Title: Concrete Angel
Authoress: Broken Promises
Disclaimers: I do not own any of the WWE characters. I only own the plot
and my own made up characters.
Notes: This story was inspired after watching Jeff Hardy on Raw and
listening to Martina McBride's " Concrete Angel". The song covers the
touchy issue of child abuse and although it was originally meant for a
little girl, I think that it fits in perfectly with this story. I
absolutely love Jeff Hardy, and although I would never wish this on Jeff or
any other child, I think that using him in my story will make others aware
of the seriousness behind this issue. Thank you.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
" What are you drawing there, Jefferey?" The teacher asked, bending next to first-grader Jeff Hardy's desk and glancing at the drawing.
Jeff scrambled, sliding his arms under his desk and pulling down the ends of his long sleeves to his wrist." Um...Nothing, teacher." He replied lamely, fingers fidgeting nervously." Jus' a picture for my mommy."
She took it in her hands and smiled. The child-like crayola drawn picture showed off Jeff's extra-ordinary talent for drawing. The scriggly lines of green showed hills, and on a larger hill stood a simple house, with him, his older brother Matt and his mother looking out happily through each of the windows. On the bottom of the page, a messily but heart warming ' I love you, Mommy' written in blue scribble.
The teacher raised an eyebrow, she had noticed something that was missing. " Jeffery, sweetie. Where's your father? You forgot to draw him."
" I don' have a daddy, teacher." Jeff responded, his young voice was soft but held a quiet determination under his words.
" Well of course you do, I met him and your mommy at open house." She looked at him with adoration. Although he was one of the more quieter and reserved of the class, she had a special little place in her heart for Jeffery.Lately,his hair had grown out past his ears and when ever a few strands would fall in his eyes, her heart melted. Yes sir, that little boy caught her heart. "Dont you remember, Jefferey?"
Jeff frowned." He's jus' mommy's BOYFRIEND." He spitted out the last word. " He's not my daddy. My daddy died when I was born, but mommy tells me dat he went to Heaven 'cause God needed him a very whole lot." His rounded eyes teared."Matt says dat when I die, I will get to see him again.Do you think dat's true teacher?"
She knitted her eyebrows at his pleading look. " Oh of course sweetie, but that'll be a very long time from now. Dont you go thinking about you dying now, ya hear?" Suddenly, she smiled. "Hey now, lets not talk anymore about this. You want a sticker?" She reached into her pocket and pulled out a Mickey Mouse sticker.
" Here, let me put this on your hand for you."
" No!" He yelled nervously. She pulled his hand out from under the desk and pulled back his sleeve. She dropped the sticker at the sight of his hand.
' Dear God', she thought. His tiny little hand and wrist had black and blue splotches on the skin. Further up on his forearm the bruises got worse, the dark spots growing larger and darker. She glanced at Jeff from the corner of her eye. He sat quietly, his eyes down at his lap, bottom lip trembling slightly.
" Jeffery......." Softly enclosing both his hands in her own, she kneeled down to his level. "Jefferey, how did this happen?"
Jeff shrugged a shoulder. " I fell down da stairs las' night."
The thinly disguised lie was obvious. But she didnt want to ask, didnt want to ask why the bruises vaguely resembled a large hand. She knew she was obligated by law to report something this suspicious. But what if she was wrong? Then she'd embarass Jeff, his parents and herself. Perhaps he had really only just fallen down the stairs? She shook the worry from her mind,her imagination usually ran wild on her sometimes. Hopefully, this was one of those times.
She forced a smile on her face for Jeff's sake, who looked like he was going to start bawling at any moment and took his hand. " Jeffery sweetheart, you know you can tell me anything. If there's something you want me to know....."
" No 'mam. I'm otay....." Jeff interrupted, wiping his nose on his sleeve.The almost-there tears had dried up. " I jus' fell from da stairs, I promise."
Brow knitted, she sighed. " Okay. But remember, I'm your friend. You can tell me anything you want, alright?"
" I'll remember."
// She walks to school with the lunch she packed, Nobody knows what she's holding back, Wearin the same dress she wore yesterday. She hides the bruises with a linen and lace, The teacher wonders but she doesnt ask, Its hard to see the pain behind the mask, Bearin' the burden of a secret storm Sometimes she wishes she were never born. //
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Matt Hardy stared down at Jeff, a frown marring his cherubic eight-year old face as he watched his brother finger-paint on the floor. " Jeeeeeeffffff!!!!" Matt whined." Watch me! I'm gonna do my finishing move !" Waiting until he had his baby brother's full attention, Matt climbed up on the arm of his mother's living room sofa.
