Teddy Bear
Chapter 2/2
Disclaimer: NBC, WB and John Wells own everything concerning Third Watch, I merely just borrow and play around with them. Idea for this story was borrowed from a kids help phone commercial.
Authors Note: I want to thank you all so much for your kind feedback. I'm glad you liked the story. You guys are so supportive and I can't thank you enough.
I was afraid I had went a little to out there with this fic. I did a rewrite on this chapter after realizing I had went to graphic and dark in some parts, there was absolutely no need for it in this fic. Maybe between two adults sure, but not when it comes to child abuse. That said, this chapter is still rated pg 13 for some bad language and for the topic of Child abuse.
Special dedication goes to my Teddy Bear who I still have around and wouldn't ever dream of living without :) and to CCA for encouraging me to post this in the first place.
Feedback: as always is much appreciated.
E-mail: [email protected]
Ok here we go, I hope it doesn't suck....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bosco walked into his apartment and threw his keys onto the table. He slipped off his shoes and loosened his tie as he walked over to the kitchen and opened up the fridge. He grabbed the bottle that was taunting him on the middle shelf. He opened it up and took a long drink and felt it burn as it slid down his throat. That was better. He made his way to his bedroom. He walked over to the night stand and turned on the lamp. Finally the darkness of the room had disappeared. He sat down on the floor his back leaning against his bed and his knees up with his arms resting on them. He took a couple more drinks before raising the bottle and saying, "Rest in hell dad."
It had been along day and all he wanted to do was get lost in the bottle he held in his hand. So he didn't hear the noise of key's in the lock or the soft footsteps coming down the hall. He didn't even realize she was there until she touched his shoulder. He didn't jump or look up he just knew it was her.
"Hey"
"Hey" She said softly, "How are you doing?" she asked with concern pouring out with every syllable
He looked at her as she sat down beside him. "I don't get it Faith, how can so many people show up to pay there last respects to a man that was worse then any body we ever put away?"
Faith just shook her head, "I don't know Bos."
"I mean all the people there, going on about such a great guy he was, How he'll be missed and how he was loved...I didn't love him and he wasn't a great guy and I sure the hell wont miss him, He was a sad disgusting excuse of a man that deserved to die a slow painful death all alone."
Faith just sat there, she knew the day had been hard on him and that he needed to get things off of his chest. That's why she came to check up on him and why she had went to the funeral. She could care less for Bosco's father but Bosco had told her he was going to watch as the "bastard was lowered into hell" She knew that the tuff act he was putting on was just that. He had demons that needed to be worked through and the funeral would have just brought them all back.
"...I was twelve almost thirteen in just a couple of months I would have been..." Bosco began out of nowhere "It had been like any other day, get home from school do my chores and wait for dad to get home so I could find out what I possibly could have done wrong now...turns out on that particular day I was a smart ass. I talked back...I can't remember what I had said. But I got the slap across the face anyway and ....and the closet..." he trailed off. Faith waited for him to continue not fully sure she was ready to hear the story.
"I could take the hits, it wasn't a big deal, but that closet Faith... god I couldn't...I just couldn't. So I had gotten in the habit of hiding my teddy bear in there." He looked over at faith expecting a grin or a smart remark but all he saw was sadness in her eyes. She touched his hand to encourage him to go on. "I had him since I could remember. He'd always be in there, mostly so dad wouldn't find him and so that I'd have him when I got locked in there...He use to have this music box or something in his paw it would play that lullaby they always play. Well that night I guess I played him to long or to loud but he heard him and he opened the door....I held on to him as hard as I could but dad hit me again and I lost my grip and he took off with him."
