Cerebro

With the beauty of sunrise long gone but the warmth of the day not quite settling, it was time for the Knack boys to head to school. Emerging into the early morning spring breeze the first figure departing was 7-year-old Daniel Knack. With a spring of his own in his step, Daniel took to the streets with a light-foot and a skip, already seemingly caught in his own game of dodging parts of the pavement, following rules of his own design. Keeping a watchful yet tired eye on the youngster, 17-year-old Zack Knack followed his brother out on their daily trek to face the day. While both of them came equipped with shaggy brown hair and matching emerald eyes. Zack had always thought these features suited his younger brother more than him, as Daniel wore them with a mousy cuteness only a child has. Meanwhile the elder brother had been hit hard by puberty leaving him with lanky long features that contrasted with his slight build. Together the Knack brothers made their way out of the suburban outskirts of the city and closed in on their school district. As they neared Daniel’s school, Zack had been very much caught up in his own day-dreaming before being pulled out of his stupor by his brother. Hesitating. Daniel had gone from babbling comfortably to tugging at a thread on his jersey. Right as they neared the gates of his school.

“What’s up Danny?” Zack began, “you’re not cold are you?”

There was no way since this morning was warmer than it had been in weeks. And despite this he could see goosebumps forming on his brother’s arm. Daniel took a moment to chew on the top of his lip before shaking his head as a response.

“Convincing stuff,” Zack said but making his smile warm. “Are you sure you’re alright? Ready to go in there?”

“I’m fine,” Daniel replied a little too quickly. “Just…cold. Like you said. Bye!”

Without much else than a panicked glance backwards Daniel tumbled on his way leaving Zack standing alone on the sidewalk. It wasn’t too hard to deduce what was going on but the reason did leave a pit in Zack’s stomach. It was a bullet he had hoped Daniel would dodge but from his experience one that was inevitable. Daniel had a bully. Zack held his gaze on the elementary school he had once attended and got lost in memories for a moment. Memories that weren’t all together pleasant. Deciding to take his time and take a quick stroll before heading to Blackbeck High, he made a sharp turn and got to walking. Zack Knack, mostly for necessity, was an introverted young man. Mind cast back, he thought about Daniel’s school he once attended. It hadn’t always been that way. In elementary school he had been quite sociable but that had all been shaken up after he met…

“Zaaaackie.”

Her. Zack didn’t even glance in her direction but he knew Mimi Cole was striding up towards him. Pretty, perfect and toxic, Mimi had been Zack’s tormentor and bully for years. Because of this Zack had taken to calling her ‘Minx’. Immediately Zack turned back the way he came and began a hurried stride away, now heading straight for school. More witnesses there, for what it was worth. A vindictive smile crossing her face, Mimi zeroed in on her target and paced towards the fleeing Zack. Black hair, leather jacket and dark skin all paired with a stylish pair of light blue jeans with pink lipstick and nails. She’d recently put a splash of dyed pink in the front of her hair to complete the ensemble. In a moment of curiosity Zack had asked a teacher if dyed hair was allowed in the Blackbeck High dress code. She replied ‘under no circumstances’ before turning to Mimi and complimenting her jacket. The Minx kept her pursuit as Zack picked up his pace, using her long legs and athletic prowess to close the gap, like a lioness chasing down a sad and possibly wounded gazelle.

“Hello Minx,” Zack muttered half-heartedly, walking even faster away from Mimi. Cutting through alleys and side-streets he quickly made it into the crowds of arriving school teens. He tried to slip into the crowd but his adversary slipped closer and kept her eyes on him.

“Oh come on Zackie, you’re not gonna play? I had this whole plan and agenda of things going on today. I can promise it’s quite the scheme.”

“Glad to ruin it.”

“Oh feeling sassy today are we? Love that. Let’s see if you can keep up that spirit.”

By this point Mimi had caught up with Zack, Zack having nearly run out of breath from a quick-speed walk. Just as the pair had reached the school gates, Mimi reached an arm around Zack’s neck and placed him into a faux headlock, squeezing at his head.

“Well don’t worry about it Zackie, you being grumpy doesn’t ruin the surprise. Hell it’ll probably make it more fun if anything! Catch you later, gorgeous.”

She winked at him and released him from her hold, giving him a slight push as she did. He stumbled forward and barely regained his balance as Mimi strolled confidently past him with a laugh. Zack sighed as he watched her pass into the school’s entrance. It was going to be a long day.

