The Man on the sidewalk: chapter 3

Brian looked into his mother’s casket. A living breathing person, reduced to a stranger in a box. Brian’s dad kissed his mother's forehead as he burst into tears. The rest of that day was a blur as Toad and Brian skipped past the memory as the greed and guilt was too much. Brian found himself staring at the Current bus driver who looked at him with sympathy as he found his seat. Luke patted Brian on his back doing his best to comfort him.

“Hey, are you doing okay?” Brian sighed trying to shake off the memory of that car ride. He looked at Luke sadly. He Was going to die one day, so was his dad. What was he going to do when that happened?

Toad sat down across from Brian he was wearing his odd face had slightly shaped itself with age. His large eyes fit more perfectly on his face, his large mouth seeming a little more natural. Truth be told, nothing really changed about Toad, it was more a feeling. He didn’t know why but something about Toad had become unevenly beautiful to Brian. Wait, beautiful? that didn’t make sense. Toad was a boy, he was a boy just like Bria. Boys don’t like boys.

Toad turned to Brian allowing his notebook to slip to the ground. Brian picked it up prepared to hand it to Toad. He noticed a small note written in the book.

“Meet me on the playground during lunch, DON’T EAT ANYTHING!” Brian nodded as he. Handed Toad the note. Luke looked at Toad and Brian.

”Hey, don’t leave me out.” Luke stammered Toad sigh. His large eyes glared at Brian wishing he was a little more subtle.

”Okay, Luke, you can come too.” Luke smiled proudly. The bus pulled to a stop as the teenagers stepped out one by one Trying to draw as little attention to themselves as possible.

Mrs. Forks was no longer the teacher. In her place was Mr. Hosa, Mr. Brackentosh, Mr. Hemmingway. Mrs. Smith, and Mrs. Luther none of which Brian recognized as he found himself shifting from teacher to teacher.

Brian had figured out that Mrs. Smith the English teacher liked him as did Mr. Hosa his PE teacher. Mrs. Luther, his math teacher put up with him, Mr. Hemmingway, his history teacher hated him and Mr. Brackentosh the economics teacher hated everyone, a feeling that the students shared as he wandered the halls at lunch harassing anyone wearing so much as a hat. Toad said he hated Brian slightly less but it was truly hard to tell as the man’s sour grimace burned into his head.

The bell for lunch rang. Brian made his way to the playground heading Toads advice about the cafeteria food. He learned one thing from that car ride. When Toad said not to do something it was for a specific reason. Much to Brian’s surprise Toad wasn't alone as he stood with a large group of people. Toad saw Brian grabbing his arm as he led him to the group.

”Good, you’re here! I rounded up as many people as I could, where’s Luke?” Brian shrugged

”why?” Toad shook his head, turning his attention to the group.

”Okay everyone, just one more person and we can-“ Brian looked around him as the playground changed into a pizzeria, the chattering of teenagers erupting from the crowd. Toad looked over to Luke who was playing the Jurassic Park game in the corner. He sighed, finally turning to Brian ready to answer his questions.

“Toad what’s going on? Who are all these people why did we?” Brian’s phone pinged the sound sending a chill up his spine as Toad’s terrified eyes looked at Brian’s phone. a multitude of other pings made their way through the group. Toad motion Brian to check his phone watching as Brian slowly pulled the phone out of his pocket.

An email from the school staff was displayed on his phone. Brian’s fear welled inside him as he read it.

”Due to an incident involving the cafeteria, we will be postponing school for the rest of the week.” Brian looked at Toad for answers.

”The lunch lady put oven cleaner in the food instead of vinegar by mistake. Everyone should be fine, or at least better off than they could be. Everyone here would have been a casualty. I’m just getting the people who would have died out, and Luke. He normally survives these types of things anyways though."

Brian looked across the swarm of people all blabbering about the incident. All of them unknowinly missing death by a hair. That’s when it dawned on Brian.

”Toad? All of these people were our classmates in elementary.” Toad nodded.

”and junior high, we kinda skipped over that school year, but trust me there in our class.” Brian’s face went pale his classmates were five seconds away from dying. Toad looked at Brian relieved before Brian turned to face him.