Bosco paused as that night flashed back through his mind. "I didn't have many friends and the ones I did have I couldn't tell them what was going on. I wasn't even sure that what was going on was wrong. Maybe every kid had a father like that, they just had a better way of coping with it. But my bear, I could tell him stuff, and I could hold him in the dark and he'd make it all go away. It didn't matter that outside that door ma and Mikey were getting the same thing I had just gotten. Because it went away, as soon as I heard that music it all went away and I was safe ...Ma never came and asked if I was ok, I know she couldn't have unlocked the door but she could have at least asked and Mikey, Mikey would sleep on the other side of the room just feet away in his bed and he'd leave me there on the cold floor with just a little crack of light shinning through....That bear was all I had Faith....I couldn't let him take him...so I got up and I found my bat and followed him. He had went downstairs to burn him he was about to throw him in when I swung. I hit his wrist and he dropped him. I picked him up and I ran and I kept running as fast and as far as I could but it wasn't enough. I could hear him getting closer so I dipped into the park. I hid teddy under the slide just before dad found me"...Bosco set down the bottle and pushed himself off of the floor. He walked over to the window and stared into the darkness. "I was in the hospital for three weeks after that night."
Faith brushed away the tears that slowly slid down her cheeks as she stood up and walked over to the window and put her hand on Bosco's shoulder.
"Ma kicked him out that time. He hated me for it. It was all my fault but he got me back the best way he could. He went back to the park and found him. He came and told me. One night after ma went home he came into the hospital room and waited until I woke up. I remember his smiling face being the first thing I saw." Faith felt Bosco shiver. "Guess what boy, that bear of yours is gone. You should have seen him burn." A tear fell down his cheek. "He shut off the light above my head and walked to the door and flicked off the main light and shut the door....the first thing I did when I got out was go to the park. I thought maybe he was lying maybe just maybe Teddy was still there...but he wasn't."
Bosco's shoulders began to shake as he started to cry. He tried to pull away from Faith embarrassed that he was crying over something so stupid that happened so many years ago but Faith wrapped her arms around him and rubbed her hand down his back. "Hey it's okay Bos, It's okay."
"I hate him Faith. I hate him so much I can't breath." he said as he hugged Faith back and cried into her shoulder.
"I know Bos, but he can't hurt you now or anyone else."
They stayed standing there by the window for a few minutes Faith still rubbing his back and trying to comfort him. After some time he pulled away.
"I'm sorry."
"Hey." Faith said as she shook her head.
Bosco gave her a grateful smile and walked back over to his bed and sat down, taking off his tie and undoing the top buttons on his shirt.
"What did he look like?"
"The bear?"
"Yeah."
Bosco smiled, "Teddy B Bear was the rattiest thing you have ever seen. All torn up and stained. He had this red bow tie and it was all grey from dirt and his brown fur was all stuck together. Mikey had almost torn off his nose..."
"B?"
"Boscorellie, Teddy Boscorellie Bear"
Faith smile and nodded, "Of course."
Bosco reached over for the bottle he left on the floor.
"Bos, don't." Faith said as she took the bottle from his hand.
He sighed
"I'll go and get us some coffee, okay?"
Faith left the room and he laid down on his bed. His eye lids started getting heavy and they began to close when he heard Faith come back into the room.
"Bos?"
"You staying for a bit?" It was more of a request then a question.
"Of course, I'm not going anywhere." She said as she fixed his covers and sat down beside him. His eyes started to drift shut again as she began to hum the Brahms lullaby. He was sleeping in minutes.
~*~*~*~*~
Faith opened the door to see her elderly next door niehbour standing there with a box in her hand.
"Thank you miss Tisdale. I'm sorry to have called you so late but it was really important."
"Oh don't worry about it Hon, I was up watching that handsome detective Columbo. He is just so smart, gets them every time. Him and that Ben Matlock oh I just can't get enough of those two."
Faith couldn't help but smile she had an apprecation for Columbo herself, "They are pretty good at what they do."
"Did I pick the right box dear? There were so many to choose from."
"Yes you did Miss Tisdale, Thank you." Faith reached in her pocket to get the lady some cash. The old lady put her hand up.
"Don't you even think of it young lady it was my pleasure."
"But Miss Tisdale it's so late at night and you had to drive all this way."
