by Gann, Myles
As the reward gently jangled to the ground, the man’s plangent tune stopped. His face turned. He had a flat face with pointed ears, but the broken sunglasses that were surely recovered from an old Happy Meal slid down a bit, revealing empty eye sockets behind the thin lens. His thumb pushed the glasses to his face again and he smiled a broken smile. “You’re a weird one ain’t ya, kid? There’s definitely a touch of something about you. Just stand there and let me look at you for a second. Don’t be scared I ain’t crazy. I just haven’t seen anyone in a long time.”
Caleb didn’t feel threatened enough to raise his guard. ‘Try not to overreact just yet.’ He stood still as the musky man pushed off the ground but remained a safe distance. Still and surprisingly balanced, the man slid his glasses off and revealed his closed eyes. ‘Jab him hard with words instead.’ “How can you see me if your eyes are closed?”
“Don’t make a difference to a blind man. My eyes are gone so it’s something else that’s looking at you now. I can see your soul. Only some people’s though, and yours is brighter than hell. I’d spot you from a mile away. What makes you glow so bright, huh? What makes you so special?”
Caleb smiled and felt a confident grin sear his face. “You’ll see.”
The man sat back down and laughed viciously as Caleb began walking down the sidewalk with a new pep in his step. Around back of the grocery, a man was being smothered and stabbed over a wallet the robber didn’t realize was empty.
- - -
“And with this final week of school before finals week, let me be the first to say finish strong and don’t let your future slip away.”
Principal Hackard faded from the speaker box and class resumed. ‘That man could put cocaine addicts to sleep. Not that class holds my interest much today either. Thank goodness for tests results and deductive speculation from the good doctor.’ The front page of the manila folder held descriptions of the tests and results while the reverse page was the reached conclusions, mathematical and rational. Near the back were a few personal pages, one of which was the Post-It note of questions spelled out in a regular list. ‘Quirky, doctor.’ Above the torrent of thoughts inspired by the turning pages, the cheerleader who drew the last day for presentations droned on and sputtered for new questions. ‘Too bad, so sad. You won’t be saved by me today. Not with a folder of my future in front of me.
‘It’s gonna be like this for the rest of the year, I can see. Screw it. I’ve given my…well, I’ve given what they perceive as my best for three-and-a-half-years. My grades speak for themselves. Even taking exams at this point is irrelevantly candid. Philosophy has one grade, American History grade hadn’t dropped below a hundred percent all year, Art’s my lowest grade at a ninety-five percent, Calculus, Writing Mechanics, and Gym are all locked up, and Study Hall, though a difficult hour to sleep through every day, isn’t doing much to hurt my GPA. The only aspect experiencing whiplash at this point is participation, but my grade should be used to that from my quiet stage to the get-back-all-the-points-you-can stage and now the too-busy-to-care stage. I’m sure my apathy has company amongst my fellow students, and mine’s for a better reason than theres.’
“—so right and wrong are in every choice we make?”
Caleb rubbed the reminiscent numbers out of his eye balls and focused on the discussion momentarily. Following the facetious cheerleader’s eyes to a seat a few to his right, Caleb felt the heat of the impending question. ‘Ugh almost my turn. All right focus in. They’re in a mental tennis match. They’re talking about good and evil…or something. How much energy did I push out in the second test? Later, focus now.’ Dennis fidgeted his hands and answered a question Caleb hadn’t heard. “Good and evil are subjective to the situation and the person.”
The girl was clearly following the procedure of the assignment only. ‘No enjoyment in her face at all.’ She pivoted to the next person in the circle and looked down to her paper, which must be filled with more scribbles than words, for more questions. “Why is it that good and evil are always at odds with one another?”
“Um, well they’re opposites and all opposites attract.”
That answer was all that the cheery cheerleader needed to move onto Caleb. “What makes good good and evil evil?”