" Watch me, Jeff !" He called out again, holding out the towel tied around his neck outwards like a cape and flipping off the sofa arm unto the cushions below. Resurfacing with a face-wide grin, he asked, " What didya think?"
Shrugging, Jeff went back to his painting. " I can do dat better."
" Oh yeah?" Matt challenged. " I wanna see you do that better then."
" Ok." Climbing up the same sofa arm, Jeff refused the towel/cape that Matt offered him and held his arms out. " Labees and gentlemens! Here comes your new champion, Jeff Hardy waving in at 200 pounds!"
" Its WEIGHING, Jeff. Not WAVING......"
A frown crossed Jeff's face as he was interrupted. " Dat's what I said! Waving in at 200 pounds, Jeff Hardy!" Hesitating a moment before he flipped, Jeff turned around and did a backflip, landing with a deep ' ooof ' on the sofa cushions.
Matt's eye's widened. " Cool beans, Jeff! That was awsome!"
Jeff shrugged as he pretended to wipe himself off. " I told ya I could do dat better."
" MATTHEW!!!! JEFFERY!!!!" A loud yell resonated from the bedroom on the otherside of the small townhouse. It was their mother's boyfriend, watching tv and drinking in the bedroom. " Shut the HELL up out there before I beat the crap out of you!"
" We better be quite Jeff," Matt whispered." You remembered what happened yesterday."
Crossing his arms indignantly, Jeff frowned but whispered as well. " He didn' hurt me. I don' care what he says."
" Whatever. I'm gonna go outside and play with Adam and Jay, wanna come?"
Jeff shook his head. " Nah, I wanna finish dis picture for mommy. She's gonna be home soon."
" Okay.... Just stay out of his way okay?"
" I will."
//Through the wind and the rain she stands hard as a stone, In a world that she can't rise above, But her dreams give her wings and she flies to a place where she's loved, Concrete angel, //
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
" You THINK you can be slick, do you?!?!" His large callous hand fell on her face with a sickening slap, her face snapping to the side." Where do you think you can just go and take my beer money?!"
Matt and Jeff stood paralysed from fear in the corner, watching helplessly as they watched their mother fall to the kitchen floor. " I did- I didnt mean to, but you didnt give me enough money for groceries." She cried, wiping the tears from her already bruising eyes." The boys needed food, they havent eaten anything today or yesterday!"
" They'll be fine if they miss a couple of meals!" He shouted." You fatten them up, woman! I'm sick and tired of being neglected while you spoil those two spawns of hellfire!" He emphasized, thrusting a finger at Matt and Jeff trembling in the corner.
Clutching her by the hair, he pulled her up roughly and threw her against the wall, the framed photos falling to the ground with a tremendous crash. Jeff winced as the sound of bone met with the hard wall and struggled to get out of Matt's arms.
" Dont Jeff! He's too big for us!" Matt gritted through his teeth, grasping Jeff by the arms and trying to keep him from rushing towards their mother's drunk boyfriend.
Biting Matt's hand, Jeff was set free and stumbled over to his mother and her boyfriend who was crouched over her, grabbing at her collar. " Get off 'a her, you big meanie!" Jeff yelled, trying to kick him in the ribs.
He failed though, as the larger man swiped his fist to Jeff's middle, throwing him down. Even though drunk, he managed to grab Jeff from under his arms and held him in the air, shaking him roughly, Jeff's head bobbing helplessly back and forth.
" You wanna mess with me, you little piece of trash!"
Jeff had begun to cry, the hot tears spilling over his cheeks and searing the drunken man's hands. Ramming the poor boy's body into the wall, he began to repeatedly smash Jeff's body against the small home's walls.
Kneeling and carrying his injured hand to his chest, Matt watched in terror as his smaller brother was thrown about like a disowned ragdoll. Too scared to jump in to save his brother or his fallen mother, Matt glanced quickly at the door and back to the scene. Horrified to tears, Matt pushed himself up and sprinted out the door in to the night, his 8yr old legs trembling underneath him.
