Chapter Text
1949
Rody was special.
That was what his Ma and Pa said: that he was special 'cause he was smarter than all the other, dumb kids his age!
And if he went near those kids, the ones that didn’t go to his private school, he was pretty sure he could become like them, and he then wouldn’t be special no more.
So, he made sure that, at the playground, he didn’t talk to any of those freaks!
He sleepily sat on the little, wood swing-set, alone, lightly pushing himself back and forth with little effort. He had managed to get a couple full round loops over the bars, which was pretty cool! But now, he was a bit bored of all of that, so he just sat there, drowning out the sound of the other kids there, just looking around.
The sun was starting to set, so he probably needed to go home soon, or his Ma and Pa would be frantic, worrying about him.
Rody dragged his feet against the ground, to get the swing to stop and–
“Hi!!”
What the–?!
Rody jumped when another boy, around his own age, with black, messy hair, just appeared directly in front of him! Where’d he even come from–?
“Hi?” Rody said, examining the boy closely. He was certainly not anyone Rody recognized, which already wasn’t a good sign.
“Watcha doing?”
“Just…sitting here, I guess.”
Rody didn’t feel like getting introduced, so he decided to just give him the name Weird Boy, cause his hair was long like a girl, and he was in a shirt so stained and icky Rody was pretty sure just being near him would get him sick!
“Will you push me on the swing?” Weird Boy asked, tilting his head and clearly not taking the hint of Rody’s frantic blinking in morse code. (He'd learned how to say Get away in morse code, cause he had been super bored!)
He sniffed, stuffing a hand in his pocket, trying to make himself look even more impressive and cool. (Not that he needed to try!)
“Can’t you do it yourself?”
“Yeah! ‘Course I can, silly! But I saw you do a flip on the swing, and I want to do that, too!”
Rody just kinda blinked for a few seconds, trying to think on what to do. Weird boy’s expression was completely genuine, his hand clasped in front of him. Rody didn’t really want to let anyone down! But he also didn’t want to hang out with someone who was like that.
Rody was pretty sure he saw this same boy eating a butterfly earlier! Who even did something like that??
“Pleaseeee–?” Weird boy asked, leaning in closer to Rody, flashing his big, dark brown eyes. Ughh.
“Okay, fine. Just a couple times, though!” Rody said, getting up from his swing with a big, dramatic sigh, feeling the hard gravel underneath his tennis shoes.
“Yay!!” Weird boy beamed, immediately climbing onto the swing where Rody had just been, and waiting patiently.
Ughhhhhhhhhhh.
Rody was such a dummy for agreeing to this! He was going to get filthy, and his Ma wouldn’t be happy at all!
But he had already said he would, and he had to keep his word.
“Alright, hold on tight,” Rody said, getting behind him, a little bit worried about Weird boy injuring himself. He was a little bitty thing, so he could get hurt easier….
“I am!” He said, impatiently, squeezing the thick ropes holding the swing together. Well, it wasn’t Rody’s fault if he got hurt, so it didn’t matter!
He put his hand on the other boy's back– grimaced at how dirty his shirt was and pushed. Rody was strong–another part of his awesomeness–, so Weird Boy was basically flying. (Luckily, he really was holding on, so he didn’t get shoved off the seat!)
Weird Boy giggled, high pitched and loud, as he went back and forth, up and down.
Even his laugh is different from my other friends, Rody thought. But he didn’t really mind it, surprisingly enough. It was different, but not bad. It almost seemed…more genuine than his other friends, in a way?
Eh, he was probably just being dumb. (Being around other kids really did make him act like them, it seemed!)
“Higher, higher, pleaseeee!!” Weird Boy begged, and Rody decided that if it was a loopdaloop he wanted, it was a loopdaloop he’d get!
So Rody, firmly planted his feet into the ground and pushed the other boy again as soon as the swing slowed down even a tiny bit.
He shoved as hard as he could, probably accidentally bruising the boy’s back but whatever, it was probably fine.
“Getting closer!” Rody yelled, almost excited, and getting another laugh in response. Weird Boy was this close to the top!
One last push and–!
“Wahooooo!!” Weird boy cheered, as he went over the bar, extremely, super duper fast, and actually wait, that was way to fast–
Immediately Weird Boy's delight changed into a breathless shriek as he flew off the little seat at full force.
Holy shit, the dummy was gonna get hurt!
Rody didn’t really think, he just did his best to jump out and catch the boy before he could get badly hurt.
And it worked… in the sense that Rody became the landing pad.
“OW!” Rody wails, the breath very nearly knocked out of him as Weird Boy landed directly on Rody.
Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!
“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, are you okay–?”
Rody lightly pushed the Weird boy off him so he could get up. And he was immediately pissed.
He was hurting all over, and it was all this stupid kid’s fault!
“You meanie! I knew that was a bad idea!” Rody stomped his foot on the ground, not caring how childish it was. His Ma was going to be angry, 'cause he got bruised and dirty by someone he knew he shouldn’tve been hanging out with!
“I’m sorry! I'm so, so, sorry!” Weird Boy said frantically, but Rody didn’t care.
“Now I’m all dirty and stinging!” He struggled to hold back tears, rubbing his bruised arm. That was going to make baseball way harder, tomorrow!
How was he going to explain this to everyone?!
Weird Boy looked close to tears, and Rody couldn’t help but feel a bit bad. But not bad enough to let up, cause every part of his body was still aching.
“I–I–, here, take this!” The boy pulled something out of his pocket, and Rody expected something like a shiny quarter, but….
Weird Boy hastily shoved a bouquet of flowers into Rody’s hands. They were…pretty, if a little crumpled.
“Those are for girls,” Rody said softly. Suddenly, he didn’t feel so angry.
“Oh…well, you don’t have to take them….”
But Rody didn’t want to give them back. He’d never gotten flowers before, for obvious reasons, but…it felt kind of nice. It was special. Like he was.
“No, I’ll take them! And give them to a pretty girl!” He said, with a brief smile, holding the flowers close to his chest.
He didn’t know when he’d see a pretty girl, or what that even meant, but he hoped he’d see one soon! His Ma sometimes joked that he was going to get “A lot of ladies” when he grew up, which sounded like a good thing!
He always did like those romance movies his Ma and Pa showed him, even if he always pretended to be grossed out by them.
“Okay!! Make sure to keep them in water!” Weird Boy said, swinging his arms absently. Rody made the mental note to shove them in one of his Ma’s many, many, vases of flowers.
“And thanks for pushing me!! It was fun!’
Rody sighed. “You’re…you’re welcome. But I gotta go home….”
"Me to, probably!" The Weird Boy said, giving an enthusiastic wave, and Rody hesitantly, hesitantly waved back.
"Bye!!"
"Bye...."
He never did find a girl to give those flowers to. So those pink daisies, stayed in a vase, right by his nightstand, somehow surviving, day after day.
...
He never did find out that the other boy stole those flowers from a Grave.