As Ben entered his home, he pumped his fists in the air in excitement. He knew his parents weren’t home, as their car wasn’t in the driveway. He sat his book bag near a rocking chair, and he got himself a bowl of cereal to eat. As Ben is eating his cereal, he decides that he wants to watch a movie. His VHS tapes were in his room. He got up from the rocking chair and began going upstairs. As he is nearing the top stairs, he could hear a man in Heather’s room. He couldn’t make out any of the words coming out of his mouth, but Ben assumed it was a new boyfriend of hers. She went through boyfriends like he went through dirty underwear. Ben thought to himself: Boy, she’s lucky dad isn’t home.
Ben is now in his room going through his VHS collection. Ben heard loud noises coming from his sister’s room.
“Hey, can you guys keep it down?” Ben yelled.
Ben assumed that his sister was having sex but then heard her scream. Ben quickly got to his feet and walked out of his room and headed to his sister’s room. Her door was open just a tad.
“Is everything ok in there?” Ben asked hesitatingly.
There was no answer for a few seconds, then he heard his sister scream “Help me!”
Ben opened the door and seen a much older man on top of his sister. The man appeared to be in his late thirties.
“Get the fuck out of here!” The man screamed at Ben.
Ben stands still in shock. He is frozen. He looks at his sister’s face, which is full of tears. He wanted to run up to the man and push him off of her, but he knew he would probably only get himself and her killed.
The man became more aggressive as he began slapping her in the face as he was penetrating her. The man no longer seemed to care Ben was watching. Ben continued to stare frozen in horror and shock.
His sister screamed much louder this time. “Help me!” The man punched her in the face nearly knocking her out.
Heather moved her head to the side. Her vision is blurry from the hit. Heavier tears poured as she seen how horrified her little brother looked.
The man finally got up from Heather and put his pants back on. “What is it, boy? Did you ever not see a big hairy dick before?” The man laughed. “Do you want to see my big dick again or something?” The man laughed some more.
The man walked up to Ben without saying another word and then out the bedroom door he went. Ben turned his head in the man’s direction, watching him as he headed downstairs.
Heather lay naked on the bed still very much crying. Her crying was much softer now. She was no longer crying from physical pain but from emotional pain, from being humiliated and scarred for life.
Ben sat on a chair next to the rocking chair. Ben’s parents and sister were on the couch. Everyone was quiet for several minutes. The cops had already come and gone. Heather’s head lay on Jeff’s shoulders with a sorrowful look on her face. Jeff finally broke the silence.
“Look, son, there is nothing that you could have done to prevent this monster from doing what he did to your sister,” said Jeff.
Ben felt so bad and disgusted with himself, that although he looked in the direction of his father, he refused to let his eyes meet his father’s. “I could have at least called the cops,” said Ben.
“They cut the phone line, which we will have to get fixed tomorrow. The good thing is, the next door neighbor got a good luck at him, and they now know who the man is. Turns out, the man is a repeat offender,” said Jeff.
The thirty-eight-year-old Ben stares lost in thought in his prison cell. His face showed nothing but sorrow and frustration. A tear came out of his eyes, and he lowered his head at a ninety degree angle. Surprisingly, his hat didn’t fall off. He stayed in that position for several seconds before bringing his head back up. He wiped away his tears. He turned his attention to his imaginary audience.
“Who the fuck are you looking at?” Ben got from his chair. “You think you are better than me, don’t you? You’re a fucking hero, aren’t you? You would have saved my sister if you were in my shoes, huh? Well, FUCK YOU! I’m better than every one of you!” Ben began pointing fingers as if there were people in his prison cell with him. “FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! And FUCK YOU!” He did this pointing to his left, middle, and his right. Obviously, he was pointing at thin air.
Ben regained his composure and sat back down.
“Maybe you’re all right. Maybe I was nothing more than a coward. But the today me… Well, let’s just say I would have gutted that man like a fish… nice and slowly.” Ben moved his hand around, pretending that he had a knife in his hands and was ripping apart his sister’s rapist’s insides.
