The golden cornfields that seemed to graze the stars, swayed while the little patch of sunflowers slowly reached out towards the moon itself, anxious for life. The porch with the two rocking chairs welcomed you into the one story, wooden house. Inside this house sat Been, the only child. She was eighteen years old. She tried to get her mind off the twisting pain in her stomach. Been lazed on the old, dark green couch as she watched Oprah solve a problem once again, on the tiny TV. She was so mesmerized in Oprah’s graceful speech; she almost forgot about her discomfort. Been watched the audience’s surprised faces as Oprah gave yet another gift to them.
“Why are you guys acting surprised? Even I knew she was going to give that away.” She muttered enviously.
She was so focused on this event; she did not realize her Papa calling her from the other room. Now, her Mamma was a rude and an unbearably loud woman, but did not compare to her Papa.
“Been!”
She slowly pulled herself up from the couch and walked to her Parent’s room next door. Every time she stepped foot in her parents room, a quivering sensation entered her limbs. There was some evil in that room, she knew it. The parent’s room looked like any other room you would imagine, a bed, some dressers, and a lamp. But what was in this room caused Been to feel uneasy. The father, Mr. White, placed numerous ‘magazines’ throughout the room. He was not ashamed about his dirty business. Momma did not take any mind to this, as she too used them. Papa was sitting on a little, wooden chair smoking a cigarette, while Mamma stared fearfully in the mirror, picking at her bony cheeks. They both turned towards me. Momma had a regretful expression on her face, but Pappas face was imprinted with a stern and careless look.
“Yes Papa” Been said.
“I need you to clean the rug.” Papa flatly ordered.
“Ok.” Been whispered at the ground.
Been dragged her aching body across the hall, into the bathroom. There rested the rug. The rug was stained with sin and blood, her blood.
You see, Eben loved this boy named Cameron. They grew up in the same town, and knew each other for all their life. He took her to prom, and promised to marry her when he got the money. But, God had another plan, and planted a seed in Eben’s tummy. When her Papa heard the news, he almost killed her. Luckily he didn’t, but he did kill that baby. He tossed her around just a little too hard. She tried to deliver the infant, but it was all in vain. She held her cold baby in her arms as tears escaped her burning eyes. Cameron hated her Papa for killing his child.
Eben wretchedly picked up the foul rug and carried it to the bathroom sink. She got the foamy bar of soap, and rinsed it under the chilled running water. She began to lather the rug. The blood seeped out the cracks of the rug, and ran down the drain. She watched the blood coil and slip down the white sink. When it was clean, Eben placed the rug back on the ground. She made her way to her twin sized bed, and angrily cried herself to sleep. It was six o’clock, and time for her to go to the park.
She usually walks to the park to forget the world she lived in, but things had changed. She was going to meet Cameron there. After she got all fixed up, she was ready to go. She quietly exited the house, trying not to wake up her parents. Surprisingly, her stinging pains were now just a slight throb. Her short brown hair grazed against her coffee skin that peeked neck with every step she took. She held onto the wooden rails as she made her way down the three steps on her porch. She paced herself, walking towards the park. She passed by the old basketball court, where she saw a few teenagers playing basketball. That’s all the boys in her town could do. They had no education, no future. Unlike most of the boys in that town, Cameron was going to college, well a technical college. He was a sophomore, and was getting a degree in radiology.
The luscious green grassland covered the entire park. Three benches sat in a row, and a slide was placed in the center. It wasn’t much of a park, but it made for a wonderful escape.
She saw the dark skinned boy forced grin, revealing his lustrous teeth in her direction. It was Cameron. He wore his blue scrubs, on a count that he was going to his school in a little while. Eben sprinted towards Cameron, as tears slipped down her hot cheeks. He embraced her.
“It’s ok, we’ll be fine.” His soothing voice advised her.
Eben shook in his arms.
“I’m so sorry.” She sobbed.
“It's not your fault “Cameron began to sniffle.
“It was going to be a boy.” She choked out.
They held each other and cried together. They sat on the bench in silence as Eben laid her head on Cameron’s shoulder. After a while, Cameron had to go to school, so Eben said her goodbyes and walked back to her house. Before she entered her house, she opened her mailbox nervously. She pulled out a bundle of mail. In her hand was: ads, coupons, bills, and a letter from Taheth University. When she got in her house, she laid down the junk mail on the arm of the couch; keeping hold of the letter tightly in her hands. She slowly opened the envelope to reveal what could very well be her future. She franticly read the letter…she was accepted.
Over the course of six weeks, she mentally prepared herself for college life, and went out to celebrate with Cameron every weekend. She did not tell her parents until the day that she was leaving. She had packed her bags, and Cameron was outside her door to pick her up. She looked out the window at him, and then at the black, murky sky.
