Superkid

by Christina Barr

  “These are for you.” She pulled a shoe box out of the bag and I got all excited. The picture on the box was of my shoes! It made me so happy that she found them some kind of way. I got my miracle.

  Then she opened the box and pulled out two tennis shoes. They were red and white with wings on them, but they weren’t Max Air shoes. “Those aren’t it,” I told her.

  “I know. They’re different.”

  I looked at the shoes. They looked like a fine pair of shoes, but they weren’t the right kind. “Why didn’t God give me the right ones?”

  “I was right there. This is what you asked for.”

  I did remember that prayer. I guess I never did say that I wanted Super Max Air Shoes. “Shouldn’t he know better?”

  Mom was starting to get angry. “Felix, you have a lot of nice things. We had to make a lot of big changes for you to be safe. Do you know how scary that was?”

  I didn’t really think about how weird the move must have been for Mom and Dad. They seemed the same to me. “I guess.”

  “We got you the shoes as soon as you asked for them last time. I searched in the stores and on the Internet, but I couldn’t find a single pair. We’re lucky your dad got them before!”

  Dad told me that already! “I know that.”

  “But you don’t understand,” she said. “Baby, sometimes you have to be grateful for what you have. When you’re not grateful and you just start to expect things, that’s when you become spoiled.”

  I felt a shock on the inside again. I didn’t want to be spoiled. Heroes were supposed to be selfless. “I’m sorry.” I had to stop myself from somehow becoming spoiled. It was the first step to becoming completely evil.

  “I know these aren’t your shoes. I bought these and fixed them up as much as I could. That was the best your dad and I could do for you.”

  I felt like a little jerk. “I’m really sorry, Momma.” I hugged her and gave her a kiss. I hoped she would know how truly sorry I was.

  “Here.” She put the shoes in my hands.

  I can’t say that I felt a powerful force or anything. They just felt like shoes in my hands. They were what I asked for, except one special thing was added on—a yellow “S”.

  “You’re still Superkid, right?”

  I nodded. “Yeah.” I had to wear those shoes. I don’t know how she made them like that for me, but it was just too cool. She didn’t even know how important Superkid was to the world. She made those shoes because they were important to me.

  “Should I thank you or should I thank God?” I asked.

  “You can thank God for me and your dad. Kids are born with parents. They’re supposed to take care of you. And he gave me you, so I could have someone else to love.”

  I smiled. “It’s a lot better than a doll, right?”

  “You’re way better than a doll!” She pinched my cheeks again. She just loved my dimples, and I guess she couldn’t help herself.

  “Can I go to my room now? I wanna try these on.”

  “As long as I don’t catch you playing with any toys! You’re still punished tonight.”

  I didn’t wanna still be punished, but maybe it was good that I didn’t play with my toys or anything. I needed to be unselfish so I could separate myself from evil.

  When I got to my room, I put on my shoes and looked into the mirror. They felt funny, like when you first put on a new pair of shoes. I walked around a little bit. My feet didn’t hurt, so they fit fine. I walked to my mirror so I could look at myself in them. They looked cool enough, but I didn’t know if they would help me save the world at all.

  “First things first,” I said to myself. “I have to get through Halloween.”

  Chapter 15

  On Halloween, Kiara and I weren’t allowed to go to school. Li only went half days. They both came over in the afternoon to help Mom set up for her party. Kiara’s dad thought it would be good punishment for Kiara to work, plus they didn’t have anyone else to really watch her. She was upset when she first came over, so I felt bad for her.

  I didn’t think decorating would be so hard, but it was. Mom had me, Li, and Kiara blow up balloons. Kiara was the only one who could tie it, so I did most of the blowing up. It was starting to hurt my head, and Kiara’s fingers were starting to hurt her too.

  “This is hard work,” Li said.

  Kiara spoke under her breath. “I guess my dad will be happy.”

  I felt guilty. She was only trying to help me when she attacked Brock. “Did you get into a lot of trouble?”

  “I didn’t get a spanking, but I don’t like being yelled at.”

  I felt really bad. I had to make it up to her somehow. “We’re gonna have a nice time trick-or-treating.” I grabbed her hand and smiled. “I promise.”

  She looked at our hands and then she started to turn red. Then she smiled and turned her head away. “Oh, Felix.”

  “Felix!” Mom called.

  I stood up on the couch and turned around so I could see her. “Yes, Mom?”

  “I need some help in the kitchen.”

  We helped Mom a whole lot. We frosted cakes and cookies, and we set out snacks and stuff. She wanted lots of streamers and balloons put up all over the house. Mom didn’t really have a lot of scary stuff though. She said it was more like a costume party than a scary one.

  By the time we were all done and completely pooped, we had to change into our superhero outfits. Mom had just washed my cape, so it felt pretty special and smelled nice. I felt the right kind of spark when I put it on too. I still didn’t think I was feeling anything special from my shoes, but I was trying to believe in them. They were my “miracle of hard work and love” shoes. That had to count for something.

  Stickman’s and Princess Lady Diva’s superhero outfits didn’t change at all. I was the only one who had something different, and they thought my shoes were pretty cool when I came out of my room.

