Hero?

by Wren Phoenix

Brian Sullivan was ready for Christmas. He had been lobbying Mom for a new, ten speed bike to replace his old 20-inch kids’ bike. Heck, he was almost 9 already! It was time to get a lightweight, the kind his friends had!

He’d left little reminders for her (a newspaper clipping for Rick’s Cycle Shoppe, and one from the Wheelery, placed strategically where she would find them) , and had tried to be extra, extra good for weeks. He even did the dishes for her! Brian felt that he had gone above and beyond, in order to prove that he had been a good boy. In his mind, it was a done deal.

Yes, he knew they didn’t have a lot of extra money. Mom worked two jobs, her daytime gig at Aunt Sylvia’s Fashions Plus! store, and her nights taking care of Mrs. Andrews’ baby girl, Heather. At least they didn’t have to pay rent! When Daddy died, the insurance had paid off their house, and replaced the car Daddy had been killed in.

Stupid drunk drivers, anyway! Brian wiped away the tear that always seemed to pop up whenever he thought of Daddy.

There was a noise at the door, and then his Mom came in, bundled up in her long coat that covered her dress. Marie Sullivan was a beautiful woman, even with her long honey-blonde hair covered in a shawl. She smiled at him as he sat quietly at the table, doing his homework.

“How are you doing, sweetie? Everything go okay at school?”

“Just fine, Mom. I have to do a report on how we celebrate the holidays, and it’s pretty easy."

“Very cool, sweetie. Did you get a snack?”

“No, nothing looked good. What are we having for dinner?”

“I’ve been craving some grilled cheese and tomato soup all day today-sound good to you?”

“Oh, yeah, that’s my favorite!”

“I know! I was watching the wind blow the snow around all day at work, and it made me feel all cold inside. I thought the soup and sandwiches would be a good idea.”

“Will Heather be here tonight?”

“No, not tonight, sweetheart. Mrs. Andrews’ Aunt is visiting, so I’m all yours!”

Brian liked the idea of having Mom all to himself, but he knew that this meant a little less money for a bike.

“Can we make hot chocolate and watch the Christmas shows tonight?”

“Ooh, that sounds like a plan! Did you check to see which ones are on TV?”

“Rudolph and A Christmas Carol are on Channel 7, or if you want, White Christmas in on Channel 12, right after the news.”

“Tough choice! Which sounds better to you?”

“Chicken! Making the kid pick. Okay, I don’t think I made it all the way through White Christmas last year, is that alright?”

“Sure, sweetie! I’ll get dinner started while you finish your homework, okay?”

“Okay, Mom.”

“Oh, tomorrow night, we have to go to the store, so be ready when I get home.”

“Sure thing, Mom!”

Dinner was great. Brian loved to dip his sandwich into his soup. They finished their meal, cleaned up what little mess there was and sat down with their hot chocolate (made just the way Brian liked-with a little hazelnut creamer and big marshmallows). The movie was great, and Brian was glad he had chosen it. Just as he was getting ready for bed, there was a telephone call, and Brian heard his Mom answer it.

“Hello? Oh, hello Sylvia! What? Really! Oh, thank you! Yeah, see you in the morning! Bye!”

“Everything okay, Mom?”

“Yeah, sweetie, Aunt Sylvia just called to warn me that there will be some people in our store tomorrow for a surprise inspection. Seems that your Mom has been doing too good of a job down at the Fashions Plus! and some Big Shots are going to be there to see what I’m doing right!”

“Huh?”

“I know! I guess our store has the best sales in the district for second straight month, and I have the best sales in the store! The corporate management wants to see how we do it, but we aren’t supposed to know they are coming. I guess it’s a big deal, but we’ll just be doing our thing like always! There seems to be a large bonus in it for me, so perhaps we could go bike shopping?”

“Yes!” Brian shouted.

“Sweetie, let’s not count our chickens, all right? I need to see what they mean by ‘a large bonus’ okay?”

“Okay, Mom!”

The next evening was wonderful. Marie’s bonus was very substantial, and they had more than enough for Brian’s bicycle. They had even been able to go out for a pizza, which was a special treat. Brian couldn’t help looking out at the bike that was locked into its rack on the back of his Mom’s car. It was so beautiful to him, the chrome setting off the metallic red paint. He couldn’t wait to ride it!