“I think all of you sick fucks want to hear more, and your wish shall be granted,” said Ben.
Chapter 5
Five years later, 1990- Ben’s dad is sitting on the lazy-boy while his mother sat on his father’s lap. Ben is seated in a separate lazy-boy. The lazy-boy that Ben is sitting on is a new chair that was bought in the past year. The chair was similar to the one his father was sitting in, but the chair’s color is green. His father is sitting in a blue chair.
The three of them were watching the first Batman movie. It was the original with Michael Keaton as “Batman” and Jack Nicholson as “The Joker.” The phone began ringing.
“I better get that,” said Jeff.
“Why don’t you wait until after the movie is over,” said Tina.
Jeff was a little tensed up but relaxed a little. Within seconds of relaxing he had a change of thought. “I better get that in case it’s work,” said Jeff.
Tina had an angry looking face but went ahead and got off of Jeff’s lap. Jeff raced to the phone and picked it up just as the answering machine came on.
“Hello.”
Jeff lightly said to himself “Speak of the devil.”
“I really hate to bother you like this, but we really need you to do some work in New York. Eric has gotten really sick and can’t make it. Our options are really limited,” said Mr. Crayton.
Jeff really wanted to say “no,” as he really wanted to have a weekend with the family. Jeff’s trying to think of a creative way to tell David he couldn’t, but then Mr. Crayton spoke up again.
“Look, Jeff, I understand that you may not want to do this and rightfully so. Considering that this is a last minute thing, I’m willing to make you a very special offer. That bonus of $6,000 that you received last year, well, I tell you what, if you do this, I’ll double it.”
Jeff had a long pause. He still wanted to turn down the offer, but the extra money would come in handy for possible future vacations.
“Ok, I’ll make the bonus $15,000. How does that sound,” said Mr. Crayton.
The bonus is too high to turn down now, and he knew Mr. Crayton was a man of his word.
“You got yourself a deal,” said a frustrated Jeff.
“You are a lifesaver, Jeff,” said Mr. Crayton.
Ben drew his attention to two kids who were hitting a balloon to each other back and forth on his way home from school. It usually took Ben about a half hour to walk home from school. Ben enjoyed walking home from school, especially when the weather was nice. One of the kids took notice of Ben while his friend went to fetch the balloon that’s blowing away.
“What are you doing?” the kid asked. The kid is wearing a white t-shirt and appeared to be about seven-years-old.
“Walking home from school,” said Ben.
Ben looked down at his watch and it read 3:15. Ben had gotten off from school at 2:50, but kids at the elementary grade level didn’t get off until 3:30. Ben looked up from his watch and gave the boy a suspicious look.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in school?” Ben asked.
The boy looked away and appeared to be looking for a good excuse to mutter out.
“I had a doctor’s appointment at one. My mom said that I didn’t have to go back to school.”
Ben looked at the boy suspiciously. “Is that now? So, if you’re sick, what are you doing out here playing?” Ben asked.
&
nbsp; The boy that retrieved the balloon finally made it back. The boy is wearing a Michigan football shirt.
“What’s it to you anyways? He told you why, so why keep pestering him for?” The boy wearing the Michigan football shirt asked.
This drew a small laugh from Ben. “Hey, look, when I was your age I was no Mother Teresa myself. So, I’m not out to get either one of you into any trouble. So, with that being said, why not tell me the truth?” Ben asked.
“A kid made fun of me about my weight, so I walked home. My friend, Carol, followed me. We left during recess,” said the boy wearing the white t-shirt.
Ben started laughing. “You guys are going to be in deep shit,” said Ben.
“So, what’s it to you anyways?” The boy wearing the Michigan football shirt asked.
“I’m kidding. Take a chill pill, kid. You really shouldn’t let kids make fun of you because of your weight. If you stand up for yourself, they will leave you alone,” said Ben.
