Let Me Be Your Hero

I smiled as I watched Adonia shut her front door and walk towards my car. I began to worry as I noticed her walking with her head down and her bangs concealing pretty much half of her face. She opened the door and sat down, greeting me quietly as she put her seatbelt on.

“Hola Geri.” She continued to look down and fiddle with her book bag before looking up at me to see why I haven’t driven out of the driveway yet. Her hair was still covering the left side of her face. She looked at me questioningly as I frowned. I reached my hand up to her face only to have her flinch back, but settle down as I pushed her bangs behind her ear, revealing a 2 inch bruise right on the side of her face on her left cheekbone around her eye. Her hazel eyes looked into my blue ones as a silent tear ran down her face.

“I thought I heard him yelling last night. Why didn’t you climb over when he came home?” She scoffed as she pulled her face back and pulled her bangs back down to cover her face.

“Yeah, cause that would make everything better, him watching me jump from my balcony as he opens my bedroom door, he’d just give me a worse beating when I got back.” She pulled her light jacket closer to herself as if she was covering up from the cold, not adhering to the fact that it was a nice Spring day in Barcelona. I let out a sigh and knew she would tell me everything on the ride to drop her off. This was our morning routine; I would pick her up from her house next door, drive her to school, go to training while she was in school, and pick her up in the afternoon after my training was done and she was finished with her classes.

Adonia is my neighbor; we pretty much grew up together and have known each other since we were in diapers. Our mothers were very good friends, they went through their pregnancies together, and now, 16 years later, Adonia and I are best friends, just like our mothers were. The reason I say our mothers were good friends is because Adonia’s mother left her father about a year ago. It was so sudden, even my family didn’t know what was going on between her parents until her mom left. She didn’t even tell my mother, and that’s why they don’t speak anymore. Adonia hasn’t heard from her mother since, but the only reason why she’s still able to live in our rich neighborhood is because her mom still deposits large sums of money to pay for their house and living supplies, that was the only thing she left for Adonia. Her father is a drunk, used to be a well-respected man, but not since his wife left him because he cheated. Adonia’s mother was a lawyer, she actually worked with my father in the same firm, but couldn’t bear to show her face after what her husband did, and that’s why she left. Why she didn’t take Adonia with her, I don’t know, but I’m thankful she didn’t, because then I wouldn’t see her. Adonia’s father being a drunk was a big problem; he would come home wasted out of his mind and beat Adonia, blaming her for his wife’s departure. She usually climbs out the window and jumps from her balcony to mine and stays in my room, but some nights, it’s just too late for her to leave before he barges in. Adonia’s room is directly across from mine, and we discovered how easy it was to go to each other’s houses without our parents knowing when we were 10 years old. She dared me to jump from my room to hers one day, and once I did, and we knew it was possible, there was nothing stopping us from seeing each other any time of the day or night. She is the only person I really care for in this world, to the point that I would do anything for her, even if it meant putting my own life in danger, just so she’d be happy. I would try to help her with her father, but she won’t let me get involved, and that’s what hurts the most, knowing that I can’t do anything when she’s around him; she just won’t let me in.

“I have to go grocery shopping this afternoon, do you think you could take me please when you come to pick me up?” I nodded, turning to her smiling.

“Sure thing, as long as you buy me a chocolate bar.” That put a smile on her face. She kissed my cheek and hopped out of my car as I pulled up in front of the school. I leaned towards the door to yell out the window to her. “Study hard, Doni.” She turned back with her bangs still covering her eye, but with a wide grin.

“Play harder, Geri!” I saluted her and watched her hop up the steps and enter through the front doors before I drove off to the training grounds thinking of all the possible scenarios of what happened last night racing in my head. This always happens when she makes me wait before she tells me everything, it always messes with my day, not really noticeable on the pitch, but still, it’s obvious that I’m occupied with other thoughts.

+++

“Doni, dígame.” (Doni, tell me.) Adonia wouldn’t tell me what she had made for me no matter how much I pushed her to. She just laughed at my pleading as I drove us to the grocery store.

