If the scene seemed fantastic to the bus’s occupants and to the onlookers, it was no less strange to the superhero herself. Upon her was an intense feeling of release. Flying out in the open, in front of the entire city, felt stranger, more frightening, more thrilling than anything she had imagined. Never before in her life had she been so open with her powers. She felt both the excitement and anxiety of a long-deferred dream now coming true. Yet try though she might to deny it, she was feeling more nervous by the second. More and more, the thrill of liberation was being overcome by a sense of foreboding at the unknown consequences that now approached her.
Beside the bridge she flew, edging slowly downwards below the roadway, ever closer to the salty waters of the tidal strait. Then with a gentle turn, she descended under the embankment, little noticing an owl flying away suddenly upon her approach, before landing on a small road on the Queens side. Gently she placed her precious cargo on solid ground. Then she turned and greeted the passengers.
Ms. Gershovich looked out the window in relief and confusion. “Am I dreaming?” she asked.
“Hi,” said Ms. Infinity, “Is everyone okay?”
“Uh…sure,” said Ms. Gershovich, “We’re all here. I don’t know where we could have gone, exactly…I mean, who are you?”
“She’s a superhero!” said Juan, “Weren’t you paying attention?”
“Hi. I am Ms. Infinity. Pleased to meet you.”
Yet even as she spoke, they heard the sounds of police cars and ambulances arriving. As they approached, a van came right behind them. As the police officers exited their vehicle, a man with a camera pushed ahead. Behind him was a dark haired, fair-skinned woman with a microphone. She seemed familiar. Ms. Infinity thought she might have seen her on some local interest pieces on the news.
“Hello miss,” said the woman with the microphone, “My name is Jenna Storm. I’m from A-NY News. Do you mind if we interview you?”
“Oh!” said Ms. Infinity, “Uh…sure! Go ahead.”
“So,” asked Jenna, “Are you the person who rescued this bus?”
“Yes.”
“One moment,” said Jenna, “Miss, it would help if you answered in full sentences. So say, ‘Yes. I rescued the bus.’”
“Oh. Okay,” said Ms. Infinity, slightly embarrassed, “Yes. Yes. I rescued the bus.”
“So, do you mind telling us your name?”
“Ms. Infinity.”
“Full sentences please.”
“Oh! Oh! Okay. Hi. My name is Ms. Infinity.”
“Is that your real name?” asked Jenna.
“It is,” said Ms. Infinity.
“It is what?”
“Wait what…?”
“You really need to answer in complete…”
“Oh! Right! I am Ms. Infinity, like I said.”
“How were you able to do that?” asked Jenna, “I mean, were you standing on a plane or something? Were there invisible wires?”
“No. I can fly,” said Ms. Infinity.
“Really?” marveled Jenna.
“Yes. Yes I really can fly. I…I have always had the power of flight. I’m coming forward with it now…”
“So thank you. Please, tell us anything else you can about yourself.”
Ms. Infinity found herself getting increasingly uneasy with the situation. The question about her true identity was especially worrisome. She finally decided she had had enough. She said a few more words. “Uh, thank you. Nothing more. Never forget the power you have inside you!”
“But what about the flying, I mean, how do you…”
But before Jenna even finished her sentence, Ms. Infinity had flown away in panic, so fast she almost seemed to disappear.
“Well,” said the cameraman, “Does that answer your question?”
“No, it doesn’t, Jake,” said Jenna in annoyance, “It doesn’t answer anything!”
Lisa was walking through the streets of Woodside, looking for an address, nervously wondering how the encounter could go. When she found the house, she took a deep breath, and rang the doorbell. For a moment, she wondered how long she should wait for an answer, but after a few seconds, the door opened.
“Can I help you?” asked a fair-skinned middle-aged woman.
“Hi,” said Lisa, “I’m sorry to bother you. I believe someone who lives here was in the store I work at yesterday…”
“Oh no!” interrupted the woman, “I’m sorry. It was my father. He was complaining about the Chinese girl there.”
