Missy's Gentle Giant

by P D Miller

  “Missy isn’t dead either!” Tears rolled down her cheeks.

  “I’m glad to hear it.” Ben’s face showed no expression, but he was hiding tears. “I liked Missy as much as Melissa.”

  “Ben—” Missy’s voice was just above a whisper and she licked her lips. “I was raped.”

  The muscles in Ben’s cheeks rippled and twitched as he stared at her. “I know Missy.”

  “Susan said I had to face it.”

  “It’s better this way.”

  She glanced at her parents, standing there crying. She looked at her brothers and then the neighbors outside waiting for the fight. “All of you—” She glared at them angry now. “I was raped! I didn’t do anything wrong!”

  Ben turned on his heels and went to the truck. All eyes, including Missy’s watched and thought he was going to leave, but he reached in the back of the cab and came out holding a box. Smiling he went back to Missy. “Bought you a wedding dress. I know I still have to ask your father one more time, but I want you to see it. I love you, Missy, and it doesn’t matter to me what happened. Nothing has changed how I feel.”

  Missy stared as he spoke, looked in the box, gasped and began to cry again. She shoved the box at her mother and ran into the house.

  What the hell had he done wrong now? Ben looked helplessly at Gonzalo who just shrugged. Then he turned back to face eight angry brothers.

  Gonzalo went in the house to explain to Missy where Ben had been the last three weeks.

  Right after the first punch hit Ben, he flew into action and wasted no time messing with throwing the brothers down or keeping them away. He let each brother land one punch, grabbed him, swung with his fist as many times as necessary to knock him out and dropped him before moving onto the next. He was hitting the third brother when Missy stomped out on the porch followed by, her mother and Gonzalo.

  “Ben Spinelli!” Abruptly his arm stopped mid way and Marco landed a good one in Ben’s eye. “Marco, you stop this instant! It’s disgusting to see you all out here brawling when I might be in a family way!”

  Ben dropped Marco and turned to Missy gulping. His face turned pale. “You what?”

  “Are you going to deny sleeping with me two whole nights, Ben Spinelli?”

  He looked at the ground and then up at Missy. “I won’t deny it. I slept with you.” His voice squeaked. Mr. Sanchez paled this time.

  “Are you going to stand there and say you didn’t make love to me?”

  A smile crossed Ben’s face. “Yes, I said it.”

  Several of the neighbors gasped. Ben looked up at Mr. Sanchez. “I believe the custom is to ask three times, sir, and I’ve asked twice. I want Missy to be mine. Would you please let me marry her?”

  Mrs. Sanchez stepped up and whispered something in her husband’s ear.

  “Under the circumstances—” Mr. Sanchez’ face softened while he made some coughing noises, glanced at his daughter, then around at everyone else before looking back to Ben. “Well, under the circumstances, I suppose it would be the best thing to do.”

  “Thank you, sir.” Ben grinned from ear to ear and went up to Missy. He mashed his forehead against hers, and his eyes glistened.

  “Come inside.” She reached out for his hand. “We’ll get you cleaned up.” Slowly Missy led Ben upstairs to her room.

  “Missy, I—”

  “Quiet.” She shoved him on her bed, ran to the bathroom and came back with an armful of towels. “Take off your shirt.”

  He started unbuttoning his shirt but wasn’t fast enough. Missy pushed his hands away and took over.

  “Missy—”

  “You’re going to tell me you’re angry?” She saw blood oozing out of the bandage covering his left shoulder, frowned and wiped his bruised eyes.

  “No, I wanted to tell you I love you.”

  “Oh?” She smiled. “Something else?”

  “No, I wanted to ask you something.”

  “Like what?”

  “You kind of twisted things out there a little. I mean everyone thinks we—”

  “You told me we made love, are you going to deny it now?” Her eyes glistened.

  Ben shook his head. “No I’m not—we did make love, but—”

  Missy stopped washing him. Tears were trying to break out from behind her eyes. “If I tell you I’m afraid Ben, will you be patient with me?”

  “I—I’ll—you can take all the time you need, but I want us to get married as soon as possible.”

  “Yes Ben.” Missy showed him her beautiful dimples and glistening eyes. “You’ll need to talk to Gonzalo,”

  “Yeah?”

