“WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THERE?” Gio repeated.
I had to come up with something fast—a reason that would make me sound smart instead of like a meowing cat.
“LOOKING FOR MR. VASLOV! HAVE YOU SEEN HIM?” I shouted.
Gio shook his head. Puppy barked. “Ruff! Ruff!”
Where was Mr. Vaslov? He had a ladder. I’d seen him use it lots of times. I wished he was around to help me down.
“ARE YOU STUCK?” Gio called up.
How could I tell the truth? What kind of superhero gets stuck in a tree like a cat?
“I’LL HELP YOU!” Gio said, climbing into the tree.
Puppy barked. “Ruff! Ruff!”
Superheroes shouldn’t be rescued by kindergartners! I looked down at Gio, climbing one branch after another. What if he got scared when he got this high up, too? Then we’d both be crying like cats in the tree. I had no choice. I moved my foot down a little and found the branch below me. The tree was just like a ladder. I could go down the same way I went up— one branch at a time.
“Come on!” Gio stopped climbing and started cheering for me. “You can do it, Freddie. I know you can.”
And I did, just in time for my mother to start calling.
“FREDDIE! WHERE ARE YOU? IT’S TIME FOR DINNER!”
Gio grabbed my hand and we walked back to 29G with Puppy at our heels. “Ruff! Ruff!”
For dinner, Mom and I had tamales—the microwave kind.
“Sorry, Freddie,” Mom apologized. “There’s no time after work to cook like Abuela did.”
“Her tamales were good,” I agreed.” But these are just fine.”
“No, no.” Mom shook her head, wiggling her gold hoop earrings. “No box is as good as Abuela’s cooking.”
On Sundays, Abuela made all my favorites like pupusas stuffed with cheese, refried beans, and yucca. I miss arroz con leche—rice pudding—the most, because the kind that comes in plastic cups doesn’t taste as good.
Abuela died six months after my soldier dad. It was really hard to have two funerals in one year. That was before we moved to Starwood Park. Before my mom learned how to smile again.
“How about a popsicle for dessert?” Mom asked, getting up from the table. On weeknights, all our food comes from the freezer or the delivery man.
“Sure!” I said. “Do you have red ones?”
We ate our popsicles on the front step. It was a nice night with lots of stars.
“How much homework do you have?” Mom asked.
“Not much.” I took another lick of my popsicle.
“How much is not much?” Mom raised her eyebrows. She was serious about school. Her plan was to save all her money and send me to college one day.
Before I could say I only had a few math problems and some social studies reading, Mom’s cell phone jingled with music.
“Hola?” She put her finger on the other ear so she could hear better. “Hello? You want to speak to who? Freddie?”
“Who is it?” I asked, gulping down my last bite of popsicle.
“Mr. Vaslov,” Mom said. Her voice sounded puzzled. “He said your name and then the phone went dead.”
7. A Superhero with a Mom
“Mr. Vaslov!” I stood up and shouted. “I tried to find him all day!”
“I wonder what he wants,” Mom said.
That’s when my face heated up. He was calling about the purple wristband! Mr. Vaslov must have been wondering where it was. I hoped he wasn’t angry with me. I shouldn’t have taken it without asking. I needed to apologize.
“You look worried, Freddie,” Mom said. “Is anything wrong?”
“I’m not sure,” I said. “But I’d like to talk to Mr. Vaslov.”
“It’s still early,” Mom said. “Let’s go over to his place and see if he’s there.”
Good idea. I’d always wanted to see inside Mr. Vaslov’s apartment. I wondered if he had cut-up computers and tools in there, too.
We walked over to 10B, where Mr. Vaslov lived, and rang the doorbell three times. No one answered.
“Let’s try the toolshed,” I said.
The door was half open, just like I’d left it. And the computers were still blinking, the radio still beeping, and the TV still on. But no Mr. Vaslov.
“That’s a little strange,” Mom said, peeking inside. “He left all the lights on and a glass of milk.”
The peanut butter sandwich was still there, too. Why didn’t Mr. Vaslov come back to eat his food?
“Where else can we look?” I asked.
“Nowhere,” Mom said. “You have homework and school tomorrow.”
“But I need to talk to Mr. Vaslov!”
“In the morning,” Mom said, taking my shoulders and turning me around toward 29G.
I was worried about Mr. Vaslov. He had never been missing this long. But superheroes with moms like mine can’t go out by themselves after dark. All I could do was set my alarm for six A.M.
