Now that I am an older man, I find myself spending more time thinking of my childhood. Remembering all the places we lived. My friends, and my family. I can even remember ninth grade teachers. Mrs. Ramirez was my favorite teacher. She treated everyone the same. Like we were all going to grow up to be president or astronauts. She pushed our limits and, now I realize, our lives in the right direction. My mom and I moved around a lot when I was younger. I remember feeling like we were spies. Sometimes we would pack what we could carry and leave in the middle of the night. “Oh no, they found us, we need to retreat.” I found out when I got a little older that the reality was far more frightening. All I knew about my dad is that he died when I was six or seven. I was fourteen years old when we moved to Skate, Maine. It’s a small village, no other word would fit, on the east coast. It gets cold in the winter and let’s be honest. It doesn’t get that warm during the summer either. My mom got a job as a waitress at the local diner. On her off days she had a small hustle as a tailor. I used to be embarrassed when my mom would make me clothes for school. Now I really miss them.
The day we arrived, there was still snow on the ground. Spring was still a long way off. The chill in the air was something I never thought I would ever get used to. My first day of school was like anyone else’s. Hi, my name is Eric. We moved for new opportunities for me and my mom. I like animals and making things. I love playing with my yo-yo. Yes, we are here legally. No, I have never been to Mexico. You know, normal stuff like that. I didn’t make any friends my first week there. I was quiet and with it being such a small community, everyone else was wary of the new people that didn’t have family in town. People are always skeptical of outsiders. It’s been that way since the beginning of time, I’d guess.
It all seems so far away now. Some things come and go. But not that year. That was the year I learned who I was. Corny right. Well, it’s my story and if I wanna be corny I will. We were living in a small house, which sat on a piece of property owned by an old man. It wasn’t much but it had electricity, running water and heat. I don’t ever remember being cold in that house. My mom would tell me we were lucky to find it. The old man only charged her a hundred dollars a month. I helped out by doing chores around the property. Yard work and picking up trash. The old man, Ben, saw me running home from school, just ahead of a group of guys who wanted to show me up close and personal, their new shoes. David Cresley and his friends had made it their mission in life to torment me. I made the mistake my first week in school of eating my lunch. I was informed after the fact that it was David’s lunch I ate. Most days they didn’t even bother, but days like this one. They wanted blood. I hid behind the barn. Buried under scrap wood. They stopped long enough to argue which way I went. Once they were happy with the direction they ran at top speed. As I was debating on whether or not to come out, I heard someone walking toward me. I froze. Then finally after what felt like forever, Ben’s voice broke the silence. “They’re gone. Halfway to the Jarnell farm I recon.”
I climbed out from my hiding spot and cleaned off the best I could. “Thanks Ben.”
“Why are they after you.?” That was Ben. No, hey how ya doin? Or Are you okay? He was straight to the point. He once told me, he was too old to beat around the bush. “I sat down in class today.”
He wiped his hands on his trusty terry cloth he carried and smiled. “Welp, that’ll do’er.” Ben was a tall man. Broad shoulders. From what I gathered he worked on this farm his whole life. It used to belong to his father. He wore jeans and a loose shirt. Mom said it was to hide the fact he was in better shape than the high school football team. I think he just wanted to be comfortable. He didn’t have a wife. She passed away several years ago. No children either. Mom did some snooping. But he did treat us like family.
He turned and walked back into the barn. I started to follow him when I heard my mom call. I ran to the house. When I got inside my mom was cooking dinner. She liked cooking. I can still smell her beef roast and potatoes. “Eric, I will be working late tonight. I have asked Ben to come look in on you later tonight.”
“Mom, I don’t need anyone to check up on me. I’m almost thirteen years old.” My voice wined like that of a cat that didn’t want to take his bath.
“I don’t care how old you are, young man. I asked him to check up on you and that’s what he is going to do. Entendes?”