  “He’ll tell you about the wedding, the customs—what has to be done.” Carefully she took off his bloody bandage, reapplied a clean dressing and shook her head at the whiskey smelling giant sitting in front of her. “Ben, lie on my bed for a while and get some sleep.” Gently she pushed him back. He scrunched up.

  “And you?”

  “I’ll be right here.” She sat on the side of the bed and took his hand.

  Ben’s whole body ached with pain, but he felt wonderful. Missy was going to marry him. She was going to be his, become a part of him. He smiled as he fell asleep.

  The next day Ben sat over coffee and listened to Gonzalo tell him how they needed to arrange a small private wedding because of Missy’s “condition and the circumstances.” Ben kept shaking his head.

  “Nope!” Ben banged the table. “It won’t do. Missy’s going to be married in white and have the biggest wedding in town. She’s done nothing to be ashamed.”

  “But Ben—”

  “No, take her to the priest. He’ll understand, dammit.” Ben glared at Gonzalo.

  “But look Ben—”

  “You’re sitting here telling me it’s the custom for the groom to pay for the wedding, and you’re telling me she can’t have a big one. I want it to be a day she’ll never forget—she’s only going to have one—”

  “As you wish.” Gonzalo shook his head. “Man, Ben, sometimes I can’t figure you out.”

  “Well it’s important to me. Someone close to me should have had a huge wedding and didn’t live to even marry. Missy’s will maybe make up for it.”

  “All right.” Gonzalo got up with a groan. “I’ll have Mom take her to talk to the priest.”

  “Tell your mother to make sure Missy tells him everything—about being kidnapped, sleeping with me and especially how we made love. If he says it has to be small and private then I’ll go along with it.”

  As soon as Gonzalo was gone, Ben went to the Church and talked to the priest himself. Before he left, it was understood and settled there was no reason for Missy to have a small, private wedding.

  After Missy’s talk with the priest, the wedding was set for a month away, and a whirlwind of activity started in the Sanchez family. Every day Ben came with a surprise, and usually he drove his truck just so he could honk a block from the house. He was as proud as a peacock and wanted all the neighbors to see how he felt. The neighbors spent most of their time shaking their heads over this crazy Italian.

  Each night when he kissed Missy goodnight, they were long hungry kisses he was sure were melting his brain. But goodnight kisses were all he tried. It was not satisfying his body. He took up jogging five miles every night just to recover from her kisses. After two weeks, he was jogging in the mornings too.

  Right after the announcement, Ben asked Mrs. Sanchez to take Missy to a doctor and have her completely checked. He wanted to be sure her deafness wasn’t physical. She still wasn’t able to hear more than his horn when he drove up, and it worried him. But more, he wanted to be sure he was dealing with only psychological problems which arose from the rape. He believed the hearing would come eventually, along with her ability to make total love.

  She came away with a clean bill of health, but she was angry about the whole examination and being subjected to it. When Ben asked her about tests, she didn’t want to talk about it, and she not on
ly skipped entirely over the female examination part but ran from the room when Ben hinted about it. Ben went to the doctor to learn how to deal with the psychological aspect of her problem. He was told not to push her. Ben knew this, but he left wondering how long he’d have to wait, called to have a swimming pool put in his yard, and wondered what he could do besides running until it was finished.

  Ben spent every evening with Missy, and because she took him to her room the night her father said they could marry, he often went to her room now. One night, just a week before the wedding, Gonzalo came in, heard Ben was in her room and rushed upstairs. His worry was needless, for when he pushed open Missy’s door Ben and she were playing cards. Gonzalo dropped on her bed with a feeling of relief.

  “Damn Charger, it’s hard as hell for me to get used to the new you.”

  “It’s hard as hell being the new me too.” Ben grinned.

  Missy saw what they said. “What do you mean?”

  Ben and Gonzalo turned beet red. “Nothing Missy.” Ben touched her hair. “Gonzalo keeps thinking of me as the wild drinking guy I was in Iraq.”

  Later after Ben left, Missy went into Gonzalo’s room and sat on his bed; she picked at some lint while searching for words. Gonzalo finally rolled over and faced her.

  “Out with it. Missy, what’s the problem?”

  “I—I want to know what you and Ben were talking about.”

