Former Pirate Hero

Time:

4:43 pm.

Love.

Is it real or is it a myth like so many things in this world.

My parents always taught me to believe and trust in love…then again, they told me Santa and the Tooth Fairy were real too.

Love always confused me when I was growing up. My parents loved each other. I looked at them and knew it. She would smile when he was around, laugh at his jokes. With my dad it was the small things. Something simple as a hand hold or shoulder rub when she was upset and needed comfort, giving her his strength.

I remember the first time I told a girl I loved her. She pushed me in the mud. Sure it really doesn’t count cause we were six, but still. Pretty much summed up my love life growing up.

I clicked with someone, and then the hammer was thrown. Click, hammer. Click, hammer.

My first girlfriend was in the eighth grade…Marla. She was great. Smart, funny. We were together most of the year…until the end of the school year.

There was a formal dance at school; she and I went together. Around the same time, there was this new guy at school Damien. Marla was asked to show him around. I’m still not sure what exactly what happened, neither of them ever gave me the full details. Just vague ones.

The night of the dance she looked like she was a million miles away the entire time. I took her outside for some fresh air and to talk to her. That’s when she broke up with me to be with him.

One of many re-occurring themes in my life.

She told me we’d still be friends after. That she still cared about me. But, we never talked much after. Broke my heart seeing them together.

Learned at a young age that giving up your happiness for someone else is never easy. It took a while, but I eventually got over it. It was young love. Puppy love. Comes and goes.

But hurts every time. Takes less time for some apparently.

I remember a few years later I was dating someone else. Up to that point I hadn’t told any other girl that I loved her. The other relationships I had were brief. Ended on good terms with most of them. Mutual each time.

Then came Jessie.

Things between us were great. I thought I was ready to tell her, but I was nervous about it because it was a big step for me.

After I did some training with my dad in our gym I went to the kitchen to get some water, where my mom was reading a paper.

“He still running you to the bone?”

“Yes ma’am,” I said with a smile. “Because ‘it’ll pay off in the grand scheme of things.’ Whatever that means. I’ve yet to be in a situation where I’ve needed to sword fight or any hand to hand combat.”

“You know your father…better safe than sorry. There’s a big world out there and we just want you ready when you’re out there on your own.”

“Still got about a year before that happens. Can’t I take a breather now and then? Hardly get to see Jessie because she’s working at the bookstore.”

“How are things between you and your Shmoopy,” she asked with a grin.

I stopped drinking my water and glared at her. “Where did you hear that name?”

She laughed. “Oh come on Victor. I hear you two laughing up there when she’s here. I believe she refers to you as her teddy bear?”

“And cuddle monkey,” my dad said joining us.

I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples and kept muttering, “I’m invisible, I’m invisible, I’m invisible.”

“Does that ever work,” my mom asked with a smile.

“One day it might,” I said not stopping.

“Think our boy is embarrassed of his pet name,” he laughed. “I just got a call, I have to head out of town for a few days. I should be back by the end of the week. I’ll need a ride to the airport tomorrow morning.”

He gave my mom a kiss and I started banging my head on the table. “STOP THAT! You’re not supposed to do that! You’re old!”

They both laughed and my dad went upstairs.

“It’s okay Vic. Pet names like that generally come before the big L word comes out. It was like for your father and me. Have you told her yet?”

“What? That I love her? I’ve come close. It’s just when I’m around her I get tongue-tied. And often say stupid things. I’m a smart guy, but around her, I turn into a doofus.”

“A sign of a man in love. You should tell her. Don’t worry about the how or when.”

“I know, I just…I’m nervous about it. I’ve had a few girlfriends, but I’ve never really told them I loved them. I cared for them, but not this much. How did you and dad know you loved each other?”

She smiled and said simply, “We just knew. Probably from the moment I met him. You’re a lot like your father when I first met him. Sweet and charming. He acted innocent, but he had a secret wild side.”

“Do I want to hear this?”

“We were in high school. He worked as a part-time karate instructor and I was the new girl. I was hardly the wonderful woman I am today. I was quiet and mousy back then. Some guys were teasing me and he stepped in and stopped them. Ever the hero, your father. As we got to know each other, the more I realized he was the one. And you just know its love when your heart beats fast and slows down at the same time. I can’t say when the right time is to tell her or if you should tell her. That’s for you to decide. Just know that if you trust your heart, it’ll never be wrong.”

My mom always did give great advice. I decided to tell Jessie the next day. But being me, I wanted it to do be special.

I raced downstairs and headed out to school.

“Victor, what about breakfast,” My mom said pouring coffee for herself.

I grabbed some to go. “Only to go.”

I kissed her cheek. “Later mom.”

“Love you,” she shouted as I closed the door. I popped back in. “Love you too mom.”

