It had been a rough day. Benny had gone to visit and old friend who was rumored to still live in the hood somewhere. When he found the friend was not home Benny went to the old park where he and his friends would play "baseball" among the trash and mud. There were still some kids there before it started raining. It brought bright memories flooding back to Benny's mind. He was devastated seeing a 15-year-old pushing dope by the slide. Benny just glared as he passed by. 'Poor kid.' He thought on the inside.
You see, Benny was the lucky one. The only lucky one. He blamed his Mama for it all. When Benny's older brother Joe came home from school one day with a joint his Mama put her foot down. She dragged her two sons (Duane was not yet born) to the only library in the town and ordered them to each select a book. At the end of that week she expected them to give her both a written and oral report on whatever the book was. She did this every week until Benny graduated high school. With the push his mother gave him Benny learned about the world. He got into people's minds and learned everything he'd ever need to know about the world. That's how he got into Brown. He owed it all to his mother.
Benny gave up on trying to search for his friend and just returned to the dilapidated house he grew up in. His mother was sitting exactly where he left her, in her old recliner staring at the television.
"Hi Mama." He said in a tired voice as he leaned down to kiss her cheek.
She smiled a smile that reached the tips of her eyes. She didn't talk much these days. Benny didn't expect her to, and that was fine. As Benny began to walk to the kitchen he heard a small and weak voice that he vaguely remembered from his childhood.
"The mailman brought you something baby." his mother squeaked. Benny didn't ask for further explanation. He didn't want to wear his mother out. He simply responded "Thanks Mama." and moved towards the mailbox outside the door. Sure enough a smallish box was waiting there with Benny's name on it. His heart skipped a beat when he noted the Scarsdale address.
Mark had sent him something…wait. Mark had sent him something? This could turn out any number of ways. Did he want to break up? Was he sick? Was he transferring to another school? Benny's throat closed up in panic and he strode back into the house. "Clean your room honey." His mother called as he started up the stairs. "Yes Mama." He responded. It was best to let her think that everything she said made sense.
In the safety of his room Benny paced around for several minutes before finding himself incredibly stupid. He told himself to be a man as he popped the small tape into his VCR and held his breath as he pushed play.
On the screen stood Mark, arms length away from the camera, waving. Benny smiled and quickly relaxed as the shots changed and Mark's soothing voice narrated. "Scarsdale, New York. My home. My life…God I hate it here. So strange to come back here after the thrill of college life and be unpleasantly surprised with the monotonous fascist society that is the Cohen family." Benny laughed at that as the scene changed to a shot of a middle aged woman. "Hi Mom!" Came a cheery voice from behind the camera. "Hi dear." The woman replied. Her voice annoyed Benny for some reason. "So Mom…tell us. What do you hold to be an absolute truth?" The woman looked confused for a moment. "Um…that I'll always love my son." She replied brightly.
The camera cut to the image of a pretty teenage girl. "Hey Cindy, say something for my boyfriend." Mark said. Cindy smirked. Benny could tell they were siblings because Mark got that same smirk whenever he had a witty idea. "Hello Benny." She said with a grin. "I'm sorry to hear about your blindness, as that is the only reason you could be dating my brother." "CINDY!" Mark yelled before the camera cut back to her again. "Absolute truth? Where the hell do you come up with this shit"
"Just answer the question"
"Make me"
"Answer it or I'll give your clothes to the Salvation Army"
"You are such a dweeb"
"That's why you love me"
"Um…fine…Death and Taxes. Happy"
The camera cut back to Mark for some more shots of Mark's childhood. Mark blew a kiss into the camera. "I miss you more everyday." The film ended and Benny laid back on his bed. 'God I miss him.'