Talk about pot calling the kettle black. Ben may have not been getting picked on much these days, but he still never learned how to stand up for himself. Ben’s size intimidates some people. At 5’10’’, he’s a good size for a sixteen-year-old.
“C’mon, Billy, forget that clown. Let’s go home!” The boy wearing the Michigan football shirt exclaimed.
The kids walked away and headed to the front door of one of their homes. Damn, even young kids don’t like me, thought Ben jokingly to himself. Ben continued walking towards home.
Ben plopped himself on the lazy-boy right after getting home. He used the remote to flip through channel until he came across a television show called “Saved by the Bell.” His favorite characters were Zack and Screech. He heard his mom walking around in the kitchen. His father was on his way home from his business trip in New York.
“Ben, come here!” Tina exclaimed.
Ben got up from his chair and headed to the kitchen thinking, what did I do now?
“The four of us are going to go out as a family tonight when your father comes home. I want you to wear something nice for once,” said Tina.
Ben normally liked to argue when having to dress nice, but it was very rare for them to go out to eat as a family. So, Ben decided to keep his mouth “in check.”
“Where are we going to go out to eat at?” Ben asked.
“Red Lobster,” said Tina.
Ben smiles, “Works for me.”
Ben rushed up the stairs excitingly. He found himself a nice blue buttoned up shirt with stripes and a pair of black dress pants. Ben jumped in the shower for five minutes and then got dressed.
Jeff is driving 60 mph on the highway. He is within a half an hour of making it home. He had the windows down enjoying the fresh air. He is coming up on an intersection. The light is green, so Jeff began crossing the intersection. Jeff looked to his right as he is crossing the intersection. A car is coming at him that ran a red light. The car crashes (T-bones) into Jeff’s car, hitting the passenger side going 70 mph. Jeff’s car begins to spin out of control before flipping over. Everything went black.
Ben sat next to his mom at the dining room table.
“I wonder what could be taking him so long,” said a concerned Tina.
“I’m going back out into the living room until he comes back,” said Ben.
Tina sat quietly waiting for Jeff to come home when the phone began ringing. “That’s probably him now,” said Tina to herself. Tina got up and answered the phone.
“Hello.”
“Yes, is this the Livington household?” The woman asking is a receptionist at the hospital.
“Yes, it is. May I ask who’s calling?” Tina asked.
“What is your relationship to Jeff?”
Tina became very worrisome. Her body began to tremble and her hands began shaking near her face.
“I’m Jeff’s wife.”
“I need you to sit if you are standing. I have some very bad and difficult news for you.” The woman paused for several seconds. Tina dropped to her knees to prepare for the worse. “I’m having a hard time coming up with the words to tell you, ma’am,” said the receptionist.
“What is it?” Tears began dripping down Tina’s face. She already knew something bad happened to Jeff.
“Jeff has been in a serious car accident and is in critical condition. I’m so very sorry,” said the receptionist.
Tina dropped the phone, which caused it to make a loud thud.
“Please, help me!” Tina screamed at the top of her lungs. Tears uncontrollably were pouring down her cheeks. She put her head into her arms.
Ben entered the kitchen and seen his mother weeping. Ben didn’t know what was going on but grabbed the phone from his mother.
“Who is this, and what the hell is going on?” Ben asked.
“I need to know who this is before I can tell you anything,” said the receptionist.
“I’m the lady’s son that you were talking to,” said Ben.
“I have some very horrific news for you,” said the receptionist.
The lady paused for what seemed like an eternity. “Your father has been in a very serious car accident. He’s in critical condition and probably won’t make it through the night,” said the receptionist.
“Who is this? Is this some type of sick joke or prank? If this is you, Sally (a crazy girl from his school that sometimes pranked him and others at the school), I will come over to your house and cut your fucking head off! Do you hear me, bitch?” Ben screamed. Ben was rarely ever this hostile, even in understandable circumstances like the one presently.