“Claro, mama.” My mom’s Spanish always got thicker when she was getting angry or demanding. I decided to just do my homework and not argue. There was no point. She was a strong woman. My mom wasn’t much taller than me at the time. Maybe, 5 ‘8’’. But no one messed with her. Her hair was never out of place. Even when she woke in the morning it seemed to always be either in a bun or brushed all the way down. Her eyes were a hazel blue. Which was very rare for a Mexican. She used to tell me it was over from the influx of Europeans after the war. She was beautiful. A lot of guys tried to get with her everywhere we went but I never saw her with anyone. After dinner she made sure I finished my homework, told me to brush my teeth and kissed me goodnight. Ben had checked on me and was already gone when I fell asleep on the couch watching movies. I woke when I heard something from outside. Someone was driving down in. I carefully looked out the window and saw Ben walking towards the car. His house is closer to the main road. You have to drive past his house to come to ours. The SUV stopped and a man got out. I couldn’t see his face. It was too dark, and the headlights were shining in my direction. After a little bit the man left. Ben watched him drive all the way out before he turned and looked at our house. I didn’t know if he saw me or not, but I watched him walk up to his porch and sit down. The next morning, I woke up, ate my breakfast and went to get started on my chores. The first thing I do on Saturday is mow the lawn. As I pulled the mower out of the small shed, I noticed Ben was on the porch. Sitting watching the road. I walked the mower over to the grass, but before I could get it started Ben called my name. “What’s up?”
“Go put that thing away. You don’t need to mow today.”
“But it’s Saturday.”
“I know I need your help doing something else instead. Put that away and meet me by the barn.” I turned to see my mom’s little Toyota pull into the drive. Ben stood and waved to her to stop. “Go’on. I wanna talk to yer mom quickly.” I looked but I didn’t argue. I put the mower away and locked the shed. Before I went to the barn, I saw my mom talking to Ben. She didn’t seem happy, but I just wrote it off as a bad night at work. I went to the barn and waited for Ben to meet me. I sat on one of the old tree stumps. Finally, I saw Ben start walking toward me. My mom parked her car in Ben’s garage. I didn’t even realize Ben had taken his truck out. Before going inside my mom came and gave me a kiss and said good morning. Her funny way of letting me know she was going to bed. She disappeared inside the small house and something felt not quite right. Before I could dwell on it, Ben snapped me out. “Aight, young Eric, I need you to help me clean and organize my tools.” I said Okay and went inside. My mind still on my mom and the garage. She never parked in the garage. Anywhere.
The inside of the barn was huge. Barn was the wrong word. It was just four walls and a high ceiling. There were tools hanging on all the walls. Some walls had animal heads. Some had what looked to me like shields from old movies. At the front of the long building was a carved wooden table. Five chairs sat behind it. In the center of the room was a large fire pit. I walked around looking in amazement at all the things I didn’t know were there. I found swords mounted on walls. Furs folded on wooden shelves. Ben walked behind me. I was guessing he was making sure I didn’t break anything. But he never said a word. Even when I put out my hand to touch the things hanging on the walls. I reached the large carved table. I began to caress it when Ben finally spoke. “That table there was hand carved many years ago. So were each of the chairs you see. That’s why they don’t all match.”
I looked at him and he was smiling. He didn’t smile much since I have known him. “Did your dad carve them?” I asked, unable to keep the excitement out of my voice. “No. My daddy took care of them and fixed them up when needed. Just like I did. No, they were carved many generations ago.”
Before I could say anything else, he asked me to come to the other end with him. I don’t know how I missed it at first. It was a boat. Twice as long as a car. It looked like he was building it. When we got next to it, I realized what it was. “Ben, this is a Viking ship.” His smile widened, like I said something he wasn’t expecting. “Ye’sir, it is. It’s a replica of a Northman’s long ship that they would take on raids and when trading.”
“Did you make it?”
“Yes.” He took his right hand and petted the boat. “I have been building her on and off for about five years now.” I had so many questions, but he turned me to his worktable. I saw dozens of tools all made out of wood and metal.
“I need you to organize and clean all of this. There are shelves over there and some containers on the other side. Be careful the steel blades on these tools are very sharp. I said I would be, and he left me to my work. It took me longer than it should have because I kept stopping to explore. I sat in the chairs pretending I was a warrior home for a feast. The furs were soft. I was afraid to touch the swords. On the other side of the long ship, I found axes. But not the kind you would get from a hardware store. These were the kind of axes people on tv took into battle. I picked one up and swung it around. The first time I fell because it was heavy. The second time, I got it stuck in a stump by the fire pit. Ben walked in and saw me struggling to pull the axe out. I apologized like my life depended on it. I was sure he was going to be mad. He just laughed and pulled the axe out of the stump like it was nothing. “I’m sorry Ben. I didn’t mean to.” He put his free hand on my shoulder and held the axe in the other. “Young man, you can’t wield an axe until you learn to use it. You can lose your head like that.” He put the axe back in its place. “I’m sorry. It just looked really cool.”
“I know it does. Don’t say you’re sorry you didn’t do anything wrong. You just have to be more aware of your surroundings.” Go ahead and go get some dinner your mom made. I’ll finish up here.”
