Superkid

by Christina Barr

  “Mom! Dad!” They ran over to me quick. “I can’t find my shoes!”

  Mom helped us go through all the shoes again, and she put them back on the shelves, but they weren’t there. We were sure.

  Dad went to the lost and found, but my shoes weren’t there. They asked the workers there if they knew anything about my shoes. Dad described my shoes to them and everything, but they didn’t know where they were.

  They were gone! My shoes that made me special were gone, because somebody had stolen them.

  I only knew of one person evil enough to do such a thing. “Brock!”

  Chapter 14

  We tried looking for Brock, but he was gone. He probably left with my shoes when those kids jumped me. Dad said he couldn’t fix the problem that night, so he had to carry me to the car, because I didn’t have any shoes. It was humiliating.

  I didn’t want to cry, but I felt tears coming to my eyes. I was sad about my shoes and angry at Brock, but I also felt wronged. It was wrong what happened to me. If I couldn’t get my shoes back, then I was gonna lose what made me special. I couldn’t explain how important it was to Mom and Dad. They wouldn’t understand, and if I tried to explain it, they would tell me that it was all in my head.

  The only person who would understand was Kiara. I wanted to talk to her in the car, but I was too upset. I knew if I talked about my shoes, I would cry. I couldn’t cry in front of her. I wouldn’t even look at her, because I was scared she would say something.

  I didn’t say anything to her until we got to her house. “Bye.”

  “Bye.” She opened the door and got out. Dad wouldn’t leave until her dad opened the door and let her inside.

  Then I started crying for real. “Can you get my shoes back?”

  Dad hadn’t started driving yet, so he turned around to look at me. I knew he felt bad and he was angry too. “I’m gonna do my best, but—”

  “But nothing, Dad! I need my shoes! Can’t you talk to Brock’s parents?”

  “Felix, you don’t know if it was Brock.”

  “It had to be,” I yelled. “He tried to steal them before.”

  Dad looked real mad. “Why didn’t you tell me that?”

  I shrugged. I didn’t realize it then, but I was embarrassed that I was getting picked on. Even if Kiara and I had beaten them up, I still didn’t want to talk about how all the kids on the playground except for one hated me. Even if Dad used to get picked on, things were different since he was grown. He was respected.

  “I can talk to his dad,” he said, “but I can’t get it back unless his parents give it back. Sometimes, parents are very sensitive about their kids. I can’t guarantee that I can get your shoes back.”

  I loved those shoes. I bonded with those shoes, but I could get another pair if I needed to. “Then buy me some more.”

  Dad sighed really heavy. “Felix, I think that’s even more impossible. Maybe I can find some by Christmas.”

  “Christmas?” I shrieked. “I need them for Halloween.”

  “Felix, they were nearly impossible to find when I got them. I gave a parent a discount for braces to get those shoes for you. That was last month. I probably couldn’t even get you a pair until next year.”

  “Next year?” I knew he was trying hard. I knew he was saying important stuff that explained why he might fail. I didn’t understand it all, but I knew he was gonna try hard. I couldn’t think about that though. All I could think about was how I lost what made me special.

  “Felix, I know how terrible it is when someone steals something from you. It’s like a violation.”

  “I don’t know what you mean.” I tried to wipe my eyes and stop crying, but I couldn’t help it.

  “It’s like you’ve been wronged,” he explained. “You’re supposed to feel safe with the things that are yours and then someone destroys that safety. It’s not right, and I never wanted it to have to happen to you.”

  Then he stopped being mad and sad and he got serious. “I promise I will do what I can, but my best is all I can promise. I can’t promise you a miracle.”

  I stopped crying after he said that. Dad couldn’t do everything. I knew that. He could barely have fun. If he couldn’t give me a miracle, I was gonna ask someone who could.

  The next day was Sunday, and we went to church. I didn’t like church a lot. I mean, it was pretty boring when the preacher was up. I didn’t really get what he was saying most of the time. Sunday school was fun though. We colored pictures and sang songs. We learned some stuff about people in the Bible, but our books had pictures. That was pretty cool.