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The accident happened so fast that Brian had a hard time remembering exactly what had happened. The driver of an oncoming customized SUV decided to make a quick left turn in front of them, which forced Marie to swerve. A car trying to avoid the SUV in front of him tried to cut to the right, but was forced to stay in his lane. Brian’s Mom missed that one, but the driver behind her smashed into the rear of their car, destroying the bike and pushing their car in front of a truck. The driver of the truck already had his foot on the brakes, but it still hit Marie’s car at almost 35 mph. The conflicting impacts smashed Marie around, even though she had an airbag.

“Mom!” Brian screamed as he watched his Mother being tossed around.

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It only took a few minutes to get Brian out of the car, but his Mom had not been so lucky. The car had protected her when it collapsed, but the emergency personnel had needed to use the Jaws of Life to get her out of the twisted mess, while Brian screamed himself hoarse. He was sure she had been killed in the accident, and to see her limp body being carried out of the wreckage was too much for him.

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Brian woke in a strange room. There were curtains all around him, and a woman in a Nurse’s uniform smiled as he sat up.

“Oh, good, you’re awake at last! How do you feel, honey?”

“Sore, but okay . . . where am I?” He was confused for a minute, and then it came to him. “A hospital? Where-where’s my Mom? Oh no! Mommy?! “

The Nurse, Bonnie, was quick to sit and hug him, before he could become hysterical.

“She . . . she’s dead, isn’t she? Mommy!” His eyes were huge with fear and loss, the tears running down his face. He couldn’t bear to go through this again!

Bonnie’s heart would have broken for the little boy, if she hadn’t had such good news for him.

“No sweetheart, she’ll be okay.” She looked him in the eyes, trying to express the truth of her words. “She was hurt, but she’ll be all right. She’s in surgery, she broke her leg, but it looks like everything will heal up just fine. As soon as she wakes up, we’ll go and you can be with her, does that sound alright?”

Brian stared at her, hoping she was right, but so afraid that she was lying.

“I swear, honey, she’ll be all right. Once she comes out of surgery, we’ll take both of you to a room. You can share a room with her tonight, I swear. In fact, I’ll see if you can go up there and wait for her. It won’t be very long, I’m sure.”

“You promise she’s going to be all right?” Brian asked, desperately.

“Yes, dear, she’ll be talking to you very soon.” Bonnie held him as he broke down with relief, the little body shaking with release.

“Everything good in here?” A thin young man with glasses asked as he pulled the curtains open.

“Yeah, it’s fine, Jeremy. Young Mr. Sullivan here had a bit of a scare, worrying about his Mom.”

“Well, it just happens that I’m here to take him to her,” Jeremy said, smiling. “She’s out of surgery, and in her room, worrying about a certain young man.”

Brian was beaming. Bonnie thought he was going to hurt himself if he smiled any wider.

“Now, Mr. Sullivan, I want you to just relax, and we’ll get you up to your room. Please keep all hands and feet inside the ride, and have fun! We’ll be there very quickly; it’s just up a couple of floors, all right?”

“Yes. Let’s go! Bye, Nurse Bonnie! Thank you so much!”

“Oh, anytime, honey. Don’t be in any rush to come back and visit, okay?”

Jeremy and Brian laughed as they headed into the elevator.

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“Okay, I need you to keep your body parts on the bed, sir! The door is not very wide, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Jeremy pulled the bed into the room. As soon as Brian saw her, he shouted “Mommy!” and as Jeremy locked the bed, Brian jumped down and rushed to give her a hug. Everything was good again.

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It wasn’t until the next day that Brian thought of his beautiful new bicycle. He knew it was a mangled wreck, still attached to the back of what was left of his mother’s car. He said nothing, but his Mom noticed the tears.

“Are you okay, sweetie?”

“Oh, Mom, it was so pretty!” he managed to say. “Now it’s just junk, and I never even got to really ride it.”

“Oh, honey, I’m so sorry!”

Marie was quite angry. If only she knew who the jerk was with that damned truck. She didn’t even know how to describe it. It had so many different colors; she wasn’t even sure what they were. Life was about to get much more interesting, though!

“Well, I had hoped to find a pair of slightly happier faces this morning!”

“Aunt Sylvia!” Brian rushed over to greet his second favorite person in the world. Sylvia wasn’t technically his Aunt, but Brian did not care.

