The Man of the House

I stood in a daze as Abigail stood nearby, looking me over. Julie was being taken away while my sisters were being checked out one after another. Those that had run away had already been caught and were being brought back to the cars in cuffs. It all happened so quickly that I still felt like I was in a daze, especially after everything that had happened.

“I don’t get it, Julie says she owns the cops.” Mom finally managed to approach me with the help of London.

There was an EMT who was trying to tie her leg up. Upon a closer look, it wasn’t much more than grazing on her outer thigh. It might give mom a scar, but it otherwise wouldn’t hurt her. The EMT was a man who was giving her helpless looks as she insisted on moving toward me. I gave mom and London a nod. The rest of my sisters were currently talking to the cops. The twins, in particular, were telling a detective the story while making it sound like an action flick in which they were the stars. I wanted to tell them to keep things under wraps, but the conversation around me caught my attention.

“Is that what she said?” A voice came from behind us. “Hmm… it’ll be good talking to her. Maybe we can do some spring cleaning.”

I looked over to see an unfamiliar man standing in uniform. He looked rather clean-cut and professional like that, and one might even call him charming. I started to feel like he was familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. When a girl peeked out nervously from behind him, it all came crashing home.”

“Samantha’s dad?” I cried out. “He’s a cop?”

“You didn’t know?” Samantha came out into the open, looking a bit sheepish as she held her arm. “Dad used to be in the police force, but he retired. At the time, he could afford to because mom was making good money. Now that she’s… well… you know.”

“Bob?” Mom’s eyes widened. “I didn’t expect to see you back in blue.”

“Well, the chief always said I could come back. I just didn’t think I would end up in such a heavy case already… to think my daughter’s boyfriend would end up getting kidnapped.” His eyes narrowed, and for a second he looked rather dangerous. “I should have been able to do more.”

“No! Dad, you did enough just believing me.” Samantha looked slightly embarrassed.

Her dad blinked and then grinned. “Hehe… what am I saying, it’s my strong and womanly little girl who ran in and saved the day. What are you doing behind me? Why don’t you go sweep your love off his feet?”

“Dad!” Samantha panicked as her dad pushed her out in front of himself and pushed her toward me.

Abigail looked like she wanted to step in her way, but after a moment, she stepped aside. Samantha approached me, looking somewhat awkward.

“Hey, Noah.”

“Hey,” I responded.

“Kiss him!” Her dad whispered. “Say something heroic!”

“I got this!” Samantha shot him a look, her face red. “I… I was really worried about you… ah!”

I grabbed Samantha and pulled her to me. “Shut up and kiss me.”

I kissed Samantha roughly, and she melted in my arms. It felt really good, even though Abigail was practically fuming watching the two of us.

“I ran in there and saved her, where’s my kiss.” Mom huffed.

“Haha… eventually, we parents have to let go of our children.” Samantha’s dad approached my mom. “I know it’s hard for a mom to give up her son, but he needs this.”

“Tsk… that’s easy coming from a father. You can’t wait to set your daughters up with men.”

“Ahh… you’re not wrong.” The cop laughed. “However, it’s more than that. I have some personal experience when it comes to these kinds of cases. Your son was through a traumatic experience. He may start to hate women if he’s not allowed to recover properly.”

“H-hate women?” Mom’s eyes widened, and I pulled away from Samantha, a bit surprised at his words.

Samantha whispered in my ear, still breathing hard. “Dad retired after working a sex trafficking case. What they had done to those men had made him sick enough to leave the force. However, that’s why I also felt I should call him as soon as I found out what happened to you.”

“So, you’re the reason the cops came?”

“Not really…” She scratched the back of her head. “I just called Dad. Dad likes you. I think he sees you as the son he never had. He nearly turned the police station upside down making this raid happen.”

“I-I see…” I lowered my head. “Thank you, sir. I’m sorry if I made you relive some things.”

I suddenly felt really happy that I was on good terms with her dad. Even though I banged his wife, he never blamed me and even felt I was innocent. It turned out he had deep-rooted issues that I had never known about.

He shook his head, blushing slightly. “It was nothing. If anything, being able to save you gave me some resolution. I’m no longer scared to keep working on the police force. If anything, you helped me.”

“Well, you look good Bob… really good.” Mom seemed to give Bob and smile and a friendly touch on the arm.

He blushed. “I’m just glad I could protect your son… and a… um… handsome woman like you.”

“Handsome.” Mom’s eyes widened, and a pleased smile formed on her lips.

I frowned, pushing away from Abigail and Samantha and then grabbing my mother and hugging her. Bob and my mom looked down at me with wide eyes, while Abigail and Samantha’s expressions turned strange. I didn’t know what that was, but that was a development that I wouldn’t approve of.

“I guess he won’t start hating women just yet,” Mom responded, quite pleased.

