~ * ~

'To follow thee more nearly, day by day . . .'

Excerpt from Rhiannon Mary Lougher's diary

'Pain is everywhere. It is everything we do and everything we feel. Everything we say inflicts pain in someone. It cannot be avoided, nor can it be changed. It is the nature of humans to cause pain. We fear pain worse than the Plague, but there is no escape. All have felt, and will feel again, the gaping emptiness that comes when the spirit is taken and torn to shreds. How do we fight this inescapable force that uses violence as its measure?
Conflict is natural, neither positive nor negative. It just is. How is one supposed to conquer pain unless one goes into direct conflict with it? The human race fights amongst itself for such a fickle thing as power, it does not save its strength to suppress the greater invincible. Pain. Our own self-conflict can never be contained; those who try trap their pain inside them, where it swells and festers until it bursts and knocks them over the edge of sanity. Only in madness can pain truly be defeated. Or, of course, in death . . .'

~ * ~
April, 1998
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Big Splash Water Park

The dark red Chevy pulled up at the entrance to the Big Splash Water Park. The blue plastic wave over the entrance looked as if it had been newly painted. Taylor twisted round from the front seat to look at his little sisters. Their smiles were huge.
"Okay guys, have a good time," Ike smiled indulgently at Jessie and Avie, who were already piling out onto the footpath, and then turned to Tay, "You need a lift back?"
"Nah, I'll walk,"
"You sure? It'll take you the good part of three hours to get home,"
"I'm sure. Anyway, I need the exercise," he looked at his perfectly flat stomach, which just made Ike laugh.
"If you think you're fat Tay, you need to see a shrink, and fast," Tay didn't appreciate the joke. Needing a shrink hit a little too close to home, though he sure as hell didn't need one for anorexia! Without a word, he climbed out of the car,
"What's your problem?" the only reply Ike got was the passenger door slamming. He was starting to get a little worried about Tay. His little 'phase' seemed to be getting bigger every day. Their parents hadn't noticed yet, thank God, but they would soon. This was the worst one yet; almost a month and he still hadn't dragged himself out of it. Taylor was withdrawing from everyone, and he didn't even realise it.
'Maybe I should tell Mom and Dad . . .' Ike left his thoughts unfinished and drove off.

Jessie and Avie were running around outside the gates, going wild.
"Guys, please," Tay tried to get the two girls to calm down. Ignoring him, Jessie ran from her little sister, screaming, nearly crashing into him.
"Guys," right now he just wasn't in the mood for games. Still, the two girls kept racing around . . . until Jessie ran straight into a fifty-something woman walking a little dachshund and knocked her over.
"JESSICA GRACE HANSON! GET YOUR ARSE OVER HERE NOW!!!" there was a long silence. Avery, who'd been petting the frightened sausage dog, froze in mid-pat. Jessie, in the process of helping the flustered fifty-something woman to her feet, stopped in fear. The two girls both stared at Taylor. His face was slightly red and contorted with anger, his fists were clenched and his shoulders rigid. For the first time that she could remember, Jessie was actually afraid of her big brother; the always easy-going Taylor, who never yelled, who hated getting in arguments, who was always the peace-maker. He walked towards her, and she involuntarily lifted her arms in defence. Taylor grabbed her arm and yanked her out of the way, kneeling down to help the fifty-something woman.
"I'm really sorry ma'am -" he began as the woman finally got to her feet. He was cut off by the woman's shriek.
"My baby!" and she snatched the Dachshund away from Avery's gentle fingers.
"Ma'am I -" Taylor began again. The woman turned to him sharply.
"Are these your sisters?" he looked at Jessie and Avie, standing to one side, staring at him in fright.
"Unfortunately yes," his tone was disdainful and loaded with scorn.
"Do they always behave like this?" disgust laced the woman's voice.
"You can understand why we don't let them out of their cages very often," the derisive sarcasm in his voice seemed to satisfy the woman that he was as disgusted as she.
"Yes," she looked at the two girls as if they were insects, "God forbid my grandchildren should turn out like them," and she walked away. Tay turned to face his little sisters. He didn't see the hurt that was written on their faces. The withering look he gave them made Jessie's eyes fill and Avie's upper lip tremble.
"Why can't you two ever keep out of damned trouble?! You make the mess and guess who has to sit there and pick up the pieces?! Hmm? Me that's who!! Damn the both of you, I'm always bailing you out of all the shit you manage to bury yourselves in!! Are you that useless you can't even walk inside a gate without damn-well screwing up?!" he shouted at the two cowering little girls. Avie couldn't take any more. She burst out crying. That started Jessie going.
"Don't give me any of that cry baby bullcrap!!" he grabbed their hands and started walking away from the water park.
"Where are we going?" Avie asked between sobs.
"Home,"
"What about the party?"
"You're not going to any damned party!"
"But -"
"No!!" and Avie started struggling to get away. She hit and kicked as he yanked her along.
"I hate you! I hate you!! I hate you!!" she screamed as she punched him hard in the ribs. The pain shot through him; he didn't think about what he did. Letting go of Jessie, his hand came down across the little girl's face. Avie stared at him for a second before collapsing to the ground, bawling. Horrified, Jessie rushed to her sister's side and held her as she cried. The tears were still in Jessie's eyes as she looked at Taylor, who still stared, wide-eyed and disbelieving, at Avie.
"What's happening to you Tay?" she whispered. His hands covered his face. Christ, what was happening to him? What on earth had come over him? He'd just hit his little sister! He'd hit his baby sister! His own eyes were wet as he knelt beside Avie and gently sat her up. One look at his face was enough to tell her that this was the Tay she knew. Throwing her small arms around his neck, she buried her head in his shoulder and sobbed. Hugging her tight, Tay stroked her blonde hair, the same shade as his own. He glanced towards Jessie. That was all the invitation she needed. She flung herself into his open arm.
"I'm sorry guys. I'm so sorry," he whispered.
'Dammit Rhiannon! What the hell are you doing to me?'

