I'll be in 'that' room

[Boy]
For the entire trip Boy had said nothing. Absolutely nothing. They could see from the El Train how the glass of the office building shone like fire in the setting sun. They could see the sudden gleam through the trees of the Tin man in Oz Park. All the things he loved and usually pointed out, or at least looked at.

He just stared at the ground. As they walked he stared at the ground. When they finally got home he unlocked the door and tossed his keys on the small table in the foyer.

[Wendy Berber]
*She rides home in silence with Boy. She was going to have to get them a car. This cab fare stuff was draining their income something fierce. That is, if she has anywhere to come home to after this little incident. Boy wasn't talking to her right now. For all she knew, she might not want him to. She watches him as though trying to fathom how long she had, how she sould fix it. Where she went wrong. She'd all but thrown money at the cabbie, stick legs carrying her with no small trepidation up the stairs and into the house. Once in the foyer she looks at her hands and shuts the door behind them. What to say?*

[Boy]
He breathes. He sighs. And eventually he says: "I'll be upstairs." in a flat, quietly strong voice. The rest of the statement was implied with that voice. I'll be in that room.

And he heads up the stairs.

[Wendy Berber]
*Wendy sniffs and nods, whispering.* K-kay. *She watches him head upstairs from under a shag of bangs, before heaving a heavy sigh and moving to the kitchen to ... not be in the foyer. She leans her head against the fridge a long moment.*

[Boy]
She can hear his footsteps above him, pausing at the door that he keeps locked, and then he's inside.

Its quiet in the kitchen. And then she hear's Boy's voice. Its too muffled to really make out, but she can hear it as if it were coming from far away. And if she got up to follow it she might make out that one wall in the kitchen was slightly different. Under the wallpaper and paint she could see the rectangular indentations, with slats across it, which she wouldn't have noticed in passing. And since no one was ever in that room, she wouldn't have noticed the way the voices piped down into the kitchen like tin-can telephones.

[Wendy Berber]
*Wendy sniffs, and moves closer in her confusion. A swallow as she looks up atthe ceiling, to the room where Boy was. The room he kept private for his spirits. She wipes under her glasses and listens. Just this once.*

[Boy]
"...And I'm so ashamed." His voice was clear if she put her ear to the wall. Crystal clear. The voice of whoever he was having this conversation with wasn't however.

"I just spoke to Dietrich about this. I just jumped down his throat about getting mixed up in these kinds of things. And I backed up his decision. If anyone else had done what i did tonight, they would be my enemy. How can I face the others now. How can I tell them to follow their purpose, and still follow me?"

",,,"

"No. I don't think so. I don't know. I think that girl...Sinclair. Jesus, talk about shame. She's the one Dietrich lost to. I'm such a fucking idiot."

There's the sudden wet thudding of flesh hitting flesh again

"..."

"Noo." Boy said tearfully.

"..."

"I'm sorry." He sniffed, and stopped crying.

[Wendy Berber]
*Wendy's face crumples. She backs away from the wall to sit in a kitchen chair, smelling strongly of of bleach. He was ashamed, and If she'd just have been ... oh hell.. she didn't know. Stronger? She thought she had stood up to Alex, but it clearly hadn't worked. It certainly hadn't made him stop. And now Boy was ashamed and had trapped himself in his room with his ghosts again. She should have just left.. She cries quietly into her hands, head down on the table.*

[Boy]
The voice behind the wall is muffled, but raised now. Obviously agitated.

"He said he would have fucked her!"
"..."
"No."
"..."
"Cuz he only said he would have. Not that he did. Not that he would."
"..."
"Cuz he's an asshole!"
"..."
"Sorry. Cuz he...he started talking about Marrick."
"..."
"He said he did fuck her. Fucked her...senseless."
"..."
"No."
"..."
"Jesus! That don't make it any easier to hear, y'know? What if I said it about you? What if I said it about you and Nicky?"
"..."
"So what? Mother or not, Fuckin's just fuckin, right?"
"..."
"Well then don't say it to me!"
"..."
"And don't talk about my sister."
"..."
"Yes she is."
"..."
"She is TOO my sister! They're all my brothers and sisters and you're my--"

She can hear him moving around upstairs. She can hear him walking toward the far wall above the spot where she just was. She can hear him tumbling to the ground. She can hear him being quiet. She could hear him listening to her.

[Wendy Berber]
*She's been trying to be quiet. Soft sobs muffled by the table. Shamed gasps as she tries to catch her breath. His tumbling to the ground made her gasp a little more loudly, breathe coming in short shuddering gasps as she realizes he hasn't fallen, but is listening. She sniffs and tries to regain her composure. She didn't need to cause him one more ounce of grief tonight on her behalf.* (wp!)

