Fire Flies

by Marie Marini

  Dad was forever disappointed in me. I was sick of “why can’t you be more like Loren?” Eventually, after many fights over the dining room table, I told my parents I was going to take two years off and travel Europe like I wanted to after college.

  “We all know I am not happy at the company. I don’t think it’s right for me, so I am taking some time to figure out what I want.” I stopped to chew my food. Dad’s neck was already red, I knew it was going to be a huge blow out fight. It always was when I didn’t stay in line. “I’ll start in Paris. Remember you took us there as kids Mom?” It was always a good idea to get Mom on my side early on. “I have such great memories of Paris with you and Loren. It’ll be great to explore it as an adult, you know, see it through different eyes. Anyway, I’ll leave next month.”

  “Explore as an adult? Is that what you said?” Dad roared across the table “You would have to BE an adult first! God, you are so irresponsible. It would take me months to find someone for your job, not that you’re there much anyway. You are such a selfish little brat. Jesus Christ! When will you grow up?” Dad had gotten out of his chair and was leaning on the table. “And stop bringing your mother into this. I am your FATHER! I own and run the company. Show some respect! I am talking to you!”

  I just stood up, thanked Mom for dinner and walked out. I expected that Mom would calm him down—she always did—and that I would be heading for Europe within the month.

  Two days later I was taking a swim to shake off the hangover from the party the night before. I was thinking about the hot young thing I had met at the club. She said she was eighteen, who was I to argue with her. When I got in some serious trouble a year or so ago. Mom had paid off the girl and even taken her for the abortion. I don’t know how much she got, but it was enough that I never saw her again. Dad didn’t know about that one. Mom was always taking care of me so I wasn’t surprised to see her bring me some lunch. But something was wrong. Her hand shook with the tray. I got out of the pool, grabbed my towel and dried off before sitting down across from her.

  “What is it? Is it Dad? Has he upset you again?” I asked, taking the food, then taking her hand.

  “No. No of course not. Darren…” she stammered a little. I was starting to get angry and she could see it in my face.

  “No Darren, don’t! You have to listen to me. I said I wanted to be the one to tell you!”

  I was half way out of my seat. I looked at her and sat back down. “Okay, tell me what?”

  “I have spoken with your Dad and we BOTH think that this is a good plan for you. You hear me, BOTH of us agree.” She hesitated and licked her lips before continuing. “You will have your two years off, but you are not going to Europe. You must stay in the US. I already packed your bags. They’re in your car. You leave tonight.”

  “Well, hold on there Mom, I really had already decided on Europe and I can’t just leave tonight. That’s ridiculous. Unrealistic. I was planning on the end of the month.”

  “Listen to me Darren, you are NOT going to Europe. We cannot help you if you get in trouble there. You ARE leaving tonight. Oh, Baby, we tried to give you everything and we gave you too much. You have always had our money to fund your lifestyle and we have allowed it. If you leave the company, that’s fine but we’re refusing to fund you over the next two years. You’ll have to get a job and find your own way.”

  I laughed, I actually laughed, so sure I was that this would never happen. Mom didn’t smile. She reached her hand out to cup my cheek.

  “Baby, I can’t stop it this time. I will try and help out if I can.”

  I was furious! My own MOTHER had packed my bags and was telling me to leave.

  I went to my room and, sure enough, my clothes were gone, my toiletries, even my toothbrush. I showered and changed into the clothes Mom had left on the bed for me like a child. I stormed out of the house without saying goodbye to any of them. Once on the road, I had no idea where to go, so I just started driving down the coast. I couldn’t wrap my head around this. Mom would always give in to me, she taught me all I know about women. I understand women better than most men, I know what they need, what they want and by being who they need me to be I can get what I want. It was simple. This time I had made a mistake. A week later, my credit cards were declined. I wasn’t worried yet, I had found the cash Mom had packed. About $10,000. I would have to be careful and, shit, I would have to find a job!