Bob chuckled slightly, but a moment later he was called away by another police officer, and it was just the five of us. The two younger women looked awkwardly at me with my head pressed into my mom’s boobs until even I felt a bit bad. I pulled away, straitening my clothing, or at least what was left of it.

“Ah! Put this on!” Samantha took off her coat and then gave it to me.

I tried to resist, but it was warmer than what I had on and I was surprised that it was big enough to fit. It was a school varsity coat, and it was made of thick material. It also smelled like Samantha. It only reminded me of how much I missed everyone these last few weeks. I promised myself I wouldn’t cry though.

“How did you guys find out where I was anyway?”

“Some woman tried to leave a letter at my place,” London said. “At this point, we had already been frantically looking for you for a month. When I saw the letter came from you, I tackled them and forced them to explain everything.”

“She told you everything?” I asked worriedly.

 “I was persuasive.” London shrugged. “Mom helped.”

Mom puffed out her chest. “I only tortured her a little.”

I couldn’t help but wince. I felt a bit bad. I had sent Jane out to pass a message to me, and she had only ended up getting the wrath of my mom and sisters.

“Yeah, but how did that lead you to this house? I wasn’t even here a short while ago?”

“That information came from Dawn. She found you… or at least your listing, on an online forum. We made an in-service appointment and this was the address.”

“They had me online?” I asked.

“You were wearing a mask.” Mom shrugged. “But, it wasn’t like I wouldn’t recognize my son’s penis. All of your sisters agreed that was your penis.”

“Mom!”

“Noah, why is your family so familiar with your penis?” Samantha asked.

“Nevermind!” I coughed. “So, then what happened?”

Samantha and Abigail both seemed curious to learn the answers to questions they were better off not asking, but Mom quickly continued.

“Oh, that’s right. We had snuck in first, but when we were told you were upstairs in a room, that’s when we decided to go on the offensive.” Mom declared as if this was a normal thing to do.

I let out a sigh. “I’m happy you saved me. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything sooner. I didn’t want any of your getting hurt.”

“Noah… we’re going to get hurt. But, we’re women. Women are way tougher than men, so don’t feel like you have to take everything on by yourself. We can take care of you, so don’t worry so much.”

“Y-yes… Mom, I won’t.”

“N-now… give your mom a kiss… like you did Samantha?”

“Hah?”

“Now, I know something is not right!” Samantha cried.

“It’s not like that!” I tried to defend myself while Mom tried to kiss me.

At that moment, there was a crash, and I saw a wall of flame come out from the still-burning building. The firemen had just started on it as it grew into an inferno, but a piece of it had suddenly collapsed. That’s what I thought, but the flames moved until there was a car. It had backed up out of the spot.

“Eh? That’s my car!” Anne cried out, running out into the street, waving her hands. “Hey!”

The car had been stuck, but after burning for a bit it had somehow managed to get out of the hole it had created. There were scorch marks on the car now, but it was surprisingly running.

I squinted at the person in the driver’s seat, and I recognized them immediately. “Dad!”

His face was bloodied and he was covered in soot. He looked completely awful, and his eyes seemed to hold a tinge of insanity. The cops had drawn their weapons and were telling him to get out of the car, but he didn’t seem to be able to hear any of them. His eyes were focused straight ahead.

“Put the car in park and get out.” One cop shouted.

“Ahhhhhhh!” he screamed as he had lost it, and then hit the gas.

The car lurched forward, and the cops backed off while ordering everything to move. As she pulled forward, there was one person who didn’t seem to grasp that they needed to get out of the way. Anne was standing in the middle of the road with her hands outstretched and a stupefied look on her face.

I found my legs moving before I could help myself. I raced into the street and shoved Anne out of the way. I could still hear dad’s screaming as the car picked up speed, but I didn’t have time to move. I could only look ahead into the headlights for a moment before the car struck me. I felt my body go horizontal and then my head hit the windshield.

Things went blank for a moment, and then I heard Anne’s voice. “Oh my god! He’s hurt! My car hit him! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

“Get the ambulance! Now!” Mom shouted.

I tried to sit up, but I felt people holding me down.

“Stop! Noah… stop!” London was looking down at me with a fearful expression on her face.

“Noah! Noah!” I heard Mackenzie crying.

The white light flooded my vision, and then it fell to darkness. I felt all kinds of aches and pains in the darkness. It felt like days had passed, weeks. I was stuck in a place of pain and discomfort. Slowly, the sound started to return.

“How’s he doing?” A voice asked.

“Same as ever.”

“He’s so young. It was a car crash?”

“Yeah.”

“Who are those women who visit him every day?”

“That’s his mom and his sisters.”

“Lucky bastard, having so many women worrying about him.”

“He’s in a coma.”

“Even so…”

“You need help, Derek…”

The sounds became clearer and easier. I could hear beeping. I could start to sense light. Slowly, my eyes opened up. I was awake.