” Toad you said you’ve done this seven times right? Was I, you know”

”it normally depends on our relationship at the time. sometimes you die, sometimes you live and-“ Toad stopped himself, his face turning beat red. Brian looked at Toad confused.

”sometimes I what?” Toad shook his head. Staring out the window.

”Brian? Do you like me?” Brian nodded

”I guess, I mean, you're my friend.” Toad smiled as his eye met Brian’s.

”Then don’t worry about it, you're alive. That’s all that matters right now.”

The two walked to Toad's house after. To catch up on the knowledge he missed. Grabing a couple of bags of gummy worms from goodies. In the place of the torn down string was a rainbow flag and a flag with blue, pink, and yellow stripes covered in barbed wire, clearly there to deter whoever took it down before. Toad explained it was a trans flag as they made their way downstairs.

There they'd spend hours talking about economics. A subject, Toad said Brian always exceled at before this mess. Brian didn't really pay attention to the lesson. He found himself too busy staring at Toad. Once again being drawn to his eyes. Brian still couldn't explain it, there's nothing different. Still, it was as though he was slowly changing. Much like in the stories about the gross scary animal becoming a prince or princess.

Toad wasn't a prince though, Brian knew that. Why did he care so much about what Toad looked like? Toad was Toad, Toad was a guy, like Brian. Guys couldn’t like each other. His dad told him that, but Toad’s moms liked each other. Did that make it okay? Toad looked at Brian his eyes lingering before saying something.

"you doing okay? you've been staring off into space for a while." Brian glared at Toad leaving his current confusion at the train station.

"I'm not staring off into space YOU ARE!" Toad looked at brian exhausted.

"Okay, what did I just say?" Brian Laughed attempting to hide his cluelessness.

"The economic crisis in the 30s was caused by the inflation of tulip bulb purchases." Toad smacked Brian on the back of his head grasping his controller in his hands.

"Dude, we're playing Mario Kart! we talked about that stuff YESTERDAY!" Brian looked down at his remote, somewhat ashamed. He forgot how quickly time could pass here. They already went through two days and Brian hadn’t even noticed. Toad's face softened as he realized his friend wasn't in the mood for their normal banter.

"hey, you know, we're getting older, I'd estimate we'll be around 21 next."

"so?" Brian muttered, Toad stood up motioning Brian to follow him as they made their way to the cupboard.

"SO, we should get some practice and try some things out before we get there. just so it's not too much of a culture shock for you." Brian stared at the cupboard remembering what Toad's mom said.

"no..." Toad nodded ready to blow Brian's mind

"oh, HELL YEAH!" Toad swung open the cupboard revealing the bottles of alcohol. Brian looked at the cupboard with both excitement and terror running through him. Toad took a bottle of wine with his name written in sharpie. before turning to Brian.

"We're gonna have one HELL of a FFFUUUCCCKING ride JACKASS." Brian gasped Toad had just said three things he wasn't supposed to say in one sitting. Toad smiled at Brian’s shocked face pouring himself a glass of wine as he did his best snobby-sounding voice.

"I thought this would be best, I mean you go to church, right? you know what wine is. Plus it’s not as strong as most drinks." Brian watched Toad pour the glass each red drop playing another note of the song that would play at Brian’s funeral if he got caught.

"I can't do this, don't you remember that school assembly? drugs are bad!" Toad rolled his eyes.

“Alcohol isn't a drug, addictive, but not a drug. If it was, my moms would be arrested for having a whole cupboard dedicated to it."

"But it’s addictive, addictive things are bad, man. it makes you sad... and gives you liver cancer." Brain whimpered as he looked at the glass. Toad sighed

"In excessive amounts, think of it like... candy, yeah, you like candy right? well, candy's addictive which is why everyone says not to eat too much. If you do it ruins your teeth. Simply put, Alcohol is an adult candy that messes your brain up for a bit. No you probley shouldn't be drinking it in the first place, but as long as you are extremely careful not to drink around people you don't know, and don't drink to much it shouldn't be a problem." Brian gave Toad a judgeing look Toad sighed putting the bottle down. before continueing his lecture.

"It's not a big deal. I even made sure to get one with as little alcohol as possible." Brian glared at Toad.

"DON'T PEER PRESSURE ME!!!" Toad opened his mouth ready to argue, quickly closing it as he realized that was exactly what he was doing.