  After six weeks on the road, I ended up in Florida. I had already blown through half the cash so I called Mom. I told her how awesome Florida was and how different from Seattle. I told her I had a job, that it didn’t pay much. She paid the rent for the apartment in Boynton Beach. On my salary, I would have been WAY west of the tracks in a trailer. At least I had my car. It would be hard, but I knew Mom would send more money my way and that this would be good for me. I knew I always had it really easy, I could admit that. Roughing it a little bit would be a new experience and I could always go back to working for Dad if it didn’t work out. I would have to swallow my pride but he would take me back.

  I had been in South Florida for about a month when I met Kris. I really didn’t have any friends yet. It was different here, harder to make friends. You can’t talk to people at the gym to make friends. That is just kind of weird. Bars down here were just pick-up joints. Back in Seattle the local bar was more of a hangout where you could shoot some pool and have a couple of beers with the locals. Here they were full of people who couldn’t stand to go home. They would rather be lonely with a stranger than be alone with themselves.

  I took a job with Red Bull for a couple of reasons. There was the ‘screw you’ to my dad to work with a caffeine company and I like being outside. Red Bull events are usually pretty crazy with lots of hot girls and in Florida, they wore next to nothing. I met a couple guys at work that might have become good friends, but before that happened I met Kris.

  The day we met I was working a table at a local gym. I was giving out samples and coupons, basic promo stuff. I actually kind of liked the job. The pay was shit but you got to meet people and there was plenty of eye candy. That day the door was thrown open and this tiny little tornado came barreling through with work-out clothes already on and a black backpack over one shoulder. I watched as she tore into the ladies locker room and I heard the fury of all that energy slamming into the lockers.

  Within seconds she was heading back across the lobby for the boxing arena. BOXING, seriously? I don’t think she even saw me in her peripheral vision. She was so laser-focused on that bag. I enjoyed the view as she passed. She was hot but didn’t show it off, it was like she didn’t even know. She wasn’t wearing a shirt that showed her belly but I knew exactly what it would look like. She was ripped. Her T-shirt had little cap sleeves and you could see the definition of her triceps. She was wearing capri work out pants that gave me a wonderful look at that gluteus maximus definition. There is nothing sexier than a well-defined ass.

  I watched her empty all that fury on the bag then she got in the ring and sparred HARD for a while with a couple of other girls. It was a turn on just watching her. Not my usual type, but that’s what this new experience was all about. My shift officially ended about 20 minutes before she was done and the gym owner had already come over and signed off on the paperwork. I wanted to hang around and talk to her.

  When she came back through the gym door she was mopping sweat from her arms with a towel. Now that I could see her face without the fury, she was cute. She had short brown hair, cut like the little pixie that she was but she was no Tinkerbell. She was barely five feet tall, her little upturned nose was adorable. I offered her a red bull and when she looked at me and smiled I froze for a second. She had the most killer smile with this really deep dimple on her left cheek. She had a chipped tooth on the bottom and not the best dental care, but that only added to her charm. I had seen enough rich people with perfect teeth and perfect clothes, expensive hair, and
nails. Kris was a deep breath of fresh air.

  As we started to get to know each other I realized that she was a true country bumpkin trying to make it in the big city. I knew that I could tell her who my dad was and she wouldn’t have a clue. That tickled me and sometimes on our dates, I would name drop. High society wasn’t even on her radar. She mispronounced the very few designer names she had heard of. Some of them I knew personally, had attended galas and fundraisers with. It was a wonderful intoxication of freedom. I knew we could never be serious, I was WAY out of her league, but it was fun to be around her.

  My Dad would love her, he would love how grounded she was. I was still mad at him which gave me more reason to have some fun with her. She was flirtatious. She was light-hearted and laughed at my stupid jokes. She had an innocence about her that was heartbreaking. When I found out that she was a firefighter paramedic I was impressed. A blue-collar worker in a sexy little package. A whole new species as far as I was concerned.

