More than a Memory

Chapter 10: It's All Coming Back to Me

Ben felt himself hit the wooden porch. He felt the wood splinter into his palms. He could remember his head throbbing, memories flashing before his eyes. He heard Claire come out. And then everything when dark.

"Happy Birthday, Ben," his mom was saying to him as she woke him up.

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and stretched, his Buzz Lightyear  sheets bunching up under his small body. He blinked, focusing on his mom as she was leaning over him and asked in a small voice, "My party is today?"

She nodded and ran her hands through his bushy hair, "Yeah, today's the day. My little boy is turnin' eight."

At that, Ben hurried to get ready for his party. He flitted around his room, trying to find the perfect outfit, finally settling on a pair of dark jeans,  a black t-shirt and  a jean jacket. Even though he had just turned eight, looking good was important to him. His hair was the most important part, as he spent at least twenty minutes getting it to lay flat, yet slick up in the front. You could never be too prepared to meet some hot chicks, especially since the majority of his guests were girls.

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The party was dragging on for Lisa, but Ben didn't seem to notice. He was having too much fun with flirting and the bounce house that his mom surprised him with. He was trying his best to impress three of girls there as he attempted to do cool tricks in the bounce house. So far, he was doing a pretty good job, getting giggles and claps from them. He continued in the bounce house until he was out of breath and Lisa suggested he take a break and come open some of his presents.

He couldn't quite remember everything he got, but an AC/DC cd stood out. Along with some new Hot Wheels and his first guitar from his mom. He remembered strumming the out of tune chords and then someone announced the cake was ready, so the guitar was quickly discarded for the sugary goodness.

He could remember his cake being race car themed, complete with three new toy cars, all street rods and classic ones at that. Of course he got the first pick and he chose to have half vanilla, half chocolate, getting part of the racetrack. He took his cake and went to stand back over by the bounce house, watching the girls jump up and down. It was then when his father first walked into his life, little did he know it.

He happened to notice movement out of his eye as a man, dressed very much the same as him, carrying a plate of cake, walked towards him and casually leaned against the fence. He couldn't quite recall the exact words spoken, but he knew he felt very comfortable with the man. He did most of the talking, but the conversation was very short and then he was back in the bounce house, forgetting all about Dean, but it wouldn't be the last time he saw him.

Ben decided to go to the park the next day, trying to show off his new video games. What he thought was cool, was even cooler to the neighborhood bullies. Those three kids were much taller and rounder than him and scared him when they took his Nintendo DS. Ben would had been happy to share with them, but they just took it without asking. After asking several times for his game back and after getting shoved on the ground, he picked himself up and went over to sit on a nearby bench, waiting for them to bring it back.

In the meantime, the man from his party the day before showed up and sat down next to him. The man quickly recognized his distress and offered to step in. Instead of  letting the grownup take care it, the man gave him a few pointers on how to get his game back. Ben was unsure about the idea of violence as he walked back over to group of bullies, but one glance back at the man, who was cheering him on, made him change his mind. There was something about that man that made him feel safe and like he could accomplish anything.