~ * ~
Late September, 1995
Tulsa, Oklahoma

The phone rung for the fifth time that morning. The last four, Rhiannon had let it ring out. But it was getting on her nerves. 'Twas Saturday once again, her favourite day of the week, she was home by herself, lying on the couch, with the miniature portable fan aimed right at her face. Carlton's football team was playing against Oklahoma City today and her whole family had gone to watch him play. Arian had tried to convince her to come too.
"Come and watch your brother play, you'll have a great time!" It was the same thing she said every game. Rhiannon had only ever been to one game, when she was 10, and the only thing she remembered was Carlton being carried off on a stretcher. The object of a very heavy tackle, his collar bone had been snapped in half as if it were a Kit Kat. She'd never been to another game since. But it wasn't just her brother getting hurt that had spooked her; in all the screaming and cheering, she'd heard the Voices . . . They called to her, tempted her to fall back into the paradise that was so familiar, where the Voices guided her . . . and turned that paradise into a living hell, where she became the only victim, helplessly caught in the vortex that was too horrific to even be dreamed in her worst nightmares. The whole game, she'd fought the Voices that were slowly, inch by inch, gaining a stronger hold on her.
'You can't fight us forever!' they taunted her constantly. 'You can't fight us forever! You can't fight us forever!' . . . BRRRRRRIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGGG!! Throwing down her book, Rhiannon grabbed the phone.
"This better be good!"
"Rhiannon?"
"Taylor?"
"I'm not interrupting anything?"
"Nothing I wouldn't gladly have interrupted," at her denial, the Voices faded away, back into their lairs. For now.
"Are you doing anything right now?"
"No," she glanced at the book she'd been reading. 'So You've Heard The Voice' it was called. Stupidly thinking it would be the answer to banishing the Voices forever, she'd bought it. It was some weird book on Christianity!
"Can you get down to the Big Splash within an hour?"
"It's a fifteen minute walk, why?"
"Me and my brothers are performing there today, I was wondering if you wanted to come,"
"I . . ." she'd intended to find out where Hanson was playing next so she could go watch, she hadn't exactly expected a personal phone-call though! "How did you get my phone number?"
"There's only one Lougher in the phone book," he laughed, "Actually I got it off Elisabette. Can you come?"
"Is Liz coming?"
"She had stuff to do for the school paper,"
"Again?"
"Again,"
"Jeez! I swear, if I wasn't around, that girl would spend the rest of her life in her room!" they both laughed. It was true.
"You're really good at avoiding the subject,"
"Huh?"
"You still haven't answered my question,"
"Oh . . . what time are you performing?"
"Midday," Rhiannon looked at her watch. "11:15, hmm, forty-five minutes. Yep, I can get there. Early if need be,"
"I'd get there early, there's gonna be a lot of people coming,"
"How do you know?"
"Well, my Mom has this database thing that's got a whole list of the names and addresses of our fans, and she just sends letters out to them, telling them when the gigs are on. It's worked really well so far,"
"Oh right, my Mom uses something like that for her work,"
"What does she work as?"
"She works for the Mercury newspaper,"
"Does she interview famous people?"
"For the Mercury?!"
"I suppose you've gotta point there," Rhiannon heard a shout in the background and Taylor's muffled shout back, "Coming Dad!" she chuckled."Anyway I've got to go, we have to be there really early, so we can set up,"
"I'll see you there,"
"See ya," CLICK! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

