No Thank you for your service

This story contains references to child abuse in the various forms that is done to kids not old enough to be on this website. (At least legally.)

“I couldn’t go to her house because I had work the next day.”

“Well sorry Markkus, but everything happens for a reason.”

“Easy for you to say you’re the one with another date next weekend!”

“I’d say that’s a good reason… Thank-you Markkus.” 

“And that was the worst thing I heard since my mom cried about her husband leaving.” I lamented wiping the chimp-glass “I never bought into that stuff. There were only two-people I believed in. I’m still-alive, and the other didn’t come back no matter how much she said she would. I believed her because, up until that point, it seemed she could do anything.”

“I can imagine.” Noemi spoke with a caring-heart and thoughtless-mind as she listened to my story before going-back to cleaning the chimp’s glass while I used a trash picker to operate 3/4ths of a ceiling fan in the outdoor-shelter that was our only shelter from the thirtytwo-degree freezing-rain, on the same day as a ninetyfour-degree sun, we worked at a weird zoo with weird weather.

“And I couldn’t take her to mine because my stepfather is an absolute slob who littered beer-cans around the vomit-stenched ground, like my father until he was imprisoned for getting drunk and making me an only child.”

She blew a stringy red hair out of her face and looked at me before spraying the window again. It was already clean, but the chimps were slapping the window. People-watching is their TV, that’s their way to turn up the volume. Noemi also seemed to like watching me, considering that I have two-stabs and a burn-scar across my face. There’s lots to watch.

“I know how family is, couldn’t last without my brother.”

“So how old is he?”

“8 years old, same as me when I first started taking care of things. She resprayed the already-clean glass to keep them talking longer.

“So other than dat’, how was your week?”

“School was great, we did exam studies all week, and I got to close my door pulling multiple all-nighters for my classes. Though unfortunately I had a fancy dinner.”

“That sounds nice?”

“Everyone was eating ice-cream; it was horrible.”

Noemi gave a nod of confused-understanding.

I thought about explaining that getting a relaxing dinner with your family is agonizing. No man is free who isn’t a master of himself. So I sat and watched as the chromatic-haired lard-asses downed their slop. It was sweet, creamy, and delicious. Even thinking about it made me miserable. So as they celebrated all 273 pounds of my moms-husband’s-bastard I picked at a scab to make it bleed. When I saw the mess, I silently-celebrated the pain, and gave a fake “oh-no,” and I went to the bathroom to clean up that “unfortunate accident.” On the way there I looked down at the floor out of habit. Making sure to not kick any innocent-children on the way. Though this was much more relevant while working at the zoo where children and peacocks were a much more believable possibility.

*smack* The chimps, being smart enough to see my stare, knocked the glass and I out of it.

Noemi looked concerned, not realizing that I was giving a massive speech in my head. Though now that I think about it, t’was more of a symptom than the issue I was flashing-back to. I can’t seem to remember what though. Just that my sister stopped it until I saw it here.

“You alright?” I knew she knew the answer, though she was usually able to snap herself out.

“Just tired.”

“Sleep okay last night?” She asked. I knew she already knew,

“You want me to answer-honestly?”

“The guests and their bratty parents aren’t here yet, so yes.”

I faked a chuckle. For she was right. As annoying as bratty kids are, bratty adults are much worse. I somewhat enjoy their mistreatment, so that’s not the problem. No, it’s what they do to each other, and their much smarter/nicer children, who had to endure their drunken whining because of the geniuses who decided to give a liquor license to the zoo. Seeing the kids take care of the adults is what inspired a certain level of resentment of the masses that made me sit in the hallway at lunch with whatever decadent-schmuck decided to sit with me for the purposes of gloating about his female-conquests that day.

“I keep having nightmares about being a hero.”

“What’s the bad part?”

“That you won’t stop inquiring until you know.”

She smiled with another red string in her sun-burnt mouth. “Now you’re gettin’ it.”

“Well in that case, I might as well tell you.” I answered tiredly, not tired from the sleeplessness, but the kind that sleep won’t fix.“I was cleaning the men’s side of the restroom, wiping glass before lunch, when I heard a little girl scream. Her parents were gone, so I went in and saved her. Afterwards, instead of being rewarded, I just stood there, processing the sight of having seen more of her than anyone should, and worst of all the smell of ‘fluids.’ Then, when justice was dealt I was threatened with being fired or worse by the one who did it after the evidence against them escaped. Wasn’t the first time I had to, just the one I remember the most because that morning she was giving puppy-eyes for-just 50 cents for the vending machine. Later, I was talking with her 10 minutes earlier about baby-elephants. How did a place for something as innocent as protecting baby-elephants end up so atrocious?”

She swept away leaves and matched my tone with her own sarcasm from having been-there/done-that. “I dunno’, maybe they enjoy corrupting-innocents?”

“You know you’re smarter than most people and their petty problems.” I then raised my hands/vocal pitch in mockery. “Now remember Markkus everyone’s fighting battles you can’t see!”

Noemi joined in the mock-melodrama “Yeah, my battle is very tough, as you can see I chipped a nail!”

“But you know, it’s odd that you stayed. Most girls who work here only come to gawk at the animals, then leave when they realize that they’d have to do actual work, like the one I asked out, except she didn’t even bother to show-up.”

Noemi looked-proud. “I’m here so my brotha’ can get free-entry now that we’re too big to go under the entrance. Tried puttin’ a ladder on the fence, but then we had to come really early in the mornin’. Hard work, hadda’ miss out on a lot, but it’s worth it for him.”

I gave-pause for a bit. I was considering breaking-down and crying-into her-arms. I stoically-stopped these considerations when she said something-else. “So… your sister sounds nice.”

We went on a bit. Noemi talked about how, for the most part, she usually spends time with her brother rather than anyone-else. Most of them didn’t understand why she was always busy and no one understood that except the chimps, and they took their clothes off even before the first date.

“It’ll work out in the end, everything happens for a reason.” I almost shouted at the chicken-shit that’s repeated constantly, making idiots feel better about being weak. Then I remembered the times I almost committed murder, even-though they deserved it I instead controlled myself. I instead talked about that one girl I forgot the name of, ending it with “So yeah… I lost it all for no reason.”

“You saved a kid, didn’t you?”

“Weekly, it seems, most of them didn’t even say thank-you.”

She gave a sympathetic breath before putting her hand on me. No one had done so in years, and she seemed to know.

“I’d say that’s a good reason… Thank-you Markkus.”

That was the best thing I heard until my mom cried about her ex-husband leaving.

Maybe I should buy into all that stuff.