Chapter 70: The Dream Formed

Hershey couldn't believe she was here. She couldn't believe she was in a dark movie theater with a man she considered a friend. A man that she had guilty feelings for... Sighing, she stared at the blank screen, wondering if she really did the right thing. Should she really be here to date a guy she knows has feelings for her but doesn't? Is she flirting? Are they together with Marco Junior? Yes, they discussed things with each other, but nothing was really made official. They seem to admit the past and some of what happened. They confess their love for each other and sleep together. Does that mean they are together? Hershey gasped.

Did anything happen to what is happening now?

Marco Junior turned off the light after taking a shower. Placing the keys on his desk, he stared at the clock. It's ten o'clock. How long will she stay in the office? He turned off the light and lay down on the bed. That night, less than half an hour later, Marco Junior felt the covers rustling as Hershey slid into bed next to him. He reached out and grabbed her arm, he whispered, "How's it go?"

Hershey sighed, feeling tired. She felt she was in a safe place now. "It went well."

"That's good." Hershey pushed her body as far as she could. When Marc felt her body connect with his, he tried to think of something other than the feel of her skin next to him.

"Marc." She whispered.

"Yes." He answered.

"I love you."

He came closer and kissed her hair. "I love you too, Chocolate." With that, they both fell asleep.

XXX

A week before Marco Junior left, he and Hershey cleaned his mother's room. They brought the furniture and clothes to the attic. The windows were opened and then the carpet was cleaned. They started early at about six in the morning and then continued until three o'clock. Now, before preparing Dinner, Marco and Hershey lay in the room, catching their breath and resting.

"That's a lot of work," Marc said.

"It's nothing compared to what Mom and I used to do when we were kids. She used to make us haul stuff out of our duplex to the dumpster, wash the walls and pick up our rooms. Sometimes she'd make us do lawn work, when Gary didn't make it" Hershey said with a smile on her face.

"You know," Marc said, turning on his side so that he was on top of Hershey. "I always wonder why you call Gary by his first name and Vicki calls your Mom, Mom?"

Hershey licked her dry lips, "Well, Vicki was a baby when her mother died. So, she never really got to know her. She didn't have a female role model, so when my mom came along and started working with her on how to be a woman, Vicki called her mother."

"Weren't you jealous then?" Marco asked with an amused look in his eyes.

"Heck yeah at first. When we first got together, Vicki was six in first grade and I was seven, in second grade. I've always wanted Mary as a sister, because she and I got along. Mary lived to her grandparents because her real parents abandoned her at birth. But, that's not what I got. When my mom first started dating Gary, I refused to talk to him. I would sit in my room and will stay as long as I can, until mom forces me to come down." Hershey laughed at this memory. She became a selfish child.

"How did Vicki and her father respond to this?"

Hershey gave a lopsided smile, her gaze reminiscent, "Gary continued to include me in conversations and took me on several dates. Not once did he raise his voice."

Marco Junior's hands went to his neck, curling his index finger to the front. It went down his throat to his clavicle bone.

"And Vicki just ignored me, until one day, we were left together at home, with Mrs. Montes who is our neighbor, while mom and Gary went out on a date. I was in my room doing homework, and Vicki came in there to see what I was doing, to disturb me. I told her to come out. She said no, I told her to come out again. She stood her ground. I told her that if she didn't come out, I would to put her out. She challenged me. I took it and we started fighting. We fought from upstairs in my room, down the stairs, and into the living room, where Mrs. Montes. Vicki poked me in the eye. I think I got mad at her because I yelled at her and then grabbed her by the head and pushed her to the floor. She then started crying but instead of giving up, the little twerp pulled me down too. We fought like that for an hour. She bites and punches, kicks and hits me everywhere. When we finished, we were both laying there crying and shaking."

"What about your nanny? She must have heard you." Marco said, thinking of Hershey.

"She tried to separate us, but we were too strong for a weak woman."

"You're in first and second grade, Hershey?" Marco Junior answered in disbelief.