I began to argue, but he pushed me on my way. Mom was quiet during dinner. Usually, she asked how my day was. Did I do all my chores, which I remembered I didn’t. “Mom, are you okay?” She looked up from her plate and smiled. That smile that parents use to try and make little kids feel better not realizing it makes us feel afraid and a little defensive. “I am fine mijo. What did you do today?”
“I helped Ben clean some in the barn. He has a lot of cool things in there. He is building a boat.”
“Really. I never took him as a boat builder.”
“He’s got swords and axes too.”
“Well you stay away from those. I don’t want you getting hurry.”
We talked for a long time after that, but I noticed every noise made her look outside. She wouldn’t tell me if she was waiting on someone or not. I figured we were just getting ready to move again. That was the age I started realizing my mom was running from something. But she wouldn’t tell me what.
That night I had a dream. A dream about a monster taking me away from my mom. I tried to fight but it was too big and strong for me to get away from. It had scaly green skin. Like a snake. It had so many eyes around its head I thought they were jewels at first. It grabbed me with four arms as my mom screamed fighting to save me. Its razor-sharp teeth kept it from forming words.
Then, just like that I was awake. It took me a minute to understand what I was hearing. I thought it was the growl of the creature still. I looked out the window and saw Ben mowing the yard. I hurriedly got dressed and headed outside. Before I could ask why he was mowing, he told me he needed me back in the barn. As I headed over, I saw my mom coming home from work. She was driving Ben’s truck. At the time I thought nothing of this. Maybe something was wrong with the car.
I was in the middle of hanging tools on the wall when Ben finally came in. “Why were you mowing the grass?” I asked as soon as he closed the door. “A man’s gotta feel useful.”
“But it’s my job to mow.” I tried not to sound as whiny as I was. He smiled, “I know.” He left me to the tools and headed to a door behind the boat he was building. I didn’t notice the door the day before, but after he closed it with him on the other side, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Every once in a while throughout the day I would walk by and try to listen. I could hear hammering. Metal on metal. I felt heat coming from under the door. Finally, it was lunch time and I went to the house to get something to eat. I decided to make a sandwich for Ben as a thank you for doing my yard work. I grabbed a small bag of chips and a chilled cola. On my way to the barn, I felt something from behind hit me. The food flew out of my hands as I tried to keep my face from slamming into the dirt. I fought to catch my breath. As the ringing in my ears was beginning to go away, I could hear David Cresley and his goons laughing. “I told you I’d get you.” He stood and began kicking me. I tried to cover my face with my arms. His buddies slid to the ground holding me. Prying my arms open to give David a clear shot. He fists felt like stone pounding me. I felt the hot blood run down my face. I kicked as best as I could. I screamed. “Break his fucking jaw Dave.” His friends voice a scream in my ear. Noticing how close he, Cal, was, I slammed my forehead into his nose. Blood spread across my face. He let go, rolled over and started to cry. Blood filled his hands. The other friend, Stacy, panicked and let me go. I tried to stand and run but was stopped by David kicking my legs out from under me. He pulled a pocketknife and opened it. “You’re gonna pay for that you little prick.” I backed away, still on the ground looking up at him. He took a step closer, and Ben was there. He grabbed David’s arm and spun him around. David realizing Ben didn’t grab the knife arm swing at Ben. Ben kicked David’s legs out from under him and in the same movement somehow wound up with David’s knife in his hand. “I reckon it’s time for you three leave.” Ben’s voice was low. Calm. I never heard him speak like that before. Stacy was helping a bloody Cal to stand. David stood. The anger and embarrassment made his face a red cherry tomato. “Give me my knife back.” Ben grabbed the blade with his free hand broke it from the handle. He tossed the handle to David, who caught it with a low gasp. “Next time get you a decent blade.” David never raised his eyes when he spoke the next words. His voice was hoars. “I’ll do that. I’ll let you see it before I cut you through with it.” And he left. His goons following behind. Ben never took his eyes off them until they disappeared down the road. “You good, Eric.”
“Yeah. I dropped your food.” Ben broke out laughing at that. “You get threatened with a knife and your worry is I won’t be able to eat the food you brought. Let’s go. I got jerky in the barn.” We sat and had jerky and soda. He asked me why they were always after me. I told him I was new and different. But he thought it had to be something different. “Either way, watch out. They will be back, and they are gonna try to get you when you’re alone.” “Why do you say that?”