  We both knew that the night we went to Prime Catch for dinner was going to be the night we had sex for the first time. I had played her little game; I had been patient. It had been kind of fun. I had never waited that long for a girl to give out. She had brought a change of clothes and it was pretty much understood that she would be staying. We had such a nice evening. I had done everything right. I opened the door, held her chair at the restaurant. We talked, we laughed…her Scottish accent was horrendous but funny. She liked to flirt, she had been playing with me for a couple of weeks by this time. When I reached to take her hand in the car, she opened her legs just a little bit and guided my hand to the inside of her thigh a couple of inches from her pussy. Then I had to play the part of tender, considerate boyfriend when she put on the scared face. I wasn’t expecting her to turn the radio off, look directly at me and say, “Oh Darren, I’m not scared. You really want to know what I was thinking about?” I played dumb. “You’re not? What were you thinking then? You sure looked scared.” She sat back in the seat, playing with the hem of her dress and told me, “I was thinking of the things you would do to me in the produce section of Publix…all those sweet, sweet fruits and veg to play with. Would you slide a nice cold zucchini inside me then lick it clean?” Oh My God. I almost lost my load right there. I was already hard and enjoying the game, but she just took it to the next level. I was going to fuck her brains out. I was so ready to give this dirty little slut just what she was asking for.

  I had to focus on the road and get us to the apartment quickly. When we got in the elevator, I couldn’t wait any longer and I pushed her against the wall and kissed her hard. She pushed me back against the opposite wall and then came at me with a hunger I couldn’t have anticipated. We fell in through the apartment door, my belt buckle was already undone and some of my shirt buttons. She dropped her purse in the hallway and by the time we made it to the bedroom we were both in our underwear.

  She was stunning. Every muscle in her body was defined yet she was still very much feminine. The dress did not require a bra so she stood at the bottom of my bed in little cheeky panties and high heels. Her nipples were as hard and ready as I was, one of them was a little weird looking with an indented scar. I wondered why she didn’t get that fixed. Her tits could have been bigger, but they were real. We had played this game long enough, now it was time for my reward.

  I pushed her down on the bed. “You want it a bit rough don’t you sweetheart,” or something like that came out of my mouth. She started to sit back up but I was already inside her. She was horny as hell and slippery. She was trying to wrap her legs around my waist, I buried my dick deep in that tight little pussy. She was perfect. She was hot and wet and so ready for me. She let out this little cry of pleasure so I lifted her up and let her legs wrap around me. She tried to sit up and wrapped her arms around my neck. She was into it. I know I was far gone at that moment, but I would have known if she said ‘stop.’ I am not an animal. I am NOT that guy. I have never taken advantage of a woman, never forced or even coerced anyone into anything they didn’t want to do. It was NOT rape. I had my eyes closed and was so focused on the feeling of her that I almost didn’t see it coming. I turned my head just as I felt something connect with my neck. I felt the hard snap. I heard the crack in my ears, in my brain, it travelled down my spine and I felt the loss as my body crumbled to the floor.

  I hit the ground hard. Then I saw her scurry backwards from me, her shoe in her hand. I was so confused and scared. I kept thinking she would call 911. She was freaking out, but fuck, I couldn’t MOVE! I couldn’t even see her! I could hear her breathing so I knew she was there. The only part of my body I could control was my fucking eyeballs! Did she hit me in the neck with a fucking high heel? What the FUCK? I tried to talk to her but breathing was difficult. I couldn’t say a full fucking sentence without taking a fucking breath!

  She left and went to the living room. I could hear her pacing in there. I tried to yell out to her to call 911 but my voice was barely above a whisper. When she came back in she was calmer. She had put on one of my t-shirts to cover herself. She was asking about an ironing board and socks? It wasn’t until she started to tape my head down that I realized she was trying to immobilize my neck. Thank God! She HAD called 911. They were coming. I calmed down a little bit. Help was coming and she was a paramedic so she knew what to do. They would be here soon and take me to the hospital. I would be okay. I was trying to convince myself that the break wasn’t so bad and the stabilization would give them a chance to fix me.