  We always had a little break after Sunday school between church services. Mom always made Dad take me to the bathroom, but I made sure to go during Sunday school so I could use my time to go to the altar and ask God to bring me a new pair of special shoes.

  When I got to the altar, I got on my knees and prayed like the grownups did. Then I closed my eyes. For some reason, it was very important.

  “Felix?” Mom asked, “What are you doing?”

  I opened my eyes. “I’m gonna say a prayer to God so he’ll give me my shoes. He makes miracles, doesn’t he?”

  She kind of laughed, but I didn’t see what was so funny. “Yeah, but—”

  “Then this is what I have to do.” I closed my eyes again and thought about the right words to say.

  Mom sat next to me on the altar and asked me, “Why don’t you say your prayer out loud?”

  I opened my eyes and looked at her confused. “Isn’t prayer supposed to be private?”

  “Not always.” Then she smiled and pinched my cheeks, which I think was worse than when Dad messed up my hair. “Besides, I’m your mom. You don’t really get to have a private anything when I’m involved. I’ve got to make sure my baby is okay.”

  I knew she was right for some reason. I would let her listen in on my prayer. Maybe she could tell me if I was doing something wrong. I needed it to be perfect so I could get my shoes back.

  I closed my eyes and clasped my hands together really tight. “Dear God, this is Felix.” I felt really weird and kind of guilty. Mom thought I prayed right before I went to sleep, but sometimes I’d just go to sleep. God knew that! He wouldn’t give shoes to a slacker. “I know sometimes I forget to say my bedtime prayers, but please forgive me.”

  I was already starting to feel better about the prayer. “I’ve kind of got a favor to ask. I guess you know about my shoes. I’m pretty sure Brock stole them.” I started to get mad and I thought about asking God for a lightning bolt to hit Brock, but Mom said I shouldn’t wish bad things on people. Maybe I would have anyway, but she was listening to my prayer. “Maybe you could tattle on him. That would be great.”

  Mom chuckled to herself, and I opened my eyes to glare at her. It was a very serious thing I was doing. Then she stopped and closed her eyes. Then I closed mine again.

  “It would also be good if you got me another pair of special shoes. You know which ones. They’re white and red with wings on them.”

  I couldn’t tell God to make sure they come with super powers because Mom was there, but I was sure he already knew. If he didn’t, I would give him a hint. “They’re pretty cool, and I feel cool in them. If it’s not too much trouble to ask, please give me those shoes before Halloween. Love, Felix.”

  I opened my eyes and smiled. “I’m done.”

  We both stood up. “That was a lovely prayer, Felix.”

  I thought it was a good one. Any day, I knew God was gonna give me my shoes. Either Brock would get caught, or I would get a new pair.

  I kind of wanted Brock to get caught. I did want him to get in trouble for what he had done to me. I knew that dummy would have on my shoes in class. It was sort of like I was itchy on the inside on the way to school. I guess I was excited, but it wasn’t the happy kind of excited.

  Then when I came into the classroom and saw Brock, he didn’t have on my shoes.

  “He’s not that stupid,” Kiara whispered durin
g Ms. Hucklebee’s lesson.

  “I thought he was.” I was frowning all day long.

  Then on the way home from school, I was excited again. After Dad parked the car in the garage, I didn’t go inside the house. I ran right for the mailbox and opened it up, but it was empty.

  “What are you looking for?” Dad asked.

  “For my miracle.”

  Dad laughed. “I don’t know if angels deliver in mailboxes.”

  I frowned again. If they didn’t deliver in mailboxes, then what did they use?

  Dad said that he talked to Brock’s dad. I guess his dad was mad that we would say something so true about Brock. Then he asked Brock, and, of course, Brock lied and said that he didn’t take them. He searched Brock’s room when he was at school, and he didn’t find them. After that, Dad said that he really couldn’t do anything about Brock.

  I had to depend on God to somehow deliver me a new pair of shoes. Dad said it was even more impossible, but I was sure I was gonna get my miracle. Because it would be miracle shoes, I bet my super powers would increase at least three times. I bet I’d be able to fly!

