“Hey Toby, look at that freak,” Kenny whispered.
The kid that Kenny was pointing at was probably no more than eight or nine. He was sitting on the curb, drawing on the street with a piece of chalk; childish doodles very similar to one’s that Toby had drawn himself many times: Smiley faces, cartoon characters, random designs of his name (which apparently was Bruce). The scene could have been from a modern-day Norman Rockwell except for the blue-tinted scales that covered Bruce’s skin.
“Let’s have a little fun with him,” Kenny prodded.
“Nah.” Toby started drifting to the other side of the street. “I don’t feel like it right now.”
“Sure you do. “ Kenny picked up a rock from the road and flung it perfectly. It skidded right across one of the more artisticly-flaired ‘Bruce’s, causing the chalk to smear just enough to be hard to fix. “Awww, look. ‘Bruce’ is all messed up!”
Kenny cracked himself up. Toby just looked embarrassed. Bruce never flinched.
“What’s wrong, S-s-s-s-scaly? You got a forked tongue too?” Once Kenny got started, he was hard to stop.
“Let’s go,” Toby said. “He’s not gonna let you bother him and he’s not hurting anybody.”
Kenny didn’t even hear him. He grabbed Toby’s sleeve and started walking towards the kid, dragging Toby every step of the way. He finally stopped, his shadow lying right across Bruce’s art work.
“Did they have to spank you like a normal kid when you were born or did they just pull the egg shell pieces off of you?” Kenny was on a roll. Toby could see that it wasn’t going to get better and he turned and started to walk away.
Now Kenny had two targets. “You a freaking mutant lover, Toby?” Kenny kept his eyes on Bruce, but hurled his insults at Toby. “Does the sight of scales turn you on?”
Toby stopped in his tracks. “Leave him alone,” he whispered. “He didn’t choose this and neither did his parents. He’s got just as much right to be considered normal as you do, although that’s not saying much.” His voice started to pick up towards the end, but he still looked down at his feet as he kicked around some small pebbles.
Now Kenny turned. “Dang, you’re a freak too… having sympathy for a creature like that.” He pointed towards Bruce. “What’s wrong with you?”
Toby turned. Bruce was looking up now. His yellow, slitted eyes were starting to tear up.
“Nothing. I’m leaving.” Toby started to walk away hoping that Kenny would come with him. Suddenly, he knew Kenny was coming with him, or more directly, at him. He spun and with a force that could have been fueled with adrenaline, threw a punch that sent Kenny flying over Bruce.
Kenny lay in the yard behind Bruce, unmoving.
Toby began to run. He ran all the way down the street, through a yard and into the woods beyond. He kept running until he had topped small ridge.