I got to school and I snuck behind Jessie and covered her eyes.

“Guess who,” I asked playfully.

“Mmm,” She thought. “Lucas?”

“Who’s Lucas,” I asked.
She turned around grinning. “Kidding.”

She planted a soft kiss on me.

“You…are an evil, evil woman. I don’t know why I stick around.”

“Because I have you wrapped around my little finger and you like it,” she said in a triumphant voice.

Who could argue with that? She was gorgeous. Bright blonde hair down to her waist, a smile that could melt anyone’s heart and her eyes were like two pools of blue I just wanted to get lost in every second of every day.

”You’re right, what was I thinking?”

“Like you ever think around me.”

I smiled. “You’re off tonight right?”

She nodded. “Yeah, why?”

“Because I am taking you out to dinner tonight.”

“Where?”

“That little outdoor café uptown. The one you’ve been practically hinting at for weeks.”

“Oh my gosh!” She kissed me again and again and again. “You are the best boyfriend ever.”

“I try,” I blushed.

During lunch we were outside studying for a test the next day.

“Victor did you spend all last night memorizing this book,” our friend Augustus asked.

“In between training with my dad and dinner and late night porn,” I replied with a grin.

Jessie smacked the back of my head. “Perv.”

“Yes, but I’m your perv,” I replied as I kissed her cheek.

I put an arm around her as our principal Mr. Hackett showed up.

“Victor…can I speak with you for a moment in private,” he asked.

I was smiling as I turned. Then I saw his face. I knew I wasn’t in trouble, but I was about to get some really bad news. I stood up and walked over to him. He led me to his office and I sat down with my heart in my throat.

“Kinda weird being in here,” I said nervously.

“Victor,” he started. “I’m afraid there’s no easy way to tell you this. You’re parents were in an accident. They were taken to the hospital. One of your teachers will be bringing you there when you’re ready to go.”

I nodded blankly.

“I’m sure they’ll be fine son. I know your parents. They’re tough.”

I got up and went back to my friends. I was white as a ghost.

“Everything okay,” Jessie asked.

I just shook my head as I gathered my stuff. “I have to go.”

”What is it,” Augustus asked.

“My parents…there was an accident.”

I zipped up my backpack and kissed Jessie goodbye. I should have told her right then, but the thought of my parents in the hospital took president.

“Rain-check for tonight,” I asked.

“Like you have to ask. Go, I’ll call you later?”

I nodded and went to the hospital.

That’s when everything changed. I lost my parents that day. I started acting withdrawn at school and around Jessie. I was losing her and it was my fault.

I never did tell her that I loved her. I wanted to, but something kept holding me back. We broke up after graduation. After the ceremony was finished we found a bench in the quad and sat down.

“Vic, we need to talk.”

“I know,” I said softly.

“I should have said this a long time ago, but here it goes. Victor, I love you. From the moment you picked up my pencil and handed to me in math class. But since your parents died, you’ve been distant. And I get that. You just…I need to know if you feel the same way or if we have any kind of a future.”

“I do, its…its just been so hard since they died. My dad taught me everything. How to fight, how to be a man, how to be a good person.”

I pulled out the pocket-watch he had given me when he died. “He was my conscience and my mom was my heart. I know I’ve kept you at a distance.”

“So what do you want to do?”

I shrugged.

“Do you think we should break up?”

“Maybe its for the best.” I glanced at her she was tearing up. I hate it when she cries. I hate it more I’m the cause of it. “You should be with someone who can give you what you want. And I can’t do that right now.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Police have no leads on the guy who ran down my parents. They’re starting to brush it off. I can’t let this go. I have to know who did this and why.”

“Vengeance isn’t going to solve anything Vic. It’s not what your parents would have wanted. They wanted you to go to college and become the man they know you’d become.”

“I have to do this Jess,” I said looking down. “For myself and for them.”

She sighed and wiped a tear. “If this is what you want, I’m not going to stop you.”

She kissed my cheek. “Goodbye Victor. I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

She walked away. I sat there for another hour or so just thinking. Then came the words I wanted to tell her.

“I love you Jessie.”

I stood up and packed a bag and began my journey. I had only a few small details of the accident but I had to make it work.

I had begun my quest to find my parents killer. Or killers.

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Subject:	Background Part 1 - The Pocket Watch
Time:	4:35 pm.

“Daddy,” I said peeking into his office.

“Hey champ,” he replied with a smile.

“Can you teach me to tell a time?”

He waved me in with a grin. I ran up to him and hopped up onto his lap. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the watch. He carried it with him everywhere. Especially after grandpa died.

“You see this,” he asked me letting me hold the watch.

I nodded as I tried to open it.

“Your great-grandfather bought this for your grandpa when he married your grandma. He taught me how to tell time on this too when I was about your age. When I married your mom, he gave this to me as a wedding gift. And when you get older and get married you’re going to get it. It’s a family heirloom.