  “I was just wondering how he was able to be so cool.” Gonzalo smiled. “I wondered if you and he—”

  “Oh.” She jumped up with tears in her eyes. “So you thought we were in my room having sex?”

  Gonzalo got up and went to her. He pulled her back against him “The thought crossed my mind; I was surprised when he admitted he made love to you, even slept with you, and I don’t understand, but—”

  “He just held me and kissed me.” Missy turned to her brother. “He said it was making love.”

  “Then it was.” Gonzalo brushed hair from her face. “But Missy, it’s only the beginning—”

  “I know.” Missy pulled away and went back to sit on the bed. “And I’m scared about the rest.” Her hands shook. “He makes me feel so good, but I’m afraid and not sure—”

  “And you’ve told Ben?”

  “Oh yes!” She glanced up at Gonzalo. “He said he’d wait. It’s just—”

  “Out with it.”

  “He doesn’t kiss me or hold me anymore like he did then. I liked what he did until I remembered where it would lead—”

  Gonzalo sat down beside her. “I think he’s afraid too, Missy—I mean he’s afraid if he kisses you or touches you he might get carried away.”

  Missy glanced up and smiled. “He said the same thing. It’s why Susan was in the room with us.”

  “Susan?”

  “She’s a doctor. He said she was our chaperone.” Missy grinned.

  “Oh.” Gonzalo rolled his eyes heavenward. Ben even had them chaperoned? Damn, the guy had lost his mind.

  “Then you don’t think he’s stopped loving me?” Missy picked at her nightgown.

  “No way!” Gonzalo laughed. “He loves you more than ever.” He pulled Missy up, turned her to the doorway and swatted her. “Now you get to bed and quit worrying.” Gonzalo watched Missy go into her room and hurriedly got dressed.

  It was after one in the morning when Ben glanced out to his side because he noticed a car slowly following him as he ran. He stopped, bent over, gasped to catch his breath and waited. What the hell did someone want? It surprised him to look up and see Gonzalo when the car pulled to a stop.

  “What’s wrong?” He opened the car door and got in.

  “Nothing, just wondered if you’re getting ready for the Olympics.” Gonzalo grinned.

  Ben groaned. “Yeah, sure.”

  “Also wondered how you were managing to stay the perfect gentleman.”

  “So now you know.” Ben’s eyes flared with anger.

  “Look man, I’m on your side. Missy’s liable to take a while to come around.” He looked out the left window. “You know there’s a place across the border called ‘boy’s town’ where men go to get some physical relief.”

  “A red light district?” Ben’s shocked eyes met Gonzalo’s. He grabbed Gonzalo’s shirt really angry. “Are you suggesting—”

  “Nope, not suggesting a thing.” Gonzalo grinned. “As a matter of fact it pleases the hell out me you’d be insulted.”

  “Then why did you come?” Ben’s anger flared. “To watch me suffer and laugh?”

  “No, I had a talk with Missy. She’s worried you don’t love her as much anymore.”

  “What?”

  “She doesn’t understand what foreplay is exactly and wonders why you stopped.” He bit his lip and decided not to rub in knowing Ben kept them chaperoned.

  “Oh. Damn Gonzalo, I don’t know what to do. The first night Susan was with us all night, and I just stayed with her because I was worried.”

  “And the second night?”

  “She wanted Susan to leave. I nearly lost my mind.”

  “So Missy can’t be in a family way; right?”

  “No, I kissed her and she started shaking when I pulled her too close. I just tried to touch her, but she’d start shaking if I got too close to certain places.” He glanced up. “Man, I can’t keep up with things she wants and not—” He turned his eyes to the right window, swallowed hard and chewed his thumb. “I don’t want to hurt her, and the doctor said all I can do is wait.

  “You have my sympathy. Worse, I don’t have any idea what you should do.” He stared at Ben. “Well at least this last week shouldn’t be so bad what with all that has to be done.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean this next week the only way you’ll see Missy is to glimpse at her from afar. The family will do everything to keep you away from her—you know showers and things. You’ll need to take Mom and Dad down to see the new shopping center you’ve been working on, so they’ll know you’ve got steady work.” He chuckled. “Pop will be surprised as hell. Also need to take them to your house and show them where you’ll live. It’s customary to put them at ease and prove their daughter is marrying someone who can provide for her. One night you’re supposed to take the family to dinner.” Gonzalo stopped the car in front of Ben’s house.