Caleb chuckled as he sighed and gathered an intentionally lengthy answer. “First off, there is a massive difference between calling something ‘good’ and calling something ‘right.’ One would assume what feels good is what makes things good and what feels bad makes things evil, but that’s simply not the case. If it were, people wouldn’t die from eating good food or get rich from sending people to die, so we can’t draw a straight line between good and evil all the time. But I digress; telling good from evil is actually quite easy. If we align the good with what is right and evil with doing what is wrong, then the line can be drawn and removed from the bias of everyday labels as well. In other words, yeah, if we lie to ourselves, it’s real easy to know what’s good and bad.”
Mrs. Drit chuckled loud enough for everyone to hear and the cheerleader gave the smirking Caleb a very pointed look. Her cocked hips and crossed arms soon relaxed as she walked over and sat heavily into her chair. ‘Mrs. Drit is obviously feeling the apathy resonating from our little circle.’ She seemed content to let the class drift off into their own smaller circles. Caleb extended his power lightly around the circle to the cheerleader. ‘Gotta hear what she’s got to say about me after that.’ She had her hands crossed and her gaze down as Caleb closed his eyes, seeing exclusively through the small amount of power he had committed to the curiosity. He saw her looking into her entwined hands and heard her whisper to some jock friend of hers, “If he weren’t so cute, yeah.”
The jock friend gave a surprised look and gave a deep whisper back, “That kid was the damn Goth King earlier in the year and now all the sudden you’re throwing your panties at him?”
She gave him a girly scoff. “No,” she said in a stretched way that sounded more like “Nowah,” “I’m just saying…he’s cute without that stuff on. And smart.”
‘Hm, nice going away present from a girl you’ve talked to three times.’
The irritating bell rang and everyone quickly left as Caleb came back into himself with a deep breath. He opened his eyes, and saw Mrs. Drit blocking his exit with a pleased smile on her face. “As dramatic a last line as there ever was in this class.”
“That’s what I was going for.” Caleb kept his answers short. ‘Not exactly chat-buddies since her house. She hasn’t changed. Everything about her looks the same. Her every smile and eye-sparkle is a hint to me that the invitation still stands. I told her that she needed some sort of change. She even agreed with me, but she hasn’t. I tried, at least.’
“You always were an arrogant little grandstander, all the more suited now that you’re moving onto bigger and brighter stages. I guess that’s why I wanted to get you alone before graduation.” Caleb stood a few feet from her with his arms at his sides. Her posture suddenly sagged against the wall and a huge, quick breath shot from her body. “This is my last year teaching. I’m leaving next Thursday.”
Caleb felt his eyes widen and his neck straighten. “Where are you going?”
“Back to school. Not quite sure which direction I’m heading in yet, but I did what you said; I woke up one morning and realized I didn’t like that girl in the mirror. Anyways, none of this was possible a few months ago…so I wanted to show you my thanks for…redirecting my passions.”
Caleb eased a little mentally and gave a half-smile. “No thanks are necessary. Truthfully, you helped me know I could be strong enough for two people, so I should be thanking you.”
“Are you not able to lower your arrogant shell anymore?”
“No-wait yes, ugh.” ‘Stop trying to figure her out right now. You’re getting left behind in the conversation. Don’t go through the motions.’ “I didn’t mean for that to sound arrogant. I was going for reassuring or that I had your back.”
&n
bsp; “Either way…,” her eyes turned concerned for a flash before fading to regret, “I know as the head of the class, you get to choose who hands you off, and as a token of my appreciation, I wanted to be that lucky staff member.”
Caleb chuckled. “You’d feel honored to give me a semi-meaningless piece of paper?”
She cracked a smile and straightened her shirt before placing her hands on her hips. ‘Looks like Superwoman from the old comics.’ “It’s my sworn duty to uphold the sanctity of this glorious institution.” They both smiled together. Those bright whites shined between thin lips as she continued, “Not to mention every teacher you’ve ever had has been clamoring to give you that piece of paper you care so little about.”
“Eh, I appreciate the poetry of a philosophy teacher giving it to me.”