As soon as I heard it ring, I jumped out of bed and put on my super zapatos. Then, I took them off and got dressed. I didn’t want to be seen running around in my blue and red pajamas again.
I ran over to 10B and rang the doorbell. No answer. I dashed over to the toolshed. The computers were still on and the peanut butter still uneaten.
I ran all around Starwood Park. The only thing I saw was Mr. Vaslov’s ladder behind the brand new building, a few feet from Gio’s beach ball. Where was Mr. Vaslov?
I ran around the buildings a second time and a third, but the ladder and the ball were still the only things I found. My Zapato Power wasn’t working. I needed to use some brain power.
Why was Mr. Vaslov’s ladder on the ground? He always picked his stuff up. This was almost as strange as his uneaten peanut butter.
What had I seen Mr. Vaslov use his ladder for? Sometimes he used it to fix stuff on the roof. Is that where he was?
I’d looked everywhere I could for Mr. Vaslov on the ground. The only place left was the air.
I pressed the button on my wristband and shot straight up. BOING! Not quite high enough to see the roof. I jumped again. BOING! BOING! BOING!
I saw just over the edge. Someone was lying down. He had bushy gray hair.
“Mr. Vaslov!” I called. “I’m coming!”
BOING! BOING! BOING!
“Freddie!” he called back. “Get the ladder!”
The ladder! BOING! I landed on the ground. Why didn’t I think of that myself?
My shoes might get me on the roof, but I had no way of getting down. I couldn’t help Mr. Vaslov if I got stuck again.
The ladder was big. I got Mom to help me. Together, we leaned it against the gutter and climbed up to Mr. Vaslov. Then Mom called an ambulance. It came right away.
“My ankle hurts,” Mr. Vaslov groaned.
“It might be broken,” the ambulance man said. “And you have a bump on your head. You have to go to the hospital.”
“Who will take care of Starwood Park?” Mr. Vaslov protested, as they put him in the ambulance.
“I will,” I promised just before they closed the doors.
“Thanks, Freddie,” he said.
When they drove away, Mom put her arms around me. “You saved Mr. Vaslov! You’re a superhero!”
Was I? Really?
8. An Extra Button
When Mr. Vaslov came home from the hospital on crutches, Starwood Park took care of him just like he always took care of us.
Mrs. Tran checked on him every morning to make sure he was leaning back in his easy chair, pressing the buttons on the TV remote, and not running around Starwood Park, trying to fix things. Gio and Maria’s mom brought him lunch in the afternoon. And my mom brought him dinner.
“Sorry these burritos are from a microwave box,” Mom said. “On Sunday, I’ll cook you something from scratch.”
“No need, Mrs. Ramos,” he said. “I’m a bachelor. I’m used to eating food from the freezer.”
We all laughed. Then we got busy eating.
After dinner, we found out why Mr. Vaslov was on the roof.
“I heard Gio crying. Then, I saw his ball blown away by the wind,” he began.
“So you went up on the roof to get it for him,” I said.
“Yes,” Mr. Vaslov continued. “But when I got up there, the ball rolled away from me. I slipped and knocked the ladder down.”
“Oh, no!” Mom put her hands on her cheeks.
“That’s why you called me!” I said.
“Right,” Mr. Vaslov said. “We couldn’t talk because my phone went dead.”
“And you were too far away for anyone to hear you yell for help,” Mom said.
“Right again,” Mr. Vaslov said. “When it got dark, I figured I might as well fall asleep. No one could see me until the morning.”
“I’m glad Freddie found you so early,” Mom said.
“Me, too.” Mr. Vaslov leaned over in his easy chair to pat my shoulder. “Freddie’s my hero.”
Wow! Both my mom and Mr. Vaslov thought I was a hero. It sure felt better than being stuck in a tree. Was it time to give myself a superhero name? Could I get a special suit that didn’t look like my pajamas?
A week later, the doctor said it was all right for Mr. Vaslov to go to his toolshed on crutches. I helped him get settled.
“It’s nice to be back here,” Mr. Vaslov said.
We both looked at the table. My purple wristband was there, just where Mr. Vaslov had left it. Since he didn’t know I’d taken it without asking, I figured it might be a good idea to put it back until his ankle felt better.
“So tell me,” Mr. Vaslov said. “How did the wristband work?”
I looked down at the floor. “You know I took it?”
“The wristband was on your arm when you rescued me from the roof,” Mr. Vaslov said.
Mr. Vaslov sure paid attention to everything. That must be part of being a smart inventor. It was time to ask him about my new Zapato Power.