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Time ticked on slowly as Zack constantly peeked at the clock with more mounting misery by the minute. Every moment built anticipation as Zack constantly caught sideways glances and smirks from Mimi that she wasn’t even trying to hide. He had no idea what she was planning and all he knew was that he had no way to prevent it. He’d tried everything in the past and yet things always seemed to go Mimi’s way. Even when he tried to get teachers or his old friends on his side they all just seemed drawn to Mimi’s magnetic personality. As the years wore on Zack had been left isolated and defeated as she spent her days batting at him like a cat playing with a cornered mouse. Toying with him but never fully taking him out, lest she end her own fun. Morning turned to lunch turned to afternoon and the looks and grins from Mimi turned to shoves and trips in the halls. Her classic ways of building up to something like a drumroll of torment. Finally it all came to a head and in Zack’s most dreaded class as well. Physical Education. It was the second to last class of the day and Zack practically had to drag himself to it. There was a split second where he considered just leaving, ditching school for the afternoon and just heading home. But that would just delay the inevitable and he never was one for running from his problems. Plus he wouldn’t know the first thing about ditching school anyway and the idea of it almost gave him as much anxiety as whatever torture awaited him. Sun shining proudly but with an early-spring chill in the air, the school fields were pristine other than some small patches where mud hadn’t completely dried out from the previous night’s rainfall.

Pristine if you ignore the mud. Zack thought. Sounds like my time at Blackbeck high.

Lost in these thoughts and dragging his feet, Zack was one of the last to arrive.

“Alright, alright everyone,” Mrs Shore began as the last few stragglers quietened themselves. “We have a few lessons of downtime until we start our gymnastics unit so what do you guys wanna do today? Dodgeball? Soccer?”

There was a murmur from the riff-raff but when Mimi spoke, everyone listened. As usual.

“How about Gridiron? That’d be fun and the field is mostly dry and it’s been ages since we did something with proper contact.” While phrased as a question it was really a statement. It was just the way the world worked, Zack figured, when she talked people listened. Mimi’s asks were always answered. Soon Mrs Shore was instructing a bored looking boy to fetch a football. There was a tingle of a feeling at the back of Zack’s mind as he vaguely remembered Mrs Shore saying last week they would be having downtime coming up between units. This all had to be part of Mimi’s plans. He paid close attention to the fact that she chose to be on his opposing team. Shoulders already firmly slumped, Zack was about to sulk off to the back position when Mimi’s voice piped up again.

“Hey Mrs Shore, why don’t we let Zack play quarterback?”

Some barely muffled laughter arose as Zack’s heart sank. Here was her plan. Mrs Shore agreed without even asking him if he wanted to play ball and soon was in position with a smirking Mimi staring him down from across the pitch. There was a knot forming in his stomach and it felt as though his legs hurt from even the thought of running.

“Excited for the big game Zackie?” Mimi said in a stage whisper.

“Bite me Minx.” Zack replied bitterly.

Johnny threw the ball under his legs as the whistle sounded out, snapping into the game Zack stretched out his hands to catch it. Fumbling the ball and squashing one of his fingers in the process he just managed to gain hold before it fell out of his grasp as he looked up to see Mimi barreling towards him. Panic flooded his mind and his eyes darted around for an escape route, his left foot sliding in the squelching grass pushing him off and moving him barely a meter before Mimi’s shoulder collided with his chest. Pain seizing his body and his legs all but abandoned him as the force of the collision sent him reeling back. Wind knocked out of him, Zack fell to the ground and landed with his back in the mud. Looking up as he tried to regain his breath, he saw Mimi fake a stumble before landing butt first on top of his stomach, winding him again just as he was taking his first breath. The teams laughed and cheered as Mimi cruelly adjusted her weight to cause him more pain.

“Get off me Minx or so help me...”

“What?,” she said innocently, “I thought all the guys wanted to be the big, strong quarterback?”

She stood up and made a show of brushing off the small amount of muck on her before turning her attention back to Zack sprawled on the ground.

“Good play,” she said with a grin as she extended her hand down to him.