He couldnt take it anymore. What bad thing did Matt or Jeff do to deserve to live in fear, the way that they had grew up in? If it was because he behaved badly, he would never behave bad ever again. Always promised to give his brother the bigger piece of cookie when they shared, never would cheat Jeff out of the better toy out of the toy box and would always root for Jeff's favorite wrestler when they watched tv. He would promise anything, just as long as his brother would be alright in the end.
The neighborhood street passed by him blurrily, the tears allowing only the light beams from lightpoles to shine through. A wretched sob broke free out of Matt's tight throat as he slowed down his pace, the air searing his in his lungs. Passing by a small, whitewashed house shadowed by weeping willows, Matt pulled in cutting through the grass and stumbled up to the front door. He wondered how he was going to ask for help from a total stranger when the door opened suddenly, and gasped.
//Somebody cries in the middle of the night, The neighbors hear but they turn out the light, A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate, When mornin' comes it'll be too late, Through the wind and the rain she stands hard as a stone, In a world that she can't rise above, But her dreams give her wings and she flies to a place where she's loved Concrete angel //
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The blaring police sirens attracted numerous curious neighbor's over to the Hardy house, most of them older women clutching their robes to their bosoms and speaking in hushed tones. Matt didnt care, he just wanted to know when the policemen would come out with Jeff in his arms, and tell him and his mother that he was going to be alright. He hadn't seen his mother since he ran out of the house either and he wondered where she was......
Matt sighed and covered up his shoulders with the blanket the policemen had given him, and turned in his seat for a better view of his house out of the back of the cop car. Two figures appeared out of the driveway and the smile on Matt's face couldn't have been wider. His mother's boyfriend was finally where he belonged, in a pair of police handcuffs, being escorted to another waiting car.
Glancing towards his left stood the one person who had rescued him and called the cops. Leaning against the trunk of her car, stood the woman that Matt recognized as Jeff's school teacher, hands over her face and sobs racking her body as she watched the scene before her.
' Why is she crying so much?' He thought, a frown making its way to his face.' Everyone's gonna be alright now that he is gone.' He reasoned to himself.
A hand reached out and opened the back door of the police car, a uniformed officer bending over to look inside the car and smiled tiredly. " Hello. May I sat with you?"
Matt recognized him as the police officer that took his mother's boyfriend away and instantly warmed upto him. " Uh-huh, sure. I'm kinda bored in here."
" Thanks."
" Where's my brother?" He asked, wiping his runny nose on his sleeve.
The officer winced." Um, well your mother is going to be ok, we just took her to the hospital a few minutes ago."
" I know she'll be ok, but I want to know where my brother is, mister."
Sighing, the officer put his larger hand over Matt's and squeezed it gently." Well, you see your brother.......He isnt here anymore."
Matt was confused. " Did he go to the hospital too? If he did, I want to go too!"
The officer hated this aspect of his job, hated to have to be the one to tell him the news. " No, Jeffery, he didn't go to the hospital......"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
//A statue stands in a shaded place, An angel girl with an upturned face, A name is written on a polished rock, A broken heart that the world forgot//
( One week later) ' He was just a little boy! Oh God....' She thought raising her tear flowing eyes to the heavens and let out a silent sob. ' I hate myself! I could have prevented this! I knew something was going on! I could have saved him, and I didn't, Im so stupid, Dear God!'
The stone angel marking Jeff's grave taunted her with silent mockery, the swirling patterns of the marble slate that engraved Jeff Hardy's name, birth and death date made her feel as if she could fall into them and never surface again.
She knew she should have warned the authorities that day when she discovered Jeff's arm's marked with bruises, and she hated herself for it. Jeff was dead because of her!
The heart-wrenching sobs turned her attention from Jeff's marker to her right, where his battered and bruised mother sat in a wheelchair, voice hoarse from crying. Matt stood silently next to her, eyes glued to the grass below him. He felt her staring and looked up at her, the woman that saved him.
Wiping a tear from her face, she wore a weary smile on her face. Glancing back at his mother, Matt walked over to her slowly, standing next to her and looked at the grave marker when she did. He sighed.
" I miss him."
" Yes, I know Matt. I miss him very much too, and so does your mom."
" You know what I dont like?" He asked suddenly.
She looked down at him. " What dont you like?"
