Earth 34 – 19 – 17

Inside an abandoned hospital room, isolated from all nearby settlements, the agonizing screams of a young boy could be heard resonating throughout the hallways.

“Argh… arrrrggghhhh… argh… please stop… please stop!” Tyrone yelled, the pain of several injections inserted into his body sending his already unstable mind into a deeper, darker spiral of emotions.

Tyrone could feel his internal organs being pushed aside as if something deep inside him was trying to claw its way to the surface.

It felt like darkness and dread and fear and hate and hunger and everything wrong with the world so Tyrone knew he couldn’t let it out no matter what.

Still, there was only so long that he could resist.

“Immediately administer another 50ccs of Protofol.” The Male Doctor yelled, alternating his gaze anxiously between the beeping machines that filled the room and Tyrone’s face that was twisted in pain “I am sorry young man, but we all have our struggles,”

Dr. Cecilia Reyes, the person in charge of the entire operation, did not spare Tyrone even a cursory glance “He is expected to become a very powerful mutant as long as we get the mutations to manifest itself.”

The Protofol was administered and Tyrone’s intense yelling turned into a horse whimpering, much to the disappointment of Dr. Cecilia who enjoyed the screams of progress.

“We need to increase his pain threshold, not dampen it!” Dr. Cecilia yelled, storming out of the room angrily, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to meet her daily quota for the Essex Corporation this month.

Missing her quota would lead to a blemish on her spotless record and the program of managing the New Mutants would be given to one of her colleagues instead.

The mere thought of handing over all her progress to someone else irked Dr. Cecilia to no end.

“If he cannot manifest tomorrow then we will be forced to move on to the next project…”

Tyrone, in his dazed state, felt a hand gently brush against his head “Kid, this is as much time as I can buy you. Next time she won’t stop until your mutations manifest so you have to endure the pain and push it outside or she will kill us both.”

Finished saying his piece, the friendly Doctor also exited the room with no short amount of fear apparent on his face.

The other two Doctors tidied the equipment in the room, injected more Anastasia into the Drip-Bag, and then also left.

Tyrone’s consciousness swayed gently inside his mind, embraced by a darkness that provided him as much comfort as it did fear.

Truly, Tyrone was hoping for the sweet release of Death.

The experiments had all but shattered his will to survive but some part of him still held onto the naïve hope that Tandy could convince her father to spare him.

It had been three days since the experiments began and every new day would bring new torture and a new flavor of pain that would make the last look like a walk in the park.

‘I fucking hate it!’ Tyrone thought, the darkness in his mind raging in response to the dark emotions that he usually buried deep within.

As Tyrone’s mind drifted into unconsciousness, he thought back to the events that set this HELL in motion.

∞∞∞

“Tyrone!... Tyrone!... Tyronnnneeeee!”

Tyrone grabbed the alarm from his bedside table and tossed it towards the door. The last thing he wanted to do was wake up but obviously, his mother would not let him be.

“Boy, you better be up and getting dressed… don’t let me go in there and whoop your ass!” Adina Johnson, Tyrone’s mother, yelled from downstairs, successfully intimidating her son who was quick to get dressed.

“I’m up! I’m up!” Tyrone shouted, knowing that if his mom came into his room, she would see all the ‘educational’ magazines he had lying on the floor.

Tyrone hopped out of bed still a bit groggy from the abrupt awakening but he had much more important matters to deal with.

Faster than even he thought possible, Tyrone scooped up all the Magazines into his embrace and threw them into the closet without order or rhyme.

It wasn’t like he needed the Magazines anymore anyway since he and Tandy had been dating for a year and they had already ‘experimented’ enough with the pleasures of the flesh.

“Tyronnnneeeee!”

Another yell echoed from downstairs and Tyrone was quick to grab any article of clothing he could from the floor.

It took him five seconds to get dressed and then another three seconds to be down the stairs and towards the kitchen where his mother waited with a frying pan in her hand.

“If you had taken any longer, I would have been forced to go get you.” She said, waving the pan around to demonstrate some smacking moves.