Sylvia Martin had been born Sylvester, but had been determined to change his life to the way it should be. When her parents had died in the infamous 9/11 incident while on vacation in New York, she had decided that Sylvester had died with them.

She took her inheritance and completed her gender reassignment procedures, then used what she had left to invest in a franchise Fashions Plus! store. She had struggled with it for a while, but the world had changed for her once she hired Marie Sullivan. Marie had been a godsend, not only a friend, but a saleswoman with the talent to sell anything. In a very short time, she had become the most successful store in the chain, and Sylvia knew where she could lay the credit. Marie Sullivan was not only her best employee, she had quickly become her best friend, and Sylvia would do anything in her power for her.

“Now that’s better! I love those hugs, Brian! How are you feeling, Marie?”

“Better physically, but I’m very angry! I’m told my car is a total loss, and we had just bought Brian a beautiful new bike, which is also gone now, and all because of someone’s stupidity. I can’t even properly identify the damned truck that cut us off.”

Sylvia smiled. “That particular problem isn’t really an issue, dear. Two people got videos of the accident on their cell phones. The footage completely exonerates you from blame, and the authorities are calling your efforts to avoid an accident “heroic”. They know exactly who caused the accident, and they are already working on taking care of that issue.”

Marie smiled in amazement. The news could hardly be better! Maybe she could recover something from this stupidity. Brian might have a good Christmas, after all!

“The Doctors say that Brian can get out of here today, and he thinks you can leave in a couple of days. They are concerned with possible internal injuries, and they need to keep an eye on you. Don’t worry, I will be glad to take care of Brian, and we’ll go to your place to move things around so you can use a wheelchair for a while, won’t we Bri?”

“I can’t stay here with Mom?” He looked stricken.

“Hospitals are for sick people, Brian buddy. Of course,” she winked at Marie, “I guess we could put off that trip to the bike store to get your replacement bike . . .”

“WHAT!” Brian shouted.

“Brian, let me give you this as a Christmas present, sweetie. I can’t stand to see you sad, buddy!”

“Sylvia, are you sure?” Marie asked, unbelieving. “That bike was expensive, sweetie!”

“For you and Brian? It would have to be a lot more than you could have spent before I would back down from this. I love you, Marie, and I always have.” She smiled at Marie’s tears of happiness. “You and Brian are my only family, hon. I can hardly let my sister and my nephew down, now can I?”

“You are wonderful, Sis!”

“Well, yeah, I am.” She smiled. “Don’t worry about anything, Marie. I’ve already contacted my lawyer, and he’s working on your case as we speak. Brian and I will be back, and we’ll make sure you are going to have a full recovery as soon as you can. Your only worry will be to relax and heal. We’ll even come back to visit, around dinner time, all right?”

“I don’t know to say, Sylvia. Thank you so much, Sis.”

“No problemo, chica! Now, where did you get the bike at?”

Soon Sylvia and Brian were at the same store, picking up a bike that was identical to the one that had been destroyed. Sylvia even bought him a full set of lights and a matching helmet and some racing gloves. Brian was in heaven and Sylvia had never felt such a glow!

They got the bike safely stored in the garage. Sylvia surprised him with special bike hooks to hang the bike out of the way, and locked it securely.

They went in and checked the house out to see how they could make things easier for Marie. They had fun moving things as much to the sides of the room so Marie could move around so that she wouldn’t have any restrictions. They went back to the hospital to visit for a few hours, and Sylvia even bought some of Marie’s favorite cheesecake for them to share.

They watched the news, and saw that the Police had arrested the owner of the customized SUV. Brian was surprised to find that it was his hero, Mark Reed, star pitcher of his favorite baseball team!

The news went on to say that the popular baseball star was disputing the Police analyst’s version of the accident. He felt that Mrs. Sullivan had been at fault, perhaps she had been distracted of driving too fast. He suggested she had been on a cell phone and not paying attention.

If Sylvia could have reached into the television and dragged Mark’s butt through the screen, she would have torn him a new rectal cavity. She was angry. Marie was angry as well, but Sylvia was livid. How could he be such an ass! No one noticed Brian, heartbroken that it was his personal hero that was acting like this.

Marie did indeed recover well. In a fairly short time, she was back at Fashions Plus!, setting all kinds of sales records. Sylvia was torn, as she was thinking of expanding to a second franchise, with Marie as manager. She worried that this could cause problems at her first store, and she wasn’t sure what to do.

