Hometown Hero

A rented car pulled into the driveway of the Martin’s farm. The driver, Gordon, the son of the people who owned that farm, looked over at his passenger and said, “Well, here we are.”

Polygirl fidgeted with both pairs of her of her hands. “Um, maybe I should put my jacket on to hide my, you know …” She finished by gesturing with her lower arms.

“Don’t worry about it,” Gordon reassured her. “I told them about you and sent some pictures so they already know. True me, it’ll be OK.”

She considered it and then leaned over and gave him a kiss. “OK then.” The two of them got out of car and started walking to the house. Gordon was wearing a long sleeved plaid shirt and a pair of jeans while Poly was wearing a nice dress that had been tailored for her extra set of arms. She had also brought a light jacket to hide them if need be.

When they got close, the door opened and Gordon’s mom burst out. She ran over to him and gave him a hug. He patted her on the back and said, “Nice to see you too, mom.”

His father stepped out and said in a somewhat amused tone, “Susan, stop smothering the boy.”

“Oh hush, David,” Gordon’s mother replied before she turned to the four armed young woman standing there. “And you must be the Polly I’ve heard so much about. Come here, you.” And with that, she stepped over and gave her a hug, although not as hard as the one she gave her son.

“I should have warned you,” Gordon said apologetically. “She’s a hugger.”

Susan Martin looked over at him and said, “You hush too.”

Gordon’s dad walked over to Poly and shook one of her hands. “Hello. It’s nice to meet you,” he said to her. “Let’s get inside.”
The four of them went into the house and sat down around the kitchen table. Gordon and his parents started chatting with Poly mostly listening and only speaking when someone spoke to her. She was glad that they were so accepting of her. There were a lot of people who weren’t.

Eventually Gordon asked, “So everything is Ok here on the farm?”

His father nodded. “Yes. We got the corn in after a wet spring. And the goats have kidded.” He looked over Poly and asked, “Have you ever seen goat kids before?”

“Um, no,” she replied with a shake of her head. “I haven’t spent any time on farms.”

“Well, there’s no time like the present to correct that. Come on.” With that, the four of them got up and headed out to the barn, with Gordon’s mom lending Poly a pair of rubber boots. She wasn’t sure what to expect.

They led her to a pen. She looked in to see the young animals frolicking and exclaimed, “Oh my…! They’re so cute!”

“If you’d like, you can get in the pen with them,” David Martin told her.

“Really?” Poly said, excited. He nodded and helped her climb in.

As they watched her, Susan said to her son, “She a lovely girl and I’m glad you’re happy with her.”

“Thanks,” he replied with a grin.

“So have your friends found out who paid to have us, um, unbrainwashed?”

Gordon shook his head. “No, apart from that fact that it was probably one of the Occupant’s rivals who did that.”

Just then, Poly let out a laugh as one of the goat kids started nibbling on one of her ponytails. “These are the cutest things ever!”

After spending some more time in the barn, they went back to the house. Susan said, “I better get started on dinner. Would you mind going into town to pick up a few things?”

“No problem,” Gordon replied. He and Poly went out to their car. As they drove away, Gordon asked, “So what do you think of my folks?”

“They’re so understanding. It kind of surprising how much they are,” Poly said.

Gordon shrugged and said, “I guess they had to be, dealing with me after I got my power.”

“You’ve never talked about that much. Was it really so bad?”

He nodded. “Yeah, it was. Of course, the rest of my life, before that when I was in high school and after when I got sucked into the Canadian Syndicate, wasn’t great either. I guess I could say that my life was pretty crappy.” And then he reached out and took one of her hands. “Until I met you.” Poly smiled back at him.

The car pulled into the parking lot of the supermarket and they got out. When they got to the door, it opened and a man came out. He had slicked back hair and when he saw Gordon, he smiled, showing his prominent front teeth. “Well, if it isn’t my old friend Gordie,” he said in an oily voice. “You remember your pal, Shawn Ward? I haven’t seen you since, well, I guess it was when the OPP came to arrest you after you went wacko and destroyed the school. I always wondered why they didn’t lock you up after that.” He gave him a nasty smile. “Heard you’re playing hero somewheres down in the states. Guess they don’t know what a psychotic loser you really are.”

Poly looked over at Gordon, expecting him to be angry. But to her surprise, he wasn’t. He was staring at the ground and his lower lip was trembling. And although it wasn’t possible, he looked smaller.

A woman carrying a couple of shopping bags came out of the store. She wasn’t very attractive, and the amount of make-up she had caked on didn’t help. Shawn turned to her and said, “Hey Nicki. You remember Gordie, right?”

“Oh my gawd,” the woman exclaimed. “I don’t think he has grown any since high school.”

“Yeah, you’re right. He’s still that same little shrimp he was then,” the man agreed.

Nicki turned to Poly. “Oh, and this must be his little girlfriend.”

Shawn put his arm around Nicki and said, “Well, she’s probably the best he can do. Not everyone could marry the hottest girl in school like I did.” Gordon turned and started trudging back to the car. “See you later, Gordie,” Shawn called out and then he and his wife walked away, laughing.

Poly followed Gordon back. He got in the vehicle and sat behind the steering wheel. Then he grabbed the top of the wheel with both hands and leaned forwards to put his forehead against it. Poly came around to passenger side and entered. She looked over at Gordon, who was crying softly. She waited. She knew that he would get through this, and she would be there for him.

After a few minutes, he had recovered enough to speak. “It hasn’t changed,” he said. “It’s the same it was in high school. They hate me, or at least dislike me. And that’s never going to change. I’m never going to be any more than ‘little Gordie’ to them, and they’ll never let me forget it.”

Poly put both her hands on that side on his back. "But...you've seen more in a few years than they ever will. You get to make a real difference. And you’re forgetting the most important part. You have me, no matter what happens.”

Gordon looked over at her with a smile. “You’re right. I’m luckier now than I was then,” he said as he wiped his eyes. “Now let’s go get what my mom needs.