“Isn’t there a law that protects kids from being whooped with frying pans?”

Tyrone’s mother dismissively waved her hand, turning around and flipping the eggs she had on the oven.

“That law is only for white people.” She replied.

“Well ain’t that a bit racist…” Tyrone mocked.

Steps were heard descending the stairs and an older version of Tyrone soon situated himself around the table for breakfast.

“I was telling you that you cuddle this kid too much.” Billy joked, brushing his fingers through Tyrone’s wavy hair “This boy acts like he white.”

Another set of footsteps descended the stairs “It’s better to fit in around here than to stand out.” Otis Johnson, Tyrone’s father, stated seriously as he joined his sons around the table.

With Otis present at the table, the family was complete and Adina divided the breakfast amongst the plates that were already set on the table.

With everything in place, the family of four prayed a couple of words in gratefulness for the meal and began to eat merrily as they occasionally joked between bites.

“So … uhum… uhum,” Otis coughed awkwardly demonstrating he was not comfortable with the next topic “So how are you and Tandy doing these days?”

“I’ll tell you what he is doing.” Billy joked “This boy has fallen head over heels for that girl… they cling to each other every day at school as if it’s their last day,”

Tyrone kicked Billy from under the table, gesturing to his parents to show Billy that they weren’t taking the joke as it was meant to be taken.

“cough, cough… I mean they respect each other’s boundaries at all times,” Billy tried to salvage the situation but he was a bit too late.

“I am fine… and Tandy is fine. We know what we want and we love each other… I won’t do anything that will bring trouble to the family.”

“It’s not the family we are worried about Tyrone.” Adina said and Otis added, “We are worried about your heart… the last time Tandy came here we noticed that she was unfamiliar with the nuance of our household…” Otis said, trying to tell Tyrone something subtly.

“Boy, that girl didn’t even know how to hold a knife and she walked in here guiltily like she pities us for being a middle-class family,” Adina stated displeased.

Billy just shrugged “They tryna say she looks like a snob rich kid who go drop your ass when she notices your bed not big enough to roll around in.”

Otis waved his hands exaggeratingly seeing that Tyrone’s face was getting gloomy “All your mother and I are saying is… don’t wear your heart on your sleeves too easily. Love comes and goes… even your mother and I had rough patches in our relationship.”

“I know that, it’s just… from the moment I saw her, I just knew that I liked her. I feel like I was drawn to her and she felt the same. Imma always be sure of what I want before I even put our family under that kind of pressure.” Tyrone signed sadly, also recognizing the fact that, though she tried to hide it, Tandy had that rich-kid air of superiority about her.

Billy quickly intervened to keep Tyrone from spiraling into one of his self-imposed guilt trips “Let’s watch some television and see what’s happening with the world outside this very dramatic household.”

Billy’s quip earned a couple of giggles from the other members of the family.

The television was turned on and today’s news was broadcasted into the home “Today… a year after the new species of humans called ‘mutants’ were unveiled for the public eyes… the world is still reeling in shock at the concept of people with ‘abilities’. While some fear the so-called ‘mutants’, others think of them as gods… some think of them as just regular humans but the fact is there is a new dawn of Human Civilization on the Threshold… and -”

Tyrone shut off the television before anything else could be said. Everyone at the table directed their gaze at Billy hesitantly.

Billy was the only mutant in the family and thankfully, his power was not amazing enough to be considered a threat to anyone.

“What you looking at me for? My fingers just light up like sparklers when I am nervous.” Billy joked, causing everyone to sigh in relief.

If Billy had one of those powerful mutant abilities like magnetism, the Government would have forced him to sign the ‘Mutant Registration Act’ but luckily, Billy’s ability was examined and deemed ‘safe’.

Adina hesitated a bit before deciding “I think it's best if you boys don’t play basketball today and come home immediately after school… I have a bad feeling about today.”

“Come on mom! It’s the last practice before the State Finals next week and I might even get a scholarship that’ll take a load off the family’s financial strain.” Tyrone urged, genuinely hoping to alleviate his family’s burden by even a little bit.

