As the boys walked further from the alleyway, in the presumed "direction" of the town's park, the lighting got a bit better. Lamp posts after a few minutes began to go from dark, to barely lit, to a fair brightness, making their way a little better.
"Jeez," Sam grumbles, looking around as he kept close to Levy. "Even with the lamp posts, this place is almost like a freaking ghost town."
"Yeah, no kidding," Kendall replies, his voice muffled from his jacket. The other two remained quiet, but it was easy to tell that Levy agreed by the expression he wore on his face. Derick's was unreadable though- bore a straight-face - making it harder to deem his agreeable or not.
"How long do you think this might take?" Levy groans, his eyes staring at the back of Derick's brunette head. Derick doesn't reply, leaving the redhead in an even worse irritable mood, grumbling to himself as he began to look around as well.
When minutes passed, the lights that used to be clustered now became spread out, meaning the lamp posts were in unevenly positioned areas. Levy noticed this, but it took a lot in him not to grumble about that too. He looked to his dark shoes, almost matching the colour of the hard cement below.
"It should be a few minutes now," Derick finally says, and Levy looked up to see them at an entrance to a small park. It was mostly littered with trees and the common snow, with a fairly sized playground that took over a few yards from the entrance. The playground was comprised of a large twisting slide, a teetertater, a swing set, monkey bars, and sand pit, with three shadowed figures taking the seats of the swingset, while a lone shadow was perched on the bottom of the slide. A single lamp post resided to the side of the playground, but the figure's identitis were hard to see from a distance, even if it could've been light out.
"This is it?" Sam inquires, raising a brow.
Derick nods. "These are our men." The brunette walks over, his footsteps from the grass then to the crunching sound of bark chips, gaining the figures' attention. Each of them looked in his direction, faces unclear and unreadable even from the distance closed because of Derick.
After a few seconds of hesitation, Levy, Sam, and Kendall stepped forward to join him, reaching him quickly. When they had passed where the light post was and were in a near proximity of the swing set, Kendall was the first to register the faces.
The three on the swing set were male, while the one on the slide he couldn't figure out.
"You the ones we're meeting?" Derick questions, eyes set on the closest figure. They nodded their head to his question. Derick nods as well, though more in self-reassurance.
"We've got a small collection," Derick starts, strolling closer before leaning against one of the poles of the swing set. "Got the cash?"
All three nod, turning and producing an uncertain amount of bills from their pockets. A slight smirk curves onto Derick's lips, nodding to himself a little before turning to Kendall. "Kendall, got the mags?"
"Yes, sir," the blonde says jokingly with a grin, stepping towards them and openning his jacket to reveal around five to six different magazines hiding in a large secret pocket. "Brought a variety for different interests."
One of them got up, nearing Kendall before the blonde stuck his arm out in defense, mocking an "Ah-ah!" He got a look of the surely now-registered male, seeing dark brown locks with matching dark eyes and porcelain coloured skin. The boy was shorter than Kendall, and wore a green sweater with large sleeves and ripped jeans. He liked his style, though Kendall couldn't quite understand the fashion choice as it was rather cold for ripped jeans in this cold season.
Levy and Sam watched from behind, exchanging glances with each other as their friends began the exchange of cash and magazines. "How do you think he got the video?" Sam finally asks in a hushed tone, before getting elbowed in the side by the redhead. The ravenette let out a short hiss of pain, glaring at his friend while rubbing the spot on his arm. "The hell was that for?"
"Don't discuss it here," Levy whispers, glancing at him with sharp eyes before looking back at the brunette and blonde. They seemed to have finished the exchange as Derick was stringing through dollar bills with a satisfied look and the three males holding magazines. One of the two left boys had hazel eyes and ginger hair that fell around his face, wearing a gray jacket and jeans, while the other had cropped dirty blonde hair and dark blue eyes, wearing a flannel underneath a sweater with dark pants, and was the tallest of the trio. Levy's eyes narrowed slightly, noticing the flaw of the setting.
"Where's the third one?" He asks, getting the five's attention. They gave him weird looks, as he added, "Your friend, the one on the slide."
The dirty blonde with blue eyes seemed to have been dawned with something of a memory click, his eyes slightly widening before turning his gaze in the direction of the slide. Levy and the others looked that way as well, and the slide was still inhabited by the unaddressed figure. The boy looked back, a slight smile springing to his lips.
"Ah, that's one of our friends," he says, who earns an interested look from Dereck.
"'Friend', you say?" Derick says, grinning. "Would he perhaps be interested in buying?"
"She," the boy corrects, earning a slight embarrassed look from Derick, before chuckling a little. "And no, she isn't interested in this kind of stuff. She came more to make sure nothing 'dirty' went on."