“I told you, you have to wait till we get home. All I’m telling you is I printed it in my photo class, and I really think you’re going to like it.” I sighed and continued driving, I had news to share with her as well, but I figured I would just tell her when she gives me what she made me. “He walked in while I was sleeping last night.” She looked up at me from her hands with a slight frown. I looked over at her, only to catch a glimpse of her sad face before turning my attention back to the road. “That’s why I didn’t have enough time to jump over. He slammed me into the wall and hit the side of my face, I iced it, but it still looks bad. He said I was a whore, just like my mother.” She let out a little laugh, shaking her head. “I don’t understand how he can say that about her sometimes when he’s the one that cheated.” I took one of her hands in mine as I pulled into a parking space at the grocery store. She patted my hand that was holding hers and grabbed her pocketbook out of her backpack, reaching for the handle to open the door. I pulled her hand so she wouldn’t get out just yet.

“You can always call for me Adonia, I’ll hear you, I promise.” She let a small smile slip across her face before she placed her hand on the side of my face.

“I know Gerard, I know. But I can’t always ask you to fight my battles, I have to face him myself.” She got out of the car leaving me staring at her empty seat. I sighed and got out, walking around the car to meet her and enter the grocery store.

+++

“Gerard, stop putting random things in the basket, I’m only buying things I need!” She laughed as I placed random objects into the basket as we passed them: cheese puffs, cat food, anything that she doesn’t need just to get her to laugh, I loved it when she laughed, because I knew she was happy when she laughed. She would just take it out and place it back on the shelf, shaking her head. We walked towards the check out, but not before passing through the candy isle. She grabbed a chocolate bar and put it in the basket, smiling towards me before tilting her head towards the check out. “Come on Geri, I got your chocolate, let’s go.” I smiled and grabbed it out of the basket, putting it back on the shelf.

“I was just kidding, you know I don’t mind driving you around, venga.” (come.) I placed all the items on the belt for her as the cashier rung everything up. She slid the card to pay for everything, only to click her tongue when the cashier asked her to slide it again due to some glitch that appeared on her screen.

“Lo siento señorita, pero su tarjeta ha sido disminuida.” (I’m sorry miss, but your card has been declined.) Adonia stared at the card and pulled out her planner from her purse. She turned to me, pointing to the date on the calendar.

“No es possible Geri, debe haber hecho el depósito hace 3 días.” (It’s not possible Geri, she should have made the deposit 3 days ago.) I pushed her hands holding the pocketbook up in front of my face towards her purse and pulled my wallet from my pocket, taking my own card out. “Gerard, desliza esa tarjeta y usted será brevemente un mejor amigo en su vida.” (Gerard, you slide that card and you will be short a best friend in your life.) I turned to her with a smirk on my face, only causing her to give me an annoyed expression with an arched brow, daring me to slide my card. I looked at her the whole time I slid my card. She huffed in defeat as I signed off for the transaction and grabbed the receipt and bags of groceries. Doni took two in her hands and I carried the other four. We placed the groceries in the back seat without exchanging a word. I started the car as she slammed the door shut and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Adonia, don’t be like that, it was nothing.”

“I don’t like you spending money on me, and I don’t like taking your money, you know that. I will pay you back, I promise.” I sighed and put the car in gear.

“You don’t have to and you know that. Did you want me to take you to the bank now?”

“Stop reading my mind!” She let a little chuckle escape, and I knew she wasn’t mad anymore.

+++

“Gracias Señora.” I watched Adonia shake hands with the lady behind the desk and walk towards me as I waited in the waiting area full of seats. “Come on Geri, let’s go home.” I got up and wrapped my arm around her shoulder, knowing she wasn’t doing to great based on her expression and the way she spoke to me, all gloomy-like.

“Did they know what was wrong?” She slowly nodded as I opened her door for her to get in the car. I sat inside and began our journey home as she slowly spoke.

“She never made a deposit this month, there haven’t been any deposits since her last one either, so I have no money in that account.”

“So what’s going to happen, isn’t the bill for the house coming soon? Is she going to make it later?”

“Yeah, it is. I had to pull money out of my college savings and put it into this account so I could pay the bills and groceries, and here.” She pulled out some Euros to pay me back for the groceries I just bought her. I pushed her hand away, shaking my head.