They weren’t poor but they weren’t rich either and he knew how hard his mom and dad worked just to send him and Billy to such a prestigious school.

Tyrone and Billy didn’t even buy lunch at the school since it was outside their daily budget of five dollars.

Still, the boys didn’t tell their parents about it because they knew how to sacrifice just as their parents do on a daily basis.

Otis rubbed his fingers through his non-existent hair and decided to support his sons “They’ll be back before eight in the evening. Even a minute later and they’ll be grounded. Our sons have talent so we should support them as much as we can.”

Adina reluctantly nodded, everyone finished their breakfast, and Tyrone was scolded to head back upstairs and take a bath before Otis dropped him and Billy off at the school a couple of blocks away.

Hopping out of the car, Billy darted away into the crowd of students but Tyrone was a step too late and was caught by Otis immediately.

“What do you say when your parents drop you off at school?” Otis asked threateningly.

Tyrone flinched “Come on dad! Everybody is looking at me!”

Otis didn’t budge a bit until Tyrone gave him a kiss on the cheek and a low whisper of “I love you, dad!”

Otis nodded in satisfaction while the students in the background giggled teasingly at Tyrone’s plight “Remember boy, you never too old to tell your parents that you love them… you’re only 15 years old for God sakes!”

With Otis gone and the other students making fun of him, Tyrone made his way to his locker by using the most inconspicuous hallways and corners he could find.

It took Tyrone thirty minutes to make it to his locker and get the books necessary for his first class.

While packing his books into his bag, Tyrone felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist and a teasing voice in his ear “I never thought the boy who fought those football players for disrespecting me would say ‘I love you’ to his father in front of everyone.”

“If I recall correctly.” Tyrone mused, spinning around and embracing the girl behind him “I lost that fight and those footballers beat my ass every day for a week.”

With Tyrone facing her, Tandy raised her head and touched Tyrone's nose against her own “But every day you would stand up again and defend me once more. And that’s why I fell in love with you…”

“Because I fought for you?”

“No…” Tandy shook her head in disagreement “Because you fight for what you think is right even if the girl seemed like a rich snob who had it coming. There is a beauty about your soul, Tyrone Johnson.”

“The only thing you’re right about is the rich-snob part.” Tyrone joked, causing Tandy to release him and walk away with a playful pout.

Ding

Ding

Ding

With three chimes of the bell, the signal for classes was sent and Tandy paused her steps waiting for Tyrone to catch up as they held hands and walked to class together.

∞∞∞

Last Class of The Day – Chemistry Class

“So… who has been paying attention and can tell me why does Calcium float in water? Tyrone?”

The Teacher asked, glancing around the classroom until his eyes landed on Tyrone and Tandy whispering in the corner.

“Hydrogen gas if formed and it sticks to the surface of calcium making it float,” Tyrone replied without paying much attention.

The Teacher shrugged “Correct answer like usual… though, I would still like you to pay attention in class every now and again.”

A bully that usually sat at the back of the class used the teacher’s open remark to slip in a snide comment “If he was really that smart, he wouldn’t be with the girl every guy in the school has tried at least once.”

Tandy removed her hands from Tyrone’s and looked down guilty but Tyrone instantly got angry at the remark. It wasn’t the first time that people would say such things about Tandy but it would be the last.

“That’s not what your sister said when all of us were running through her around the block.” Tyrone quipped jokingly as he sprung to his feet the moment the bully darted over to him.

Both boys grabbed each other and tried to trip the other down, but neither gained the advantage and continued the brawl until they were outside the classroom door and rolling around in the hallway.

“Tyrone stop it! Stop it, Tyrone! Tyrone!” Tandy yelled in opposition but her voice was drowned out by the gathering crowd of students who heard the ruckus from their classrooms.

“Okay! Break it up!” The Security yelled, grabbing Tyrone in one hand and the bully in the other.

The Security sighed in exhaustion “You have been going to the principal’s office a lot these days Tyrone. Sometimes you need to make a woman fight their own battles.”

