Pet Shop Of Horrors Fan Fiction ❯ Little Lion ❯ I'm Tired ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Lil' Demoness: "Evil! You're horrible to Leon!"

Evil Little god of Writing: Bows. "Thank you."

Lil' Demoness: "That's not a compliment. Look what you've done to cousin D, she's been corrupted. She used to be such a nice girl."

Evil Little god of Writing: "Nice is boring. On to the story!"





LITTLE LION

Cousin D



Chapter 3
I'M TIRED








"Damned brat!"

Leon winced, cringing away from his father. It was going to be a bad night, Leon could all ready tell. Leon had come home from the pet shop to find his dad sitting on the couch, all ready angry. Normally, Leon could blame the booze for his dad's foul mood, but his dad was sober tonight. Dad being sober was almost worse because there was nothing Leon could blame except himself. He must have done something terrible to make dad this angry.

"Where've you been this time?" Leon's dad demanded from where he sat on the couch with his legs up put up lazily along the couch. The football game was on, a rerun, probably, and Leon's dad was watching it intently with a bag of potato chips on his lap.

"I was visiting my friend, Jill." Leon lied. Something, deep inside Leon's heart, told him that his dad wouldn't like knowing about Count D or Leon's increasingly frequent visits to the beautiful owner of the petshop. Jill was a safe lie as Mrs. Lisa had told her never to go to or call Leon's house, she was only to see Leon at school or Mrs. Lisa's home. Since his dad didn't care to much about Leon's friends, anyway, Leon was pretty sure his dad wouldn't care about Jill.

When his dad didn't answer and kept watching the football game, Leon quickly went to the table. It was the furthest away from his dad that he could get, and started on his homework. Mrs. Lisa was always looked so proud when Leon did well on his homework and she once told Leon that he was very smart. The last thing Leon wanted to do was disappoint his teacher, so he always worked hard to do his best.

'I've gotta do good now.' Leon thought, working his way through the sheet of math problems. 'Mrs. Lisa won't let them send me away from school if I'm real smart. She'll want to keep me if I'm good and if I'm smart.' Leon's thoughts were filled with the simple, childish hopes as he worked and he wanted to make them come true. He had a very real belief that if he worked hard Mrs. Lisa would like him and if she liked him she'd do anything for him. After all, teachers are the strongest, most powerful people in the world. 'If I work hard enough, Mrs. Lisa will like me better. She'll protect me.' But Leon didn't let himself think about who he wanted to be protected from. That seemed a little to much like betrayal.

"What's that smell?" Leon's dad stood up and sniffed the air before turning on Leon. "Are...you...wearing...perfume?!" There was a dreadful calm to his dad's voice and Leon looked up to face his dad slowly.

Leon realized it was the soap smelled like flowers from the bath D had let him take, to wash away the smell of the skunk.

"What are you doing at this 'friend's' house?" Leon's dad demanded to know while his face was turning redder and redder with his rage.

"I got sprayed by a skunk." Leon said, honestly, for once. "I...I didn't want to stink up the house, so Jill let me wash at her house..."

"You come home smelling like some fuckin' woman? Did your little girlfriend let you wear her perfume? Did you try out her make up, while you were at it?" Leon's dad began to pace furiously, his eyes promising pain if Leon dared to hesitate in his answer.

"No, sir. I just took a bath, honest." Leon answered, keeping his voice low and his eyes on the floor. 'Don't look up. Don't look up.' He thought, knowing if he did, his dad was sure to think Leon needed to be punished. 'What did I do wrong? I thought it was OK to stay with D. He was so nice to me.' Leon was terrified and honestly didn't know what he'd done wrong this time. Surely, his dad wouldn't have wanted him to come home smelling like a skunk.

Leon's dad snorted and went to stand behind Leon, not taking his eyes off his young son for a moment while Leon tried to get his homework started. Leon didn't like it when his dad looked at him like that and could feel his dad's eyes boring into the back of his head. "And you come back wearing perfume after just a bath, huh?"

"Jill's soap smelled like that." Leon closed his eyes, wishing that he were back at the petshop with D and Bombay, or in Mrs. Lisa's car. He knew what was coming and he knew there was no way he could fight it. Leon gripped his pencil hard enough to turn his knuckles white. 'Please, don't. Please, don't.'

WHAM!

Leon crashed to the floor when his father smacked him in the side of his head, knocking him out of his chair. Leon quickly tightened himself into a ball, tucking his arms around his head and bringing his legs up to his chest. He tried to stay as quiet as he possibly could, knowing that any whimper or cry would only make his father angrier.

