Saving My Sis

I never thought I would be going back home for a reason like this. I had walked out of my parent’s house when I was 17 and never looked back. Now, seven years later, I had received a phone call at my duty station in North Carolina that my younger sister had tried to commit suicide by cutting both her wrists. Carol is five years younger than I and looked up to me as more of a hero than a brother. I had protected her and stood up for her for years from my no good parents. If I could have taken her with me when I walked out I would have.

Through out my whole life till I left, my parents told both Carol and I that we were stupid and would never amount to anything. Now I don’t consider myself good looking, at 17 I was 5’10” and a skinny 145, but I knew that I didn’t have to take that kind of abuse, especially from my parents. So I took up both boxing and karate to vent my anger. When I walked out I stayed at my boxing coach’s house till I graduated from high school and enlisted in the Marines.

For some reason, after I enlisted I grew another 2 inches in height and bulked up to 225 pounds of hard muscle. My black hair is cut in the traditional military high & tight fashion, and I have been told that my gray eyes would turn stone cold and cause people to back up when my temper is pushed to the edge. When I left, my sister was a little on the chubby side, had silk smooth lt. brown hair that went down to her waist and the prettiest emerald green eyes. When she smiled her eyes had a sparkle to them that had you spell bound.

I will never know why my parents treated us like they did. Both of them were very successful in their professions and were well liked. In the back of my mind I felt that they contributed to my sister trying to kill herself. I prayed that this wasn’t true.

———————————————

The first person that I saw when I walked into the hospital was my boxing coach.

“Coach. How are you doing?”

“Steve. I can see that you have been taking real good care of yourself. How is the leg doing?”

“Good coach good.” I had taken some shrapnel in my leg when I was serving in Desert Storm. I considered myself lucky because it hit nothing major. I still walk with a slight limp.

“Thank you for calling coach. Now how did this happen and what is going on?”

“From what I understand, after your parents had left for work yesterday, Carol filled the bath tub with warm water and then cut her wrists with a butcher knife from the kitchen. Luckily the cleaning lady came in not long after that and found her. When I heard the call come over the scanner I went straight over and got there before anyone else.” Coach also worked part-time for the volunteer fire department. “Carol wrote two letters. One to your parents, and one to you. I could get in big trouble for what I did, but I took the letter addressed to you before anyone else got there.”

With shaking hands I took the letter and started reading it:

Steve,

By the time you read this it will be too late. When you walked out and left I did nothing but cry for 3 days. I cried and cried because the only person that I truly loved had left me. The only way that I could get to sleep at night was to clutch your picture to my breast. All mom and dad did was talk down about you. They called you names for years, and the harassment toward me got worse. I held on for as long as I could waiting for you to come back, but I could not take it any longer.

I love you dear brother. I love you more than anything. There were times that I loved you so much, that I wished you were more than just my brother.

I shall meet you in the afterlife Steve. Always remember me.

Love you sweetheart,

Carol

“Is she still here coach?” I asked with a silent tear running down my face.

“Yes she is son. Come with me.”

———————————————–

We heard the yelling as soon as we stepped off the elevator. I heard my sister who was crying, a few voices I didn’t recognize, and above everyone were my asshole mother and father. Rushing down the hall I stepped into the room.

“What the hell is going on in here?” I yelled above all the voices.

The whole room fell silent and turned toward me. No one said anything for a few seconds till my sister managed to cry:

“Steve.”

Then my father had to throw his big mouth into it.

“So. The prodigal son has returned. What are you going to do hotshot. Tell me, what are you going to do.”

I did the one thing that I have always wanted to do. I knocked my father flat on his ass. I knew that I had broke his nose and knocked some teeth out, but damn it felt good.

“Someone drag this asshole out of here and clear the room. I want to spend some time with my sister.”

My mother opened her mouth to say something, and one look from me made her close it and help my father to his feet. After everyone had left, I closed the door and told coach to stand outside and make sure no one came in except the doctors. When I sat down on the edge of my sister’s bed, she was still crying and threw her arms around me.

“I didn’t think you would ever come back Steve. Ever since you left my life has been a living hell. I just couldn’t take it anymore.