  Halloween was in two weeks, and for the next two weeks, I waited. I checked the mail. I checked the chimney. I checked my closet. I checked under my bed. I even journeyed down to the dreaded basement to see if my miracle was under the boxed-up Christmas tree, and I still couldn’t find it!

  What was God waiting on anyway? I was starting to panic. What if I had done something wrong? What if my prayer was bad? What if it was like a birthday wish and nobody was supposed to hear it? What if God was still mad about the bedtime prayers? I hadn’t missed one since I asked for forgiveness. I used that time to remind God about my shoes.

  I had to take matters into my own hands. Because I was Mom’s special helper for Halloween, I made sure to go with her to the store. While she was looking for ingredients and decorations, I was looking around for shoes. I didn’t tell her that, because she thought it was hopeless. I didn’t care what Mom and Dad said. I had to try. I couldn’t find anything though.

  Then the day before Halloween came. I had to do something, or I couldn’t be Superkid ever again.

  When Kiara and I were cleaning our paints at the sink in class, I told her, “We have to do something about Brock.”

  She shrugged. “I can beat him up.”

  “I can beat him up.”

  “It’s better if I do it. Just trust me.” She was the one with the brain, so I was gonna let her take the lead. I just wanted my shoes.

  At recess, we went to Brock’s corner of the playground. We usually avoided it. I especially did since I didn’t have my shoes. We couldn’t be safe anymore, but we had to do something crazy if I wanted my shoes.

  Brock and his friends were playing tag. We were kind of standing around and watching for a while, but then Kiara suddenly snapped and ran after Brock. He didn’t notice she was after him until he was trapped near the fence and had nowhere to run. Then she slammed him against the fence.

  “Please let me go!” he yelled.

  “No,” she said, “not unless you do what we want.”

  The guys stopped running around. Some of them were getting ready to fight Kiara, but most of them started laughing and making fun of Brock. It was pretty bad that he was so scared of a girl.

  I ran up next to Kiara in case I would need to protect her. I didn’t know if we could defeat all of them without my shoes, but I sure knew that we would make it out alive.

  “What do you want?” he asked.

  “Did you take Felix’s shoes?”

  “No!”

  “You sure?” She grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back.

  “Ow!” He started to cry, and I felt really bad.

  Kiara didn’t really seem to care all that much. I was beginning to see what was so scary about her. “Tell me the truth!” she yelled.

  “Okay, I took them. Just let me go.”

  She let him go, but I was ready to fight him then. I was about to hit him, but Kiara reached out her hand and held me back. “We wanted the truth. We don’t have to beat him up unless he doesn’t cooperate.”

  I crossed my arms and glared at him. “Are you gonna cooperate?”

  He nodded slowly. I really needed a new arch nemesis if he was that scared.

  “Where are my shoes?”

  He kept his head down and talked real quiet. “Dad asked me about them, and I knew he was gonna look for them, so I threw them away.”

  I was shocked. I never would have guessed that he would do that. He wanted my shoes. That’s why he tried to take them. That’s why he took them! He couldn’t have just thrown them away like they meant nothing. “Can’t you get them out of the garbage?” I asked.

  He shook his head even slower. “I threw them out in the trash can on garbage day.”

  I just couldn’t believe it. There had to be another way.

  Kiara turned to me. “They’re gone, Felix.”

  I did so much good with those shoes. He absolutely ruined Superkid, and he doomed the world! I couldn’t let him go unpunished. With or without super powers, I was gonna kick his butt!

  I jumped at him and knocked him to the ground. He started yelling for help, and for me to stop, but I punched him in the cheek anyway. Then I felt a bunch of people pulling me off of him, including Kiara. He ended up running away and went right to a teacher. None of the other kids tattled on him, but he tattled on me.

  Kiara and I had to go to the principal’s office. Dad was at work, so they had to call my mom, which was worse than calling Dad. Dad usually gave me worse punishments than Mom, but he thought it was okay to fight sometimes. I expected Mom to cry for five hours and probably keep me from trick-or-treating.