"Sorry man, you don't have to drink any. It's probly best to go slow. We'll just start small. ease into it, absorb it into our skin like sponges. I'm still gonna drink though." Brian nodded in reluctant agreement pushing the bottle away from Toad for safety. Toad took out his phone.

"What are you doing?" brian asked. Toad smiled looking up at him.

"I'm googling as many swear words as I can. I mean adults swear all the time. we gotta be prepared to retaliate." Brian nodded in agreement

"you’re right, if someone calls me a bad word I want to know what the HELL they're saying!" Toad smiled excitedly as the results popped up on the screen. Brian learned so many words that day.

words like "FUCK"

or "DICK"

passive ones like "ASS"

and aggressive ones that were too horrible to say or even hear.

He also learned ones he could never say even if he wanted to.

Even ones from other countries like che cazzo which meant "what a COCK!", and guītóu which translated to turtlehead, also known as a penis. Brian and Toad spent the day learning more words as they watched the most violent R-rated shows they could think of. Brian felt like his brain was going to fry as he watched a woman get chopped to pieces. Brian screamed at Toad to turn it off not ready to see death right now. Toad panicked, he turned off the tv apologizing as he held a crying Brian.

Brian clutched onto Toad his suppressed trauma making its way forward as his mom's death flashed in front of him. The near-death of his classmates sitting in his mind, the eventual death of the people he cared about. Brian looked at Toad, he‘s been through this seven times. Brian didn’t think about it before. Toads watched the people around him die SEVEN TIMES. Toad turned on Mega mind hoping to wash away the taste of the other movie.

"I'm sorry, I keep forgetting your new at this." Toad said sympathetically. Brian nodded as he looked down, processing his current state.

"do they really swear that much? Is it really that awful out there?" Toad shook his head frantically.

"No, Bri- It’s really not as bad as that film, I mean you're not going to see THAT HAPPENING... at least not like THAT. No, that came out wrong! It’s not the adult world isn’t like that. I'm sorry I was just," Toad stopped himself almost keeping himself from crying a sight. Brian had never seen Toad cry before. He didn't even think it was physically possible for him to cry. Brian dared to ask more questions.

"you were just, what?" Toad shook his head rubbing his tears away.

"never mind, your not ready for that yet, not after your mom, you know. Not to mention the school thing. we'll talk about it some other time." Brian felt his body move close to Toad's face Brian had seen this in the movies. The boy kisses the girl. should he do it? should he kiss Toad?

The girls in every movie he watched would stop being sad after the guy kissed them, But Toad wasn't a girl, he was a guy. Did that even work with guys? Kissing him might make things worse.

It was too late though, Brian had barely finished his thought when Brian's and Toad's lips met. Toad kissed brian back he'd have to admit it wasn't like the movies but Brian found himself able to pull away from the enjoyable experience. Toad pushed brian back suddenly grabbing his arms. Toad looked up at him.

"I'm sorry we shouldn't do that yet." Brian looked at Toad confused

"why not." Toad sighed his face slightly going red.

"I want to fill that knowledge gap first, even though we're physically and mentally the same age there's still A LOT you don't know about a healthy relationship. we need to talk about things like consent, and protection. I mean you did miss sex ed. There's a lot you don't know about, that." Brian didn't quite understand but accepted Toad’s answer pulling back, he really hoped he could kiss Toad again someday. Toad turned the show back on the two watching for hours before watching space jam. Both of them blushing as they pretended the kiss never happened.

Brian felt a chill go up his spine as Michel Jordan's eyes met his almost as to acknowledge Brian's existence as his arm stretched to the net. An odd feeling of fear filled Brian's soul as he watched. he didn't have to ponder on that fear as a long black rope looped around porky pig's neck dragging him into the sky never to be seen again.

Toad lurched back as he watched with Brian as the screen went black. Toad looked at Brian quickly grabbing his arm and pulling him upstairs.

“it’s happening again!” the floor below them began to fall reviling the white of the tunnel.

Brian felt as one of the ropes wrapped around his ankle barely pulling himself free as the two made it to the top of the stairs. Toad ran to the dining room pulling Brian into a circle drawn on the ground. the Ropes burned as they approached the circle screaming in pain as they circled the two waiting for them to leave.