“What poetry is that?”
Caleb tucked his folder and notebook under his arm and stood straight. “Philosophy is all about long-winded speeches and extended webs of ideas. In the end, a philosopher’s pretty words come down to a single action. Whether it’s a choice or a word or a silly-ass piece of paper telling him what he already knows; they know the connection between their work and the real world that lies in the outcome of that action is all that matters. Everybody tells me there’s enough potential in my bones to make the biggest impact, so who better than a teacher of impactful thought to hand me my key to impact?” With that, Caleb simply extended his hand and fully smiled while softening his eyes. “See you on the stand?”
His teacher curled her lower lip and nodded in appreciation. ‘From the thought? Or the idea of me going through with the action? Or both?’ “Glad to see my last and greatest student learned something useful.” She shook his hand firmly before placing her left hand over their rights. “I’ll be there.”
A final nod was exchanged before they mutually broke contact and Caleb wondered into the hallowed halls. ‘Is study hall even worth going to at this point?’ His deliberation only lasted until he turned the corner. “There’s our guy!”
Two tiny jogging persons came to a screeching halt and used Caleb’s body as a leaning post for their recovery. “Sasha and Alex. To what do I owe the pleasure of you two almost tackling me?”
They laughed through their heavier breathing. Sasha was the first to recover enough to explain the excitement. “Just came from the councilor’s office and you’ll never believe what college I got into: NYU! I’m gonna be moving into the biggest city in this hemisphere for school!”
“Congrats, gal, I guess you overwhelmed them with grades and four years of extra-curricular activities.”
Alex smiled his sheepish smile and talked in his whispery voice, “She almost begged Mrs. G for a commendation letter.”
“Hey, you shut up! Nobody needs to know about that!” She gave her loyal boyfriend a powerful stare that made Caleb smile. “Anyways, yeah, super stoked.”
“I can see. I am really happy for you no matter how you got in.”
“Darn right. What are you doing for graduation? Big man in school got any big party plans?”
Caleb smiled and scratched at his hair. ‘Didn’t really want to leave my father alone for parties. Pretty sure I have more important things to do than be drunk and stupid anyways.’ “Not yet. I might end up making Carol hang out with me somewhere quiet.”
“Oh no you don’t. Alex and my parents have put me up to getting out of my shell and going to a club tonight, and you are too.”
“But graduation isn’t for another week.”
“Tonight: we get degrees in being socially active. The boring stuff will come next week.”
Caleb smiled. ‘And he’s cornered….’ “What time?”
“We will let you know. You better have your phone on after sundown.”
“Yes, I hear that’s when El Chupacabra attacks most of its victims.”
Sasha gave a fake angry look directly before the final bell rang, releasing them all into finals week just like that. Caleb strolled out beside his two mates while bypassing his locker and promising not to leave anyone hanging tonight. The crowd thickened once they were outside but Caleb was able to squeeze away and through the fluxing path to the street. He quickly skipped over the black pavement and began jogging once his feet hit the sidewalk. A scant two blocks later, a playful honk sounded twice before the familiar hindquarters of Carol’s blue beauty whizzed by. He sped up his pace while turning left quickly to jump a short fence. Even with his legs being power-free, a short cut could even the odds against the racing Carol to their mutual destination. ‘Ah the advantages of small towns and an over-obsessive photographic memory.’
He sprinted a good ten seconds through an unbeaten path until his favorite field came into view. ‘The construction site, although still bountiful in destructible and testable commodities, no longer confines my ever emerging power. It has been sprouting quite a bit lately, so it’s time for an upgrade.’ He strolled into the center of the large field while gently resetting his crude wooden markers. ‘Can’t imagine why my power would erupt so much lately. My mom’s last gift was a longer, sharper knife to use in her killer’s death. Serendipity is the universe’s way of laying down a staircase that I will climb two steps at a time.’