" Well, my mommy told me what it really means when people tell me that Jeff isn't coming back anymore." He looked up at her to make sure she was listening." She told me that even though Jeff died, that he will always be alive in my heart."
" The thing I dont like about that, is that I will grow up and go to big- kid school, get a job and maybe when I'm really old and dont have anything to do, get married."
She laughed softly at that.
" But Jeff will be a little kid forever now. He wont grow up and be the next Hulk Hogan like he wanted to be, he wont grow up to be a big person, like me."
She was stunned. This young, innocent little second grader who had gone through hell and back, had thought about something deeper than she ever has. He understood that Jeff wouldn't be coming back, and understood the consequences of his untimely death.
Matt shed a tear silently, proudly as he looked down where Jeff's coffin was recently buried, the fresh dirt giving off a simple, clean smell. " You dont have to be sad though. " He said quietly, his eyes squinting as he looked off into the distance.
" Why do you say that?"
" He's with the two bestest peoples in heaven."
" Who would that be, Matt?"
" Jesus and Daddy!" He answered, as if surprised she didnt know.
" Ah.... you're right, Matt." She remembered that conversation that day, seeming so long ago." But are you sure he's happy?"
He was silent then, still looking into the distance.Forming out of the morning fog, the faint figure of the small Jeff hardy appeared in the horizon. He was laughing, missing the telltale bruises on his arms and legs and the etheral glow of his skin warmed Matt's heart.
Jeff blew a kiss to his brother, waving goodbye. He didnt want to wave back, knowing that if he said goodbye it would be forever. Giving in, Matt waved back softly. Smiling once more, Jeff turned to go, his figure fading away with the sun.
She was confused, Matt had waved to someone. But when she had turned to look, she couldnt see a single soul. Glancing down as Matt took her hand and smiled happily, he seemed to be comforted. " Im sure. He's happy, very happy now."
//Through the wind and the rain she stands hard as a stone, In a world that she can't rise above But her dreams give her wings and she flies to a place where she's loved, Concrete angel//
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Wa..... to those of you who were kind enough to read my story thus far, please, please review. I have really enjoyed,(well, not enjoyed, but you know what I mean) writing this story and I hope that I have touched someone out there. Please, if you are able I strongly suggest someone buy or d/l Martina McBride's Concrete Angel. It is such a beautiful and touching song and to those who can, I suggest watching it too. The music video can be seen on country music television ( CMT ). Thank you very much.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
" What are you drawing there, Jefferey?" The teacher asked, bending next to first-grader Jeff Hardy's desk and glancing at the drawing.
Jeff scrambled, sliding his arms under his desk and pulling down the ends of his long sleeves to his wrist." Um...Nothing, teacher." He replied lamely, fingers fidgeting nervously." Jus' a picture for my mommy."
She took it in her hands and smiled. The child-like crayola drawn picture showed off Jeff's extra-ordinary talent for drawing. The scriggly lines of green showed hills, and on a larger hill stood a simple house, with him, his older brother Matt and his mother looking out happily through each of the windows. On the bottom of the page, a messily but heart warming ' I love you, Mommy' written in blue scribble.
The teacher raised an eyebrow, she had noticed something that was missing. " Jeffery, sweetie. Where's your father? You forgot to draw him."
" I don' have a daddy, teacher." Jeff responded, his young voice was soft but held a quiet determination under his words.
" Well of course you do, I met him and your mommy at open house." She looked at him with adoration. Although he was one of the more quieter and reserved of the class, she had a special little place in her heart for Jeffery.Lately,his hair had grown out past his ears and when ever a few strands would fall in his eyes, her heart melted. Yes sir, that little boy caught her heart. "Dont you remember, Jefferey?"
Jeff frowned." He's jus' mommy's BOYFRIEND." He spitted out the last word. " He's not my daddy. My daddy died when I was born, but mommy tells me dat he went to Heaven 'cause God needed him a very whole lot." His rounded eyes teared."Matt says dat when I die, I will get to see him again.Do you think dat's true teacher?"
She knitted her eyebrows at his pleading look. " Oh of course sweetie, but that'll be a very long time from now. Dont you go thinking about you dying now, ya hear?" Suddenly, she smiled. "Hey now, lets not talk anymore about this. You want a sticker?" She reached into her pocket and pulled out a Mickey Mouse sticker.