The blue plastic wave looked old and a little tacky. It seriously needed to be repainted. But that didn't matter to Rhiannon. Every day in the summer she came here; her parents bought her, Carlton and Rachael each season passes at the beginning of the summer break. She waved to Mike, the ticketer, as she walked past; they all knew her here. Without a qualm, she walked up to the door of the manager's office and peaked her head around the door frame. Ms. Thomas sat at her desk, diligently filling out all the necessary paperwork.
"Hi Ms. Thomas!" Rhiannon chimed with a smile on her face. The red head quickly shot up and smiled back.
"Hi Rhiannon! Back here again? Don't you ever have homework or anything?"
"Nope," the grin on Rhiannon's face was enough to charm the fishes out of the ocean. Ms. Thomas laughed. She liked the girl.
"What can I do for you?"
"Do you have anyone performing today?" the woman stared at Rhiannon for a second before answering.
"We've got a group called Hanson playing today," she looked at her watch, "In about ten, fifteen minutes,"
"Where?"
"Over on the main stage,"
"Thanks Ms. Thomas," and she was off like a flash. Chuckling, Ms. Thomas returned to her paperwork.

Sneaking a peak at the crowd, Taylor searched the faces for Rhiannon's. Even though he'd only met her twice, she'd become almost his best friend. He looked at his watch. 11:52pm. Eight minutes until they were supposed to start.
'She said she was coming Tay! Shouldn't that be enough?'. But somehow it wasn't. He had to be sure she was there. Why, he didn't know. What did it matter to him if she didn't show?
'Probably the fact that you personally rang her has something to do with it!' he berated himself. Then he felt a tap on the shoulder.
"Not looking for anyone in particular are you?" came the slightly low pitched, quiet voice from behind him that he could already recognise anywhere.
"Not any more," he turned and smiled at Rhiannon.

"Not so long ago in a toy room not so far away, lived a boy who had so many toys and he, didn't know what to do with them all, with them all, with them all. Well his favourite of all the toys were the tin soldiers, the tin soldiers, and the one that he loved the most was the one, with the missing leg . . ." Rhiannon stood by the stage and listened. She'd only heard the first verse and she'd already fallen in love with that song. It was similar to a story she used to tell Rachael at night, about the tin soldier with one leg and the ballerina. In the song, the tin soldier was lost and became very lonely. In her story it was the ballerina that was 'stolen' by the boy's younger sister. In the song, the tin soldier was eventually found inside the belly of a fish and put on the mantle place to dry. In her story, the friendly mice brought the ballerina back and put her up on the mantle piece where the tin soldier always sat. In the song, they danced together and fell by the fire, where their bases melted together. In her story, the cat, chasing after the mice, knocked the tin soldier from the mantle piece into the fire and the ballerina fell in after him, where they both melted away, and their hearts were joined together forever. Their song had a happy, happy ending; her story had a sad, happy ending. Rachael was a sucker for stories like that. Then again, so was she. Rhiannon sat on a fence rail and listened. The audience was really getting into the performance. They were so good! When she heard the opening chords for 'The Love You Save', she had to bite her tongue to keep from, laughing. Never, it seemed, would she listen to them play without hearing Taylor perfectly mimic Michael Jackson on that song.
'God forbid he ever get plastic surgery!'. She was having such a good time, didn't even notice the time fly by.