"Faith" she said sternly and gave a look only a grandmother figure could pull off.
Faith looked at the floor and took her hand out of her pocket, "Yes ma' am."
Miss Tisdale nodded pleased with herself, "That's better, I told you it was no trouble at all."
Faith looked back up and smiled.
"Now you go and get some rest, you look tired. I'll see you when you get back to the apartment." the old lady said then turned and walked down the hall.
Faith laughed to herself, 'What a lady' Faith shut the door, she walked back to the living room for some light. She began to open the faded red box that was tied shut with an old string. She took off the lid and a smile spread across her face. :"I knew I'd find out who you belonged to one day...Mr Teddy B Bear."
~*~*~*~
I was in shock just to have been moved around plus the noise of the box opening, it had been so long but to hear her say my name. My name, not teddy bear or bear but Teddy B bear. I couldn't believe it. How could she have known my name? I took a quick look around for clues but couldn't find any. We weren't back at her apartment the car ride down here clued me into that. And it looked like she had been crying. I know how to read that in a persons eyes all to well. Looks like she had went to a funeral judging from her clothes and tear stained eyes. But that still hadn't explained how she knew my name...was she a friend of Mike's? Maybe she had known Mrs. Boscorellie. I knew she couldn't be a friend of Maurice's because, well just because.
I was saddened by looking at her, Faith had always been kind to me. She took good care of me when she found me a few weeks after...after Maurice had died. She took me home and patched me up. Fixed up my nose, and sewed up my arm. Even put a tail on me. She sat me on her dresser and would play me once in awhile usually when she wasn't having the best of days, just like Maurice would. Faith didn't get hit but her father was a drunk and her mother was in denial and her brother well he was just annoying. You know come to think of it, her and Maurice would have probably made good friends if they had known each other back then. She was a couple of years older then him but she had such a kind heart. Oh sure she could be pushed to the limits and snap but then in a world like the one we live in which one of us can say we don't?... She always said she was looking for my owner, but I knew it was no use. Maurice hadn't come back for me like he said he would so that meant only one thing ...that he didn't make it that night. I wasn't surprised because that night ...That was the night Maurice fought back, that was the night he got the beating of his life....
I didn't know what had happened right away. It wasn't until I had fallen to the floor that I saw it. Maurice had a baseball bat and his father had been clutching the wrist of the hand he was holding me in. Maurice must have hit him with it. He grabbed me and we started to run, we ran and we ran until finally he couldn't run anymore and we ducked in behind this slide at the park. We sat there as Maurice tried to catch his breath. It wasn't long before we heard his father coming so he took me and hid me in a hole under the slide and he moved a few steps away. His father saw him and grabbed him out from underneath.
"You think you can get away with that?!" He screamed.
Maurice didn't move, didn't cry just stared at him, a cold icy stare, almost daring him to try something. Well he did and Maurice fell to the ground with the first blow to the face.
"Get up!"
He grabbed Maurice's arm so hard, like he was a rag doll or something and he just kept hitting him and kicking him. I tried to get him to see me to grab me and throw me around. I willed myself so hard to do something but I couldn't move I just stayed there like the stuffed animal I was half covered with sand.
Maurice was lying on the ground broken and bruised, blood leaking from everywhere but he got up one more time and looked his father in the eye with that look telling him that he wasn't going to win this war but Maurice fell back to the ground again with one last hit.
"That will teach you, you stupid useless little bastard." he spat out before he kicked sand on to Maurice and then walked away leaving him lying there, in the dark.
I don't know how I managed it I really don't but I started playing and Maurice looked at me and smiled. His swollen eyes slowly shut and he went unconscious....that was the last I ever saw him.
We're moving now, going down a hallway, a very well lit hallway. She makes a left turn and we enter a bedroom. It's dark except for a lamp shinning on the night stand. It's hard for me to see but it looks like there is a man laying in the bed. We get closer and I'm right there is one. It looks like he's having a bad dream, he's fussing about but Faith sits down beside him and rubs his arm and whispers that everything is fine. His movements stop and soon he's sleeping peacefully again. She would have made a good teddy bear. She rests me in front of him, I still don't know who he is but it's obvious she cares about him. Not many people would spend the night sitting beside someone comforting them if they didn't. I wish again that Maurice would have had someone like her in his life back then.