" Here, let me put this on your hand for you."
" No!" He yelled nervously. She pulled his hand out from under the desk and pulled back his sleeve. She dropped the sticker at the sight of his hand.
' Dear God', she thought. His tiny little hand and wrist had black and blue splotches on the skin. Further up on his forearm the bruises got worse, the dark spots growing larger and darker. She glanced at Jeff from the corner of her eye. He sat quietly, his eyes down at his lap, bottom lip trembling slightly.
" Jeffery......." Softly enclosing both his hands in her own, she kneeled down to his level. "Jefferey, how did this happen?"
Jeff shrugged a shoulder. " I fell down da stairs las' night."
The thinly disguised lie was obvious. But she didnt want to ask, didnt want to ask why the bruises vaguely resembled a large hand. She knew she was obligated by law to report something this suspicious. But what if she was wrong? Then she'd embarass Jeff, his parents and herself. Perhaps he had really only just fallen down the stairs? She shook the worry from her mind,her imagination usually ran wild on her sometimes. Hopefully, this was one of those times.
She forced a smile on her face for Jeff's sake, who looked like he was going to start bawling at any moment and took his hand. " Jeffery sweetheart, you know you can tell me anything. If there's something you want me to know....."
" No 'mam. I'm otay....." Jeff interrupted, wiping his nose on his sleeve.The almost-there tears had dried up. " I jus' fell from da stairs, I promise."
Brow knitted, she sighed. " Okay. But remember, I'm your friend. You can tell me anything you want, alright?"
" I'll remember."
// She walks to school with the lunch she packed, Nobody knows what she's holding back, Wearin the same dress she wore yesterday. She hides the bruises with a linen and lace, The teacher wonders but she doesnt ask, Its hard to see the pain behind the mask, Bearin' the burden of a secret storm Sometimes she wishes she were never born. //
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Matt Hardy stared down at Jeff, a frown marring his cherubic eight-year old face as he watched his brother finger-paint on the floor. " Jeeeeeeffffff!!!!" Matt whined." Watch me! I'm gonna do my finishing move !" Waiting until he had his baby brother's full attention, Matt climbed up on the arm of his mother's living room sofa.
" Watch me, Jeff !" He called out again, holding out the towel tied around his neck outwards like a cape and flipping off the sofa arm unto the cushions below. Resurfacing with a face-wide grin, he asked, " What didya think?"
Shrugging, Jeff went back to his painting. " I can do dat better."
" Oh yeah?" Matt challenged. " I wanna see you do that better then."
" Ok." Climbing up the same sofa arm, Jeff refused the towel/cape that Matt offered him and held his arms out. " Labees and gentlemens! Here comes your new champion, Jeff Hardy waving in at 200 pounds!"
" Its WEIGHING, Jeff. Not WAVING......"
A frown crossed Jeff's face as he was interrupted. " Dat's what I said! Waving in at 200 pounds, Jeff Hardy!" Hesitating a moment before he flipped, Jeff turned around and did a backflip, landing with a deep ' ooof ' on the sofa cushions.
Matt's eye's widened. " Cool beans, Jeff! That was awsome!"
Jeff shrugged as he pretended to wipe himself off. " I told ya I could do dat better."
" MATTHEW!!!! JEFFERY!!!!" A loud yell resonated from the bedroom on the otherside of the small townhouse. It was their mother's boyfriend, watching tv and drinking in the bedroom. " Shut the HELL up out there before I beat the crap out of you!"
" We better be quite Jeff," Matt whispered." You remembered what happened yesterday."
Crossing his arms indignantly, Jeff frowned but whispered as well. " He didn' hurt me. I don' care what he says."
" Whatever. I'm gonna go outside and play with Adam and Jay, wanna come?"
Jeff shook his head. " Nah, I wanna finish dis picture for mommy. She's gonna be home soon."
" Okay.... Just stay out of his way okay?"
" I will."
//Through the wind and the rain she stands hard as a stone, In a world that she can't rise above, But her dreams give her wings and she flies to a place where she's loved, Concrete angel, //
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
" You THINK you can be slick, do you?!?!" His large callous hand fell on her face with a sickening slap, her face snapping to the side." Where do you think you can just go and take my beer money?!"