"I WILL NOT HAVE A FAGGOT FOR A SON!" Leon's dad screamed, his voice getting higher and higher pitched with each word.

'What did I do wrong? Dad, just tell me, I promise I won't do it again.' Leon bit his lip when his dad kicked him in the middle of his back and squeezed his eyes tightly shut. Surprisingly, Leon felt a soft flutter of something falling down on him, so he opened his eyes to find his homework papers all around him. Leon looked up at his furious dad, puzzled.

"My son is a bookworm. Fucking little fairy!" The venom in his voice made Leon want to curl up and die. "Why can't you just," Leon's dad aimed a kick and Leon closed his eyes again, bracing for the impact. "BE A MAN!!"

The world went black when Leon felt a blinding pain his the side of his head.







Pete-






Pete smiled at his wife who sat across from him in his police car. She was so incredible. 'How'd I ever end up with a woman like her? I must be the luckiest man on the planet.' If humans could have little hearts floating in their eyes, Pete would have them as he gazed at his wife, Lisa.

"Thanks for giving me a lift, sweetie." Lisa smiled at him as they arrived at the school. "I'm sorry you'll be late for work."

"They'll live without me for ten minutes." Pete leaned over to kiss his wife on the cheek. "When do you want me to pick..." Pete's voice trailed away as he looked out his wife's side of the car and his face-hardened with something close to hate. It was a very uncharacteristic look, for Pete, cold and unforgiving.

"What's wrong?" Lisa asked and she turned to try and see what he was looking at. "Oh, God!" Without another word, both hurried out of the car and ran toward the little boy who'd caught Pete's attention.

Leon was walking slowly toward the front door of the school, his backpack dragging behind him and his face lowered with his long blonde hair covering his face. Leon walked stiffly and his back was slummed. It was easy to see, however, that he had a sever limp as he walked and he winced in pain whenever he came down on his left foot.

'Damn it, his old man's been beating on him again.' Pete wanted to kill Mr. Barns for doing this to a defenseless little kid like Leon.

Just before they reached Leon, Lisa called out, "Leon!"

Leon looked up, surprised to hear his name, but didn't seem to quite focus on them.

Pete sucked in a sharp breath while Lisa went down on her knees in front of Leon. "Dear God, Leon, what's he done to you?" Lisa demanded, putting a hand to the side of Leon's face, gingerly.

One whole side of Leon's face, from his nose to his ear and from forehead to chin, was completely purple. His left eye was swollen shut and was a horrible shade of red. Leon didn't answer, but stared at her blankly for a minute. "Mrs. Lisa?" He didn't seem able to recognize her and Pete's training kicked in.

Pete took Leon's chin carefully in his hand and tilted Leon's face up to look at him. "Leon? Do you recognize me?" He asked in a slow voice while examining Leon's eyes. The left pupil didn't seem to be dilating properly; it was slightly larger than the right eye. "Leon, please answer me. Do you know who I am?" Pete said after a moment of Leon's silence. The boy being quiet just didn't seem natural, as Pete had gotten used to Leon's bouts of anger and shouting while he was visiting them.

Leon blinked with his one good eye. "I have to go to school." He said dully. "I don't wanna be late."

Lisa looked like she was going to cry and she put a hand on Leon's right arm, jerking away when he gasped in pain.

"My arm hurts." Leon muttered, looking down at it.

Pete hadn't noticed before how limp the arm was hanging at Leon's side and how the fingers looked a strange shade of blue compared to the other hand that was holding his backpack.

Without taking Leon's sweater off, Pete felt carefully along Leon's thin arm. "I need to see if you're OK, Leon, just hold still for a minute." Leon did as he was told, not letting out another whimper, not even when Pete felt the savage break in Leon's forearm, though he did flinch slightly. "Leon, I'm going to take you to the hospital." Pete said softly, hoping he wouldn't scare the boy. "You're arm's broken and you need to see a doctor."

Leon shook his head stubbornly. "I have to go to school."

"It's all right." Lisa reassured him, shakily while patting his long, unwashed golden hair. "You can miss today."

Leon let his bag drop when Pete carefully picked him up. The boy was even thinner than when he'd stayed at Pete and Lisa's home and he weighted practically nothing "Dad'll get mad." Leon muttered, looking up at Pete. Even in his confused and dazed state, there was something about Leon's gaze that said he knew exactly how angry his dad would get and he didn't want to do anything to draw attention to himself.

"Don't worry about your dad, kid." Pete told Leon as he turned and hurried back to his car. "I'll take care of him."

