Let Me Be Your Hero

I found myself having trouble sleeping that night, from the excitement of knowing that Adonia cared for me the way I did for her, and sadly, from some type of horrible feeling I was having that something wasn’t right. I got up for the third time that night to go to my window and check on Doni. The last two times her curtains were pulled half way so I could still see inside, but her light was off. This time was no different, but as I was turning to walk back to my bed, the light in her room flickered on, but the shadow of someone tall and bigger than Adonia fell on her wall. I quietly opened my balcony window, crawling out as I saw the figure, who was her dad, pass her open curtains. I watched him grab her sleeping figure roughly, shaking her awake as I got ready to jump from my balcony to hers. I heard her scream, only to be answered back with the sound of flesh on flesh. He had smacked her, and I wasn’t going to let him get any farther than that this time. I jumped over and opened her window, crawling in and getting in between the large figure and Adonia before he could hit her again. He had her by the hair, pulling her out of her bed. I could smell the strong scent of liquor lingering around him as I looked up at his eyes that were glazed over and red. He probably had no idea what he was doing to his daughter. I grabbed his wrist, squeezing as tight as I could, loosening his fingers on Doni’s hair. She pulled back and crawled towards the far corner of her bed as I stood in front of her father, still holding him by his wrist. “Pare tratar de ser un héroe y salir de mi manera niño. ¿Es esto lo que usted hace ahora Adonia? ¿Consigue a su novio para venir le guarda?” (Stop trying to be a hero and get out of my way little boy. Is this what you do now Adonia? Get your boyfriend to come save you?) He shook my grasp on his wrist. I let go as he attempted to shove me aside so that he could get back to the bed where Adonia was now sobbing. When I didn’t move, he threw a punch at my face that I dodged by ducking. He stumbled but didn’t fall. Doni screamed when he had swung, which caused me to look back at her for a split second, losing everything around me, and only wishing that she would be alright. Her father took this opportunity to swing again, this time knocking my left eye. I fell back on the bed, catching Adonia’s gaze as she reached her arm out towards me, only to have her father grab the wrist of her outstretched arm.

Would you swear, that you’ll always be mine?
Or would you lie? Would you run and hide?
Am I in too deep? Have I lost my mind?
I don’t care, you’re here, tonight.

He pulled her off the bed harshly; she landed on the floor with a thud before he pulled her to her feet, only to have her keel over from a swift punch to the stomach. He started kicking her around while she curled up into a ball on the floor. He caught her face with one of his kicks and her hands reaching for her cheek raised the anger that was building inside of me. I got off the bed and lunged towards him, pushing him into her desk, knocking her lamp and a few other things to the floor. He fell flat on his back, his head had clearly smacked into the hardwood floor. I stood over him, watching him shake his head, trying to clear his eyes. I didn’t give him the time of day, getting on top of him and punching him in the face, alternating my fists from right to left. “¡Usted no bate a su propia hija!” (You don’t beat your own daughter!) I yelled through clenched teeth. My face was turning red in anger as he fought back, pulling at anything he could; my shirt, my arms, the rug, anything his hands could reach. He did however throw in a few punches towards my ribs that caused me to gasp in pain, but it was nothing like getting kicked by a boot on the pitch. I knew my ribs were bruising, I could feel it, so I bent down a bit into my punches to protect myself. He was slowly losing his strength and he was just swinging his fists aimlessly, yet he still managed to catch my eye and my cheek a few more times before he just dropped his arms down. I stopped, not expecting what happened next. As I turned to make sure Doni was alright, an arm wrapped around my neck, and all of a sudden I was nailed to the ground, two hands choking me.

“¡Parada!” (Stop!) I could hear Adonia screaming in the background “¡Papá, para por favor! ¡No lo duela!” (Daddy, please stop! Don’t hurt him!) I watched as she tried pulling at his arms. Blood was dripping down her face from a cut right under her left eye. Tears were still streaming down her face as I grabbed at his hands, prying at his fingers to loosen his grip on me. I kept fighting harder. All I wanted was to take away the pain that was in her eyes.

I can be your hero baby.
I can kiss away the pain.
I will stand by you forever.
You can take my breath away.