When she looked at her watch, Rhiannon gasped. It was a few minutes past 4:00! She'd listened to both 45 minute sets Hanson'd played and they were just finishing up the third. Her parents would have been home hours ago! Not expecting to be away for over 4 hours, she hadn't bothered to leave a note. They must've been worried sick! But she couldn't just leave, she had to say goodbye at least. In the long breaks in between sets, they'd all gone swimming. The day was absolutely boiling! Nearly 40 degrees Celsius, and that was in the shade! Half an hour before the next performance, the guys had reluctantly dragged themselves from the wave pool and trudged back to the main stage. Fanning themselves with laminated menus from the café just opposite, they'd sat down on the shady stairs and dried off. Rhiannon'd sucked on ice cubes while the guys'd had sculling competitions with their Coke's. Zac's contorted facials had left them all in stitches! Listening to the dying notes of 'Poison Ivy', she smiled. From where she sat, she could see Zac. He loved chucking his drumsticks in the air and catching them again. His antics were limited since he sat behind a drum kit, but he still found ways of making people laugh, even if she was the only one who saw them. Ike and Tay had barely finished thanking the crowd when Zac, tired of being forced to sit in the one position for a whole 45 minutes - how did he manage to do it? - jumped up and practically flew down the stairs. Seeing her, his face lit up in a huge smile and he raced towards her without warning, giving her a huge bear-hug.
"That was cool!" he shouted, before racing off again. So much energy for such a little person.
"He's a wonder isn't he?" Tay said as he came down the stairs.
"What do you feed him?"
"Oh just the usual, sugar cubes washed down with red cordial,"
"Silly me," they both laughed.
"You're forgetting the Coke and chocolate," Ike reminded his brother, carrying his guitar, looking through the diminishing audience.
"Who're you looking for?" Tay asked; before Ike could answer a high-pitched voice carried over the dull hum of the crowd. Ike smiled, Taylor scowled, Rhiannon gasped.
"Isaac!" a blonde girl made her way through the crowd. Acid-washed jeans and a metallic gold baby tee were the first things that Tay noticed, Rhiannon stared at the girl's face, and if Ike was looking anywhere, it certainly wasn't her face!
"Ike!" she said again, then hugged him. Tay made a very interesting face. Ike hugged her right back and whispered something in her ear. Giggling, she grabbed his hand and they took off. Shivering once in disgust, Tay turned to Rhiannon, who still stood gaping. The same thing ran through both their minds,
'The cow. The cow! THE COW!'
"Man, if I ever see that cow again it'll be too soon! Rhiannon? Rhiannon?! Rhiannon!!" she snapped out of her daze.
"Huh?"
"You feeling all right?" she looked like she'd seen a ghost!
"Yeah, I'm . . . I . . . err . . . no, no I'm not,"
"What's wrong? You're not sick are you?" he looked genuinely concerned. Not many people cared about her any more.
'Any more? What are you thinking you idiot! They never cared in the first place!'
'We care . . .' the million echoing Voices taunted her.
'NO!! Not now!' she begged them.
'Follow us, we'll help you feel better . . .'
'No!'
'We'll make everything better . . .'
'Leave me alone!'
'Follow us . . .'
'GO AWAY!!' the Voices retreated. Until next time. They had lost another battle, but they were still winning the war.
"Rhiannon?" Taylor's voice pulled her swimming senses back out of the water and onto dry land.
"Who was that girl?" he looked surprised. That was not the answer he'd expected.
"Queen of Planet Bimbo," his tone was full of scorn.
"Tessa?"
"How did you know?"
"Is she going out with Ike?" there was dread written all over her face. She really didn't want to hear the answer.
"Yeah," and the dread snapped, mutating faster than a speeding bullet into anger. "THE COW! The two-timing cow!" she screamed. A few people stopped and stared at her. Taylor stared too, in confusion.
"What?"
"The cow! You want to know who 'Ike's girlfriend' is?"
"Huh?"
"She's Carlton's girlfriend," Slowly, amazement in his twelve-year-old eyes, he stared in the direction Isaac and Tessa had left.
"A gorgeous cow with two boyfriends who're best friends? That's disgusting!" he made a face and spat on the ground. Rhiannon's only reply was a hint of a smile.
"And you're not?"