“That’s what cowards do. It looks good in here. Go inside and get started on your homework.” I did just that. As I was inside, totally doing my homework, not at all watching tv, I looked outside and saw the large double doors to the barn were open. I didn’t even know they could open. Ben was working on his boat. The double doors were in full view of the house so I could see everything he did. I found myself watching him until my mom woke up. While she made dinner, I watched as Ben cleaned up and closed the doors before heading inside. “Is the car broken?” I asked my mom at the table as she dished out food. “Why do you ask?” I ate a few bites. “You took Ben’s truck last night.”
She took a long drink of her wine, “He said he heard a clank, or something. Told me to take his truck so he can check it out to make sure it’s safe.” I left it alone at that. As I took out the trash that night, I saw that Ben was sitting on his porch. I couldn’t help but wonder if he was watching for David and his crew to come back.
The next few days at school were a blur of me trying to avoid David. I did a pretty good job until that Thursday. It was after school and I was headed home. Before I left, I saw David and his mouth breathers heading the other way. When they were out of sight I walked home. Halfway there, past the Greenly Corner Market, they made their move. Cal hit me with a board. I dropped to the ground, hard. I started seeing double and felt nauseas. David stood in front of me. Cal to my right. Which meant, Stacy was the one behind me. David was a big guy for his age. He stood almost 6 feet tall and broad in the shoulder. He could have been a football player if he wasn’t such a dick. Stacy was shorter and had chub around the waist. Call looked like a meth head had shit out a small toad. His eyes were big and glazed over. He was too skinny for his over 6-foot frame. Cal kneeled next to me, board in hand. “Payback bitch.” And he slammed the board into my face. I could taste the blood from my nose. Tears welled in my eyes almost blinding me. David began kicking me. The other two joined in. What felt like an eternity was more like ten minutes. When they finally stopped, I felt fingers run through my hair. The hand they were attached to. made a fist and pulled my head up. I felt cold steel against my neck. “This one feel decent enough for you?” I heard his two lemmings laugh. I dug deep and with all my muster I spit in his face. A mix of blood, saliva, and snot. “You fucking piece of shit.” I felt a quick bite, then a warm rush of blood as David fulfilled his promise. Mrs. Yearling yelled from the back of the corner store, a spot she liked to sneak a smoke during work. “What are you three doing? Get off him now.” I can still here their footsteps running away from me. I barely heard her reaction to the blood before I blacked out. The last thing I remember thinking was, who’s gonna take care of my mom.
The cut wasn’t deep. Only got 6 stitches. The police guessed David was scared and used it as a threat that got out of hand. My mom flipped out of course. I stayed home from school for about a week. David, Stacy, and Cal all got hauled into the police station. For all the good it did. They got community service and were sent home. My mom almost got arrested when she found out. They were told to stay away from me. But I was guessing that was only the beginning of my problem with those boys. Ben waived the next month’s rent so my mom could stay home from work with me. She wouldn’t hear of it. She stayed home with me, but she paid what we owed for rent.
It was almost two months before I was fully healed. I wasn’t allowed to do anything that might tear my stitches. I sat in the barn while mom worked and watched Ben work on his boat. He would show me how he shaped the wood, sanded it, and everything else he did. I asked him if I could help on it and he told me, after I healed. I learned a lot from Ben during that time. One of the main things I learned from him was that the barn wasn’t a barn.
“Wait, what do you mean it’s not a barn. You called it a Barn.”
“I know. Most people don’t know what I am talking about when I say long house. And I figured, when I asked you to come clean out here, if I called it a barn you wouldn’t get lost.”
“What makes a long house different from a barn?”
“Honestly, absolutely nothing. It’s all just a name. Northmen built these halls as gathering places. They would eat their meals here. Have meetings.”
“Northmen, you mean Canadians?”
Ben laughed. “Vikings my boy. Northmen, Danes are what they were. Vikings were the raiders.”
“You built a Viking house?” The excitement was hard to hide in my voice. I mean, Vikings.
“Actually. I don’t know who built it. There are stories in my family that this building was here when they came to this land. Some stories claim, “when my family came here, they built it.”
“Your family was Vikings?”
“To tell you the truth, I really don’t know. They didn’t keep records from that far back. I do know that as a kid I remember my dad and my grandad would keep the building in good condition and we used to have family get-togethers once or twice a year.” I couldn’t imagine Ben as a kid. “Do you still have your family come?”
“Unfortunately, I am the last of my family that I know of.” Being a kid at the time, I was completely unaware that the next thing I asked was completely inappropriate. But Ben was great.
