Saving Heroes

“Yes, honey. That’s season one,” Mom answered. We were standing in his room, showing him how to use his DVD player.

“Are you sure,” he asked, still skeptical.

“Bonito, we’re sure. Just put it in and hit play.”

His smile when the theme song started was the definition of a Kodak moment.

Mom decided to enroll him in a couple of online college courses. “He’s not ready for a classroom,” she said.

It wasn’t just him though. We learned how to play chess from Mark. He learned while he was “there”. That’s what we ended up calling the institute, “there.” I introduced him to our neighbor, Craig. He was an older man whose wife had died a few years before we moved in. Craig usually came over for holiday meals and to barbeque. He was an old war veteran. And best of all, Craig played chess. He was good at it too. He and Mark would sit there for hours staring at the board. The first time Mark left the house by himself was to go next door.

They quickly became good friends. Craig took him under his wing, glad to have someone new to tell his war stories to. As much as I wanted to be the one to help Mark, I saw that Craig was doing a better job.

I know because I was in my room when Mark walked in. It had been 4 months since he was released.

I looked up at him from my Art History book. “What’s up, Bonito?”

“Are you my girlfriend?”

To say I was shocked would be an understatement. “No, Bonito,” I said gently. “I’m your sister.”

“But we’re friends right? And you’re a girl.”

“Yes,” I hedged. “But a girlfriend is kind of different.”

“How?”

I patted my bed and he came and sat next to me. I smiled. It was just like when he was little! “Do you remember when we went shopping?”

“Which time,” he smiled.

I punched him in his arm, “The first time, Bonito.”

“Yes, Hayhay, I remember.”

“Do you remember the girl who gave you her phone number?”

“Yeah.”

“She wanted to be your girlfriend,” I informed him.

“Huh, really?”

“Yeah.”

He laid there in my bed for a while as I pretended to read, giving him time to absorb this new idea. “What if I don’t want her to be my girlfriend?”

“You’re a man. You don’t really have a choice.” I laughed when I saw his grimace. “Just tell her no, but be nice about it, Bonito. Don’t be a jerk, okay?”

“Okay, Hayhay.”

I give myself a lot of credit for waiting for him to go to sleep before I ran to Mom’s room to tell her about our conversation. She smiled and told me to go to bed. “He’ll come out of his shell in his own time.”

But I didn’t want him to wait. He had already missed so much! And there was so much out there he could be doing! He should be in college, going out drinking, stealing kisses, and having wild party sex. Not cooped up in our house looking forward to playing chess with our neighbor. He had saved us, sacrificed himself for our sakes, and it had cost him the rest of his childhood. I couldn’t stand the idea of him losing any more.

Still, I wasn’t going to traumatize him. I took Mom’s advice and went back to my room. I was still considering getting him a porno though.

Another month passed. The internet wasn’t being very helpful, and Mom was all “be patient.” So I went to talk to the one person that was getting somewhere.

“Hailey! Come on in, girl. Just bout to make some dinner. That brother of yours not with you?”

“No, Craig. And if you don’t mind, I’ll make dinner.”

“Oh, well, go right ahead. I think you know where everything is,” he laughed.

Craig is a great cook, but he’s lazy. If he’s not cooking for someone, he’ll make a bologna sandwich 7 days a week. I cooked us spaghetti and made garlic bread. It was easy and quick. And it let me warm up to my subject.

“So what do you think about Mark?”

“He’s a great kid,” he said between bites. “Little closeted but a great kid. And he plays a mean game of chess.”

“But what do you think about him?”

He looked at me, really looked at me. Almost like he was examining my soul. “You know, when I got out of the military, I joined the police. And I’ve taken plenty of calls in my time for women like your mother that I know them when I see them. I like that boy. It may not be legal, but I agree with what he did. He got caught up is all. I know you want to help him, but the best thing you can do is let him take his own time. Just be there for him.”

“But he’s missed so much, Craig!”

“I know it. But he’s gotta be comfortable to come out of that closet. I asked about him, you know. Was a little worried bout this big guy moving in with you and your mom. Asked my buddies on the force to look into him. You know what they said?”

“What?”

“They went and asked the guards at the facility. Said he was a quiet kid, but wouldn’t let no one pick on the little kids.” Craig smiled. “Said he kicked ass until everyone got the message.”

I smiled as I drank my tea. “That’s my Bonito.”

He laughed, “Don’t worry girl. He’ll be just fine. That boys made of tough stuff, I’ll tell you that. It’ll take more than a few years in time out to break him.”

