Monday, March 19, 2018

Short Social Fiction: Adventures of Tupi 39

After crossing the bridge, Tupi saw a young teenage boy tossing some debris into the river and told Justin to stop the truck. "What the hell is he doing?" Tupi asked.

"Forget about it..." Justin said. "Lets just go to the shelter."

"No, this kind of behavior should not be tolerated." Tupi said. "Junk should be placed in a pile to be removed later, throwing into the river will require more resources to remove later."

"Lets not start any trouble..." Justin said.

"Just wait here." Tupi said. "I'll handle this."

"Hey there!" Tupi shouted as he walked towards the boy. "What do you think you are doing?"

The boy initially ignored Tupi and continued to carry buckets of debris to discard.

Tupi walked towards the boy and the boy returned with 2 buckets of debris and Tupi stood in his path. The boy towers over Tupi, physically much bigger than Tupi and continued his approach.

"Hey, why are you throwing things into the river?" Tupi asked.

"Because this shit is in my way." The boy said and puts up a tough look and walked past Tupi.

"It will cost more to clean the river." Tupi said. "They will eventually come clear the street."

"When?" The boy asked. "Its more than a week, nothing happening. They should have thought about that before ignoring us."

"You live here, and when the waterway clogs up, you'll be the one suffering." Tupi said. "Stop doing this, you don't really need to clear away the debris right now.."

"You can't tell me what to do." The boy said. "So why don't you just fuck off."

"You don't need to be so selfish." Tupi said. "Where are your parents? Did they tell you to do this? Let me talk to them."

"This is none of your business, so I suggest that you turn around and walk away." The boy said and his lips trembled and his eyes seemed red. "I don't tell you where you put your shit."

"What is your problem? Tupi asked. "You don't need to... " Before Tupi could finish his sentence, the boy shoved him to the ground.

"I don't need to... what?" The boy asked as he stood over Tupi.

Tupi was shocked. He had never got into a fight before and a teenager is now kicking his ass. "I'm going to tell your parents about this."

The teenage boy suddenly went all out and attacked Tupi. Tupi was punched then kicked and losing the fight. The boy also seemed to be crying and Tupi was getting hurt and confused. He was the one getting hit, why was they boy crying?

Tupi managed to grab the boy's hands and stop his from punching and Tupi grabbed him and managed to roll and mounted on top of the boy, grabbing his hands while sitting on him. Both the boy and Tupi himself was surprised he was able to pull off such a move. "Now, tell me what exactly is going on, slowly... I am here to listen and not here to hurt you."

The boy cried out loud. "I don't have a dad."

"Look, this is a serious thing you are saying." Tupi said. "What do you mean exactly?"

"I fucking lost my dad..." The boy said, and stared at Tupi seriously.

"So you dad is missing?" Tupi asked. "Are you living with your mom? Do you see your dad on weekends?"

"The roof was blown away and my dad is gone." The boy said. "My mom is also in the hospital now. Are you happy now?"

Tupi felt very emotional as well. He cried and hugged the boy. The boy hugged Tupi as well and it felt like they bonded instantly. Tupi lost his father at a young age and was brought up by his mother, and often was stubborn and had bad temper as well. He often felt the world was not fair to him and it took him years before he could rationalize what happened and mellowed down.

Justin parked his car and walked over and was not sure what to make of the situation. Tupi was just hugging the boy and both of them are crying. "Erm... are you ok?" Justin asked and Tupi waved Justin away.

The two of them must have cried for 10 minutes, but it felt like ages. "Is that your house?" Tupi asked and pointed at a badly damaged house with no roof. The boy nodded. "Are you living at the shelter?" Tupi asked and the boy shook his head. "Is your mom still at the hospital?" Tupi asked and the boy nodded.

Tupi followed the boy to his house and saw him cleaning up the mud and other damages but much of the house was destroyed. It was a miracle he was still alive.

"Don't worry, cleaning up can wait." Tupi said. "We can help you clean up and bring you to a shelter. Then take you to the hospital to see your mom... Do you have any siblings?"

The boy shook his head. "We are also going to the shelter, there are many people there. You can stay there for the night, and do you want to pack up?"

The boy walked over the rubble and entered his room and pack his clothes. The room was in a mess, but it had a roof and it does not seem badly damaged. The boy packed up and got into Justin's truck and they drove through the town and saw much more destruction before reaching an indoor sports arena which was used as a shelter. "We're here."

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