“You don’t have any kids? Weren’t you married?” Ben put down his sanding block and grabbed a piece of beef jerky that he split with me. He sat down on a log and sighed. “I was married a long time ago. She was the love of my life. We got married right after she graduated college. She got her nursing degree. She always wanted to help people.” I saw his eyes water just a little. I didn’t know if I was supposed to say anything. So, I just sat there, staring at him. “We had the wedding here. Life was good. After some time, we decided we were finally ready to have kids.”
“So, you do have kids?” Ben stood, dusted himself off and grabbed the sanding block again. “No. When she was 6 months pregnant, she was on her way home and passed a horrible accident. A tractor trailer had crossed the median and hit a car head on. The driver fell asleep. It was late at night.”
“She pulled over on the side of the road to help. She was like that. Always helping everyone and anyone. The truck driver was climbing out of his flipped rig, so she went to the car. I’m not really sure what happened next. People said right before she reached the car…” He stammered for a moment. “The explosion killed her, the driver of the car and his daughter in the back seat.” I couldn’t speak. I felt tears welling in my eyes. I was about to cry for a woman and family that I didn’t know. It wasn’t until much later in my life that I understood.
I didn’t know if I was supposed to say anything, so I just sat there. Quiet. Staring at the boat Ben was sanding. Ben came to me and handed me the sanding block. “Wanna help?”
He showed me how to sand with the grain to hide the scratches the sandpaper made. I asked what happens if I screw up.
“Eric, wood is very forgiving. If you screw up, we can fix it. If we can’t, we replace it.” Over the next couple of days, he showed me how to use tools. How to plane the wood. How to drill holes for the dowls. We talked about school. We talked about my mom and the places we lived. He told me more about his life before we met. One day we need to replace a wood plank. “How do we attach it? With screws?” He smiled and said no. Then he opened the door on the other side of the boat and showed me his forge. He had two anvils. A large pit filled with coal. Hammers and other tools. “What are you going to do here?”
“Well young Eric, before we can replace the plank, we need to make some nails and a few roves.”
“You can make nails.”
“Let me show you. First, thing we do is open the outer door to get some ventilation. Then we light the forge.”
The forge was connected to a propane tank taller than me. I felt the heat instantly as it fired up. He showed me how to check the steel. How to properly handle it so I didn’t get hurt. I watched him make two nails and a Rove, which it turned out what goes on the back of the nail inside the boat. He heated the metal and told me what color it should be. Which hammers were the best for the work he was doing now and what kind of punch to use. After his third one, he let me make some. Not gonna lie, the first ones were horrible. I could barely hold the hammer. But he smiled and kept telling me I would get it. We were out there the rest of the night until I finally made nails on my own. They went on until fall. During the summer out of school I spent all my days and most nights in that barn, long house. Ben showed me how to build things out of wood and steel. He showed me how to forge knives and axes, as well as building cabinets and tables.
During the fall. Mom got an office job. She was a secretary for one of the land surveying companies in town. School was a little better, because of all the hammer swings and the woodwork during the summer, I put on weight. Solid muscle and it showed. David and his croons still hassled me, but it was as bad before. They mostly left me alone, except for the occasional insult. A slur here, a crude comment there. As it were, I really think they would have eventually forgotten all about me and let me be. Unfortunately, that’s not how this story goes. It was October, I remember being excited for Halloween. A new student started around this time. She was in my grade and she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. Her name was Beth. The first thing I noticed about her were her eyes. They were the same color blue as the sky on a spring day. Her hair was dark brown, with red highlights. Her family moved here to take care of her ailing grandfather. Her mom worked at the car dealership in town and her father was an electrician that began a business out of his home. It took me a few weeks to finally get up the nerve to say more than a single syllable to her and it wasn’t even my choice. She came up from behind me, “You’re Eric right.?”
“Depends on who wants to know.” I turned and was stunned when I looked into her eyes. Matt, the one friend I made at the beginning of school, was laughing under his breath. I know he saw her coming and he said nothing. He was dead to me at that moment. “I was told your name is Eric, is that right?”
I could feel my face flush. “Yeah.”
She looked me up and down and finally said, “I was invited to a party. You wanna go with me?”
Before I could understand what she was saying I said yes. She wrote her number down and told me to call her the next day so I could get her information. Our school wasn’t that big, still I was shocked she came up to me. My mind started racing with questions. Why did she ask me instead of someone else? Is this a set up? Why would she set me up? Before I knew it, it was the next day. I was so nervous. When I finally called her mom answered. I half hoped no one would pick up. When I heard Beth’s voice, I lost all ability to speak. What was I supposed to say? Sup, girl? No, that’s stupid. You told me to call you. Lame. So, I said the first thing that broke through my lips. “It’s Eric.” Stupid, stupid. She is gonna hang up.