Toad's breathing got heavier as he watched the ropes grasping Brian tightly. he sighed an almost frantic look on his face. The look of someone scared of what came next.

"Brian, I, I didn't want to do this, hell, I didn't even want to talk about this but, we don't have any other ways out. our only chance is..." Toad searched his pockets eventually pulling out two tiny capsules. Brian looked at them realization dawning upon him as his brain relived a conversation with his dad.

"How are sleeping pills going to help." Toad looked down somewhat scared to explain.

"Well, remember what I said earlier, about things resetting? If we were to, say, die, we could get out." Brian looked at Toad the realization of death hitting him once more. Brian shook his head.

"I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" Toad grabbed brian's arm making sure he stayed in the circle.

"It's not like we're actually dieing. Brian if these things get us we're dead, FOR REAL! Not just us, everyone who died up to now is gone for good! look, that's what the pills are for, so you don't feel it. you gotta trust me on this." Brian eyed the pills debating if he should take them. He trusted Toad, how couldn’t he after save Brian’s life. Brian reluctantly took one of the pills. Toad swallowed his capsule sitting himself on the ground as he began to lose consness.

"See you on the other side." Toad managed to blubber as he closed his eyes. With that, Toad was out cold. Brian looked around at the chaos around him. The ropes formed a cacoon around the circle closing off any means of escape. Toad was right, Brian didn't have a choice, there was no other way out. Brian put the pill in his mouth struggling to swallow it as he closed his eyes the screams of his parents echoing from outside trying to coax him out.

Brian sat himself down next to Toad as the world shifted around him. The tunnel showing up once more as Brian desperately looked for a means out. A small hand stuck itself through the wall. Brian ran towards it quickly grabbing the hand as the Tunnel zoomed towards him.

Brian opened his eyes. He was a junior higher again, his beard was gone. the looney toons cartoon played as Toad sat next to him breathing heavily. The cartoon ended, the large orange circle appeared waiting for Porky Pig to say his classic catchphrase. Porky didn't come on screen, as though he never existed in the first place. Toad’s body shook with fear as he downed a Mountain Dew they grabbed for the show.

A woman made her way downstairs dressed in a police uniform with her raven black hair tied back in a messy bun. Toad turned around an odd relief coming over his face. Not just relief, happiness.

"Hey, Deceptacon!" the woman smiled as her eyes met Toads.

"Hey, how was your day at school?" Toad's second mom asked

“It was fine I invited Brian over.” Toad responded. Brian felt an odd feeling of Deja Vue as Toad's other mom looked them up and down.

"you feeling okay? you both look really pale." Toad and Brian nodded hiding the horrors they had just experienced. The doorbell rang, Brian looked upstairs as Toad went to open the door. Brian's mama's face appearing on the other side.

Brian ran towards her hugging her. His mama stared at him confused. His mom's speech slurred as she repeated her spiel from last time. this time her tone was slightly calmer.

"Mama, can I sleepover?" Brian's mama shook her head.

"no, we don't want to be a problem-"

"oh it’s no problem at all, Brian's a very nice boy." Toad's other mom said as she followed the kids upstairs. Brian's mama hesitated swaying a little as she looked between the children.

"Alright, fine, I'll call dad, he can grab your things." Toad gave brian a thumbs up. that night was spent at Toad’s house. The two laughed as they prank-called their future teacher’s phone numbers, and muttered their newly learned swears. Brian looked at Toad who clearly hadn’t quite recovered from the experience.

“Hey, how far have you made it? In your other loops. Did you get to adulthood?” Toad nodded his face turning pale at the question.

”three times.” Toad responded focusing on the tv.

“what was it like?” Brian asked Toad looked at Brian doing his best to smile.

” it’s kind of disappointing, to be honest.” Toad yawned snuggling himself into his sleeping bag.

“We should get to sleep, tomorrow I can introduce you to our other junior high classmates.”

”don’t we become high schoolers tomorrow?” Brian asked Toad shook his head.

”Nah, that only happens if your mom dies in the crash. she’s okay now so we have a bit more time to be junior highers.” Brian tucked himself in. After high school, he felt odd looking at Toad’s now child-like face. Brian closed his eyes, preparing best he could for the next day.