Oh I just wanna hold you.
I just wanna hold you.
Am I in too deep? Have I lost my mind?
Well I don’t care, you’re here, tonight.

One of his hands flew off of my neck to push Adonia away, I took this as my opportunity to get out of his grasp. The hand he kept around my neck held me loose enough that I was able to pry his fingers away. Once released, I lunged at him again, sending him back again. Adonia stood to the side as I started punching him in the face again, this time not holding back anything. All the anger from the months of beating Adonia, and the frustration, even anger from how he treated his wife, it all rushed out of me as I continued to punch his face, his stomach, inflicting as much pain as I possibly could. His body lay still beneath me, but I kept going until I felt Doni’s hand placed on my shoulder. I looked over at her hand, breathing heavily, finally feeling all the pain from the hits I had taken. I suddenly felt light headed as the room started to spin around me. I could taste blood as I fell back, Adonia catching me and cradling me in her arms. I looked up at her face as she pulled her long sleeve down a bit, wiping what I presumed was the blood that was on my face. I reached up to wipe the tears from her face, her body shaking from crying. “No llore para mi, mi amor.” (Don’t cry for me, my love.) She closed her eyes, trying to control her sobbing. She leaned down, pushing my hair back, kissing my forehead.

“Te amo Geri, para siempre.” (I love you Geri, forever.) She whispered, resting her forehead against mine. I could feel her tears falling on my face as I fought to keep my eyes open.

I can be your hero, baby.
I can kiss away the pain.
I will stand by you forever.
You can take my breath away.
You can take my breath away.

I felt Doni get up, pulling me up with her. I tried to help her by supporting my own weight as much as I could as she threw my arm around her shoulder, taking me out of her room and down the steps. I could feel her struggle, but she still helped me out of the house, swinging the front door open. She took me to my car, resting me against the door on the passenger side. “Wait here, I’ll be right back.” I rested my head against the car, not having enough energy to stop her as she ran back into her house. I watched as not even two minutes later she was jumping over to my room and jumping back. She was outside in seconds, car keys in hand. She unlocked the door and helped me in, leaning over me to buckle my seatbelt. I caught her lips with mine as she was leaning back out the door after buckling my seatbelt. A small smile appeared on her lips as she shut the door and ran over to the other side to drive out. I stayed awake until we got to the hospital thanks to Adonia shaking me every few seconds so I wouldn’t pass out, but once she pulled into the emergency ward, she ran out of the car to get a nurse to help her, and I was out.

+++

“Doni, you ready?” I waved my bandaged hand in front of her face as she held the coffee cup in front of her, staring away in a daze. She shook her head, clearing her mind, looking up at me smiling, the butterfly bandages on the cut under her eye crinkling from the lines on her face. I held my hand out for her to take, lacing our fingers as we walked from the coffee shop down the terminal to our gate.

That night that I finally beat Adonia’s father down and got him away from her, we talked in the hospital once I woke up. We both figured the best thing to do was to get her out as soon as we could, so she agreed to come with me to Manchester, insisting that her father was not the only reason she wanted to come, but to also stay close to me, because she would ‘miss her boyfriend if he was away too long and she didn’t need any British girls trying to comfort him’. I got out of the run in with her father with just cuts and bruises, and a bit of a boggle to my head, but nothing serious. Adonia adorned a few cuts on her face and some bruises, but our story was that we had gotten into a car accident, and that was the way it was going to stay. Her father, fine and dandy besides a broken nose and a lot of bruises. The alcohol had absorbed most of his pain, keeping him safe from any serious injuries…everything except for the broken heart he was going to have when he realized that his daughter is gone. My father said he’d make sure to let the right people know what Adonia’s dad had been up to, and that he’d be taken care of.

Adonia pulled our hands up to her lips, gently kissing my bandaged knuckles. I gently squeezed her hand, leaning down to kiss her temple. I was glad that she had agreed to come with me. I’m sure I wouldn’t have gone if she decided to stay, but it didn’t matter now because we were both going to get a bit of a fresh start, no more pain.

I will stand by you, forever.
You can take my breath away.
And I can be, your hero.