  Kiara’s dad was really mad when he picked her up. She was in the office, but I heard him yell at her. When they came out, Kiara was wiping her eyes. I never saw her cry before, so I knew it must have been bad. When they left, she waved goodbye. Her dad wouldn’t let her stop and talk to me.

  Then Mom came and we had to go in the principal’s office. The principal told Mom that Kiara and I had attacked Brock and a bunch of kids saw it. I tried to tell them about the shoes, but the principal said she couldn’t do anything about the shoes because it happened outside of school. They made me go home early and said I couldn’t go to school the next day. I was gonna miss the school’s Halloween party and march around the school.

  I really did hate that stupid Brock. Mom told me once that I shouldn’t hate anyone, but I did. I hated Brock, and he needed a better punishment than being punched in the face. Why didn’t I ask for the lightning bolt when I had the chance?

  The only good thing was that Mom didn’t cry. She was pretty calm about it. She didn’t like that I fought, but she didn’t cry.

  I don’t think I could have taken her crying. I planned on crying enough tears for the both of us that night. Brock’s dad couldn’t help, Brock threw my special shoes away, my parents couldn’t buy me some more, and God hadn’t given me my special miracle yet.

  I had to sit alone in the living room for a while. That was my punishment for fighting. It wasn’t too bad, but it was really boring. Mom didn’t send me to my room, because I had too many toys in there. I’d get in even more trouble if I ran and jumped around in there. All I had to do was sit still and be upset about how everything was terrible.

  When Mom took a break from cooking, she came into the living room with a bag and sat it down by her feet. “You lose your shoes, and you become a bully, Felix?”

  Then I felt super bad! I didn’t want to be a bully. I wanted to be her good boy. I didn’t want her to be disappointed in me. “I just wanted my shoes.” I started to wipe my eyes, because I was about to cry.

  “I know, and I’m sorry that Brock stole them. I really am. It still wasn’t right for you and Kiara to attack him like that. School is a place where you learn and grow.”

  “But I needed my shoes before Halloween. I didn’t mean to attack Br
ock. I was just so mad!”

  “Actions have consequences.”

  There was my true enemy showing its ugly head once again. I hated consequences! It always ruined everything.

  “I should cancel trick-or-treating,” she said.

  I got really nervous. I couldn’t let Kiara and Li down. They were depending on me to come with them. “Are you?” I asked.

  She shrugged her shoulders. “Your dad says I shouldn’t. He says you’re a good boy and that you would understand if I talked to you about this.”

  I wished he thought about that before so many of my other spankings. “Talking works.”

  “Not always,” she said. “Remember the lake?”

  It seemed like such a long time ago. I hadn’t really thought about it. I kept trying to jump in that lake, because I thought I could swim. I didn’t really know how to swim though. I almost drowned the other day in the pool. If Dad wouldn’t have stopped me in the lake…

  I didn’t understand before. I might have hurt myself, all because I wouldn’t believe Dad. He had to move us away, because it was the only way to keep me safe. I would have jumped in the lake eventually. I was determined to do it.

  I guess parents really did know best. I didn’t always understand their reasons and decisions, but I guess they knew what they were talking about.

  I guess consequences weren’t really that evil after all.

  “He also said it was my call, because I’m your mommy. I should play the bad guy sometimes.”

  I wasn’t planning on being so stubborn anymore. “I wanna be a good boy, Mom. I’m not gonna attack anybody anymore.”

  I waited for her decision. Either she would let it go or punish me. “I want you to defend yourself, though. That’s the only time.”

  I smiled and hugged her. “I promise.”

  She hugged me back and squeezed me tight. She kissed my forehead, but I didn’t really mind that much. “I’ve got something to give you.”

  I looked down and saw the bag sitting by her feet. It was box shaped, so I got excited. The last time she had something for me that was box shaped it was my Super Max Air Shoes! I knew it had to be them. She pulled through some kind of way.