~ * ~
April, 1998
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Big Splash Water Park

With eyes that were dry and only slightly red, Taylor, Jessica and Avery Hanson walked up to Mike, the ticketer.
"Hiya guys. Haven't seen much of yous round here lately," like the Loughers, the Hansons were quite well known at the Big Splash, not only for their performances, that used to bring in hundreds of customers, but also for the amount of time they used to spend there themselves. Mike had been the ticketer at the Big Splash for so long, not even he could remember how many years it was. He knew everybody that came to the water park even semi-frequently.
"Yeah, been a bit busy," Taylor answered, "This is the first time we've been home in months!"
"And you're trying to cram everything in while you can?"
"You can say that again! One more week, then we're performing in Oklahoma City, then we're home for three days to pack and get as much sleep as is humanly possible, then it's bye-bye Tulsa for heaven knows how many months, or even years!"
"Mail us a post-card!"
"Can do!" they both laughed. Avie rolled her eyes at her big brother.
"Taybear! Come on! Don't just stand there talking! I wanna go to the party!!" she said, over-loudly. "Yes, yes. I promise you won't miss it Avie; how could they start a party without you?" Avie stuck her tongue out, but she'd been buttered up enough to keep quiet.
"You still got passes?" Mike asked.
"Nup. Ran out. There's no point in buying more, since we're probably gonna be in Tulsa less than three days over the summer!"
"I see," Mike smiled that huge grin of his and turned to the cash register, happily ringing up the receipt. Taylor winced when he saw it.
"Here you go," he said, reluctantly parting with the green notes, one of which Mackie had drawn a smiley face on. If there was one thing Mike loved more than talking to customers, it was money.
"Enjoy your day," the ticketer laughed and lit a cigarette.
"Thanks Mike,"
"Don't forget that post-card!" Tay had to stop himself from coughing at the putrid smoke blown in his face. He could never understand why people smoked; just smelling it made him want to spew!
"Where are they Taybear?" tucking her little hand in his, Avery smiled a gap-toothed smile at him. Not to be outdone, Jessie did the same, showing her missing front tooth.
"How many teeth do you guys lose a day?" was his only reply.

Lew watched his daughter and her friends, cramped all around the one round plastic table. They were talking about the number one topic of conversation for newly-turned-9-year-olds. Barbie. Between the lot of them they probably had every Barbie known to man!
"I asked Mom to get me Baywatch Barbie for my birthday. I wonder which Barbie you're Mom and Dad bought you," one of the girls wondered.
"Maybe you got Bead Blast Barbie. I got that one for an Easter present from Auntie," another girl added.
"You know, Jessie and I sometimes pretend her Barbies are her brothers," Rachael's smile was both sly and innocent at the same time.
"Iseult!" Arian sternly looked at her daughter, then at her husband, a small smile on her lips. So many years together, and she still made his heart skip a beat. It had been a long time since either of them had seen Wales, yet they still spoke the language of the hills when they were alone, and kept their Welsh accents with pride. Out of the corner of his eyes, Lew saw one of the girls turn to Rachael and ask why her parents called her Iseult. She just laughed.
"I'll tell you later," she caught her father's eyes and smiled. He smiled back. Nobody could tell that just two hours beforehand, Rachael had been crying her eyes out. It was times like these - Christmas, birthdays, July 4th - that she missed Rhiannon the most. The way her big sister used to sneak in of a morning and hide all the presents in her room. All Rachael had woken up to this morning was her numb fingers closing around a wooden photo frame. Her parents had all the photos of Rhiannon stashed away in a dusty chest in the attic, but she'd managed to save this one. It'd been taken at her 7th birthday party, where Rhiannon was carrying her piggy-back. She'd clumsily framed it and hid it under her bed, afraid that her parents might take it away. She missed Rhiannon so much. They all did.