Matt and Jeff stood paralysed from fear in the corner, watching helplessly as they watched their mother fall to the kitchen floor. " I did- I didnt mean to, but you didnt give me enough money for groceries." She cried, wiping the tears from her already bruising eyes." The boys needed food, they havent eaten anything today or yesterday!"
" They'll be fine if they miss a couple of meals!" He shouted." You fatten them up, woman! I'm sick and tired of being neglected while you spoil those two spawns of hellfire!" He emphasized, thrusting a finger at Matt and Jeff trembling in the corner.
Clutching her by the hair, he pulled her up roughly and threw her against the wall, the framed photos falling to the ground with a tremendous crash. Jeff winced as the sound of bone met with the hard wall and struggled to get out of Matt's arms.
" Dont Jeff! He's too big for us!" Matt gritted through his teeth, grasping Jeff by the arms and trying to keep him from rushing towards their mother's drunk boyfriend.
Biting Matt's hand, Jeff was set free and stumbled over to his mother and her boyfriend who was crouched over her, grabbing at her collar. " Get off 'a her, you big meanie!" Jeff yelled, trying to kick him in the ribs.
He failed though, as the larger man swiped his fist to Jeff's middle, throwing him down. Even though drunk, he managed to grab Jeff from under his arms and held him in the air, shaking him roughly, Jeff's head bobbing helplessly back and forth.
" You wanna mess with me, you little piece of trash!"
Jeff had begun to cry, the hot tears spilling over his cheeks and searing the drunken man's hands. Ramming the poor boy's body into the wall, he began to repeatedly smash Jeff's body against the small home's walls.
Kneeling and carrying his injured hand to his chest, Matt watched in terror as his smaller brother was thrown about like a disowned ragdoll. Too scared to jump in to save his brother or his fallen mother, Matt glanced quickly at the door and back to the scene. Horrified to tears, Matt pushed himself up and sprinted out the door in to the night, his 8yr old legs trembling underneath him.
He couldnt take it anymore. What bad thing did Matt or Jeff do to deserve to live in fear, the way that they had grew up in? If it was because he behaved badly, he would never behave bad ever again. Always promised to give his brother the bigger piece of cookie when they shared, never would cheat Jeff out of the better toy out of the toy box and would always root for Jeff's favorite wrestler when they watched tv. He would promise anything, just as long as his brother would be alright in the end.
The neighborhood street passed by him blurrily, the tears allowing only the light beams from lightpoles to shine through. A wretched sob broke free out of Matt's tight throat as he slowed down his pace, the air searing his in his lungs. Passing by a small, whitewashed house shadowed by weeping willows, Matt pulled in cutting through the grass and stumbled up to the front door. He wondered how he was going to ask for help from a total stranger when the door opened suddenly, and gasped.
//Somebody cries in the middle of the night, The neighbors hear but they turn out the light, A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate, When mornin' comes it'll be too late, Through the wind and the rain she stands hard as a stone, In a world that she can't rise above, But her dreams give her wings and she flies to a place where she's loved Concrete angel //
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The blaring police sirens attracted numerous curious neighbor's over to the Hardy house, most of them older women clutching their robes to their bosoms and speaking in hushed tones. Matt didnt care, he just wanted to know when the policemen would come out with Jeff in his arms, and tell him and his mother that he was going to be alright. He hadn't seen his mother since he ran out of the house either and he wondered where she was......
Matt sighed and covered up his shoulders with the blanket the policemen had given him, and turned in his seat for a better view of his house out of the back of the cop car. Two figures appeared out of the driveway and the smile on Matt's face couldn't have been wider. His mother's boyfriend was finally where he belonged, in a pair of police handcuffs, being escorted to another waiting car.
Glancing towards his left stood the one person who had rescued him and called the cops. Leaning against the trunk of her car, stood the woman that Matt recognized as Jeff's school teacher, hands over her face and sobs racking her body as she watched the scene before her.
' Why is she crying so much?' He thought, a frown making its way to his face.' Everyone's gonna be alright now that he is gone.' He reasoned to himself.
A hand reached out and opened the back door of the police car, a uniformed officer bending over to look inside the car and smiled tiredly. " Hello. May I sat with you?"
Matt recognized him as the police officer that took his mother's boyfriend away and instantly warmed upto him. " Uh-huh, sure. I'm kinda bored in here."
" Thanks."