Lisa came back to the car with them and sat in the passenger seat so Leon could sit in her lap while they went to the hospital. As soon as Pete put Leon in Lisa's arms, her eyes went wide and she turned pale.

"Look at your hand, Pete." She said.

Pete looked down and saw his bloodied hand. "Let me look at your back, kid." Leon leaned into Lisa, putting his face on her shoulder and didn't make a sound while Pete pulled the back off Leon's sweater up. Leon's back had been cut open from a terrible beating and was bleeding badly. Pete said nothing, but pulled Leon's sweater back down. He went to the driver's side and they raced to the hospital with the lights of his cruiser flashing the whole way.

Pete tried to concentrate on driving while he listened to Leon's mumbled words. "I'm tired, Mrs. Lisa."

"I know, honey." Lisa cooed softly, letting Leon nuzzle into her and she petted his hair gently. "You try to rest, but don't fall asleep. The doctor will want to talk to you for a minute."

"Can I sleep later?"

"Yes. Does it hurt much?"

Leon didn't answer for a minute. "A little. It hurt more last night. I'm tired, mostly, and cold."

Lisa wrapped him as tightly as she dared in her arms while avoiding his broken arm and back. She cast a look at her husband, but Pete didn't dare to look back.

'Last night? The kid had gone all night like this without going to the hospital?! I'll kill him! I swear if I get my hands on that bastard, I'll kill him!'

Pete had gotten to know Leon pretty well while the boy was staying with them a few months ago. Leon was bright, quick, kind hearted, if a little hot-tempered. To Pete's mind, he was a great kid who deserved so much better than the life he was given. 'If the kid would only tell the truth...' Pete knew Leon was lying when he said his dad wasn't hurting him. Lisa knew Leon was lying. The judge knew Leon was lying. There was little they could do, however, when Leon stuck to his lie like a fly to honey. If only they could catch Mr. Barns in the act, then they'd have no trouble getting Leon away from him.

Still, after this, they couldn't let Leon stay with his dad. Right?




Later-




"Is dad coming to get me?" Leon asked while they lay him on the gurney to take him to the examination room.

Lisa bit her lip and looked at Pete, worried. "I...I wouldn't worry about your dad now, sweetie."

"He won't come." Pete said harshly, disgusted at the though of Leon's old man. "I'll go see if I can find him." His tone softened when Lisa short him a look of pure poison. "I'll look real hard for your dad, Leon. I promise." Oh, he'd look hard all right. 'I'll search every inch of the city till I find him!'

Leon's expression didn't change. "He'll come for me. Dad loves me." One tear ran down Leon's cheek. "I know he loves me."

Pete sighed and fought an urge to break something. Why did all the kid's love have to be wasted on that pile of human garbage?





Lisa stayed at Leon's side, holding his hand while the doctors examined him, set his arm, and wrapped up all his injuries. She forced smiles for Leon's sake and told him stories while he was trying to fall asleep.

"He's a very lucky boy, officer." The doctor told Pete just outside the hospital room where Leon was going to stay for a day or so. "You were right, he's been like this for quite some time, at least since last night. To be honest, whoever did this to him came very close to killing him."

"Will he be all right?"

"His injuries will heal, but he might have trouble with his arm. It was a pretty back break and was left alone for so long. I'd recommend physical therapy for a little while, to make sure, and we'll keep him monitored for the head wound. To me, it looks as if most of this abuse happened after the head trauma, so he was probably unconscious and may not remember anything. As if that makes it any better. At any rate, it's his mental and emotional health I'm worried about more that his physical." The doctor watched for a Leon fall asleep under Lisa's caring eyes. "He's going to need a lot of therapy and counseling to get over this, if he ever does."

"So you KNOW this was abuse?" Pete asked suddenly. "You don't have any doubts? It couldn't have been an accident of some kind, or maybe a school fight?"

The doctor gave him a flat look. "Officer, there is no question. A child does not do this by accident. Even if he'd gotten into a fight, I'd have to tell you to look for a teenager to have done this kind of damage. This was most definitely abuse."

"Will you testify to that in court?"

The doctor blinked. "Is there a case going?"

Pete nodded. "I've been trying to get Leon away from his dad for months, but we have no proof of anything and Leon keep defending his dad. Says he fell down the stairs or got into a fight with a kid at school. I know his old man is beating him, I KNOW it, we just don't have enough to go on."

The doctor looked over to where Leon was sedated and now fast asleep. He said simply, "I'll testify." With that, he walked away to make his rounds on the other patients. Pete almost wanted to smile. He had a witness. A real, honest to God witness!