“Super bounce?” Mr. Vaslov laughed. “The wristband button makes you jump in the air?”
“You didn’t give me that power on purpose?”
Mr. Vaslov shook his bushy gray head. “Lots of inventions are made by mistake.”
I’d wondered about that. The purple wristband was supposed to give me controls for my super speed. Instead, it gave me super bounce!
Mr. Vaslov chuckled again. “So that’s how you saw me on the roof.”
I nodded my head. “I still shouldn’t have taken the wristband without asking.”
“True! But my new invention helped you save me.”
He handed me the purple wristband. I held it in my hands, watching the light flash in the one clear button. With the wristband I could control my super bounce, but not my super speed. I handed it back to Mr. Vaslov.
“Do you think you could add one extra button?”
Freddie Ramos Takes Off
One day Freddie Ramos comes home from school and finds a strange box just for him. What’s inside? ZAPATO POWER—shoes that change Freddie’s life by giving him super speed!
Here is a sneak peek at Freddie’s next adventure!
Freddie Ramos Zooms to the Rescue
1. A Squirrel in School
“Is that a new watch?” my friend Geraldo asked as we walked into class.
“No,” I said, looking down at my right arm. “Just a wristband.”
“The flashing lights are cool,” Geraldo said.
I covered my wrist with my left hand. Geraldo had no idea what those clear flashing buttons could do. If I pressed one, I could zoom out of the classroom in a cloud of smoke. My wristband controlled my Zapato Power, the purple sneakers I wore to school every day, ready to be a hero.
Except there weren’t too many superhero jobs at Starwood Elementary. The last person who cried “Help!” was my friend Maria, when she dropped her pencil box. Most days were filled with math, social studies, art, and other normal stuff.
Luckily, that day was different, thanks to a gray squirrel with a long bushy tail.
We saw him, coming in from recess. He dashed right by our teacher, Mrs. Lane, as she was holding open the door.
“Look!” Maria shouted. “A squirrel!”
“EEEEEEE!”
A squirrel running in the school sure got people excited. My class chased after it. Everyone rushed out of their classrooms to watch. The principal, Mrs. Connor, came out of her office. I smiled. This was NOT going to be another boring, quiet day at Starwood Elementary.
“STAY AWAY!” Mrs. Connor shouted. She put her hand up like a crossing guard. “SQUIRRELS CAN BE DANGEROUS!”
Dangerous? That word got my superhero radar going! I never thought I’d need to save my school from a squirrel, but any hero job was a job for me.
A long gray tail dashed around the corner. I tapped my wristband and took off.
My purple zapatos give me super speed. I can run faster than a squirrel. I can run faster than a train. And best of all, you only see a puff of smoke when I pass.
I heard more screaming and followed the noise to the music room, where kids were jumping.
“SQUIRREL!” they shouted. “THAT WAY!”
With super speed, I could search the whole building in two blinks. The problem was finding the squirrel. Squirrels are not just fast, they’re small. They can hide.
I ran through the school three times, listening for screams. No luck! I was just about to give up when I saw a flash of gray run into the kindergarten hall. The kindergartners only go half day, so the rooms were quiet. I tiptoed through an open door. Bingo! Something gray and fluffy was sitting on the windowsill, with his paws raised, like he was begging to go outside. Poor squirrel!
I opened a window for him on the other side of the room. Now all I had to do was get him moving.
“BOO!” I stamped my foot. The squirrel ran, but towards the open door, not the window. OOPS! I should have thought of that.
I slammed the door. The squirrel spun around, saw the open window, and escaped.
Freddie, the superhero, saved Starwood Elementary from a squirrel! I was happy until the principal charged into the room.
“Freddie Ramos,” Mrs. Connor asked, “did you slam that door?”
Superheroes are supposed to work in secret. That’s why so many of them have masks. I didn’t have a mask, so I had to talk as fast as I could run.
“Yes, but I was helping get rid of the squirrel.”
Mrs. Connor pointed to herself. “That pest is my problem, not yours, Freddie.”
The principal marched me back to Mrs. Lane and told her to keep an eye on me. Secret superheroes don’t get much credit.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Illustrations © 2010 by Miguel Benitez
Copyright © 2010 by Jacqueline Jules
978-1-4804-6182-6
Published by Albert Whitman & Company
250 South Northwest Highway, Suite 320
Park Ridge, Illinois 60068
www.albertwhitman.com
Distributed in 2013 by Open Road Distribution
345 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10014
www.openroadmedia.com
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Freddie Ramos Springs into Action Page 2