“I told you that you don’t have to pay me back for that, it’s fine, keep it. I can’t believe you went into your college savings, I’m going to talk to my parents tonight to see if ther-“

“No Gerard! You do not need to involve your parents, the last thing I need is more pity from them. It’ll be fine, I’ll settle for a college that’s cheaper. And I have some money hidden in the house for emergencies, I’ll just get that out and take it to the bank tomorrow.” I nodded knowing that the last thing she wanted was to involve my parents in here money problems, remembering how sorry they felt for her when her mother left. We finally reached our neighborhood. I pulled into my driveway and we both got out of the car. I followed Adonia into her house, shutting the door behind me. She quickly ran into the living room, dropping her bag on the couch in the process, attempting to move a huge vase that sat next to the fireplace on a wooden base. I shook my head, knowing that she would drop the vase with the frantic way she was trying to move it. I walked over, taking the vase in my hands and placing it down next to the base, not knowing why she wanted to move it in the first place. She picked at a chipped part of the wood until she pulled up a perfect circular piece of wood, as if it was cut out of the base for the very purpose. It revealed a secret compartment that I guessed was where she had hid the money. She reached in, quickly pulling her hand out with a shocked look. She looked down in the hole and reached in again, pulling a bill out; five Euro. “There was more! I had about two thousand Euro hidden in here!” She sat back, her eyes widening as she looked up at me. “No…it can’t be…no, no, no! Geri, he found it and took the money! That explains it all! Where else would he have money for drinking, he doesn’t work! That…ugh, pendejo!” She got up, pacing back and forth in the living room. “What am I going to do, I have nothing now, I don’t want to use all of my college fund, I can’t, I can’t only work with scholarships, it doesn’t work that way.” I stopped her pacing by placing my hands on her shoulders, making her look at me, my stature easily towering over her by more than a foot.

“Doni, we’ll figure it out, I’ll help you, I promised I would take care of you when we were younger, and I’m going to keep to that.”

“This is different Gerard, you’re not protecting me from bullies or monsters in the closet! This is my life, and I need money, not your protection.”

“That’s what I mean, I’ll take care of it, I have enough fro-“

“No!” She glared up at me. I gave her a soft look, pleading to let me help her, she just turned her gaze away. “Geri, please leave, I have to figure things out right now.” I started to protest, but she held her hand up stopping me. “You can leave through my room, come on.” I followed her up the steps as she grabbed her bag, leaving the living room the way it was. I walked into her room, inhaling the smell of warm vanilla. I stepped onto her balcony, ready to step over the railing, only to have her stop me. “Gerard, actually…can you stay, please?” I looked over at her, seeing her eyes quickly water and flood with silent tears. “I’m sorry, I just really need my best friend, please.” I didn’t even realize how fast I had climbed back over the balcony until I was holding her in my arms, her face buried in my chest as she crumpled my shirt at the sides in her fists.

“Shhh, tranquilo mi querido.” (Shh, calm down my darling.) I walked her over to her bed and sat down, having her sit on my lap, her head resting on my shoulder. She sniffled and began ranting again.

“What am I going to do Gerard? I have nothing left. I can’t do anything now.” I wanted so badly to share the news I’d received today with her, cause I knew once I did that all of her problems would be solved, all of them. I leaned back on her bed, Adonia following suite, cuddling against me like we always do when we spend the night together. Never anything physical, just meant in a comforting manner, either way, I still liked the feeling of her being so close to me, I couldn’t help how much I cared for her. She turned and leaned to grab something out of her bag before turning back to me, and keeping her head resting on my arm as if it was her pillow. “This is what I made for you, I edited the contrast a bit, but other than that, it’s still the same, I wanted you to keep it in your locker at the training grounds so you could brag to your teammates about your best friend.” She gave a slight smile as I let out a light laugh. I love how she could smile even in the worst of times. I took the photo from her, it was of the two of us in my backyard from when we were 7. I had convinced her to lie down in the dirt while I sat our dog, at the time, on top of her. I was dressed like a superhero, with my arms stretched out like I was flying towards her, to save her from the villain dog, she was my damsel in distress. I couldn’t help but to have a wide grin plastered across my face from the memory. I looked down at Adonia to see that she had fallen asleep. I didn’t realize that I had been looking at the photo that long. I placed it on the nightstand, barely reaching my arm to do so, and brought my arm back around Doni. I smoothed her hair back and kissed her forehead, thinking of telling Adonia my news tomorrow morning. I silently whispered before deciding to take a nap myself.

“Thank you Adonia, and I promise, I’ll fix everything.”