It must be getting late because her eyes are starting to shut and her head keeps dropping but she refuses to fall asleep. She's determined to stay up for him, but I on the other hand am tired, remembering that night with Maurice was hard. So I think I'll shut my eyes for just a little bit...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The early morning light begins to shine though the open curtains directly on to the man laying beside me. As the sun begins to shine stronger he begins to stir. Faith is still by his side. She looks terrible, she hasn't slept a wink all night. The man mumbles her name.
"Faith?"
"Yeah I'm here."
He lets out a small smile as he goes to rub his eyes before he opens them. There is something familiar about this man. I can't place it but that smile...that smile. His arm brushes against me as he lifts his hands to his face. He opens his eyes to see what he bumped and....It can't be, It can't. Those eyes...It's him!! My little Maurice..It's him! I can't process what's going on. I'm staring in the eyes of my little Maurice who isn't so little anymore, but how?
Bosco grabbed the bear that was laying beside him and sat up. His stomach was in knots and his heart had started beating faster. It had to have been a dream right? He looked over at Faith who had a smile stretched across her face.
"Looks like I figured right."
"It's him Faith! Teddy B Bear."
He looked at me with confusion and joy mixed in his eyes, but I barely noticed I was still treasuring the sound of hearing him say my name after so many years.
He looked back at Faith, "How?"
She smiles at him and explains how she found me one day while her and her friends were in this park because they had nothing better to do. She didn't have the heart to throw me away so she took me home and fixed me up. She had went back to the park a couple of times to see if any body was missing me but nobody ever was. So she kept me on her dresser for years before finally putting me in a box in the closet only to come out when she needed to hear me.
Tears are forming in his eyes as he looks back at me he blushes at his reaction to seeing a ratty stuffed up bear. Actually I'm not so ratty anymore because along with sewing me all up Faith gave me a really good wash, you can even see some of the red in my bow tie now. Faith notices his blushing but she doesn't care that he's a full grown man crying over a teddy bear, I can tell that just seeing him this happy is all she cares about.
"Thank you Faith, Thank you."
She gives him a warm smile that I notice she keeps just for him because in all the years I've known her now is the only time I have ever seen it. She gets up from her spot on the bed and tells him she's going to make some coffee. I figure it's probably just to give him time to collect himself so he won't have to be embarrassed in front of her.
He watches as she walks out the room then looks back at me. "We lucked out finding her didn't we?" He stares at me a little longer then presses my paw. I start playing the loudest and longest I have ever played in my whole lifetime. He closes his eyes as he listens a tear slowly sliding down his cheek. "I can't believe I have you back."
He looks at me for a long time. I can't read his eyes as well as I use to so I'm not exactly sure what he's thinking but I can tell he's been through a lot in his life time yet he still turned out to be the brave, strong, fearless man I knew he would be. I wish I could take all the credit for it but I'm sure the years he's known Faith has helped him a great deal but that's ok I'll share credit with her, she's taken good care of my little Maurice and me.
He gets up from bed still playing me and walks over to the closet and opens the door. He pauses and smiles. "You know what? We don't need to put you in there anymore." He walks me back over and sits me gently on top of his dresser, beside...beside a picture of him and Faith ...that looks like it was taken years ago at...at the academy. I beam, my Maurice ended up being an New York City Police officer. I should have expected that.
He pats me on the head on last time before leaving his room and heading down the hall. I sit there wondering what else happened that night? What happened to his father and mother and what ever happened to little Mikey? Did he turn out ok or did his father wreck him like I thought he would? Actually I have a million questions running through my little stuffed head but for right now I couldn't care less, because I'm back where I belong with Maurice and that's all that ever mattered.