“Oh,” said Lisa, “It’s not about that. I mean…of course not! Why would I…No. I had something I had to drop off.”
“What?”
“I helped him bring the order out to his car. He needed some help getting in afterwards…”
“He has three herniated disks. He really can’t lift, and he is having a lot of trouble getting around.”
“Okay. I have a pre-med degree, so yeah. I sort of guessed it was something like that. Anyway, I apologize, but I didn’t realize until he pulled away, but he dropped his wallet.”
“So that was when he lost it! He was blaming you.”
“Oh. Well I promise, this was a complete accident. I only opened it to find this address. We would have called, but there was no phone number. Everything is in there, of course.”
The woman took the wallet. She examined it for a minute, then looked at Lisa. “Thank you,” she said, “My father is a bit prejudiced. He should be grateful. It’s thanks to you that he got this back.”
“Well that’s alright,” said Lisa, “Please, have a good day. Give Mr. Billings my best.”
She started to leave, but the woman called, “Wait, Miss?”
“Uh, yes?”
“You said you’re a pre-med?”
“I am.”
“My dad has had some breathing problems this morning. We don’t have insurance. I don’t know if this appropriate, but do you think you can look at him?”
“Oh,” said Lisa, “I’m afraid it’s really not. If there is a real issue, I would recommend that you take him to the emergency room.”
The woman reacted dubiously. “Well, alright,” she said, “Thank you so much anyway. My name is Helen.”
“Hi,” said Lisa, shaking her hand, “Lisa Lin. Sorry I couldn’t do more.”
“That’s alright,” said Helen, “You know what? As far as I’m concerned, you’re a hero.”
Into Bonnie’s closet flew Ms. Infinity. A moment later, she changed back into Bonnie Boring. Her mother was outside in her bedroom.
“You were right!” said Bonnie despondently, “I suck! This was the dumbest idea anyone ever had in history! How could I ever pull a stupid stunt like this! I really put my foot in it!”
As Bonnie threw herself on her bed, Betty looked on, her eyes warming, her mouth opening softly.
“Bonnie dear, you have just done something wonderful!”
“I just made a fool of myself!” cried Bonnie, her head in her pillow.
“Never mind that!” answered Betty, “You just saved the lives of many children! Honey, it doesn’t matter what you looked like when you did it, or what you said to the camera. What matters is what you did. Thanks to you, some thirty families will still have their children tonight at dinner time.”
“It’s alright what I did?” said Bonnie through tears as she picked up her head.
“Alright? Is it alright? Bonnie, love of my life, you have just made me extremely proud! This is what I have always expected of you and much more.”
“You really think so?”
“I think we should celebrate.”
“Ice cream?”
“We can do better than that.”
“Sodas too?”
“My dear girl, this time, I’ll even spring for lattes.”
It was a couple of hours since Lisa’s visit to the Billings’ house. She was now leaving her allergist appointment at Wood Heights Hospital. She exited the elevator at the lobby, only to discover the main exit closed due
to an accident. She looked for a detour, but soon found herself lost. She negotiated her way through the labyrinth of hallways, finally finding an egress in sight through the waiting area of the emergency room. As she passed through, she was surprised to see Helen at the front desk.
“No, we can’t pay,” said Helen, “I guess I’ll take him home.”
Looking at Helen, Lisa turned and walked over to meet her. “Hi Helen,” she said, “What’s going on?”
“Hi. My father’s having an asthma attack, but we have no insurance…”
Lisa looked next to Helen. There was the man she had seen at the Big Box, clearly in distress.
“Never mind that!” said Lisa abruptly, “He has an emergency. Did you tell them that?”
“Well, I said…”
“You know what? I got this.” She marched up to the desk with Helen.
“Excuse me, but you have an emergency situation here, and you need to take him in.”