Pete went to his wife's side and kissed her. She'd been crying and had only just run out of tears. "I'm a teacher. I'm supposed to stop this kind of thing." She whispered, for fear of waking Leon. "I'm supposed to protect my children."

"You can't save the world, Lisa. You know that." Pete rubbed her shoulders. "We do our best and that's all we can do."

"I want to do more." She looked at Leon again. "He deserves more."

"Greetings."

Pete and Lisa both looked up, startled at the voice. Pete found himself looking at one of the strangest looking people he'd ever seen and, being a cop, he'd seen quite a few strange looking people. No one had ever come close to matching this guy, though.

It wasn't a dress, Pete realized after a minute. Some sort of oriental garb, but not a dress. The man, it sounded like a man, anyway, wore a lot of make up and held a rather ugly potted plant in his hands. He was smiling benignly and stood at the doorway, apparently waiting to be invited in. Pete, however, wasn't about to let anyone near Leon if there was a chance that they might be connect with the kid's old man. Pete moved to stand in the stranger's path. "Who are you?"

"My name is Count D. I was out for my morning walk when I saw your police car speed by. I happened to catch a glimpse of my little friend as you passed and I was worried." The man looked over his shoulder. "Come along, Bombay. I've found him."

At this, a lovely white cat strolled in and mewed happily at seeing Leon. It rushed over to the hospital bed and jumped up to Leon. The cat sniffed around, licking Leon's still face and sniffing at the wire and tubes that seemed to be everywhere, before settling himself into a comfortable position on Leon's stomach.

Lisa stood and wiped her face with the back of one hand, to dry any tears that were still there. "It's all right, Pete." She gave Count D a shaky smile. "Leon talks about you all the time at school, Count D. Thank you for taking care of him that day he ran away from school, I was so worried about him. I'm glad he's found a friend in you."

"As I am to have found him." Count D took this as an invitation to come in and went to Leon's side. He set the ugly plant down on the table beside Leon's bed before he leaned down to look closer at Leon. Pete, just at that moment, noticed Count D's clawed fingers, the darkly painted nails couldn't possibly be real, and he only noticed because Count D touched Leon's cheek. It was a gentle stroke against the bruised side of Leon's face, barely touching him as if he were afraid Leon were too fragile to touch at the moment. "Who has done this to him?"

Lisa opened her mouth to answer, but Pete silenced her with a slight shake of his head. "I'm afraid this is a police matter now and I'm not permitted to discuss it." He then thought a moment. "You've known Leon for a little while, right?"

Count D answered, not taking his eyes off Leon. "I met him a couple of weeks ago. He has been coming to visit my petshop nearly every day since then. He loves playing with the animals."

"Would you testify in court to help him?"

Count D looked at Pete through narrowed eyes, his dark hair falling over one purple eye, leaving the yellowed one to gaze at Pete. "What do you mean, exactly?"

"If you've seen anything odd in Leon's behavior or any injuries that he won't say where he got them, will you tell a judge?" To Pete, the more witnesses, the better.

"So, you do know who has done this." Count D went back to looking at Leon and didn't answer the question. "When Leon wakes tell him that I brought him the flower." Count D's voice turned suddenly lighter and he smiled sweetly. "Bombay may stay with him as Leon has grown attached to the cat."

"You can't leave a cat in the hospital." Pete pointed out.

"Yes, I can. The hospital director is a customer of mine. It's all ready been cleared. I think Leon will be happy to find Bombay here when he wakes." Count D turned to leave when Pete realized Count D hadn't answered his question. "What about court? Will you testify for Leon's sake. It might save his life."

Count D's smile didn't fade, but turned slightly darker. "I will do what I must to help Leon." With that, Count D was suddenly gone.

Pete looked at his wife, who just shrugged, saying that she didn't understand the man, either. Then she looked back at Leon. "The doctor said Leon would sleep until morning, Pete. I want to stay here with him." She sat back in the chair by Leon's side. "You go to work, honey. I'll be here when you get out."

Pete knew there was no point in trying to get Lisa to go to work or home to rest. She was quite stubborn when she set her mind on something. Besides, it made Pete feel easier to know that she was with Leon to take care of him. "All right. I'm going to see if I can get a restraining order against his old man, at least. I'll try to get a guard for this door, too, but I'm not sure how long it'll take."





To be continued...




Well? Did I make anyone cry?




Lil' Demoness: "See! See! You hurt Leon!"

Cousin D: "I'm sorry, but that's the way the story is. I promise to make it up later.

Lil' Demoness: "You'd better! Just look at him!" She points at Evil Little god of Writing who is cackling happily in a corner as he basks in the glow of torture. "I can't take it if he's going to gloat like that!"