Tyrone did not respond, only giving the bully a death glare as they were both dragged towards the Principal’s Office with Tandy walking slowly behind them

Tyrone getting in a fight to defend her had become routine for Tandy at this point but she knew it needed to stop so she promised to finally acknowledge the truth in front of Tyrone, even as hard as it might be.

∞∞∞

There were yelling and arguments which Tyrone mostly zoned out but the Principal’s last question immediately caught his attention.

“Tyrone! You are facing suspension at this rate… maybe even expulsion!”

Tyrone grew irritated at that statement “Why am I the one that gets punished for standing up for a girl getting bullied every single day without any teacher saying anything?”

The Principal sighed, dismissed the bully, and looked Tyrone in the eyes “When that bully fights, they think he is just a kid doing ‘kidly’ stuff but when you fight Tyrone… people don’t see a kid… they see someone who has taken a step to become a future criminal. Do you understand?”

“So just because I am black means I can’t defend myself from the rich kids in this fancy school?” Tyrone asked mockingly.

The Principal shook his head “Being Black is, admittedly, only a part of the issue. These kids out there see a black kid who is dating a rich white girl and he fights all her battles and she just watches everything like it’s a play. She never stands up for herself or for you Tyrone…!”

After a couple more sentences of admonishment, the Principal decided to let Tyrone be for the day and notify his parents about the matter later.

∞∞∞

Outside The Principal’s Office

Tyrone exited the office and saw Tandy sitting on the bench at the side “You didn’t have to wait for me.”

Tandy shrugged “I think I did since we had the conversation before but you never seem to be able to listen when I say leave it be!”

“It’s more about me than it is about you. I am not defending you… I just don’t like bullying.” Tyrone stated, knowing that Tandy would blame herself otherwise.

“Why do you have such a problem with what people say about me?” Tandy asked, looking at the ground instead of Tyrone’s eyes.

“Why don’t you have a problem when people spout these lies about you?” Tyrone replied angrily.

Tandy raised her head to look Tyrone in the eyes and shouted angrily “What makes you think it’s a lie?”

Tyrone’s next words were stuck in his throat as he looked at Tandy disbelievingly.

“Does it make you feel so insecure in our relationship to think that I dated a few guys before you? That I have been with a few guys before you? Do you not trust me enough or does the thought of a girl just living her life disgust you?” Tandy sent a barrage of questions in Tyrone’s direction.

Tyrone blew his top and also began to shout “A few guys? Huh? They say you were passed around the football team like a fucking trophy… everyone got a chance to rub that shit… and you expect me to just sit back and listen to that?”

ta/pa

ta/pa

Tandy didn’t even realize when her hand was raised and she had slapped Tyrone across the face, shutting him up with the strong emotions behind her slap.

Tandy held her head in terror at what she had just done “I am not good enough for you Tyrone… maybe, we should just end things as they are right now.”

Tandy's voice was low but Tyrone still heard it as clear as day.

“Breaking up with me so you can go back to being passed around like a Trophy?” Tyrone asked viciously, gripping Tandy’s hand when she tried to walk away “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that!”

Tandy already had tears rolling down her cheeks “How else did you mean it, Tyrone? I was a different person before I met you and despite what you think… my life hasn’t always been great… heck it has never been great!”

“Fucking excuse me but the girl who never had to worry about money in her entire life still has ‘problems’ to deal with.” Tyrone said mockingly “What are your problems like Tandy? No new dresses to wear? I would kill for those problems any day.”

Tyrone released Tandy and walked away to cool his head but Tandy wouldn’t let him go that easily. She ran up behind Tyrone and started pushing him on the back “We’re through Tyrone. I never want to see your ugly face ever again! You hear me!”

Before Tyrone could turn around to push Tandy away, Billy appeared next to the fighting couple and separated them before things could escalate further.

“I think you guys need to take a breather and talk tomorrow,” Billy advised, finally getting Tandy to leave and pulling Tyrone to the basketball court for training.

Tyrone walked with heavy steps to the court “Crazy white girls man.”

“Who’s racist now?” Billy joked, throwing his arms around Tyrone as they sauntered off together.