~The End~
Chapter 2/2
Disclaimer: NBC, WB and John Wells own everything concerning Third Watch, I merely just borrow and play around with them. Idea for this story was borrowed from a kids help phone commercial.
Authors Note: I want to thank you all so much for your kind feedback. I'm glad you liked the story. You guys are so supportive and I can't thank you enough.
I was afraid I had went a little to out there with this fic. I did a rewrite on this chapter after realizing I had went to graphic and dark in some parts, there was absolutely no need for it in this fic. Maybe between two adults sure, but not when it comes to child abuse. That said, this chapter is still rated pg 13 for some bad language and for the topic of Child abuse.
Special dedication goes to my Teddy Bear who I still have around and wouldn't ever dream of living without :) and to CCA for encouraging me to post this in the first place.
Feedback: as always is much appreciated.
E-mail: [email protected]
Ok here we go, I hope it doesn't suck....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bosco walked into his apartment and threw his keys onto the table. He slipped off his shoes and loosened his tie as he walked over to the kitchen and opened up the fridge. He grabbed the bottle that was taunting him on the middle shelf. He opened it up and took a long drink and felt it burn as it slid down his throat. That was better. He made his way to his bedroom. He walked over to the night stand and turned on the lamp. Finally the darkness of the room had disappeared. He sat down on the floor his back leaning against his bed and his knees up with his arms resting on them. He took a couple more drinks before raising the bottle and saying, "Rest in hell dad."
It had been along day and all he wanted to do was get lost in the bottle he held in his hand. So he didn't hear the noise of key's in the lock or the soft footsteps coming down the hall. He didn't even realize she was there until she touched his shoulder. He didn't jump or look up he just knew it was her.
"Hey"
"Hey" She said softly, "How are you doing?" she asked with concern pouring out with every syllable
He looked at her as she sat down beside him. "I don't get it Faith, how can so many people show up to pay there last respects to a man that was worse then any body we ever put away?"
Faith just shook her head, "I don't know Bos."
"I mean all the people there, going on about such a great guy he was, How he'll be missed and how he was loved...I didn't love him and he wasn't a great guy and I sure the hell wont miss him, He was a sad disgusting excuse of a man that deserved to die a slow painful death all alone."
Faith just sat there, she knew the day had been hard on him and that he needed to get things off of his chest. That's why she came to check up on him and why she had went to the funeral. She could care less for Bosco's father but Bosco had told her he was going to watch as the "bastard was lowered into hell" She knew that the tuff act he was putting on was just that. He had demons that needed to be worked through and the funeral would have just brought them all back.
"...I was twelve almost thirteen in just a couple of months I would have been..." Bosco began out of nowhere "It had been like any other day, get home from school do my chores and wait for dad to get home so I could find out what I possibly could have done wrong now...turns out on that particular day I was a smart ass. I talked back...I can't remember what I had said. But I got the slap across the face anyway and ....and the closet..." he trailed off. Faith waited for him to continue not fully sure she was ready to hear the story.
"I could take the hits, it wasn't a big deal, but that closet Faith... god I couldn't...I just couldn't. So I had gotten in the habit of hiding my teddy bear in there." He looked over at faith expecting a grin or a smart remark but all he saw was sadness in her eyes. She touched his hand to encourage him to go on. "I had him since I could remember. He'd always be in there, mostly so dad wouldn't find him and so that I'd have him when I got locked in there...He use to have this music box or something in his paw it would play that lullaby they always play. Well that night I guess I played him to long or to loud but he heard him and he opened the door....I held on to him as hard as I could but dad hit me again and I lost my grip and he took off with him."