“A hairloom?”

He chuckled and nodded.

“And I’ma gonna get it too?”

He nodded again.

“YAY,” I said happily clapping my hands.

He spent the next couple hours teaching me how to tell time. He told me about the big hand and the little hand and broke it down so I could understand how to read a watch.

I loved that watch. My dad even let me wear it during special occasions. But the day I was finally given the watch was the worst day of my life. It was the day that my parents died.

The details on how they died were never really clear. All I was told was that they were in a horrible car accident. I was at the school at the time when I received the news they were in an accident. I was excused for the rest of the day and was even taken to the hospital by a teacher.

By the time I arrived, my mom was already gone. But I was informed that my dad was still alive, but he didn’t have much time left.

They kept telling me he was in no condition for visitors, but I eventually was able to convince them to let me see him. I didn’t care how much it would hurt to see him. I just wanted to be there with him so he wouldn’t have to be alone in a room of doctors. He didn’t deserve to go out like that.

He should have someone who loved him with him, holding his hand.

“Dad,” I said as I pushed the door open peeking in.

“Hey champ,” he said tiredly.

The nurse squeezed my shoulder as I walked in.

“I’m sorry honey, we did all we could for him. We made him comfortable, all we can do now is wait…I really am sorry.”

She closed the door as he left so I could have some privacy with my dad.

I didn’t know what to say. So I said the first thing on my mind.

“What happened?”

“I…I don’t know. It happened so fast.”

I sat in the chair by the bed and pulled it closer. He reached over to the drawer next to him and grabbed the watch. With all the damage done to the car and my parents, it was a miracle the watch made it out without a scratch.

I knew what he was about to do.

“Son…”

“No,” I stopped him. “You…you can’t. I won’t let you give me that. Not now. You said my wedding day.”

I couldn’t hold it in any more. I started crying. I took his hand and he squeezed it, tears welling up in his smiling at me.

“You’re as stubborn as your mother you know that? But still got that huge heart.”

I put my hand on top of his.

“I know this isn’t fair Victor. But it is the way it is for a reason. I don’t know why, but it’s for a reason. And right now, you have to be strong. I’ve taught you a lot over the years. I’ve given you wisdom, I’ve taught you to fight and how to swordfight. You’re going to become an extraordinary young man son. In some ways you already are. You’re mother and I both love you and we will always be with you.”

He gave me the watch and closed it in my hand. “I want to be able to be there for you as you grow Vic. Always keep this with you, and I’ll be there with you. All the days of your life.”

I wiped some stray tears out of my eyes.

“Just remember the guidance I’ve given you son: You’re greatest strength isn’t in how powerful you are. Its in your mind and heart. That is where true power lies. Family and friends always come first. And while times may get dark, hope lost, and all good seems to fade away…trust that things will get better. Believe in the power of love and goodness because it will win out in the end.”

He coughed a little.

“And true love can exist. Even if you are torn apart, if you believe in it strongly enough, you’ll find your way to each other.”

“Mom said the same thing,” I said wiping more tears.

I gave him a hug, wanting to cling to dear life so he wouldn’t go. But I had to let go.

“I love you dad.”

“I love you too son,” he said cupping my cheek. “I’m so proud of you.”

His hand slowly fell and the machines started beeping. The nurses and doctor raced into the room, but to me, the world was moving in slow motion.

As they came in I walked out of the room, turning around one last time to see my father one last time.

It hurt seeing that helpless. To me, he was the strongest man in the world.

I found a seat in the waiting room, rubbing the outside of the watch with my thumb, praying to anyone that would hear me to keep my father alive.

That prayer wouldn’t be answered.

I would be alone in the world. Without the two things that made me who I was.

My mom, who was my heart.
My dad, who was my strength.

“The man just died,” I heard from the side of me down the hall. “Whoever wanted those two dead got their wish. They never saw that truck coming.”

From my peripheral vision, I could tell they were cops.

“This just doesn’t smell right,” the other one said.

“Did they find the driver,” a doctor asked.

“No, he just vanished into thin air. No one can describe him. And there’s no evidence there was a driver.”

My parents were killed. By who or what, I don’t know. But that night as I layed in that empty house, I vowed to find who did it and bring them to justice.

Vengeance would be more fun, but my dad wouldn’t have wanted me to do that. He taught me better than that. And the last thing I would want would be to disappoint him in death.

The funeral was a few days later, most of it was a blur to me.

I remember standing there, the fall breeze blowing.

I bent down in front of my parents’ tombstone, tracing my fingers over the engraving.

“I’ll find who did this to you two…I swear it.”

I kissed my fingertips and touched the tombstone.

I finished school that spring, and set out for my quest for answers. For the truth.

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