“Hi Eric, this is Beth” I heard her giggle. We talked for hours. She told me about her life and why they moved. She told me about her parents. I told her about my mom and Ben. She was a lot more interesting than I was. We talked about the party and how we would get there. “Beth, before we hang up, can I ask you a question, why did you ask me to the party?”
“We used to come here and visit my grandparents for a week or so during the summers. But I never really got to know anyone. Tammy invited me to the party to be nice. I didn’t want to go alone, and she said you were new too.”
“Oh, Okay.”
“And it didn’t hurt that you are really cute.” She hung up the phone. I sat there with the phone receiver to my ear. Dumbfounded, listening to the dial tone. She thought I was cute.
The party was nothing like they show on tv. Everyone stood around avoiding eye contact and talked to the same people they did at school every day. The music was loud. The food was good. I’m not sure what I was expecting. All I know is I put on deodorant and made sure I had breath mints. Beth and I talked. We had fun. After a few hours she convinced me to dance to some techno rhythmic song. I looked like a monkey flinging its crap all around the room. After the dance I went and got us drinks. When I got back, I saw David talking to Beth. Cal was standing beside him. “Your Beth, right? I saw you in school the other day.”
“Okay.”
“You wanna get outta here?”
“I’m with someone.” She pointed at me as I emerged from the crowd. Drinks in hand. “Him. He’s no one.”
“Just the same, I’m good.” David stared a hole through me as I handed Beth her drink and paid him no attention. Cal grabbed David by the arm and pulled him away. I would love to say that’s where it ended, but things got worse. Beth and I began hanging out more after the party. We became good friends. David reclaimed his place as my tormentor for this. Because of David’s renewed interest in me, Ben decided I needed to learn to defend myself. He showed me things he learned throughout his life. The first thing he would show me was how to take a fall. Tuck in, roll with the momentum. David and I fought a few times. Nobody was seriously injured. No knives drawn. Sometimes he got the upper hand, sometimes I did. I figured if I waited long enough, he would get bored. Unfortunately, it took something a little bigger than boredom to get over our issues.
One day Beth surprised me and came by the house. She said she was bored and just wanted to see me. Ben and I had been in the long house working on the boat. It was almost finished. She knocked on the door and Ben let her in. “Sorry, there was no answer at the house, and I heard voices.” Ben gave me a knowing look and said, “No worries. Come on in.”
“Hi, my name’s Beth. You must be the Ben; Eric is always talking about?” Ben shook her and raised an eyebrow towards me. “So, you got nothing better to talk to this pretty lady about than some old guy.”
Beth giggled, Ben lead invited her in and said with a smile, “Well, reckon I’ll call it a night.”
“Ben, it’s not even four yet.”
“You know us old fogies gotta get our beauty rest. Nice to have met you, young lady.” And with that, Ben was gone.
Beth took in her surroundings, “he seems sweet.”
“Yeah, like a cactus.”
I showed around. Told her about what Ben has taught me. We ended the tour on the small, long boat.
“So, what’s the story with this?” She caressed one of the boards. “You two gonna sail around the world?”
“No, nothing like that.”
“Then what, you two just make a small boat for fun?”
“Actually, Ben has been working on this since before I met him.”
“Is it just a hobby, or will he sail it?”
“Actually, he will but only once.” Her curiosity peaked. I had her. “What do you mean?”
“This is for his Viking funeral. He will have all his worldly possessions that he cares about put in the boat with him and set out to sea. A flaming arrow will be shot out and he will go into Valhalla.”
“You serious?” I looked at her and nodded. “Yeah, I am. I am not sure if he is, but he has talked about it enough. I think he might be. He has no family and feels no one will need to see a headstone to mourn him.”
“You’re his family. You and your mom.”
As I stood there staring at the almost finished boat, Beth stepped into me and stole a kiss. My first kiss. I would later find out it was her first too.
We stepped out of the long house in time to see black SUV pull into the drive. It looked familiar but I couldn’t place it. It stopped in front of our small house and a man I didn’t know got out of the driver’s side. Right then I remembered where I saw that SUV. “Beth, get back in, shut the door and hide.”
“What’s going on?” Another man got out of the back seat, pulling my mom by the arm. “Go.” I left her and ran to my mom. They weren’t looking at us so I thought I could take them by surprise.
