inside of him that monster that Steven created was still lurking around, waiting for its chance to get even with me. Correction. I wasn’t uncomfortable. I was scared.