They had filed suit against Mark Reed. He was still refusing to accept responsibility for his stupidity, even though more videos had been revealed, showing he had been on his cell phone when he had been driving that night! They also confirmed that Marie had not had any chance to avoid the accident. Brian was so surprised that his idol was such a self-centered idiot. It was depressing, and he refused to even watch the team play ball. They seemed to be supporting Mark, and there were even some sports fans that claimed Marie was making a big deal out of everything to get money from Mark!

It was all depressing for Brian. It got worse when someone at school vandalized Brian’s treasured bike. They cut his seat to ribbons and had broken the spokes on the wheels. Brian was so depressed when he came out after school. What had he done to deserve this?

The pieces of his bike hung in the garage until they could be replaced. Marie was in tears when Sylvia came over, and Brian refused to even come out of his room. Sylvia could hear him crying through the door, and it broke her heart. She tried to console Marie by telling her about her newest plan. The new store would be a partnership, and the two "sisters" would run it together! Marie tried to be happy , but it was just becoming too much. She wanted to drop the suit and just get back to her life. She was afraid someone would connect her to Fashions Plus!, and that could hurt Sylvia as well. Marie would not allow that to happen.

Sylvia left the house in a terrible mood. This had gone much too far. Sylvia had an ace up her sleeves, and she decided it was time to play it.

The next day she made a phone call. Sometimes it was useful to be the owner of the city’s most well known plus sized clothing store.

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Marie and Brian followed Sylvia into the courthouse. Mr. Davis, the lawyer handling their case, met them at the steps. He nodded, and a large man approached Brian with a microphone, followed by a cameraman. Marie started to panic, but Sylvia held her back.

“You’re Brian Sullivan aren’t you? How do you feel about all of this, Brian?”

“How do I feel? My Mom was almost killed by a man who wasn’t paying attention. He was my hero. I used to think Mark Reed was a good man, and I wanted to be just like him. I don’t even want to play baseball anymore. Some idiots at my school trashed my bike, because Mark is a baseball star, and he just couldn’t make a mistake, could he? My mom is afraid to let this hurt anyone anymore than it has, so I think she is going to drop everything, and this . . . jerk can go on being stupid. My hero!

How do you think I feel?”

Brian walked away, angrily.

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Mark Reed sat in the back of a limo, preparing to make his entrance in to the courtroom. He watched as a news broadcast showed the films of the accident, showed him on his cell as he made his turn in front of traffic.

“Mark Reed has shown himself to be a consummate ass. His actions were irresponsible, and his attitude is unconscionable. We at this station would like to call for an honest hearing, without regard to this spoiled brat’s celebrity.“

They played the video of Brian’s interview. Mark watched as one of his fans let go of his respect. He watched as the boy gave up on the sport that Mark loved, all because of Mark’s selfishness, and he was ashamed to his core.

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“Your Honor, before we continue this any further, I’d like to make a statement, if I could?”

“I’ll allow it, Mr. Reed.”

“Your Honor, it has recently been brought to my attention that I need to man-up and face my responsibilities. I truly had no intentions to cause anyone pain or create any damage, but my carelessness is inexcusable. I wish to settle this immediately, pay any damages that the court should assign, and pay all the legal and court fees that could have been incurred by the Sullivan’s. I have no way to express how truly sorry I am, your Honor. I have been a jerk, and the fact that I didn’t recognize the seriousness of my actions is very embarrassing to me.”

He looked over to where Brian and his mother sat.

“Brian, I can never apologize enough for what I have done, and what I could have done. I am not worthy of a fan like you. I let you down, I let everyone down. I did something stupid, and then I proved I was stupid by my attitude. Baseball is a sport, and I have been blessed to be allowed to play it at this level. That does not give me additional privileges, it gives me additional responsibilities. Like it or not, I am a role model to many kids. I am so ashamed that I let you and so many others down. I promise you, Brian Sullivan, that this is something I shall never forget again."

Brian stared, open-mouthed. In one statement, he suddenly had his hero back; Mark looked at him and smiled. It was then that he noticed Brian’s mother Marie. He bowed, and she smiled at him, shyly. Brian looked at the two of them, the handsome baseball star and his beautiful blonde Mom, and made another wish for the next Christmas.

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