  “You guys sure have a lot of crazy customs.” Ben grinned.

  “Yeah, I’ll help you get through it since you don’t know what to do.”

  “Thanks, I appreciate it.” Ben smiled. “Look man, I’ll work it out. Don’t worry about Missy. We’ll work it out.” He got out of the car.

  “Thanks.” Gonzalo smiled. “Ben, if I were you, I think I’d come up with a good reason for not taking a honeymoon until you’ve got things cleared up.”

  “You mean let her stay there at home after we’re married?”

  “No, I’ll talk to Mom and see if she can talk to Missy, but as long as she’s got this problem, maybe you should just plan on sticking around here in case she gives you too much trouble or you’re sorry.”

  Ben stood with his hands on his hips and watched Gonzalo drive off. What the hell did he mean?

  Gonzalo was right about the week. Every time Ben called, Missy was gone for a shower or fitting or something. Monday he took her parents down to see where the shopping center would be. He took them up to his office and explained his job. Mr. Sanchez was more than impressed. Tuesday he took them to his house and introduced them to staff. Mrs. Sanchez and Mrs. Diaz hit it off right away and went to the kitchen. Ben took Missy’s father to the library and showed him plans for the shopping center. They walked around the grounds while his cook and Missy’s mother talked. Mrs. Sanchez came away with a wide smile. Wednesday he took the whole Sanchez family to dinner at the Towers, and Gonzalo was right. He managed to glimpse Missy from a distance.

  Thursday and Friday Ben didn’t see Missy at all because he ran into problems with work and was needed. All he managed to do was talk to he
r Mother on the phone for a few minutes Thursday night. He brought up the subject of a honeymoon, explained he might not be able to take off for one and waited while Mrs. Sanchez told Missy. When Missy grabbed the phone to tell him it was all right, he could sense the relief in her voice.

  Ben was out jogging Friday evening when four cars screeched to a stop in front of him, and all nine Sanchez brothers got out. Ben stopped. What now? Another fight? He was surprised when he was pulled into one of the cars and taken to a local hot spot.

  “Forgot about the bachelor party did you?” Marco grinned.

  Ben felt numb inside as he was led to a private room. Missy’s brothers had a ball entertaining the dancers they hired. Ben and Gonzalo reminisced about Iraq. He was glad they were just drinking beer. He could handle it. Since the night he proposed, he’d felt no desire to drink scotch. Still he was really laughing and enjoying himself when Gonzalo helped him up to his room.

  Saturday morning when Gonzalo came by, Ben was a nervous wreck. He couldn’t find a thing while he dressed. He lost the ring three times. His head was killing him, and the aspirin didn’t work. Gonzalo and Mrs. Diaz shoved him like a zombie into the car. Then the wait at the Church was interminable.

  Tears came to Ben’s eyes when he finally saw Missy in her beautiful white gown holding her father’s arm at the end of the church aisle. She was a vision of loveliness and all his doubts were permanently removed. At that moment he became hers forever. During the ceremony, he was especially conscious of their promises, her promises to him. And Missy’s eyes opened even wider in surprise when Ben added the words he’d never hurt her. But after their teensy kiss when the priest declared them one, the rest was a complete surprise. Everyone threw rice and rose petals at them as they left the Church. The entire neighborhood was present. Rather than drive to the reception, a Mariachi group serenaded them while Ben walked Missy back to her parents’ house. Her parents and brothers followed behind them as did the entire neighborhood.

  He then learned their reception had been planned as a street dance. Dinner was served to the neighborhood buffet style from the Sanchez yard while musicians set up to play. They danced the first dance, drank champagne, cut the cake and re-promised themselves to each other. Ben danced with her mother and others while she danced with her father and brothers too. It surprised him when her brothers picked him up and carried him around, even started undressing him as guests chased after him, and how Missy, swept in gathering his clothes and tried to protect him. Jealousy sparked in his eyes as he went through the ritual of allowing her to dance with every male who paid for a dance. He saw the same flicker in her eyes when he danced with women who paid to dance with him. He didn’t understand the customs and drank too much champagne. Then suddenly kidnapped by Gonzalo, they were swept into Ben’s car and the chauffeur took them to their home.