Who Needs More Heroes?

5: Cover

The morning sun was warm and the grass wet as I walked through the cemetery. My mind was heavy and my heart ached, but I was here every year, no matter how much it hurt. Every February 21st, I made my way to the local cemetery.

That night seven years ago wasn't exactly what any kid wanted as a last memory of their parents, but as I stood in front of  their headstones, I couldn't help smile at the memories before that horrific night.

Mom sung a lot. Her voice was a faint memory but I knew she had the voice of an angel, a fact my father had seconded regularly.
Dad laughed, nothing able to keep him upset for long. When he had to come to the school when I was seven, he didn't yell at me for fighting, he just laughed and asked if I used the right hook he taught me.

I use that right hook every day.

"Kaine!"

A familiar voice interrupted my thoughts and I turned to my other mother. Her short frame was slim and she was dressed in her usual work wear, a pink blouse that had sleeves to her wrist, a white pencil skirt that stopped just above her knees and light brown flats. Her strawberry blonde hair was loose, flowing around her, and she unconsciously tucked her hair behind her ears.

I gave her a small smile as she stopped beside me.

"Kaine, I keep telling you every year, tell me when you're coming here. You shouldn't be alone," her voice was soft, even as she scolded me. She took my hand and looked at the headstones.

Harley Fairway had been my mother's best friend. They  had gone to highschool together and later, college. She was the bridesmaid at their wedding and had moved to London that same year. In the years following, the two had gotten so caught up in their own lives that they grew apart, but she came back for me.

We both stood there for hours. She told me the same stories she had told me since my parents died; how my mother crashed my grandfather's car when she was ten, how my mother broke a guy's nose in highschool because he called her a bitch, how my mom and dad met, how my dad proposed......

The sun was high in the sky by the time her stories were finished and I realized that we had spent almost six hours just standing there, reliving the past.

"We promised each other Kitty that we'd care for each other's children if anything happened. We may have only been fifteen but.... I'll take good care of him.... Always," the tears that slipped down her cheek  kept falling as she knelt before my mother's tombstone and placed her hand on it as she did every year.

I took a few deep breaths, willing myself not to cry.

It wasn't easy.

The fact was that it would never be easy....it did get better but never easy.

Standing there, I thought about all the things they had missed. They missed my first date. My first girlfriend. My junior prom. They wouldn't make my graduation or watch me go to college. They would never meet my wife or hold my kids. They won't grow old.

They will miss the rest of my life and that kills me inside. It never goes away, the feeling that you will always need your parents but they won't be there forever. I had seven years with mine and I don't even remember most of it.

I helped Haley stand and knelt before both tombstones, thinking about what I'll say.

"I'm trying to be good. I'm trying to do good. I'm trying to lead a good life and protect others where I can. I'm trying to be someone you both would be proud of. You loved me....and I... I still love you... I miss you both.....," my voice cracked and I couldn't hold it in anymore. I felt my tears running down my face and my body convulsed as I sobbed.

Haley pulled my head to her stomach, cradling me, and as I sobbed I vowed.
Whoever started the pain I feel now, I will end him. There will be no more pain caused by his hand. I won't let him destroy another family.

I meant it when I said I was no hero. Heroes want to rid the world of all evil. I just want to rid the world of him.