The receptionist barely looked up at Lisa. “They have no insurance…”
“It doesn’t matter what his payment situation is. He’s protected by federal law. EMTALA states that you can’t turn anyone away.”
“Excuse me. You don’t have to tell me about the law. I deal with patients every day who treat this place like a doctor’s office. This is an emergency room, and we are here to handle emergencies.”
“I appreciate your position,” said Lisa, “but Mr. Billings is having an asthma attack. If that’s not an emergency, then nothing is.”
“Miss, I see worse cases than that on the subway.”
“How do you know if you refuse to treat him?”
“I’m sorry, but we have a whole waiting room full of people…”
“Let me ask you,” interrupted Lisa, “if he were able to pay, would you take him?”
“You’re stepping over the line!” said the receptionist.
“Am I?” said Lisa, taking out her cellphone, “What do you say I call the City Health Department and ask their opinion?”
“Miss…!”
“It’s ringing…”
“Alright! We’ll take him. Sit down and wait your turn.”
“He’s having an asthma attack. He needs to be seen immediately. There’s no way you can make him wait like that!”
The receptionist shot Lisa a look to kill, but then called for an attendant to take Mr. Billings in. As the orderly arrived, Helen looked upon Lisa with awe.
“Listen,” said Lisa to Helen, “When it comes to paying for the visit, you will have some options. The social worker is likely a good advocate for someone with income problems.”
“You really are something!” said Helen.
“It’s okay,” said Lisa, “Nothing anyone wouldn’t do.”
“I wish that were true,” said Helen, “Lisa, you are a real-world superhero. I don’t know how you could be topped!”
REAL WORLD SUPERHERO! MYSTERIOUS “MS. INFINITY” SAVES SCHOOL BUS FROM BRIDGE, APPARENTLY HAS REAL SUPERPOWERS!!!!
The news was breaking everywhere with Jenna Storm’s report, first running exclusively on A-NY before spreading to news outlets throughout New York, then nationwide.
For Jenna, it was finally her chance to advance from A-NY’s second string local interest stories. She had an exclusive on the story of a lifetime, and she was certain to take full advantage.
She seemed to insinuate that she and the heroine had made a personal connection. The interview was made to look much more substantial than it really was. Ms. Infinity’s words were cleverly interspersed with the reporter’s own comments and thoughtful facial expressions; it was not known that these had actually been filmed after the heroine’s departure.
Oddly, the report included the last moment when Ms. Infinity nervously flew away. It was played as a charmingly vulnerable moment, and also as evidence of her remarkable powers. As Jenna signed off, she claimed to have been moved by the heroine’s humble nature.
On this evening, Johnny Gunn was greeting some of his underlings in the company’s public relations department.
“You see men, what’s important is that this office projects power. Without power, there is no respect. And power comes back to the man, the man, the one man who dominates all others. Get this straight, and make damn sure you get this across. I’m the alpha male, claiming leadership over his pack. There should be no doubt that I am the most powerful man in the city.”
“So how do we get this across?” asked a young man.
“What’s your name, little guy?” asked Johnny.
“Oh, I’m Gil.”
“Hi. Pleased to meet you. By the way, I don’t remember talking to you first. Didn’t you all get told that in training? You speak when you’re spoken to!”
“Oh, I…”
“Forget it, Bill! You bring up an interesting point.”
“That’s Gil…”
“Whatever. How do I get this across? Here Jill. You like money, don’t you?”
“Well, sure…”
Johnny took out a large bankroll, then selected a handful of hundred dollar bills. “Here Sal,” he said, “Two thousand.”
“Oh,” said Gil, beginning to reach over.
“I didn’t say it was yours yet,” said Johnny, “You need to get this first.”
Johnny looked down over the railing to the darkness below. The dozen or so floors beneath were dark and presently closed. They overlooked a large, closed atrium, with the next floor eight stories below. Johnny threw the money over the railing and cried “There! Now, Lily! Go get it!”