Bosco paused as that night flashed back through his mind. "I didn't have many friends and the ones I did have I couldn't tell them what was going on. I wasn't even sure that what was going on was wrong. Maybe every kid had a father like that, they just had a better way of coping with it. But my bear, I could tell him stuff, and I could hold him in the dark and he'd make it all go away. It didn't matter that outside that door ma and Mikey were getting the same thing I had just gotten. Because it went away, as soon as I heard that music it all went away and I was safe ...Ma never came and asked if I was ok, I know she couldn't have unlocked the door but she could have at least asked and Mikey, Mikey would sleep on the other side of the room just feet away in his bed and he'd leave me there on the cold floor with just a little crack of light shinning through....That bear was all I had Faith....I couldn't let him take him...so I got up and I found my bat and followed him. He had went downstairs to burn him he was about to throw him in when I swung. I hit his wrist and he dropped him. I picked him up and I ran and I kept running as fast and as far as I could but it wasn't enough. I could hear him getting closer so I dipped into the park. I hid teddy under the slide just before dad found me"...Bosco set down the bottle and pushed himself off of the floor. He walked over to the window and stared into the darkness. "I was in the hospital for three weeks after that night."
Faith brushed away the tears that slowly slid down her cheeks as she stood up and walked over to the window and put her hand on Bosco's shoulder.
"Ma kicked him out that time. He hated me for it. It was all my fault but he got me back the best way he could. He went back to the park and found him. He came and told me. One night after ma went home he came into the hospital room and waited until I woke up. I remember his smiling face being the first thing I saw." Faith felt Bosco shiver. "Guess what boy, that bear of yours is gone. You should have seen him burn." A tear fell down his cheek. "He shut off the light above my head and walked to the door and flicked off the main light and shut the door....the first thing I did when I got out was go to the park. I thought maybe he was lying maybe just maybe Teddy was still there...but he wasn't."
Bosco's shoulders began to shake as he started to cry. He tried to pull away from Faith embarrassed that he was crying over something so stupid that happened so many years ago but Faith wrapped her arms around him and rubbed her hand down his back. "Hey it's okay Bos, It's okay."
"I hate him Faith. I hate him so much I can't breath." he said as he hugged Faith back and cried into her shoulder.
"I know Bos, but he can't hurt you now or anyone else."
They stayed standing there by the window for a few minutes Faith still rubbing his back and trying to comfort him. After some time he pulled away.
"I'm sorry."
"Hey." Faith said as she shook her head.
Bosco gave her a grateful smile and walked back over to his bed and sat down, taking off his tie and undoing the top buttons on his shirt.
"What did he look like?"
"The bear?"
"Yeah."
Bosco smiled, "Teddy B Bear was the rattiest thing you have ever seen. All torn up and stained. He had this red bow tie and it was all grey from dirt and his brown fur was all stuck together. Mikey had almost torn off his nose..."
"B?"
"Boscorellie, Teddy Boscorellie Bear"
Faith smile and nodded, "Of course."
Bosco reached over for the bottle he left on the floor.
"Bos, don't." Faith said as she took the bottle from his hand.
He sighed
"I'll go and get us some coffee, okay?"
Faith left the room and he laid down on his bed. His eye lids started getting heavy and they began to close when he heard Faith come back into the room.
"Bos?"
"You staying for a bit?" It was more of a request then a question.
"Of course, I'm not going anywhere." She said as she fixed his covers and sat down beside him. His eyes started to drift shut again as she began to hum the Brahms lullaby. He was sleeping in minutes.
~*~*~*~*~
Faith opened the door to see her elderly next door niehbour standing there with a box in her hand.
"Thank you miss Tisdale. I'm sorry to have called you so late but it was really important."
"Oh don't worry about it Hon, I was up watching that handsome detective Columbo. He is just so smart, gets them every time. Him and that Ben Matlock oh I just can't get enough of those two."
Faith couldn't help but smile she had an apprecation for Columbo herself, "They are pretty good at what they do."
"Did I pick the right box dear? There were so many to choose from."
"Yes you did Miss Tisdale, Thank you." Faith reached in her pocket to get the lady some cash. The old lady put her hand up.
"Don't you even think of it young lady it was my pleasure."
"But Miss Tisdale it's so late at night and you had to drive all this way."
"Faith" she said sternly and gave a look only a grandmother figure could pull off.