Smacking it away and then pushing himself off the ground Zack moved back into play position. Immediately a part of him wanted nothing more than to beat her at her own game and in that moment nothing would’ve made him happier. That quickly proved to be impossible however as the rest of the match consisted of Mimi slamming him into the mud and muck in the most humiliating or painful ways possible. She rammed into him over and over, occasionally landing on top of him and a few times spreading mud in his hair under the guise of “helping him up.” Mimi had always been far more athletic than him but usually restricted her bullying to taunts, words and shoves. It had been a while since she’d just beaten him up outright and that was never a good feeling. Finally after a long hour, the whistle blew and Zack immediately rushed off to the changing rooms before Mimi could get another word in. Body aching as he stood under the rusted school showers, his insecurities truly had a chance to set in. He was never much of an athlete and being reminded of that by having a 115-pound girl completely thrash him didn’t do much for his self-confidence. His muscles cried out and bruises were arising from areas Mimi had chosen to give him a swift elbow, kick or punch. Pretty much whenever she felt she could get away with it. But the worst part was the mud. While the field wasn’t muddy in theory, being continuously tackled into the only slightly dry mud added up and had resulted in him being caked in dry dirt and grass blades. As the water washed over him and he felt the globs of mud falling off his hair, he felt tears well up in his eyes as the taste of wet mud seeped into his mouth.

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Much of the afternoon was a blur. Mimi’s teasing and snide comment kept up but after the assault on the sports field, Zack was able to shrug off the words. Finally the end of day bell rang and he was able to dart away before she could get out another word. She must’ve gotten bored since he was able to make much of the way home without any interference. However a couple blocks from home, his attention was caught as he was flagged down by a police car.

What a delinquent I am. He thought to himself as he climbed into the backseat.

Eyes flicking up to the mirror, his mother cast a warm smile over him from the front seat. Detective Samantha Knack pulled out from the curb and started the drive to take her son home.

“You’ve got mud in your hair,” Samantha noted, not missing a beat.

Zack shifted slightly in the backseat and brushed the evidence from his flop of hair. Hard to get anything past a detective he supposed.

“Just a rough day.” He replied nonchalantly.

Did she already know about his day? He had to wonder. There was a chance that she’d been called by the school and while it had happened before, usually his mother couldn’t spare the time while working to give him a lift home. Spying his mother in the mirror he attempted to read her expression but his mother had one hell of a poker face. Brushing some of her dark hair out of the way of her deep brown eyes, Samantha matched her son’s gaze in the mirror as the two sat in a not all-together comfortable silence for a moment. It was not that the two had trouble talking, however both were waiting for the other to guide where the conversation would begin. Zack and his mother didn’t share too many similarities on the surface level, apart from darker skin tone they inherited from her, he and Daniel would be perfect clones of their father. However other than Latino heritage they both did share a sort of kind hearted stubbornness. They both had things to say but neither wanted to step on the others toes, as such much of the drive was silent. Samantha, picking up on the stalemate decided to be the one to break it.

“Dad’s making burgers for dinner, but I’ve got some things to take care of and might be home late. I was actually already out of work today once…I picked up Danny at midday.”

Zack raised an eyebrow. So maybe this chat wasn’t about his bad day at school.

“Is he okay? Not sick or anything?”

“No, just had, as you put it, a rough day. Wouldn’t really talk to me on his ride home. Dad’s with him now and he’s apparently just been sulking in his room for the most part. His teacher filled me in though.”

“Let me guess, he’s getting bullied?”

Samantha gave a slight nod and cast her eyes back up to the mirror to read her son’s expression. Zack was lost in thought and easy to read, his face drenched in worry for his younger brother.

“Mijo do not worry so much, it’s just some boys at school. Actually, according to his teacher, Danny was standing up for another kid who was being picked on when it happened. Sounds like he’s taking after you.”

There was a pause as Zack fidgeted in the backseat slightly, his discomfort manifesting in a psychical way. Something was eating at him he couldn’t put into any solid words or cohesive thoughts. This invisible weight pressing on him. Granted this feeling had been with him for sometime, but today it felt especially heavy. As he thought about his brother this feeling squeezed at him once more and he knew he had to do something. “Maybe I’ll try and talk with Danny. See how he’s feeling about the whole thing.”

Samantha gave a satisfied smile that Zack noted in his mother’s reflection. Seemingly having reached the result she’d been fishing for, Samantha and her son continued the ride in a comfortable silence. As they pulled up to the curb and Zack reached for the handle but before the door could be opened, it locked itself. Raising an eyebrow and turning forward to his mother who had just imprisoned him.

“Am I under arrest, detective?” He said with some cheek.

“Don’t start,” Samantha replied with an eyeroll. “You’ve had a pretty rough day yourself, haven’t you? What’s going on with you?”

“I’m fine just…school. Usual stuff.”

“Just because it’s usual doesn’t mean it’s fine Mijo. I respect you want to handle school your own way but…I do still wish you’d clue me in on days like today. You don’t have to shoulder all the burdens that fall on your back.”