As I got to the SUV, someone ran around surprising me instead. He tackled me to the ground. “ERIC.”
My mom sounded like she had been crying. The man holding my mom let go to come and stand next to me. He squatted so I could see his face. “Eric, you don’t remember me do you.”
When I wouldn’t answer he got mad. “I am your Tio.”
“Bullshit. You ain’t my uncle.”
“Your father and I were like brothers. We grew up together. We were closer than family.”
My moms voice was angry, “Then why did you kill him?”
The man stood and slapped my mom. “That was your fault.” I stood and rushed the man. I was stopped by the sound of gunfire. The man who tackled me had fired a warning shot into the ground. When I turned, he had the gun pointed at my head. “Kristopher, please. Leave him alone, he has nothing to do with this.”
Kristopher, the man who slapped my mom, turned to face me. “Charles, if he moves again, shoot him.”
“No.”
The third man stood behind my mom. Charles was behind me. Kristopher was in-between me and my mom. “You see, boy. Your dad took something from me and gave it to your mom. And I’ve been looking for you two for a long time.” Grabbed my mom under her chin and made her look at him. “Where are they?”
“Why does it matter? You’re going to kill us anyway.”
“You’re right about that. I have to make an example out of you.”
“Screw this. Charles, kill him.” He forced my moms face to look at me. “Make sure you watch your boy die like you did your old man.”
I was looking into my mom’s eyes. Mouthing the words, it will be okay mama., when I heard the snap of the gun. It sounded like a large firecracker. My mom screamed. I was expecting it to hurt. I didn’t feel anything. Kristopher’s eyes widened. I turned around as Charles fell to the ground. Blood was coming from his forehead. I turned again and caught Ben on his porch. Rifle in hand. Three things happened all at once. The third man with Kristopher spun around and aimed a gun at Ben. He fired and missed. Ben didn’t. The man hit the SUV with a thud and slid to the ground. Kristopher grabbed my mom, spinning her around so he had her by the throat and shot at Ben. This time it hit. Ben went down. Kristopher spun around, mom in tow, toward me. I guess instinct took over, because before he could straighten his arm, I tackled both my mom and Kristopher to the ground. He dropped the gun and lost the grip on my mom’s neck. I grabbed her and pulled her up. I started kicking Kristopher as hard as I could. He grabbed my leg and threw me down. He went for his gun. He aimed up at my mom. As I watched in terror, unable to reach them in time, we saw his head explode. Ben was laying on the porch. He was able to get one more shot off. We watched as he dropped his head. “BEN.” I screamed. My mom and I both ran up to see if he was alive. The porch was covered with blood. We rolled him over. His breathing was shallow. His eyes were half open. Beth’s appearance on the porch startled me. “Beth, please call 911. The phones in the kitchen.” She went without hesitation.
My mom spoke softly to Ben, “Thank you Benjamin.”
He smiled. “It was my honor. Eric. You take care of your mom, you hear me.”
“Yes sir.” I couldn’t stop the tear from falling down my face. I held him. He closed his eyes, and he was gone. We sat on the porch holding him until the police arrived. Beth was kneeling beside me. They took our statements. They put the bodies in bags and drove them away. Ben was the last to leave. The sheriff told my mom the dead man was a dangerous man. That we were lucky to be alive. After everyone was done and gone, my mom and I sat on the porch staring out into the darkness. “Mijo. Your father was a great man. I don’t know if you remember but he used to own a garage. The things he could do with cars were miraculous. Your father and Kristopher grew up together. So, he would give Kristopher deals on repairs and detailing. One day your father found out that Kristopher was using him and his business. One of the men that worked at the garage worked for Kristopher. He was a thief and used your father’s garage to smuggle things over the border and to other states. Your father found out and tried to put a stop to it. Kristopher shot him. The police wouldn’t do anything. They said it was my word against his and he had an alibi. So, I ran. Mijo, I am sorry.”
I hugged her. I think we stayed there and hugged until the sun came up. I found out a few weeks later that Kristopher found us because of my mom’s work. It was going to be a surprise. They nominated her for an award. Women in business. It made the national news. A few days after everything happened, a man came to the house. He was an older man. He wore plaid pants and suspenders. His hair, what he had left, was white as snow. His thin rimmed glasses held thick glass lenses. “Mrs. Guerrero?”
“Yes. Can I help you.”
“I was a friend of Ben’s, and also, his lawyer. Can I please have a moment of your time.”