Carol pulled onto the grassy field and rolled down the window, revealing her ladybug sunglasses. Caleb threw his top into the passenger seat and pointed towards the rusty tackling sled near the corner of the field. “Get behind that and push it to me.”
“The rust will get on my car!”
Caleb sighed and laughed. “I’ll put on my bikini later and wash it for you.”
Carol looked down her glasses at him and blew a kiss. “You always know what I want.”
He walked across his abandoned football field and started doing arm stretches. ‘The little league field has to have been abandoned for a good ten years before I’d found it, which is odd for a small town to let eighty yards of healthy grass go unkempt.’ He grabbed the edge of the single-man sled—‘Also out of place considering its size and weight,’—and turned it around so the rough outline of a man was facing Carol’s approaching car. Caleb hopped onto the back end of the old sled as she pushed it all the way out to the ten yard line. He smacked her trunk and moved into the dreary end zone. Looking out, he mentally checked off the markers he’d been able to knock down out to the twenty yard line. ‘The day after Mom died, I was so sure that my emotional state of mind would fuel my power well beyond that, but I’d still been exhausted from my little…explosion and I was forced to walk away with nothing more than a frustrating nose bleed.’
Caleb cracked his neck and slowly pushed everything out. At first, he made his energy tall, a glowing blue slab hidden by the trees but still easily doubling the size of a man. With a big breath filling his chest, he exhaled slowly and let the bottom of his power slip all the way to the sled. Once he had a solid wall against it, Caleb lifted his hand and opened it, treating his power like an extended muscle. Everything happened rapidly; the sled carved two trenches out past his previous record. Once his power began to quiver with limitations, Caleb clenched his outstretched hand and swirled the energy around him into a hemisphere. He sat upon the already flattened grass and consumed himself in a series of deep breaths. His clear mind stretched and contorted to the dome of power. Looking through the filter of his power, Caleb saw it again: another silhouette. A feminine structure stood as if facing him. He flexed harder and pushed his power to its absolute maximum, and, as if gently pushing into a bubble, the silhouette stepped forward. The face was instantly recognizable: a soft glow emanating from both cheeks, her clothes the usual mix of casual and maternal, his mother’s face stared on unusually melodious.
Caleb had no delusions as the buzzing increased inside his head; “She’s dead. Why won’t she go away then? Its logic, but it can’t force her away. She’s coming closer across the dead grass with no shoes.” He couldn’t make his lungs give up their current breath. Real or not, the emotions tied to his mother’s image c
ame flowing back. His concentration wavered and his power slowly retracted until it barely encased him and his mother’s image, a mere five feet wide. A whisper, so quiet even his empowered hearing barely registered it, bounced off the walls of his blue energy, even though neither of their lips ever moved. The colored wave hit his ear and he heard the whisper in his mother’s soft tone. “Forgive him.” Without a movement, her hand was suddenly on his arm, a warming sensation blurring his logic for a moment, before she disappeared completely.
“That looks like a new record to me.”
Carol’s naturally sweet voice sounded gravely and echoed through the blue membrane and his enhanced hearing. Her voice forced his focused mind to wince back to a state of normalcy as she swaggered across the field. He let the pain well inside his throat, letting it slowly slip into the locker in his gut. ‘Don’t put her through this she’s seen enough.’ She stayed about five yards out while trying to strike up a few answers. “So, I was wondering the other day: if these criminals you’re supposedly going to be chasing don’t come along quietly, how are you going to subdue them? Super Kung-Fu is out of the question, so that leaves them being afraid of the color blue as your only marketable defense.”
Caleb smirked, a devilish, teasing crooked line that accompanied an explosion of his power. He rotated his body with one arm sending energy out to the one man sled and the other arm wrapping Carol’s backside, gently, and pulling her to him. The power around the sled slung the metal dummy towards them both, and before Carol could even see what was happening, Caleb stiff-armed the encroaching object hard enough to snap the rusted center in half. A small globe of his energy then gently placed the two halves at Carol’s feet. “Improvisation works wonders when you can slow the world to a crawl.”