  The room got a little dimmer, for a moment I thought I was passing out and then I heard some classical music. I was trying to figure it out when she mounted me. I was strapped to a fucking ironing board with socks taped to the sides of my head and she wanted to FUCK? It took me a while to realize that she hadn’t called for help, she wasn’t going to call for help.

  She took her time and rode me hard and when she finally came I was boiling in my own rage. I had just been raped.

  I lived alone, and all the overtime I worked gave me a healthy little nest egg. I had the resources in place to take care of Darren. I considered him my responsibility. I know it wasn’t my fault, he made me do it, but I couldn’t call 911 and I couldn’t just leave him. After all, he was my first orgasm and you can’t just walk away from that.

  Maybe I should have just left him in the shower and walked away. Someone would have found him eventually. We make decisions every day that guide our path one way or another and I made a decision that day that would forever change both of our lives. . I knew just where I would take him. I drove out to Belle Glade. That’s where I went to paramedic school. The 12 hour shifts with Fire Rescue as part of our training were such a rush. We got all kinds of calls: shootings, stabbings and even farm equipment accidents. I had one call where a farmer got himself dragged into a combine head while trying to clear a jam. There wasn’t much left of him. Most of the crew puked on that one…I didn’t and I was proud of it. It gets real country out there and people keep to themselves.

  I found a double-wide trailer about seven miles outside of Belle Glade in Bean City that looked a bit worse for wear, but it was on three acres and the nearest neighbor was two miles away. Bean City was an old string bean farming community back in the 20’s. There wasn’t much left now but a few trailers, some broken down cars up on blocks and old rusted farm machinery. The ‘For Sale’ sign looked like it had been there for years. I was thinking I could clear away the overgrown brush and pressure clean the concrete patio area. It could be our little love shack. He couldn’t really expect much more. It was unfair that the entire financial responsibility would be on me, but I thought he could make up for it in other ways. I called the number on the sign.

  “WHAT?” an angry female voice barked down the phone.

  “I’m calling ‘bout the trailer’, I started to say but she cut me off.

  “What you talking about?” She went into a coughing fit. When she recove
red I tried again.

  “Out in Bean City – I want to buy the trailer.”

  In the end, I made an offer of $3,000 cash and it was snapped up faster than a New York minute. The people out in the Belle Glade area don’t ask many questions and were more than happy to take my money and run. I know it’s not much, but it was a lot to those people, it was cash, and they had been trying to sell that trailer for three years. We closed in three days. I had Sam’s and Daddy’s social security numbers and birth certificates, so I decided to put this in Sam’s name. I didn’t want my name on it just in case things went wrong again. Thinking about it now maybe putting his name on it was like putting a curse on it.

  We can exchange shifts at work. I work someone else’s shift for them and then they owe me. I had about ten guys who owed me, so I got the next two shifts off. That gave me some time to get things in order. We work a 24-hour shift then get the next three days off, so now I had nine days to clean the apartment, get rid of Darren’s cell phone, and gather the supplies I needed to take care of him.

  While I was working on buying the trailer I had to leave Darren at his apartment. He had a huge walk-in shower so I dragged him in there. It would be easier to clean him up that way. I went to Walmart and bought adult diapers for him, I also picked up a neck collar – you know the white padded kind? It wasn’t the best, but it would work for a while. I propped him up on the floor of the shower, made a little nest of blankets for him. Thermoregulation becomes a problem for spinal injuries, I had to keep him warm.

  I would sit patiently and feed him. He was so stubborn and angry. He spit out the food I cooked for him. When he hadn’t eaten for 18 hours I hooked up an IV and gave him some electrolytes. Easiest stick I ever made. It’s so easy when they don’t flinch. If he got too dehydrated it could throw off his electrolyte balance and that could put him into heart arrhythmia. That’s why athletes are told to drink Gatorade and not just water. I explained everything to him just as I would any other patient. I told him that I would take care of him and he would just have to accept that.