Taylor'd had to ask four employees before he'd been able to figure out where the party was. Not trusting Jessie and Avie near water, he carried Rachael's presents himself. A lot of giggling told Tay he'd found the right place. Gathered around one table were a lot of little girls. One broke away from the cluster and ran towards them. Her dark hair flew around her face. If he hadn't known better, he would have thought she was Rhiannon. She and her sister were so alike.
"Hi guys!" Rachael shouted.
"Happy birthday Ice," Jessie shouted back. Discreetly, Taylor handed the carefully wrapped gifts to his sisters, who in turn gave them to Rachael.
"Come sit down," that was all the invitation Jessie and Avie needed. They raced towards the already over-crowded table. Rachael made to follow, but turned back to Taylor.
"Aren't you coming?"
"No, I have to go. Actually, I got something else for you," he pulled a small velvet pouch from his pocket and handed it to her, "Happy birthday," she stared at it for a second before slowly opening it. Her eyes widened. Delicately, almost reverently, she pulled out the thin Signet bracelet. The engraved 'R' was immaculate.
"Here," he took it and clipped it around her small wrist. Her fingertips brushed the fragile gold links. "Thank-you," and much to his surprised, she hugged him, "It's beautiful," Did she know? She hugged him, but to Taylor, it felt more like she was holding him, comforting him. Did she know? She was lending him strength, while borrowing his at the same time. They leaned emotionally on one another for those few brief seconds, before Rachael eased away, smiled sadly, and returned to her party. Did she know? That bracelet wasn't new; he'd bought it nearly two years ago, in California. It had lain hidden in his pillow ever since. Did she know? That 'R' didn't stand for Rachael . . .

He walked away from the party. What he really needed was some time alone. Maybe the long walk home would do him good; let him try and sort out his head. No peace here. Despite the cool, people were still here, swimming and having a tonne of fun. A semblance of a smile. There'd be a lot of coughs and colds tomorrow!
"Hey Hanson!" Taylor had to suppress a shiver of dread. The voice behind him was menacing, loathing, and full of hate.
"Yes Carlton?" he asked as politely as he could. Why Carlton hated him, he had no idea. Carlton had been a friend of Ike's once upon a time, but not any more. He'd been friendly before, now he was sullen and withdrawn. He'd probably been one of the worst affected when Rhiannon had . . . gone away.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"I've dropped my sisters off, now I'm going home," Tay's civil tone was cold; he'd had to swallow down a million sarcastic come-backs. Sarcasm just didn't work with Carlton; and Taylor'd had the black eye to prove it.
"What the hell are you doing giving presents to my little sister?!"
"It is her birthday, isn't it?"
"Any crap that comes from you she doesn't need!! Now listen, you little shit, I ever see you so much as an inch too close to my little sister and I'll smash your head in and feed your brains to the birds!" it'd been a bad day so far and the last thing he wanted to do was deal with Carlton. He'd had enough.
"What is it with you? You've turned into such an arsehole,"
"Shut up you little poofter," something inside Taylor snapped. The one name he couldn't handle.
"At least I could get girls if I had the time! All you've got is a football!! How hard is it to root an entire football team? They wouldn't let you, is that why you're so pissed?"
"Screw you, you fucking -"
"Oh come up with something original for god's sake! Are you too pathetic to string two damn words together?"
"Why you little -!"
"What's the matter? The football team kick you out of their little orgy? Or did Tessa turn you down again?" the next thing Tay knew he was underwater and the left side of his face felt like it was on fire. Through the distorted screen of the water, he saw Carlton storm away. Still, he was smiling as he kicked off the bottom. As he broke the surface he threw his head back to get the loose hair out of his eyes. He may have been the one that'd ended up soaking wet with a quickly bruising cheek, but he'd still won. He had the edge, although it was a pretty shaky one; Carlton couldn't out-insult him.
"Forget your swimmers did you?" Taylor snapped his head up and saw Liz looking down at him. He laughed.
"No, Carlton just seemed to think I wanted to go swimming,"
"And you knocked your left cheek by accident on the bottom,"
"Yeah," She offered a hand and helped pull him out, then handed him her towel. He wrapped it around his shoulders, "What are you doing here?"
"You're not the only person over the age of 10 at this party," he nodded. Damn he was cold! "You're not cold are you?"
"No, of course not,"