We all went inside. My mom poured us all some tea. The lawyer, Mr. Amil, told us that since Ben didn’t have any more family that he asked if anything should have happened to him, he would like his body to be released to my mom. That he trusted her to know what to do. My mom said she would be honored. Mr. Amil continued to tell my mom that Ben had left everything. His property, his vehicles, what little money he had to her and me. She refused this at first. Mr. Amil assured her it’s what he wanted. After signing all the paperwork Mr. Amil left. The funeral home called and asked what we would like done with the body. I talked my mom into having his body brought to the house. I convinced her that I should bury him here. On the property. She liked that. They told her they could have his body delivered in two days. They would even send a backhoe to dig the hole. Ben was very clear in his Will. No casket. So, they would be sending him in a body bag. Mom picked out a great place under a tree. The next day I made some phone calls. One to Beth, and Matt. One more that I would hope I didn’t regret.
The day they brought Ben home, it was cold. They placed his body on the ground next to the plot under the tree. I told them Matt and I could handle the lowering. They didn’t argue. While mom signed the paperwork, Matt and Beth helped me carry Ben’s body into the long house. We placed him in the long boat.
“What are you doing?” My mom was quicker than I thought she would be.
“Mom, I finished the boat yesterday. Matt helped me put it on the trailer. We need you to drive.”
“Why?”
“Ben wanted a Viking Funeral. And we’re gonna give him one.”
“Eric.”
“Mom, everything he’s done for us we owe him. And the funeral home already listed him as buried on the property so no one will know.”
“Matt, Beth, open the doors. I’ll get the truck.”
I threw two duffle Bags in the bed of the truck. We hooked the trailer up and headed out. As we were leaving the property, we saw someone walking up the road. Beth noticed who it was first. “What is he doing here.”
“I asked him to come.” I got out of the truck. Stacey stopped in the beam of the truck’s headlights. “I Didn’t think you were gonna come.” He looked at the truck then at me. “Hey man, I’m sorry what happened to you. I didn’t know he had that knife.”
“No worries. Did you bring it?”
“Yeah.” We climbed in the back of the truck and mom drove. It took a little over two hours to get to the shore. Mom backed the trailer, pretty good I might add, down the ramp. Stopping before we hit the water. It was a calm night. No wind, save a little gust to bring the smell of the ocean to land. Matt and I climbed in the boat and took Ben out of his bag. We folded it and left it in the boat. I asked Beth to get me the duffle bags out of the bed. Stacey helped. In the bag were all the earthly possessions I think Ben would have liked to have with him. An axe he made, one of his swords. Some things from his room. And most important, the box containing his wife’s ashes. I put that on his chest. We set everything out and he looked peaceful. I helped Beth out of the boat. Before I got out my mom stopped me. “Mijo, please. Put this with him.” She gave me an old, tattered velvet bag. I looked inside and couldn’t breathe. “Mom, is this?”
“Yes. It’s what Kristopher was looking for.”
“We had these this whole time.”
She nodded and smiled. The biggest smile I have seen on her face in a very long time. I kneeled beside Ben and laid the bag in his hand. “Ben. I know I didn’t say it when you were alive. But thank you for everything you gave us. Everything you have taught me. You always said you didn’t have much in this life. But I think you had a helluva lot. And you will take your final voyage as a king.” I bent down and kissed the old man’s forehead. “Until we meet again my friend.”
We watched the boat float further and further away. Beth lit the arrow that Stacey fired. He went bow hunting with his father every year. I could never have made that shot. We watched the flames consume the boat until damn. There was no sign of the boat in the daylight.
I still remember that night. After that life went on. My mom and I stayed in the home that Ben had left us. We still live there today. Mom still lives in the small house. Beth and I live in the bigger one with our children. That night somehow made us all a little closer. Matt and I opened a business together. Blacksmith and Carpentry. We will never get rich from it, but it pays the bills. Stacey started hanging out with us after that night. He changed his life and never talked to Cal or David again. And they never bothered us again. Even though it wasn’t true, rumor around town was mom and I took on some Cartel guys sent to kill us, and Ben got caught in the middle. Just another urban legend.
“Dad, what did nanna give you to put in the boat?”
“It was the diamonds that your grandpa found in one of the cars. He was going to take them to the police when Kristopher found him.”
“Come on Ben. It’s starting to snow. Your mother built a fire.”
I picked up my son that I named after my hero and we headed into the long house. We could smell the food that Matt and his wife were cooking. Stacey and his wife were playing with the kids. We found Beth by the fire pit in the center.
“So, Babe. Is this our life now? Because I kinda like it.”
She stole another kiss.
Sleepless Oblivion 
Leave a comment