“That’s not what I’m trying to do mum, I promise. It’s just been a long day and I really don’t want to talk about it now. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to be sorry,” Samantha responded with a tinge of sadness in her voice. “I just want you to be okay. Actually no, I want you to be doing better than okay. But you’re going through an awkward, weird and scary stage. It helps a lot more to talk when the worries of the world come knocking. And I hope you know your father and I are always here to lend an ear. Or a shoulder if that’s more what you need. We’re here for you too Zack.”

Zack gave a quiet nod and flicked the lock on his door open before responding.

“I really appreciate it, mum. I’ll talk after I’ve made sure Daniel’s okay. I promise.”

“And I’ll hold you to it. Be good.”

Seemingly content, Detective Knack took her leave and Zack headed into the family home. Entering the threshold a wave of fatigue washed over him as his body relaxed. Suddenly his bag felt heavy and his mind was tired. It had been a long day, he reckoned. Dumping his belongings in his room, Zack then took a stop-off in the kitchen and made himself a hot drink. With summer on the way in he reckoned he should enjoy an afternoon coffee while it was still in season. Moving into the den he found his father posted up with a book. Quinton Knack raised an eyebrow as his son entered.

“Since when did you start drinking coffee?”

“Well when I started getting home from school and finding myself wanting a nap everyday I figured this would be a good compromise.”

“Nice try kiddo, but I’m pretty sure I would’ve noticed if you’d been stealing my java since you were seven. Did your mum talk to you?”

“So that was a pre-planned parlay,” Zack murmured as he collapsed on the couch and placed his coffee on a side table.

“What can I say, we’re a great team. So how’d it go? Have you had a chance to check in on Danny yet?”

“Nah not yet. I mean I want to help but I really don’t know what to say. If he needs advice on dealing with getting picked on there’s only so much I'm going to be able to say. Hard to help when I don’t really have any answer y’know.”

Quinton gave a low snort and nodded his head to the door that led towards the kitchen.

“You’re in your head too much. You don’t need to have a perfect answer or solution to every problem. Sometimes you just need to be there for someone. And if you need proof you’re the one to do it I suggest you check the fridge.”

His tone was somewhat harsh but Zack didn’t mind. It was the tone his father always had when he was speaking frankly. Letting the words sink in, Zack downed his coffee and then headed off without another word to his brother’s room, by way of the kitchen. As he reached it the first genuine smile he’d worn since walking Daniel to school spread across his face. Hanging from the fridge there was a crayon picture of his and Daniel’s morning stroll, the two figures denoted by their signature brown hair and emerald eyes. There was something however that was wrong with this picture. Tape running down the center holding the whole thing together, from where the sketch had been obviously ripped in two. No doubt this had to be connected to his brother’s bad day. With this extra push of motivation, Zack headed down the hall and knocked on his younger brother’s door. Entering without waiting for a reply he found his brother watching cartoons on their father’s tablet that he must’ve pinched. Eying him as he walked in he noted the sullen expression and noticeable pout.

“Hey…kiddo.”

Off to a roaring start, Zack thought.

Daniel looked up briefly before going back to his cartoons. Zack casually wandered into the room and started fiddling with one of Daniel’s discarded toys while he was contemplating his next big move. The silence that took the room wasn’t an uncomfortable one but neither of them truly wanted to be having this conversation.

“I saw that picture you made on the fridge, that was us right?”

Zack paused for a moment waiting for Daniel to respond. He did not.

“Riiiiight? Daaaaanny?”

“Yeeees.”

“So how was school?”

Daniel rolled his eyes behind his tablet and Zack frowned at himself.

“Honestly I’m disappointed that’s the best I could come up with.”

“Hmm.”

Zack sighed before sitting on the end of his brother’s bed.

“Danny, look at me.”

His eyes flicked up from the tablet and his pout became a touch more distinct as he looked up to his brother.

“What happened at school? I noticed your picture was ripped and...I didn’t think that you would do that.”

Daniel averted his eyes, staring off into a corner of the room and continuing the silence.

“Was it another kid at school?”

There was another pregnant pause before Daniel slowly nodded. Zack and Daniel never had much issue talking about their problems, something they’d learnt from their parents.

“Are you alright?”

Daniel nodded again, still choosing to look to the corner.

“Look Danny, the thing with bullies is...it’s not your fault. Even if they make it feel that way or it makes you feel really, really bad. It’s not your fault. It’s theirs.”

Daniel nodded again. Zack could feel he wasn’t getting anywhere.

“I’ll call Mum. Let her know that you want her to talk to you when she gets home. Maybe she’ll take you out for a treat after school tomorrow.