"I can make things 'dirty' if she's interested," Kendall says, wiggling his eyebrows in the direction of the 'female' shadow. The boys laughed at that, but shook their heads.
"She's more likely to kick you in the balls than do that," the boy with the large sleeves said, grinning as he held his magazine close to his chest. Levy looked from the five to the shadow again, seeing 'her' not to have moved an inch. His eyes narrowed slightly at her, but he couldn't tell if what her reaction was. Or if she had one at all.
"So how many magazines do you have right now?" Sam asked Derick when the four managed to catch a bus that was heading back to their hometown. The ravenette watched as Derick thumbed through the remaining magazines that Kendall had given him. The brunette boy furrowed his eyes at the issues, but looked up to Sam.
"We have about four magazines on hand at the moment," Derick states, before his eyes glanced up as if his was counting invisible numbers. "And we have about thirty-something in stock at my house, so we still have a bit to go before I let you guys off the hook."
"'The hook'?" Levy asks, his face showing confusion. He was sat next to Sam, as Kendall sat next to Derick. The same seating arrangement as before. "Dude, you blackmailed us in into this crap. You're acting like we're some kind of mafia, and us two signed some kind of 'contract' that pledged our souls to this or something!"
"First of all," Derick replies, his right index finger up to count off a list, "you were being redundant, using 'some kind of' numerous times."
"Now is not the time for a grammar lesson, Cartman," Levy growls, but Derick ignores him as he continues.
"And second, this is blackmail," Derick says calmly, grinning slightly as he stretches his arms out for emphasis. "You guys did something stupid, I got proof of it, and now you two are my little puppets until I feel like disposing you!"
"You're a real asshole, Cartman," Levy snaps at him, to which the brunette cackles.
"I know I am!"
"Then why the hell is Kendall here?" Sam asks curiously, jerking a thumb in the blonde's direction. Derick clams his laughter, his smile gone and replaced with a subtle frown. He shrugs, glancing to the blonde who was preoccupied with one Oh f his own retro magazines.
"He came for the exchange of pornos."
"Ah."
The four went quiet, their thoughts keeping them preoccupied as the bus ride went on. Levy would occasionally glance over to Derick, eyes narrowed on him before looking away. Derick had stuffed his hands in his hoodie pockets, and looked as if he was beginning to doze off to sleep. Kendall was caught up with his magazine, most of the lower half of his face covered by the large collar of his ocean blue parka. Sam's attention was directed towards the window, the scenery outside dark and the lights from the bus making it so he could see his reflection the most. A half hour passed when they reached South Park, tired and dozing off(save for Kendall), but got off with heavy steps around the same place they had gotten on.
"Think your mom's going to be pissed, Derick?" Levy asks as they reached his yard, him, Sam, and Kendall picking up their own bikes to head off home.
Derick let out a snort, glancing to the redhead. "If she's awake. I'll see you guys later."
Levy and Sam waved goodbye, riding off to their homes and leaving Kendall behind with his bike, standing in Derick's front yard as the brunette male began to head over to his front door. There, Kendall spoke up, his voice catching Derick's attention to make him look over, hand already on the doorknob.
"You were lying back there, weren't you?"
Derick could see from the distance that even though Kendall's parka collar covered up to his nose, he swore he could see a smile on the blonde's lips. Derick and Kendall met eyes, a mute conversation between them with only their eyes. Everything was quiet, save for the familiar sounds that went on in the mountain town. Even if it was quiet between them, even if part of it was the truth, Derick's eyes gave his answer. And Kendall smiled more at it, turning and mounting his bike as he got on.
"I'll see you later, Cartman," the blonde says over his shoulder, riding off in the opposite direction that Sam and Levy had gone in. Derick's eyes remained on his back before he vanished into the darkness, leaving him all alone. He looked away, eyes on the door as he slowly turned the knob.
"See you," he mumbled quietly to no in particular, letting himself in and closing the door behind him. The house was silent, no lights on except for the one in the kitchen. He could tell because he could see the kitchen from the hallway that led to the front door. He tiptoed quietly to the archway that led into the kitchen, looking in to see his mother at the table. She was sitting with her hands covering her face, shoulders rising and sinking in sync with her back in slow movements. Not like she was crying; more so as if she was asleep. And knowing his mother wasn't the heaviest sleeper, Derick crept away and towards the stairway, careful to evade the creaky steps as he went up.