I was a lot calmer after talking to Craig. A lot more relaxed. And watching Mark discover mp3s that night was a lot more fun. Mom bought him an IPod and he kept trying to figure out where the cd went. I was still considering the porno idea though. I just couldn’t let that go for some reason.

It was two months since I had spoken to Craig. Mark had started going out in the mornings and running and he was taking driver’s education classes. And Mom and I had finally settled down to the idea of him being home. We had woken up enough times to find him still at home that we weren’t afraid of him not being there. My brother was home, and the world was right again. Almost.

I had resigned myself to the idea that when he started actually attending classes, some girl would catch his eye and he would fall head over heels in love and she would break his heart and I would tell him it would be okay and he’d get over her and get back out there. He was just too sexy for girls to leave him alone. And to naive for them to be happy with him. He wasn’t going to seduce them and woo them, he wasn’t there yet. He didn’t know how. But he would learn.

Faster than I thought, though. It had been a long day. Four classes, work, issues with one of my vendors. It had been a long fucking day. And I loved it. I loved the challenge of running my own store, hiring people who had dreams, working and studying to make my own dream come true. It was a long, hard, good day.

I came home and all the lights were off. I figured that everyone was asleep, so I went to the kitchen and made myself a quick sandwich. When I crossed Mark’s room I noticed the door was cracked open, so I peeked in.

There’s shock, and there’s Oh My God. This was the latter. Mark was laying on top of his sheets, naked. His chest moving rhythmically up and down as he breathed. And all those muscles weren’t making up for anything, they were trying to fit in with that thing between his legs. Oh my. And on top of him, naked, was our mother. She could see the naked swell of her breasts, her pussy, shining, resting against his leg. His arm wrapped around her. Oh My God.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. But I couldn’t deny it. It was right there. Right in front of me. My mother had… My little Bonito… I don’t know how long I stood there, but I was frozen. They were both asleep, both smiling, both naked.

I backed away from the door, walking softly down the hall to my own room. I was too tired for this bullshit. Way too tired. My emotions were literally everywhere. I turned around, went and grabbed a bottle of wine and drank until I fell asleep. Praying that morning would make this all better.

It didn’t. I woke up and it wasn’t better at all. Mom was all touchy-feely at breakfast and Mark couldn’t stop blushing every time he looked at her.

“You got in late last night, honey.”

“Yeah, Mom. Just a lot going on at the shop. How was your night?”

“Oh, the usual. Mark kept me company. Didn’t you, honey?”

“Uh, yeah, yeah.”

Okay, now I knew what this feeling was, but I was shocked to be feeling it. Jealously. I was jealous. I couldn’t believe it, but I was jealous. How the hell could I be jealous? I should be pissed! She was taking advantage of my little Bonito! After all he had been through, all he had done for us! She was taking advantage of him!

But as much as I would have liked to be mad, I wasn’t. I was jealous. My class was 3 hours away, but I had to get out of the house. I sat in the student union, trying to work this out for myself.

I wanted my brother. I wanted him in a sexual way. Ahhh! I just couldn’t make myself accept that! He was my little Bonito! I loved him! But it wasn’t hard to believe. I mean, he was sexy. His smile, his personality, his body. He was so naïve and trusting. But he was my brother! I shouldn’t want him like this! It was wrong, right?

I wasn’t jealous of the other girls that approached him. But knowing that Mom was sleeping with him drove me crazy! He was a hero to both of us. Why did she get to be the one he slept with? It wasn’t fair! I loved him too!

That night, I parked my car a few houses down and I called the house.

“Hello.”

“Hey, Bonito. I’ve got some problems here at the shop, so I’ll be home late again. Probably later than I was last night.”

“Oh, really? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, just some stuff I need to take care of.”

“Okay then. I’ll let Mom know.”

“Thanks Bonito. Night night.”

“Night Hayhay.”

I hung up and walked to the house, sneaking in through my own window. Would you believe they were already at it? I peeked my head into the living room just in time to see Mom straddle him on the couch. She was already topless! She started kissing him as her hands slid around down to his pants. Then she grabbed his hands and placed them on her breasts. He was moaning now as they kissed, as he pulled and squeezed her breasts.

I could tell from her arm movement that she was stroking him while she kissed him. It was a slow up and down movement, but it was there. She was stroking my Bonito! Her tongue twisting in his mouth the whole time as they kissed.

Part of me said that I should just turn away; pretend it wasn’t happening. But no one was listening to that part of me. Not me and not them. Mom slid off him and down to the floor. He lifted his hips and she pulled his pants down around his ankles. “You’re going to like this, honey.” Then his cock disappeared into her mouth.