He gave his brother a half-hearted pat on the knee and stood up to leave but before he’d gotten out of the door his brother spoke up.

“I was trying to help someone.”

Zack turned around and saw Daniel finally looking up at him with wisps of tears in his eyes.

“Yesterday...They were gonna beat up someone yesterday and I...wanted to stop them. Like Mum does. But then they just started picking on me...and then today...”

Daniel trailed off and Zack could see sadness and regret in his eyes.

“Hey, hey, hey it’s okay Danny. It’s okay.”

Zack hugged his brother, his thoughts running over the events of his day as well as everything else he’d been through with Mimi Cole.

“Look Danny...I’ve been bullied. It doesn’t feel good. It’s terrible and I’m sure that kid felt really awful when they were getting picked on. And then you helped them.”

Daniel looked up as the ghost of a smile appeared on his face.

“I’m proud of you Danny.”

“Really?”

“Really. You helped that kid and you did it for no other reason than you knew it was the right thing to do. Trust me, trying to do the right thing is always worth doing, even if it seems hard or it might hurt at the time. Just don’t try to do everything yourself. Maybe try getting help from a teacher or try talking to your friends okay?”

Daniel nodded and Zack got up to leave again.

“I’ll talk to mum. I’m sure she’s going to be proud of you too. And she’ll definitely have some ideas on how to handle things tomorrow. You won’t have to worry Danny.”

As he left his brother’s bedroom Zack noted there was a little more lightness in his brother than the sunken expression he had worn when he walked in. For now at least he was cheered up. As he returned to the lounge Zack found himself peeking out the window to see if his mother’s car was there. It wasn’t.

“Danny doing okay?” his father asked.

“He will be. Just a bad day. I said I’d talk to mum about it tonight when she gets home.”

“More likely it will be tomorrow,” Quinton said, tapping his phone. “It’s another late night for her. Looks like it will just be the three of us for dinner.”

“She mentioned that,” Zack said with some confusion, “but I didn’t expect she’d be out all night again. Has it really been that bad at the moment?”

“Hard to say,” Quinton replied with an honest shrug. “Your mother, devilish woman she is, will always work twice as hard as she has to. But there’s definitely something else going on at the moment, she’s been on edge herself. Don’t worry though, you know she’ll always make time here when she can.”

Zack gave a nod and eventually excused himself to his room. The rest of the night moved quickly and soon he found himself collapsed against his bed frame wrestling with sleep. Insomnia, while always a persistent battle for him, always fought stronger on the days where he had a lot on his mind. And today his mind had lots of ammo. Between his school, his brother, his mother’s work woes and the seeming responsibility he was now facing of being more of a role model there just seemed to be too many things to worry about. Rolling over and pushing his pillow into a more comfortable position, these thoughts washed over him again. These problems needed to wait. And he needed to sleep. Finally after a good few hours of mental recapping and worrying, sleep found him.

_______________________________________________

His eyes snapped open.

What was that?

Slowly, he edged upwards before pushing his body up and sitting against his pillows. Eyes scanning around the darkness he felt the clothes he’d fallen asleep in uncomfortably wrapped around him and his body overheated. Head dazed from rest and shaking himself awake he tried to identify the sound that had stirred him. Crying maybe? But why? He forced himself up and headed out towards the sound, moving quietly through the dead silent room using moonlight to guide himself.

Daniel probably had another nightmare, he thought, his mind barely finding thoughts. I should probably talk to him, he’s had a bad few days. Guess we have that in common.

However instead of finding his brother he found his parents in the darkness and collapsed on the couch in the living room, sobbing into each other’s arms. In the darkness and with his mind still unfocused he almost couldn’t comprehend the situation for a moment.

“Mum? Dad? What’s going on?”

Tears silently streamed down Samantha’s face as she looked up to her son. Quentin was pale white with his jaw clenched. Samantha was holding her phone in one hand and a crumpled piece of paper in the other, her body leaning against her husband having seemingly collapsed against him. Zack froze as he studied their faces, both lined with pain and sadness. Seeing them in such a state flooded his body with adrenaline. He had never seen either of them cry before and was instantly flooded with a gripping sensation of panic. It was almost an impossibility in his mind, the people he would always turn to when he was scared were both so afraid. Both were so broken. Something was deeply wrong. This left Zack with only one question, which he asked in a near-silent whisper with a shaky tone.

“What happened?”

Quentin answered in a voice that sounded a million-miles away.

“It’s your brother, he’s been kidnapped.”

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