[Wendy Berber]
*To no avail.*

[Boy]
More footsteps. The door upstairs opened, then closed. Boy was heading down the stairs.

It was quite obvious where he was heading from the sight of him. It was less obvious why he was heading there, from the look in his eyes. He didn't look quietly ashamed. His eyebrows were furrowed and instead of looking at Wendy he looks at the far wall first with angry Bewilderment.

(I can't hear you cuz you're not really there)

[Wendy Berber]
*Wendy wraps her arms around herself, tears running stubbornly off gaunt cheeks, glasses smudged. She manages to blurt.* I d-didn't do that.. I s-swear. *What if he thought she'd put in that pipe. She really hadn't it had been an accident she'd even heard him. She winces, sniffling, with no small about of tenseness running through a thin frame.*

[Boy]
Boy looks at the wall. He looks at Wendy. He looks at the rest of the empty house over his shoulder. Eventually he looks at none of it and picks a spot on the floor to look at instead.

"Why are you crying?"

(Quit nagging me, Travis!)

[Wendy Berber]
T-today has b-been an awful d-day.. *She blurts, taking off her glasses and rubbing her eyes. with the back of her hand. They just get more red, kin's skin covered in dried bleach and tile soap. She sets her glasses aside.* Everything has g-g-gone wrong...

[Boy]
"Yeah." He conceded flatly. "So your crying's gonna fix it?"

(I heard you the first time!)

[Wendy Berber]
N-no. But I f-feel bad. And I'm at m-my home and A-Alex sc-scares me and I just.. I th- I th-thought.. *Her shoulders slump and she looks to the table. swallowing a sob as she ducks her head.* I'm s-s-sorry. I'll s-stop. I di-didn't meant o intter-r-rupt you. ((WP! no more tears!))

[Boy]
"You didn't. Well, you did. But its alright. I wasn't...."

He sighs, shaking his head.

"You can hear me down here, can't you?"

(I can't hear you! I can't hear you! Blah Blah Blah!)

[Wendy Berber]
*Wendy nods and points to the slatted area on the wall.* the s-sound.. f-fu-funnels down.. I di-din't know. *She's slowly regaining her composure, rubbing her glasses on her shirt to rid them of tears.*

[Boy]
"Excuse me!" His voice is suddenly raised, and he's talking over his shoulder.

"I'm talking! Can't you see? I--Yes...yes, I know. I know. Oh, believe me, I know, alright? Can you just...can you wait for me? Upstairs? Please?"

And as much as he'd admonished her to stop crying, his eyes squeeze out a few of his own as he squeezes his entire face together in a show of frustration.

"Travis, please!"

(Please?)

[Wendy Berber]
*Wendy jerks in surprise at the outburst. She can't see Travis, but he's clearly impatient. Or Boy thinks he is.* I'm s-sorry. This isn't um, imp-portant. really. You d-don't have to wait..

[Boy]
Boy glares behind him, at the steps, ascending until he can't see the thing that was never really there to begin with.

"No. You're plenty important to me. Listen, about what happened."

[Wendy Berber]
*Wendy nods. sniffing and nibbling her lip and watching in a state of hopeless confusion.*

[Boy]
"Don't tell Marrick or Dietrich. I wanna be the one to talk to them about it, okay? I behaved badly. I should have just walked away."

Beat.

"Which is exaclty what I want you to do from now on. Next time Alexander Vaughn gets in your face you just walk away. Standing up for yourself is fine, but it doesn't work on him. You were right. He's broken. Someday somebody's gonna kill him."

And then that look of shame comes back for a split second.

"Now I gotta make sure it's not someone from this pack. I don't know how to do that."

[Wendy Berber]
*His kinsnifs and rubs the back of her neck, slipping specs on with blue eyes downcast* I'm s-sorry you had to... get involved Boy. I don't think I'll g-go to the brotherhood Anymore. I' s-sorry about the things he said about you and M-Marrick..And I d-don't know why he w-wants to.. to. *A swallow as she trails off, inky blue eyes going to Boy with a frown.* You k-kept your temper though.

[Boy]
"Not as much as I should have." He answers, lightning quick, then just shakes his head and takes a step backwards.

"I'll be upstairs. You can come get me if you need me."

[Wendy Berber]
*And she bobs her shaggy mop of black hair, moving to wash her hands and make some food, lackluster. He'd surely be hungry later. *