" Where's my brother?" He asked, wiping his runny nose on his sleeve.
The officer winced." Um, well your mother is going to be ok, we just took her to the hospital a few minutes ago."
" I know she'll be ok, but I want to know where my brother is, mister."
Sighing, the officer put his larger hand over Matt's and squeezed it gently." Well, you see your brother.......He isnt here anymore."
Matt was confused. " Did he go to the hospital too? If he did, I want to go too!"
The officer hated this aspect of his job, hated to have to be the one to tell him the news. " No, Jeffery, he didn't go to the hospital......"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
//A statue stands in a shaded place, An angel girl with an upturned face, A name is written on a polished rock, A broken heart that the world forgot//
( One week later) ' He was just a little boy! Oh God....' She thought raising her tear flowing eyes to the heavens and let out a silent sob. ' I hate myself! I could have prevented this! I knew something was going on! I could have saved him, and I didn't, Im so stupid, Dear God!'
The stone angel marking Jeff's grave taunted her with silent mockery, the swirling patterns of the marble slate that engraved Jeff Hardy's name, birth and death date made her feel as if she could fall into them and never surface again.
She knew she should have warned the authorities that day when she discovered Jeff's arm's marked with bruises, and she hated herself for it. Jeff was dead because of her!
The heart-wrenching sobs turned her attention from Jeff's marker to her right, where his battered and bruised mother sat in a wheelchair, voice hoarse from crying. Matt stood silently next to her, eyes glued to the grass below him. He felt her staring and looked up at her, the woman that saved him.
Wiping a tear from her face, she wore a weary smile on her face. Glancing back at his mother, Matt walked over to her slowly, standing next to her and looked at the grave marker when she did. He sighed.
" I miss him."
" Yes, I know Matt. I miss him very much too, and so does your mom."
" You know what I dont like?" He asked suddenly.
She looked down at him. " What dont you like?"
" Well, my mommy told me what it really means when people tell me that Jeff isn't coming back anymore." He looked up at her to make sure she was listening." She told me that even though Jeff died, that he will always be alive in my heart."
" The thing I dont like about that, is that I will grow up and go to big- kid school, get a job and maybe when I'm really old and dont have anything to do, get married."
She laughed softly at that.
" But Jeff will be a little kid forever now. He wont grow up and be the next Hulk Hogan like he wanted to be, he wont grow up to be a big person, like me."
She was stunned. This young, innocent little second grader who had gone through hell and back, had thought about something deeper than she ever has. He understood that Jeff wouldn't be coming back, and understood the consequences of his untimely death.
Matt shed a tear silently, proudly as he looked down where Jeff's coffin was recently buried, the fresh dirt giving off a simple, clean smell. " You dont have to be sad though. " He said quietly, his eyes squinting as he looked off into the distance.
" Why do you say that?"
" He's with the two bestest peoples in heaven."
" Who would that be, Matt?"
" Jesus and Daddy!" He answered, as if surprised she didnt know.
" Ah.... you're right, Matt." She remembered that conversation that day, seeming so long ago." But are you sure he's happy?"
He was silent then, still looking into the distance.Forming out of the morning fog, the faint figure of the small Jeff hardy appeared in the horizon. He was laughing, missing the telltale bruises on his arms and legs and the etheral glow of his skin warmed Matt's heart.
Jeff blew a kiss to his brother, waving goodbye. He didnt want to wave back, knowing that if he said goodbye it would be forever. Giving in, Matt waved back softly. Smiling once more, Jeff turned to go, his figure fading away with the sun.
She was confused, Matt had waved to someone. But when she had turned to look, she couldnt see a single soul. Glancing down as Matt took her hand and smiled happily, he seemed to be comforted. " Im sure. He's happy, very happy now."
//Through the wind and the rain she stands hard as a stone, In a world that she can't rise above But her dreams give her wings and she flies to a place where she's loved, Concrete angel//
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Wa..... to those of you who were kind enough to read my story thus far, please, please review. I have really enjoyed,(well, not enjoyed, but you know what I mean) writing this story and I hope that I have touched someone out there. Please, if you are able I strongly suggest someone buy or d/l Martina McBride's Concrete Angel. It is such a beautiful and touching song and to those who can, I suggest watching it too. The music video can be seen on country music television ( CMT ). Thank you very much.