Sceptically, Liz watched Taylor. He said he wasn't cold, but it sure as hell didn't look like it! His lips were turning blue, the ends of his fingers purple and his face white. The now damp towel was clutched tightly around his shoulders, that twitched every now and again, as if he was trying to hold back the shivers.
"Are you sure you're not cold?"
"Positive," and his teeth chattered.
"Are you lying to me?"
"No," and he shivered.
"Bull,"
"What?" he turned to look at her.
"You're sitting there freezing your arse off and you tell me you're not cold," and he just shrugged, "I can get Lew to drive you home,"
"With this?" and he gestured to the ripening bruise on his cheek.
"Then how are you going to get home?"
"I'll walk,"
"Not on your own, looking like that," she eyed his drenched jeans, "You'll get mobbed in three seconds flat!"
"I guess,"
"So what are you going to do?" he thought for a minute.
"Would you do us a favour?"
"Depends on what it is,"
"Could you ring Ike? He should be at home. Ask him to come pick me up?"
"What happens if he's not home?"
"Then ask Mom," Elisabette shrugged. The public phone wasn't too far away from where they were sitting in a covered shed where everyone who couldn't be bothered using lockers left their stuff. She stood up.
"You got any change on you?"
"Um," Taylor dug around in his pockets. A few dripping coins fell out. Handing them to Liz, Tay smiled, "There we go,"
"Back in 5,"

Crap. Buzz. Crap. Buzz. Crap. Didn't they ever play anything decent on TV any more? Another boring re-run. Ike switched channels again.
"Isn't it strange, how we all get a little bit weird -"
"God no!" he shouted aloud and switched the TV off altogether. He hated being bored. His Mom had taken Mackie to see a re-run of 'The Little Mermaid'. Damn re-runs. He was surrounded by them. It was a conspiracy! A conspiracy to send him insane from boredom. And then the phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Is that Isaac?"
"Sure is, who's this?"
"Liz,"
"Oh hi! Haven't seen you in ages! Tay's not home yet, but I can get him to call you back -"
"No, no. Tay's here,"
"At your house?"
"No. I'm calling from the Big Splash. Tay's gotten himself into a bit of trouble -"
"Oh great! What happened?"
"He slipped and fell in one of the pools -" Ike burst out laughing.
"If that's his definition of trouble -"
"Would you shut up and listen to me?" he did, "He's fallen into one of the pools, and he's hit his head. The bruise is huge, and I won't let him walk home. Do you reckon you could come out and get him?"
"He hasn't got concussion has he?"
"I don't think so," with a little grin, Ike grabbed the keys to his car from the bench.
"I'll be there in about fifteen minutes. I'll pick him up out the front,"

Taylor watched as the dark red Chevy slid to a stop. Slamming the door, he watched his brother walk around. He turned the left side of his face away; he didn't want Ike to see the bright purple bruise.
"Hi Liz!" was the first thing Ike said, "And how is the patient?"
"Holding on to life by the slimmest of threads doctor,"
"That bad?" Taylor glared at them. They just laughed. "Can you walk or do we have to carry you?" rolling his eyes, Tay got to his feet. He hated it when Ike made fun of him.
"I can walk. No need to strain yourself,"
"Over you? I wouldn't anyway,"
"Ha, ha," handing Liz back her towel, Tay walked towards the car.
"Bloody hell! How hard did you hit your head?" hiding amusement behind concern, Ike eyed the bruise on his brother's cheek. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought his brother had taken a beating in a punch-up.
"Shut-up and drive," Tay grumbled, slamming the passenger door. Ike chuckled and hopped in the car. Liz watched as they drove away. Tay silently stared out the window. He listened to Ike trying hard not to laugh. First, he'd lost his temper and hit his little sister, then he'd nearly cried giving Rachael that bracelet. He'd copped a bruising from Carlton; from the way his cheek was throbbing right now, he'd decided Carlton had the edge over him well and truly. Now his older brother thought it was the greatest joke in the world. All up, it'd been a shit of a day.

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