#llgen5

[bastardtrait]

cw: assault

Ava Harjo was not of the same clan, or even the same nation as the Whiteducks. Still, she stuck with them, because she knew very few people in this place had their backs. She hated that she was proven right again tonight.

transcript:

AVA HARJO: Hey, you little fuckasses! What do you think you're doing?! Get outta here!

AVA: …Is that… (gasp) Shania's boy… GET AWAY FROM HIM! I'm calling the cops on you!

AVA: Oh my god, Eddie! Eddie, can you hear me…?

EDDIE: (groaning) (sobs) AVA: Oh, Eddie…I--hang on, nephew, okay?! I'll call the cops…

[bastardtrait]

It was funny, Toby thought, that Evan Caulfield's opinion once mattered to him. Now, he was just another kid who paid for a uniform and let it get to his head. And Toby had no reason to care about that at all.

transcript:

EDDIE: Ma, I'm okay… HELEN: We've gotta leave Copperdale. We've gotta leave. I'm serious this time. SHANIA: Dear, let's slow down before we decide anything major like that…

EVAN: (pant) Wait! Toby! EVERYONE: Huh? TOBY: Evan. What the fuck do you want?

EVAN: You left the team?! Toby, you can't! We're fucked! TOBY: I can do whatever the fuck I want, actually. EVAN: We just lost Konner, we can't lose you too!

TOBY: You can, and you should get used to it. Oh, you're gonna lose the game to Boundary? I don't care. EVAN: Toby, you have a commitment to keep. And you already paid for this year's uniform! What are you just gonna walk away because of something that had nothing to do with you?

TOBY: You can, and you should get used to it. Oh, you're gonna lose the game to Boundary? I don't care. EVAN: Toby, you have a commitment to keep. And you already paid for this year's uniform! What, are you just gonna walk away because of something that had nothing to do with you?

TOBY: Actually, once someone fucks with my friend--my best friend I've had since I was a kid--it does involve me, Evan. And don't take it out on me because you can't keep your attack dog on a leash. EVAN: (grunt) TOBY: Fuck your game, fuck your team, and fuck you. I'm done. I hope Boundary tears you guys a new asshole at the end of the season.

IAIN: A fine choice of words back there, buddy. TOBY: A waste of words, more like. (sigh) Let's just go, dad. Let's…get Burger King. IAIN: Burger King it is.

[bastardtrait]

The night was young. And so were they. Just two best friends with their whole lives ahead of them, and the whole, open world to make their mark in.

transcript:

LaSuli Pier

TOBY: I bet I can carry you! EDDIE: Toby, let's not-- TOBY: Hop on! EDDIE: Okay…!

TOBY: …you got a crush, Ducko? Eh? Eh? EDDIE: No! TOBY: You can tell meeeee, y'know. EDDIE: Well, I don't! So…come on!

EDDIE: …and I never knew the guy. Mom says he's dead now. But my grandma told me he's alive and that he lives in Kahnawá:ke. TOBY: Shit, that's hard. You never told me. EDDIE: Didn't really know till my cousins told me. It was weird. Kinda mean. I dunno. I never had questions about my dad before, but now? I have all the questions.

TOBY: Hey, maybe one day you'll hear from him. EDDIE: Don't know if I want that. He left me when I was a baby. TOBY: …mine too. It…closure might be good, thought. EDDIE: Will you…find him? TOBY: …no. If he cares, he'll find me himself. That's what I believe.

[bastardtrait]

It was well known that Konner Prescott could seriously hold his alcohol. It was less so that the sponge he used to hold it all in was rage and malice, and tonight, he was oversaturated to full.

transcript:

EVAN/MCKYNSLEIGH: … EVERYONE ELSE: … EVAN: Konner…what the fuck is wrong with you?

KONNER: No, what the fuck is wrong with you, Evan?! Why are you such a fucking doormat?! EVAN: What the f-- KONNER: You're sitting here, making out with some bitch you won't break up with even though she's fucked half the twelfth grade, and you won't boot Toby from the football team even though he's a liability! I'm sick of your pacifist shit!

KONNER: I'm out! Fuck this shit and all you!

EVERYONE ELSE: (concerned muttering) JAY: Konner! Konner! You're drunk, dude, where the fuck are you going?

[SFX: Tires squealing against the dirt]

[bastardtrait]

cw: assault, homophobia, racism

Just another kid from the rez. That's all that someone like Eddie was to someone like Konner.

transcript:

[SFX: Car door slamming shut; footsteps rapidly approaching]

EDDIE: …hold on, Toby, I think someone's like, running at me. TOBY, on the phone: What?!