“Oh,” said Gil, “So, should I call building maintenance?”
“No, you pathetic little muffin! You are going to climb down and get it!”
“Climb down?”
“You hear me!”
Gil hesitated, but Johnny persisted. “That’s two thousand dollars. Probably half a month’s rent for you, right?”
“Almost…”
“It’s nothing to me. But for you this is real money. If I were you, I’d definitely go and get it.”
Gil wavered for a moment. He then began to climb over the railing. Johnny began to laugh. “Stop! Stop! You pathetic little wretch! You’re going to kill yourself! It’s like eight floors down! You’ll never survive it! I’m just making a point!
“You see! This little piece of feces almost killed himself over two thousand bucks. I don’t blame him too. That’s real money to him. To me it’s pocket change. Why is that? Because, you pathetic little morons, I am powerful! I am the most powerful man in New York! The Gunn is the man! That’s why the city is mine! Don’t you dare forget it!”
The staff slowly filed out. After they left, Pam quietly walked up to Johnny.
“Sir, if you don’t mind, the press is going to want to know about your reaction to Ms. Infinity.”
“Miss what? What the hell are you…”
“The superhero who’s all over the news…”
“Superhero? I don’t have time for movies. Besides, who needs Superman when you have me?”
“Sir, it’s been all over the news. After the bomb blast on the Whitestone, there was a school bus that nearly fell off the bridge. There’s a young woman who rescued it. She seems to have some extraordinary abilities. Since you talk about power…”
“Pam! Get me some video! Now!”
“Pam worked Johnny’s laptop for a moment. Johnny sat down and watched the news clip of Ms. Infinity. After a moment, his face was red with anger.”
“That’s it,” he said, “We’re gonna fry this bitch!”
Johnny stormed away. Pam looked at the laptop once again, and watched the video carefully. “No doubt about it,” she said to herself quietly, “This must be her. It has to be.”
Hal Holstein was sitting around his room, feeling depressed. The arguments between his parents were getting worse by the day. Now it wasn’t just threats and doors slamming; he was occasionally even hearing plates breaking. Sometimes he would brave the tempest to tiptoe into S
tacy’s room. Somebody had to comfort her through the storm.
Just months earlier, Hal’s family had been a rock of stability he had never even noticed, much less questioned. Now he was increasingly feeling the bedrock crumbling beneath him. When his parents weren’t fighting, there was bitter silence, as the two would take to opposite corners of their apartment, refusing to talk. When he was with one of them, they were often speaking ill of the other. When he was home alone with Stacy, there she was in tears, repeating things that a seven-year-old should never know of.
Even being home alone meant no relief; it meant being alone with his worries. On this night, Sarah was taking Stacy shopping, and his father was out on his part time job. Hal was alone, trying desperately to shake his misery. He was too tired to go out. There were no friends around to call. With no better ideas, he turned on the TV. Maybe he could find a decent distraction there.
He put on the local news, A-NY, expecting to get the weather. Suddenly, Hal’s eyes were glued to his set. His knees nearly buckled as he watched. He had to sit down on the edge of his bed. He was so shocked, so captivated, he nearly forgot to breathe.
What was in front of him could not be real, but it was. There was a beautiful woman, apparently with magical powers, singlehandedly saving a giant school bus from a horrible accident on the Whitestone Bridge---by flying!!! Where did this Ms. Infinity come from? Who was she? It didn’t matter. Just watching her brought tears to his eyes. It was as if she had somehow just filled a void that he did not even know was there.
All that night and beyond, Hal found he could not stop looking for news of Ms. Infinity. For now, it was just the same report over and over again, but even that, he could not get enough of.
Soon Hal found himself looking for any news of Ms. Infinity, and voraciously collecting everything having to do with her. After all, she was a powerful and unstoppable force for good, someone who could save people from the worst and most hopeless of situations. That image was a shelter he could take to, hope when there was no other hope.
Where Infinity Begins Page 6