14A Ray of Hope
Based off of "Inherent Superiority" and "The Last Word" by Crazy Rob
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story will be different from my other PEANUTS fanfics. I will be using the names Crazy Rob gave for the PEANUTS kids parents rather than my own, for example, rather than Silas and Maureen Brown, Charlie Brown's parents will be Richard and Candace like Crazy Rob did it, and instead of Grant Gray, it will be Martin Grey, in keeping with how he wrote it. Plus the original stories, if you have read them, are pretty dark, so this will follow that esthetic. Here we go.
CHAPTER 1: FROM THE BRINK
It had been ten years since "Blockhead" had come out in book stores. About eight since the movie based off of the book was out in theaters. Both were successes. Charlie Brown had made a ton of money off of them. He even was nominated for an Oscar for "Best Screenplay" and won a Golden Globe for "Best Picture" for the movie. On top of the book and movie revenue, there was still the lawsuit money from the court cases involving the entire Wallstone High staff and faculty, parents and kids, that was still pouring in, as well. Charlie Brown and his family didn't have to work if they didn't want to. His parents, Richard and Candace, moved to Florida for early retirement. Sally was living in New York City as an attorney. Only Charlie Brown remained in Minnesota, living in St. Paul in the city.
After hearing what happened at Wallstone, and the fallout behind "Operation Blockhead", the Sparkyville Superintendent of Schools decided to clean house, so to speak. All staff was fired, of course. Most of the kids who were still at Wallstone that wasn't part of that year's graduating class were expelled for their abuse of Charlie Brown. The one's that weren't expelled were transferred to different schools, including Rerun, especially after he was taken out of his original home and adopted by his new family. Those kids who were going to be freshmen at Wallstone the following year was instead placed in different high schools around town. And as for Wallstone High itself, the city agreed that it would be shut down permanently, never to reopen. The building was eventually imploded after investigators finished going over the property. Charlie Brown himself was there that day when the building was razed and destroyed. He actually wore a smile when it came crashing down, which was rare for him. The superintendent also issued a personal apology to the Brown family for the abuse Charlie Brown had endured. As it turned out, Principal Wayler had made Charlie Brown stay home, thus giving him a rare break from the torture and abuse he was usually subjected to, when the superintendent came to visit Wallstone, assuring that he wouldn't know what they were doing to the kid, which is why he never knew about the abuse in the first place. But when he found out when "Operation Blockhead" happened, he took no prisoners and fired everyone. So he made it a point to compensate the Browns for the years of torture Charlie Brown had endured at the hands of the students, faculty, and parents.
One particular day, Charlie Brown was on his computer and saw that his biggest enemy, who's name wasn't Wayler or Violet, Lucy was still on the loose. About a month after getting paroled, she disappeared from town. One of the residents at the halfway house she was staying at told authorities that she had gotten into a car with a weird man and left. She never returned. Now she was a wanted fugitive. Police initially kept watch outside of Charlie Brown's home, knowing her history and how she openly threatened to kill Charlie Brown in the past. Psychoanalyst Christopher Locks, who had interviewed Lucy from prison which left him shaken, along with others including prison staff and fellow inmates, testified in front of Minnesota's Supreme Court about Judge Hernandez's paroling of Lucy and a mistake it was. Even her parents testified that she had called them after getting out about killing Charlie Brown and was trying to bring back the folks who participated in "Operation Blockhead". Hernandez's paroling of dangerous criminals was under investigation, resulting in him stepping down from the bench so his pension wouldn't be affected by any decision made by the court. Charlie Brown was worried in the beginning, but because she hadn't strike or even tried to reach him, he went on with his life, though stayed on guard.
In the years since "Blockhead" came out, most of his tormentors were dead, or sick. Wayler, he had heard, was on his deathbed and on hospice care. Ms. Stephner, the one faculty member who's name wasn't Wayler that was the most cruel to him and had stood by Violet in her bogus rape claim against Charlie, died of cirrhosis of the liver some years after "Operation Blockhead". Many of the students were better off, but would never be accepted in regular society. Those who still could got out of Sparkyville and even started living under assumed names so no one could know about their past at Wallstone.
As he got cleaned up and ready for his day, Charlie Brown thought about his past and where he was now. Even though he had risen up against his tormentors, exposed them for who they really were, and even was compensated for years of abuse and torture, he still wasn't happy. He wasn't TRULY happy. He still was bitter and angry. And while he was okay with that in the beginning, now not so much. Sally was engaged to a paralegal, his parents were in comfort in Florida, and yet, he was still stuck in reliving his past over and over again. His publisher suggested writing a follow-up to "Blockhead" and how his life had changed since then, but it really hadn't changed for him. Sure he wasn't being tortured like he was when he was younger, but he wasn't living a happy life, either. He just merely existed. In a way, Wayler was right. They did poison Charlie Brown by torturing him and made it hard for him to ever be happy in life. And that's what upset Charlie Brown more than the abuse itself.
He looked in his dresser drawer and pulled out a Magnum. He originally bought it for protection in case one of his old tormentor would come for revenge or wanted to relive "the good ol' days". But now Charlie was weighing his options. Continue to live this life of darkness, or just end it right then and there? The only time he was ever happy was when he thought or knew one of his enemies were suffering. Like when Violet was on her own deathbed dying of cancer and he rubbed salt on her wounds, metaphorically. Or now with Wayler on the way out. He knew this wasn't a life to live, and yet, he lived it every day. He was about to place the gun to his temple when his cell phone rang. He placed the gun down to see who it was. He didn't recognize the number, but saw it was from Honolulu, Hawaii. He didn't know anyone in Hawaii, but decided to answer the call.
"Hello?"
"Is this Charlie Brown?"
"Yeah it is. Who's calling?"
"Charlie Brown! It's me! Franklin!"
"Franklin?!" He hadn't seen Franklin in years. He was one of the people he left out of his book because, in addition to Linus and Schroeder, Franklin was a good friend to him and always treated him with respect. In fact, he was Charlie Brown's less eccentric friends. Franklin ended up going to a different high school in another town, so he didn't see what was happening at Wallstone at the time. He did hear about the aftermath of "Operation Blockhead" and was shocked and saddened about what happened to his old friend.
"How'd you get my number?" asked Charlie Brown.
"I contacted Sally on Facebook," said Franklin. "I was looking for you on there but you don't have a profile, aside from a fan site for 'Blockhead'."
"Yeah, I don't do social media much," said Charlie Brown. "I keep my private life private, for obvious reasons."
"Yeah, I heard what happened at Wallstone, man. I'm sorry you went through that bullshit."
"Thanks. You were always a good friend, Franklin. I kept your name, along with Peppermint Patty's, Marcie, Linus, Schroeder, Pig Pen, and Rerun, out of my book. Anyone who hadn't participated in my torture was spared from being mentioned."
"Anyway, the reason for my calling you is that I want to invite you to my place in Honolulu. Give you a change of scenery, and enjoy the tropical atmosphere. I also want to introduce you to my lovely wife I met here on the islands."
Charlie Brown thought for a minute. Maybe, just maybe, this may be the thing that gets him out of his funk. Franklin had just threw him a lifeline.
Finally he said, "Give me a few days, Franklin. I need to finish some stuff here first and then I'll be on my way out there."
"Great man! I can't wait to see you. Oh, I also have a surprise of you when you get here. You will see it soon. I'll be waiting, dude!"
"See you later, Franklin." And Charlie Brown hung up his phone. He looked at the gun. Then he picked it up and placed it back in the drawer. He decided to, for now, postpone his exodus to see where this trip would take him.
NEXT CHAPTER: ISLAND LIFE