Tina couldn’t believe the words coming out of Ben’s mouth. Her crying had drastically slowed down, and she was using her arms to wipe away her tears as she watched Ben talk on the phone.
“Words cannot express how truly sorry I am,” said Tracy.
“Yeah, I bet you are!” Ben walked over to the phone jack and was about to slam the phone down when he realized he didn’t even know which hospital his father is at.
“Which hospital is this?” Ben asked.
“It’s the ‘Advocate Christ Medical Center,’ ” said the receptionist.
“Thank you,” said Ben. He then slammed the phone down.
“We need to go see your father,” said Tina.
“I need to see my father, but you need rest,” said Ben.
Tina grabbed the keys out of her purse and began walking to the front door only to be cut off by Ben.
“You can see him in the morning. Right now, you need to get some rest,” said Ben.
Tina was shocked at how bold Ben had become. Tina tried to get to the front door, only for Ben to hold onto her preventing her from leaving.
“I’m taking you to bed,” said Ben.
Ben held her tightly while helping his mother walk up the stairs. Every several seconds Tina would say, “Please, let me go! I want to see my husband. Please, Ben, let me go.” Ben would comfort her rubbing her back while helping her up the stairs and into her room.
Ben is afraid that his mother would have a nervous breakdown. As Ben walked out his mother’s bedroom door, he took one last look back to see his mother crying softly under the covers. Ben took a quick peek into his sister’s bedroom as her door is slightly open. Heather is sound asleep. Heather rarely comes out of her bedroom. Heather always smelled like pot really badly. Her parents knew that she smoked pot, but they didn’t know she did other “street” drugs. Ben heard rumors from people at school that have brothers and sisters his sister’s age that claim Heather smokes crack, among other drugs. Ben decided not to say anything to his parents, as he knew it would only hurt them that much more.
Heather had tried counseling after her rape. She was put on many different prescription drugs, but none of them worked. Though Ben was affected from the rape as well, Ben never returned to counseling after improving his grades when he was eleven-years-old. His parents encouraged him to go with his sister, only for him to oblige. Since he kept his end of the deal
by keeping his grades at a reasonable level, they left him be.
Ben walked down the stairs and grabbed a phone book. He looked into the “yellow pages” for taxi services. He stumbled upon a service called “McNamara’s Taxi Cab Service.” Ben went to pick up the phone and dialed the number.
“Yes, I would like a ride to ‘Advocate Christ Medical Center,’ ” said Ben over the phone.
Ben is speaking to a man named “Charles.”
“Well, what time would you like a ride?” Charles asked.
Ben peeks his head into the living room and looks at the clock, which had the small hand near the eight and big hand near the nine.
“Can you make it here by 8:30? I also would like a ride home as well, if possible. I’m thinking, I’ll be there for about two hours,” said Ben.
“That will work out just fine. Your total will be $12,” Charles said.
“Perfect. Thank you so much.” Ben then proceeded to hang up the phone.
Ben was out of breath as he walked up to the hospital “receptionist.”
“May I help you, young man?” Tracy asked (receptionist).
Ben was still huffing and puffing. “Yes, I’m here to see my father, Jeff Livingston.”
The receptionist got a concerned look on her face. “You poor thing. If you go down this hallway…” Tracy stopped in mid sentence, as a nurse was walking by the desk.
“Rachael, this young man is here to see that man that was in that awful car accident a couple of hours ago.”
Rachael looked at Ben. “You poor thing, you. Follow me.”
Ben looked over at Tracy. “Will I need to sign in or anything?”
“You know what, don’t worry about it. You can take care of that after you see your father.”
Ben quietly said, “Thank you.”
Ben followed Rachael down a long hallway on the first floor. They past several doors and went all the way down to the last door on the left. The nurse unlocked the door and as Ben began walking in he turned to Rachael.
Hitman's Journey Back in Time Page 4