Faith looked at the floor and took her hand out of her pocket, "Yes ma' am."
Miss Tisdale nodded pleased with herself, "That's better, I told you it was no trouble at all."
Faith looked back up and smiled.
"Now you go and get some rest, you look tired. I'll see you when you get back to the apartment." the old lady said then turned and walked down the hall.
Faith laughed to herself, 'What a lady' Faith shut the door, she walked back to the living room for some light. She began to open the faded red box that was tied shut with an old string. She took off the lid and a smile spread across her face. :"I knew I'd find out who you belonged to one day...Mr Teddy B Bear."
~*~*~*~
I was in shock just to have been moved around plus the noise of the box opening, it had been so long but to hear her say my name. My name, not teddy bear or bear but Teddy B bear. I couldn't believe it. How could she have known my name? I took a quick look around for clues but couldn't find any. We weren't back at her apartment the car ride down here clued me into that. And it looked like she had been crying. I know how to read that in a persons eyes all to well. Looks like she had went to a funeral judging from her clothes and tear stained eyes. But that still hadn't explained how she knew my name...was she a friend of Mike's? Maybe she had known Mrs. Boscorellie. I knew she couldn't be a friend of Maurice's because, well just because.
I was saddened by looking at her, Faith had always been kind to me. She took good care of me when she found me a few weeks after...after Maurice had died. She took me home and patched me up. Fixed up my nose, and sewed up my arm. Even put a tail on me. She sat me on her dresser and would play me once in awhile usually when she wasn't having the best of days, just like Maurice would. Faith didn't get hit but her father was a drunk and her mother was in denial and her brother well he was just annoying. You know come to think of it, her and Maurice would have probably made good friends if they had known each other back then. She was a couple of years older then him but she had such a kind heart. Oh sure she could be pushed to the limits and snap but then in a world like the one we live in which one of us can say we don't?... She always said she was looking for my owner, but I knew it was no use. Maurice hadn't come back for me like he said he would so that meant only one thing ...that he didn't make it that night. I wasn't surprised because that night ...That was the night Maurice fought back, that was the night he got the beating of his life....
I didn't know what had happened right away. It wasn't until I had fallen to the floor that I saw it. Maurice had a baseball bat and his father had been clutching the wrist of the hand he was holding me in. Maurice must have hit him with it. He grabbed me and we started to run, we ran and we ran until finally he couldn't run anymore and we ducked in behind this slide at the park. We sat there as Maurice tried to catch his breath. It wasn't long before we heard his father coming so he took me and hid me in a hole under the slide and he moved a few steps away. His father saw him and grabbed him out from underneath.
"You think you can get away with that?!" He screamed.
Maurice didn't move, didn't cry just stared at him, a cold icy stare, almost daring him to try something. Well he did and Maurice fell to the ground with the first blow to the face.
"Get up!"
He grabbed Maurice's arm so hard, like he was a rag doll or something and he just kept hitting him and kicking him. I tried to get him to see me to grab me and throw me around. I willed myself so hard to do something but I couldn't move I just stayed there like the stuffed animal I was half covered with sand.
Maurice was lying on the ground broken and bruised, blood leaking from everywhere but he got up one more time and looked his father in the eye with that look telling him that he wasn't going to win this war but Maurice fell back to the ground again with one last hit.
"That will teach you, you stupid useless little bastard." he spat out before he kicked sand on to Maurice and then walked away leaving him lying there, in the dark.
I don't know how I managed it I really don't but I started playing and Maurice looked at me and smiled. His swollen eyes slowly shut and he went unconscious....that was the last I ever saw him.
We're moving now, going down a hallway, a very well lit hallway. She makes a left turn and we enter a bedroom. It's dark except for a lamp shinning on the night stand. It's hard for me to see but it looks like there is a man laying in the bed. We get closer and I'm right there is one. It looks like he's having a bad dream, he's fussing about but Faith sits down beside him and rubs his arm and whispers that everything is fine. His movements stop and soon he's sleeping peacefully again. She would have made a good teddy bear. She rests me in front of him, I still don't know who he is but it's obvious she cares about him. Not many people would spend the night sitting beside someone comforting them if they didn't. I wish again that Maurice would have had someone like her in his life back then.