“Mamma, Papa, I got something to tell you.” She said, turning her head towards them.
“And what’s that?” Mamma asked as she stared blankly at the TV.
“I’m going to college…”
“What?” Papa replied. Mamma looked at Eben in confusion.
“…And leaving today.”
“What!?”Papa yelled furiously.
“I'll be the first person in are family to get a college degree. I know you guys like this town, but I can’t stand it. I need to find my way.” Eben said proudly.
“If you want to leave this family, well then so be it.” Replied Mamma.
“Good because I am, right now.”
Eben smiled at them and said goodbye as she walked out the door. She never did hear their reply. She ran down the porch and got into Cameron’s blue truck.
“Cameron, this thing is a piece of junk.” Eben said jokingly.
“Haha, it’s my baby and I love it.”
“You love it too much.”
“Hey, its gets you from A to B, that’s all that matters.”
Cameron and Eben were driving to her dorm in Taheth University. The university was only a couple of hours away, just far enough from her town. Eben leaned her forehead against the cold window, and stared up at the crystallized stars. Her eyes became heavy, and she began to doze off.
Eben woke up to the howl of an ambulance. Throbbing pain pounded throughout her entire body. She stared up at the stars. The moist air wrapped around her. She notices that she was strapped down to a stretcher. She tried to lift her head up, but she couldn’t, due to the prickling sting in her neck. She twisted her head to look for Cameron. A tall man blocked her vision and bent over her. Her ears were ringing, but she could make out his words.
“You’re going to be fine.”
“Where’s Cameron?
He looked at her with grief.
“You’ll be fine ma’am.”
“Where’s Cameron!” She screamed.
She tried to fight, but she could only move her head. The man wheeled her towards the emergency vehicle. She blacked out, and woke up in a hospital bed. A doctor walked into Eben's room.
“Where’s Cameron.”
“I’m so sorry.” He replied.
Eben did not cry. She knew what the doctor was telling her, but she could not comprehend the fact that the only person she loved that loved her back was gone. She stared at the doctor for a while and then said,
“Can I go?”
“Not yet, you need to get well.”
“I have to go.”
She tried to get up, but her legs were still numb.
“What’s going on?”
“You are paralyzed from the waist down.”
“Paralyzed.” Eben repeated in confusion.
“No I’m not, I’m ok right?”
“You will be, with some time and a lot hard work.”
Eben flopped her head back on the firm pillow. Her tears began to rush down over her cold cheeks.
“So I lost everything?”
“Your friend, Cameron-”
“My boyfriend”
“Your boyfriend. He fell asleep at the wheel, and lost control of the vehicle. Unfortunately the airbags on his side did not activate and…”
“I know, I always told him to get a new car.”
Eben’s Mamma walked in the room and smiled at her. She leaned towards Eben and whispered something in her ear.
“See, this was a sign from God. You ain't supposed to go to college. You belong with me and your Papa back at home.”
Eben looked up in her mother’s eyes and replied.
“I still can go to college.”
“A cripple, going to college? They’ll laugh at you. You want to be accepted? Come back home.”
Ebens stare grew harder as she realized her mother was right. How could I have thought I could go to college? Who would take care of me there now that I’m a cripple? Defiantly not my parents.
“Ok, I’ll go back home.” She said dejectedly.
She stayed in the hospital for a few days, as the doctor taught her how to live her new life. On the fourth day, her Mamma came back into Ebens room and wheeled her to the car.
“I can’t do this”
“What is it now?”
“I just can’t do it, what if I die this time…in the car?”
“Sometimes I wish you would die! When the policemen called me the other night, I was hopin’ you was dead, but you aint. So either shut up or die. One or the other.”
“I wish I was dead, so I would be with Cameron, and not your ignorant, degrading a**.”
Mamma flung Eben off the wheelchair. Eben jolted and collapsed on to the concrete, anguishing her tender wounds.
“Get up and say that to my face.” Mamma said with a smirk.
Eben wanted to say something, but pride would only make things worth. Mamma folded up Ebens wheelchair, and threw it in the trunk. She lifted Eben up and tossed her in the passenger seat. It didn’t take long until she was back in her old town. As she laid on her stiff bed, she stared up at the wooded ceiling.
“I’m back in the same broken down house, living with a broken down family, and a broken heart.”
She was too afraid to leave her little town again. She never received physical therapy, and staid in that wheelchair for the rest of her life. Every day, she wheeled herself to the park and stared at the trees bending in the breeze, wondering what else was out there. She looked down at the grass.
“You’re the only thing I have left.”