Mafia Desire (Erotica)

After the ceremony he took her to a nice restaurant. He had the plane tickets in his pocket and a lovely diamond bracelet he’d noticed her looking at. She was preoccupied and glanced at the entrance a few times while they waited for their order. He decided he’d waited long enough and reached into his pocket when he saw Derek LaRue, a classmate of Wendy’s, step into the entrance of the restaurant looking for someone. Ben froze and Wendy noticed. She turned and saw Derek then looked back at her husband. The bitter smile was back and Ben felt his heart crack in two. Wendy’s frequent late night ‘study sessions with her classmates’ suddenly took on a sick new meaning. He looked desperately at his wife and knew it was over but he wasn’t ready. She took off her wedding rings and left them on the table. She got up and walked out with Derek. She didn’t look back.

Ben picked up the rings in shock then ran after her but they were already driving out of the parking lot. He never saw or heard from her again.

The next five years were a blur for Ben. He was never much of a drinker so it didn’t take much to get him tipsy. He’d drink just enough to dull the pain every day. He sat on a folding chair in his driveway watching his neighbor’s kids play until the sun set behind the park grove. At first he’d watch the road hoping to see Wendy drive back but in time that hope died and his heart died with it. Some of the wives in the neighborhood looked in on him from time to time and he was polite but the raw sorrow in his eyes was painful to see. They were assured he wasn’t a danger to himself or the kids he watched and gradually they stopped coming to speak with him. When he lost this human contact he stopped shaving and let his hair grow out once more. He overheard some of the kids calling him Hagrid but he had no idea what that meant.

Ben was well into his funk when tragedy almost struck the peaceful little pocket neighborhood. He was down at the end of his driveway collecting his mail. He was just beginning to feel the gentle buzz from his scotch and it made him a little clumsy. He dropped a few of the letters. The wind picked up and blew them across the lawn. He walked after them to retrieve them and was leaning back against a tree when a van slipped into the court. He heard a high pitched scream and was charging out across the street before he registered why. He saw a man throwing a little girl into the back of the van and racing for the driver’s door. Ben hit the opposite side of the door before the punk could get his left leg in and there was a sickening snap as the bones of driver’s ankle shattered. He was still screaming when Ben dragged him from the van and began to slam the wailing man against the side of the van. By now other people were on the street running towards them.

Shrieking in pain the punk pulled a gun from his jacket pocket and put three bullets into him before Ben slapped the gun away. At the sound of the shots people dropped and stopped running towards the van. More than one was dialing 911 on their cell.All rights © NôvelDrama.Org.

Ben looked down at the blood spreading across his shirt and looked into the terrified face of the creep he had pinned against the side of the van. He could hear the little girl screaming inside and Gabriella, the woman who lived in the house just south of his yanked open the van’s back door and pulled her crying daughter out into her arms. Gabriella held the little girl tightly against her and looked into Ben’s eyes. Something passed between them. Ben looked back at the face of the man who was now futilely beating against his arms.

In front of everyone Ben screamed his rage into the man’s face, lifted him by his neck and shook him like a rag doll. All of his grief and pain spilled over into his attack. He broke the man’s neck and two police officers tackled him to the ground as they mistook him for the criminal. When his neighbors swarmed the police to straighten out the error Ben was already unconscious and slipping away. An ambulance arrived and rushed him to the hospital. It was a close call but they saved him.

For four months he lay in a coma. Another eight in physiotherapy to bring his atrophied muscles back into condition. He threw himself into getting back into shape and spent hours flat on his back as his muscles trembled in pain. When he was finally allowed to leave the hospital Gabriella was there to drive him home. She had restocked his fridge and got him settled into his home once more.

That was five years ago and he kept up the workouts. He’d shaved the beard once more and was back to his conservative haircut. He was healthy, fit, working once more (adding more and more to the nest egg with no purpose), but his life was stagnating and that showed no sign of changing. His heart remained closed and broken and his trust issues prevented him from trying again. He was a hero to the neighborhood kids and their parents. Everyone had a smile for him and a wave as they went on their way.

The neighborhood husbands had tried to get him to join their little boys club and he’d attended a few times but he’d sworn off alcohol, didn’t smoke cigars, didn’t follow sports, and found the negative talk about ‘nagging and needy wives’ to be painful to listen to. He was certain that some of them cheated on their partners. He begged off the last few invitations and they finally got the hint. While they thought he was a little too much of a goody two shoes, they respected his privacy and didn’t consider him a threat with their wives. What little Ben had offered in conversation made his opinion of cheaters clear enough.

The wives had their own secret thoughts regarding the big man. On those hot summer days when Ben would be mowing his front lawn with his manual hand mower there always seemed to be a gathering of women who’d find that a good time to bring their kids out to play in the park. They did their best not to stare but that became much harder to do when he’d remove his shirt. The sun would glisten on the sweaty skin. The three bullet hole scars on his lower abdomen just seemed to add to his appeal. On those occasions when he noticed the silence from the gabbing women he’d look up and see the group staring at him. He’d wave self-consciously with a shy smile and they’d smile and return the wave in embarrassment and collect their kids.

As he leaned on his rake he smiled to himself as he thought of the funny looks the ladies gave him. He knew it was innocent as they were all married.

Ben finished up his yard and looked at the monstrous pile of leaves waiting for collection. He glanced around and saw that the trees were pretty much done for the season. Soon it would be snow shovelling weather. Something else he did all by himself… when he wasn’t shoveling the snow for Old man Walker.