KONNER: There you are, fucking rat! EDDIE: Wh--ack!

KONNER: (grunting, roaring) EDDIE: Ghhk--! Fuck--st--stop! Konner!

TOBY: Yo! Ducko? You okay? EDDIE, over the phone: …Konner! TOBY: …Eddie?!

KONNER: Get up, you fairy. (pant) What kinda man are you? Huh? EDDIE: (deep gasp) KONNER: They didn't teach you to fight on the rez, huh? The shit that happens when you don't got a dad.

[bastardtrait]

Toby could feel himself free-falling into the abyss below, once afraid that uncertainty awaited him. But he realised now what lay beneath the mist: freedom. Freedom to be Toby Lucky, and not another Hare.

transcript:

COACH CALLER: A word with you, Mr. Lucky? Well, both of you. IAIN: Shoot, Martin. COACH CALLER: I've already spoken with the Whiteducks, but…I regret that this happened. Just so ashamed. That poor kid. Toby, you're a good friend for staying with him.

IAIN: I already know my son is a good kid. And I know that the Prescott kid is not. Now what are any of you teachers doing about it? TOBY: Dad… COACH CALLER: No, he's right, Toby. Mr. Lucky, be assured that there is absolutely no tolerance on my team for this sort of bullshit. Pardon my French.

COACH CALLER: The amount of parents that are already calling for punishment is overwhelming. Now as the phys ed department head, ain't much I can do besides take him off the team. I just have to hope that'll be enough. IAIN: (smirks) I'm sure the Prescotts doing backflips at the sound of that. COACH CALLER: Heh. Prescotts hate my Black ass anyway. (ahem) But that's…off the record.

COACH CALLER: Toby, you gonna stay on the team, son? I know we talked about it before, and now all of this…just wanted to know where you stood. TOBY: …no, Coach. It wouldn't be right. COACH CALLER: Mmh. I understand.

[bastardtrait]

Toby and Eddie had always been there for each other. But the team, as Toby was finding out, found itself taking priority. Sometimes, by coercion.

transcript:

EDDIE: Well…if you really feel that…do you wanna come to an art raffle with me on Saturday? It's for the entire Ahkwesáhsne territory, Canadian and American sides. Non-tribe can come too. TOBY: Hell yes, Eddie, I'd love to! EDDIE: I know it's not the pow wow you've always wanted to go to but--

TOBY: You kidding me? Man, you've come to my games before, it's the least I can do for you! EDDIE: (smiles) Thanks, Toby. TOBY: I'd better bring a fuck ton of money. I'm gonna outbid everyone else at the raffle. EDDIE: (chuckles) Stop that! It's a charity, not a competition.

TOBY: So they get some money out of it. I want them to know that I'd do the most for you. 'Cause you've always been there for me. EDDIE: Toby… TOBY: I'd do the most for you, Ducko. Don't forget that. I mean, I hope you haven't.

EDDIE: I…haven't. TOBY: Good!

TOBY: You're my best friend, Eddie. Sorry I haven't been there. EDDIE: Toby…nah. It's okay.

KONNER: Hmm.

[bastardtrait]

Angelo...for so long, the name had just been a distant idea. Toby read his father, Angelo's words and hung onto them like they were a cliff face, and the yawning void of uncertainty stretched out below him.

transcript:

IAIN: Toby, wait…I'm sorry. Can I come in? TOBY: No. IAIN: (sigh) Shit.

IAIN: Just… (sigh) I'm sorry, Toby. Can we talk? TOBY: You can't keep this shit from me, dad. I'm not a little kid anymore. IAIN: …I know, buddy. I…I know.

IAIN: …we'll talk later. Please. … Alright. (sigh) Fuck.

TOBY: (shuddering) Fuck. Holy fuck… (reading) Toby….

"By my count, you're around 17 now. Happy 17th. You're almost a man. I wish I could see who you are. What you look like. I wonder if you look at all like me."

…"Short one today, as I'm writing this on my break. You must be done with high school soon? There's a good chance you're in high school, I think Iain would've made sure you had the best life. So I am not at all worried about that.

"As for me, I've found placement in a permanent centre in NB. Gonna renew my first aid certificate tomorrow. Life has been stable. I wish you could come see NB by the sea. It's beautiful out here."

"Other fathers I've come across in my time tell me their children were their greatest achievements before they got put in rehab. I know you are mine, too. I've never met you, and it's unlikely I ever will. Regardless of that, I love you. I'm sorry that that's the reality I created for myself. Shit, I tell you that in every letter I've ever sent."

"Never doubt that, Toby. -Your father. Angelo."