"Yeah, and our weight combined equaled hers? She is really small. When she couldn't get us away from each other, she called our parents. They told her to let us fight, and they would go home to deal with it. Well she did. When we finished fighting, Mama and Gary walked in the door. I don't think I've ever seen either of them so pissed off before. Mom asked me to spank Gary. She said she didn't know if she should, considering that she is not my father. Mom told him that he will be her husband and my step father, so he can destroy me too. When mom said this, I was very angry I kept thinking if that jumbo giant touched me, I would. Kill him. Well, he took me and Vicki to the room he and mom shared and got a brush from the dresser. He took off my clothes and beat my ass. I couldn't get away from him although I tried and everything. When he was done, he spoke to me and said I needed to learn how Vicki would accept him, because we were going to be a part of each other's lives whether I wanted it or not.I told him I hate him and he's not my daddy."

"Why did you say that?" Marco is curious.

Hershey sighed, a tear rolling down her cheek. "Because he was around more than my real daddy and I hate that. I hate that he shows more interest in me than my own father."

"Oh." Marc's hands unbuttoned her blouse.

"I was a brave girl at that age." Hershey sighed.

"Did you and Vicki fight after that?"

Hershey bit her lip as his fingers reached the last button. "Not for a long time. For about six months we put up with each other. The last fight we got into was when I was in fifth grade and she was in fourth. What made it bad is that a couple of her friends were over. They were sleeping over. I tried to stay in my room and mind my own business, as usual, and she went up to my room when I had already taken a bathroom break and got a sweatshirt and a pair of pants from my closet. That made me so mad, because she was always grabbing stuff from my closet and never asking. So, I marched down there, confronted her about it. She said she wanted to borrow the pants and shirt. I said why? I don't want you borrowing my clothes. She said she and her friends were going to the mall that morning and she wanted to borrow them. I told her she was only ten. What could he get at the mall? She said she wanted a new compact disc that came out. I told her no and to give my clothes back. She took the clothes in his bag and threw them at me. Maybe if her friends hadn't made fun of me, I would have let it go, but I went up to her and slapped her so hard in the face, she had a red print left when I was done. She just stared at me, not really saying anything. I mean, she looked shocked, like she didn't really expect it, you know."

Marco Junior sighed, "Did she hurt you?"

Hershey gave a sour smile, "No. She just left me. After that, her friends didn't like me anymore. What made me change my mind about Vicki, she stopped talking to me. She didn't even accept me -I-I exist. She'll talk to mom and Gary and that's it. Finally one day, I went into her room and asked her why she was mad at me, when she threw my clothes at me."

"She said she just borrowed an outfit, she will return it. I asked her why she took it? I didn't like that she took my things without asking. She said, we are sisters and we should borrow things from each other. She always thought she would have a sister like Cinderella with-a-twist."

Marc laughed, "Cinderella with-a-twist?"

Hershey laughed, "She was absolutely obsessed with that Cinderella show."

"Oh really?" Marco laughed again. She could imagine Marco in those books. "The authors of Mysteries and Romance."

"I thought you said you didn't like Romance Novels?"

"Romance novels about children dying, struggles and drama." Hershey laughed, "Maybe so, but he spoke from the heart, that's what I love."

"You know he's still writing."

"I know."

"Anyway, tell me what happened after that?"

"Well, I sat down and talked to her. I apologized to her for behaving irrationally like I had. She said she just wanted a kind and happy companion."

Marco Junior sighed, "Ok."

"I felt really bad then. After that day, I made an effort to at least be cordial to her."

Marco shook his head, "Even then you were feisty."

She gave a soft laugh. "Ha, ha, ha. I was greedy, ok? I don't like to share. I don't want to share my mom with others. I'm used to being with her. That's hard for a child to accept."

Marco pushed the blouse.

"I'm tired of talking now." Hershey laughed, "Well, thanks for caring."

He blew on her bare chest, tracing a mountain on her chest with his finger.

"I do care, I'm just distracted at the moment."

Marco Junior shook his head, "Yeah, ok." He closed his eyes and felt it as he covered his mouth on that very breast.

XXX