Reaching the top of the stairway, Derick froze when hearing loud typing coming from the room closest to him. Derick glanced in its direction, his brows furrowed in a confused manner. He's still working? He pondered, before heading to his bedroom opposite his father's office. The door was open a crack and dark inside, and after closing the door behind him he flicked the light switch on. His bedroom was illuminated, showing the things he had there. His bed that bore a red bedspread with a skull print on it and white pillows stood in the far corner, with his desk right beside it that homed his laptop, various school books and action figures. A bookcase that stood at the end of his bed that homed various things other than books. Various other things stood, but they were neglected as Derick trudged to his closet, pulling out night clothes and getting dressed into them. He flipped the lights off, heading to his bed and tucking himself in. He hadn't noticed the sudden stop of the clicking keyboard, nor the familiar buzz of the South Park night.
Kendall stared up at the ceiling of his bedroom, arms crossed beneath his head as he pondered quietly. Not about anything in particular; just random things. His thoughts dwelled on the events that had just taken place, and his blue eyes searched and trailed the cracks in his ceiling from paint chipping. His bedroom was quiet, but he could hear his parents talking downstairs. The walls and floors were thin enough to hear through, and he'd often stop what he was doing just to listen in on them. Most were of unimportant stuff that hed quickly tune out, but some would catch his ears. Tonight's was no different.
He had came in while his mother was wondering pit loud where he's been all day and half the night, while his father would just reassure her that he was probably out doing guy stuff with friends. Stuff that he as a child did, most likely. So you guys selled stuff like magazines? He wondered now, remembering as he hadn't been heard and been able to sneak up the stairs to his bedroom fast.
Now that he thought about it, Kendall didn't know all that much about his father than he thought he did. Sure, his father told him stories from his and his mother's childhoods, but other than that, he didn't know much else. Hell, once he tried looking for a photo album and hadn't been able to find a single one. Why'd I want to in the first place? He wondered, though he couldn't remember the reason. The blonde turned on his side, his eyes focused on his closed door as the conversation seemed to cease. When nothing else was heard, Kendall returned to laying on his back, his eyes closing as he began to doze off. Earlier he had changed into sleep wear, which consisted mostly of sweats and a different tee-shirt, so if his parents decided to come and "check up" on him, he could easily turn off his lamp light and pretend like he's been asleep.
"Maybe I should ask him," Kendall finally whispered to himself, the thought of his father's childhood beginning to gnaw at him in curiosity. With this single-minded agreement, he nodded to himself, turning slightly and turning off his light, before turning completely to face the wall. But as much as he would doze off, Kendall knew it'd take almost half an hour till he'd actually be asleep. That was the misfortune he was dealt with since birth: his mind would jump from various topics, making it difficult to fall asleep with an eased mind. Kendall mindlessly dragged his forefinger against the wall, his finger trailing against the chipped paint of the wall that could be described as blemishes to an otherwise clear room.
Then his mind went back to when he stood in Derick's lawn, and the silent answer Derick's eyes gave him to the question Kendall had asked. And he smiled slightly at that, because he smiled then as well when receiving it. You really can be a true ass, Derick, he thought with a grin, his eyes sliding close as he bore his face closer into his pillow. But I can see through those walls you like to put up for a show; all four of us can.
"Care to explain yourself, young man?"
Levy looked down as his blonde mother began to lecture him about staying out so late, and coming back without a care for his safety. The same crap and lecture he got like usual when this happened.
"Bebe, let me handle it." Levy looked up when hearing his father, seeing as he smiled to Levy's mother with a hand on her shoulder, before she nodded and left to tend to something in the laundry room. That left him and his father standing in the hallway that led to the front door, Sam standing in the partially closed doorway. Levy felt his father's green eyes on him, and Levy had gone back to looking at the ground before his father spoke up. "Sam, go home now. Stan and Wendy are most likely worried." Sam nodded quietly, whispering a quick goodbye to his friend before leaving, closing the door behind him. Levy looked back up at his father, meeting his eyes and seeing a soft smile on the older male's lips. "Derick and Kendall too?"
Levy nodded in clarification, smiling sheepishly before feeling his father ruffle his hair, messing with the slicked back hair into the more curled fashion he was originally born with. He let out a whine, swatting his father's hand away and gaining a small laugh from him as well. He patted his head, saying, "Go on and get ready for bed. We'll see you in the morning."
With a quick nod, Levy hurried up the stairs, heading into his room and getting himself ready for bed. Before he tucked himself in, he used the landline in his room to call and check up on Sam, seeing how his luck went. A few rings were heard when the usual 'not able to answer the phone' message came on the other line, and Levy scowled as he hung up. Chances were, with a mother like Sam's, he'd probably be grounded for the next month and a half. If he was still alive by the time Levy saw him next, that is. With a heavy sigh, he turned away from his desk, heading to his bed with the weight of the recent events light on his shoulders.