It must be getting late because her eyes are starting to shut and her head keeps dropping but she refuses to fall asleep. She's determined to stay up for him, but I on the other hand am tired, remembering that night with Maurice was hard. So I think I'll shut my eyes for just a little bit...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The early morning light begins to shine though the open curtains directly on to the man laying beside me. As the sun begins to shine stronger he begins to stir. Faith is still by his side. She looks terrible, she hasn't slept a wink all night. The man mumbles her name.
"Faith?"
"Yeah I'm here."
He lets out a small smile as he goes to rub his eyes before he opens them. There is something familiar about this man. I can't place it but that smile...that smile. His arm brushes against me as he lifts his hands to his face. He opens his eyes to see what he bumped and....It can't be, It can't. Those eyes...It's him!! My little Maurice..It's him! I can't process what's going on. I'm staring in the eyes of my little Maurice who isn't so little anymore, but how?
Bosco grabbed the bear that was laying beside him and sat up. His stomach was in knots and his heart had started beating faster. It had to have been a dream right? He looked over at Faith who had a smile stretched across her face.
"Looks like I figured right."
"It's him Faith! Teddy B Bear."
He looked at me with confusion and joy mixed in his eyes, but I barely noticed I was still treasuring the sound of hearing him say my name after so many years.
He looked back at Faith, "How?"
She smiles at him and explains how she found me one day while her and her friends were in this park because they had nothing better to do. She didn't have the heart to throw me away so she took me home and fixed me up. She had went back to the park a couple of times to see if any body was missing me but nobody ever was. So she kept me on her dresser for years before finally putting me in a box in the closet only to come out when she needed to hear me.
Tears are forming in his eyes as he looks back at me he blushes at his reaction to seeing a ratty stuffed up bear. Actually I'm not so ratty anymore because along with sewing me all up Faith gave me a really good wash, you can even see some of the red in my bow tie now. Faith notices his blushing but she doesn't care that he's a full grown man crying over a teddy bear, I can tell that just seeing him this happy is all she cares about.
"Thank you Faith, Thank you."
She gives him a warm smile that I notice she keeps just for him because in all the years I've known her now is the only time I have ever seen it. She gets up from her spot on the bed and tells him she's going to make some coffee. I figure it's probably just to give him time to collect himself so he won't have to be embarrassed in front of her.
He watches as she walks out the room then looks back at me. "We lucked out finding her didn't we?" He stares at me a little longer then presses my paw. I start playing the loudest and longest I have ever played in my whole lifetime. He closes his eyes as he listens a tear slowly sliding down his cheek. "I can't believe I have you back."
He looks at me for a long time. I can't read his eyes as well as I use to so I'm not exactly sure what he's thinking but I can tell he's been through a lot in his life time yet he still turned out to be the brave, strong, fearless man I knew he would be. I wish I could take all the credit for it but I'm sure the years he's known Faith has helped him a great deal but that's ok I'll share credit with her, she's taken good care of my little Maurice and me.
He gets up from bed still playing me and walks over to the closet and opens the door. He pauses and smiles. "You know what? We don't need to put you in there anymore." He walks me back over and sits me gently on top of his dresser, beside...beside a picture of him and Faith ...that looks like it was taken years ago at...at the academy. I beam, my Maurice ended up being an New York City Police officer. I should have expected that.
He pats me on the head on last time before leaving his room and heading down the hall. I sit there wondering what else happened that night? What happened to his father and mother and what ever happened to little Mikey? Did he turn out ok or did his father wreck him like I thought he would? Actually I have a million questions running through my little stuffed head but for right now I couldn't care less, because I'm back where I belong with Maurice and that's all that ever mattered.
~The End~