When You're Gone (South Park)

Chapter Six (Part Two of Two)

The sound of shattered glass sounded throughout the house. The rain outside made the skies dark and grey, a fitting setting to the mood in the McCormick household that day. Five year old Kenny McCormick sat huddled in the corner of his bedroom, his four year old sister Karen clinging to his arm. They could hear the faint sounds of their parents arguing and items being thrown and broken. Karen whimpered and buried her face into Kenny's chest, crying softly. Her crying settled down to a few whimpers when the house fell silent. There was no sign of life coming from the house in any form, and at this thought, Kenny grew worried. He gently pried his sister's hands off his arm and stood up out of the corner they'd nestled themselves into.
"Stay here, Karen." He ordered to his little sister. The four year old nodded, fear apparent in her chestnut eyes. Kenny closed the bedroom door quietly behind him as he headed down the dark hall into the living room area. He looked around at the completely deserted living room. Beer cans were scattered around the small space and trash littered the floor. Kenny moved on into the kitchen, where he noticed the pile of broken glass from where presumably his dad had smashed a window out of anger. As he looked around the kitchen some more, he didn't notice the angry figure of Stuart McCormick coming in through the back door.
"What the hell are you doin' in here?!" Stuart slurred, his country accent only partially noticeable with the way his words slurred together. Little Kenny jumped, startled, and turned around to face his father. Kenny saw that Stuart looked angry, and that made him a little nervous.
"Daddy? W-where's Mommy...?" Kenny asked, his five year old mind not comprehending the anger in Stuart's behavior. Stuart growled in frustration and before the boy knew what was happening, he found himself thrown against the kitchen cupboard. Sharp pain shot through the boy's body as the handle dug into his back and his head hit the door. Stuart held tightly onto his son, his eyes burning with fury.
"D-daddy?" Kenny asked, his eyes watering in pain. Stuart seemed to grow even angrier.
"Shut up, Kenneth!" The man then proceeded to throw his son to the hard laminate floor, once again having the boy hit his head against the hard surface. Kenny's entire body was shaking. He didn't know what he'd done to make his father so angry.
"Daddy, I'm sorry!" He tried to get through to his father, to make the punishment stop. Stuart snarled and punched the boy in the face. Blood leaked from his nose and Kenny began to cry softly. He stood up quickly and ran from the room, leaving Stuart fuming in the middle of the kitchen.

A few days later, he turned six. Seeing as the McCormicks couldn't afford a big birthday party for Kenny, the boy was left to celebrate on his own. His mother had gone to her book club with the other moms in the town, and his father had gone to the bar with the other dads in town. His older brother Kevin was spending the night as his friend's house and Karen had gone to the park with the Tucker family. Kenny was left alone, so he decided to walk around and see if any of his friends wanted to play. He locked the front door as best as he could before heading into town. He smiled as he approached a little green house, in front of which all of his friends were playing. Eric Cartman, the little boy who lived in the green house, was playing with a large yellow Tonka truck, making hazard sounds with his mouth and scooping up dirt with a mini shovel to put in his truck. Kyle Broflovski, a little redheaded Jewish boy, was crawling around on his hands and knees, pushing a red fire truck toy. Kyle's best friend, Stanley Marsh, was in the same position as Kyle, pushing a red and blue toy ambulance in close proximity to the fire truck. Both Stan and Kyle were imitating the sound of sirens as they played with their trucks.
"Hi, guys!" Kenny greeted. Stan and Kyle looked up from their trucks and smiled when they saw their friend.
"Hi, Kenny! Wanna play with us?" Stan asked. Kenny looked down at the ground.
"Oh, well, I don't have any trucks or anything like that..." He began. Kyle stood up slowly, leaving the fire truck on the grass.
"That's okay, I have spares. Here, you can play the firemen." Kyle offered. It wasn't until then that Cartman finally spoke.
"Yeah, because Jews can't be firemen." Kyle turned to Cartman angrily.
"Shut up, fatass!" He yelled. Cartman stood up so he was face to face with Kyle.
"Don't call me fat, you stupid Jew!" Kyle huffed before turning away and running home to get a spare truck for himself. Kenny sat down where Kyle had been previously seated and slowly began to push the fire truck back and forth. Kyle eventually came back with a toy police truck, which Cartman later threw a fit about because "Jews can't be policemen either!" The boys played until the sun began to set behind the clouds. Stan and Kyle gathered up their trucks and said goodbye before heading to their respective homes for dinner. Cartman took his Tonka truck and headed inside for dinner as well. That left Kenny to make the semi-long walk home by himself. Karen had been invited to stay the night at the Tuckers with Ruby so Kenny was left alone with his parents. Once they finished with Kenny's birthday dinner (which consisted of blueberry poptarts and flat cans of Dr. Pepper), Stuart stood from the table and ordered Kenny to follow him to Kenny's bedroom. Kenny was baffled and confused but followed nonetheless. He became nervous when he entered his room only to hear Stuart lock the door. Kenny could see the crazed look in his eyes as the young boy backed away.
He yelped as his legs hit the end of his mattress, making him fall onto his back on top of the dirty old mattress. He watched in horror as Stuart grabbed the waistband of Kenny's jeans and yanked them down to the boys ankles. He then proceeded to do the same with Kenny's parka and shirt, discarding them onto the floor. Kenny began to cry silently as he realized what was about to happen, and it seemed he couldn't stop it.

Kenny kept what had happened on his birthday a complete secret. He didn't want anyone to know; he was afraid that if word got out, his father would only do it again. When they returned to preschool after the long weekend, Kenny's friends remained oblivious to their parka-clad friend's secret. They didn't need to know. They probably wouldn't even know what rape was at this young of an age anyway. He knew the bruises would eventually fade, the physical evidence would go away over time, but the emotional and mental pain, he knew, was there to stay.

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Kenny wiped at his eyes as more tears began to fall. Butters was in the same state, now holding onto Kenny's hand for dear life.
"Kenny...how come you never told us?" Butters asked, tears still refusing to cease. Kenny sniffed and looked at him.
"I was too ashamed, Butters. You gotta understand, what I went through back then, it was awful. I felt used and I felt worthless. I didn't understand why my father hit me all the time, I didn't understand why he got off raping his six year old son, I didn't understand at the time. I was six years old, and I was afraid. I thought that as long as I always wore my parka, no one would ever have to know. I know, I should've told someone. But it's too embarrassing, Butters." Kenny spilled. Butters hugged his boyfriend tightly.
"Is that why you're so obsessed with sex? You want to try and forget your real first time, so you try to find someone to fill that void and give you a real first time?" Butters wondered. Kenny looked at him, shocked.
"Wow...you know me better than my own friends do." Butters sighed and hugged Kenny even tighter. Kenny hugged back and sighed. He needed to tell someone with authority...but who?