  “Wow!” Stickman said.

  “I like them,” Princess Lady Diva said. “They’re unique. Christmas time, every kid in the world will have those Super Max Air Shoes. You’ll be the only one with Superkid Shoes.”

  I started thinking about all those kids who would have Super Max Air Shoes. “You don’t think they’ll all have super powers, do you?”

  Princess Lady Diva smiled. “I’m sure you were the only one who was worthy enough to have the super powers.”

  I guess she must have thought I was pretty special. It did make me feel special that she always believed in me. Maybe the cape would be enough or maybe Mom made me special shoes. I didn’t know, but I had a funny feeling that I would figure it out sooner or later.

  Mom got her camera and took a billion pictures of us as superheroes. Princess Lady Diva really liked taking pictures. She had a million different poses. I had a couple, but Stickman had trouble trying to figure out how to pose with his stick. I’m glad he liked it, even though it was really just from a broom.

  “You all look so adorable!” Mom said. “I’m so glad I got to make some part of your costume, Felix.”

  I didn’t like that she thought it was just a costume, but I smiled. I was glad that Mom was happy. “Thank you for the shoes.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. You three are going to help me with cleanup when you get back.”

  We all moaned and groaned. I almost forgot about that and I was already kind of tired. Mom sure knew how to make the most out of a deal.

  The doorbell rang, and Mom hurried to go open it. I guess she thought it was a guest for her party. I went to the door and Princess Lady Diva and Stickman followed me. I think we all wanted to know what kind of friends my mom had.

  When she opened the door, it was a girl who was younger than Mom, but much older than us. She looked like Stickman, but she was dressed in shiny black clothes, and her eyes and lips were dark.

  Mom looked nervous. “Nice costume.”

  “It’s not really a costume,” she said.

  “That’s my sister,” Stickman s
aid.

  I could tell that Mom didn’t really like her much. “Your mom says you babysit all the time.”

  “I do. I took Li trick-or-treating last year. The kids are in good hands.”

  Mom turned around and looked at us. I knew she didn’t want us to go. She was always scared when I did something new without her. When I learned how to ride a bike, she freaked out. She wouldn’t even let me ride it if she wasn’t outside. That’s just how she was.

  I knew if I didn’t do something quick, she wasn’t gonna let us leave. “I really wanna go trick-or-treating.”

  She bit her lip and looked at me with her special puppy eyes. They were starting to work, but I crossed my arms and decided to stay strong. That’s what she did when she had to resist my puppy eyes, so I was gonna do it to her.

  “I’m not a baby,” I told her. “I’ll be okay.”

  “I know.” She smiled, but I could tell she was still nervous. “Superkid is gonna be really responsible, and you’re all gonna stick close. Right?”

  “Right,” I said.

  “Don’t worry,” Stickman’s sister said, “I’ve got this. I’m a professional.”

  Mom still didn’t want me to go. She kissed me on the cheeks five more times before she would let me leave the house. “Be careful.”

  “I know, I know.”

  I’m not sure how I made it out of the house without my mom or my dad, but we did it. We stepped through the doors with our candy bags, and she actually closed the door behind us. We were free.

  As soon as we got off the porch and went down the stairs to the sidewalk, Stickman’s sister stopped and crossed her arms. “Here’s the deal. I take you trick-or-treating, but I don’t do it for free. I want half your candy.”

  “No,” I said. “You can’t have half!”

  “Then maybe we don’t go to all the houses in the neighborhood.”

  Princess Lady Diva crossed her arms back and glared. “Then maybe we don’t care.”

  “Then maybe I get a sudden cold, and I can’t take you trick-or-treating.”

  My mouth dropped. I had never met a grownup who was so mean before.

  “I’ll tell Mrs. Brown on you!” Princess Lady Diva yelled.

  “I’m sixteen,” she said. “I can do what I want, and she’s still too busy to take you guys trick-or-treating.”

  “We better listen to Mei,” Stickman said. “She always gets away with stuff.”

  Princess Lady Diva was really mad, but there wasn’t anything we could do. Half was better than no candy. “You’ve got a deal,” I told her.

  Then she smiled evilly. “Then let’s start hitting some houses.”

  We weren’t so happy about trick-or-treating at first, but then it got better. We got caught up in running around from door to door asking for candy. We were trying to collect as much as we could so we would still have a lot after we split it.

  I didn’t get Mei. Kids as big as she was were running around and asking for candy. Her outfit looked like a costume. She could have gotten her own candy. Instead, she was just lazy. She didn’t even watch us real good. Then when we got around the corner, she saw some kids that she knew and started talking to them.

  “She’s not a very good babysitter,” Princess Lady Diva said to me and Stickman.

  “We’re not babies,” I told her. “She’s a bigger baby than we are.”

  “I’m sorry,” Stickman said. “I didn’t know she was gonna take our candy from us.”

  “At least we’re trick-or-treating,” I told them. It was more important that I was with my friends anyway. “Let’s hurry down the street.”

  I don’t think Mei was really watching us anymore. She was too busy talking with her friends. They were kind of scary looking. They had on black hoodies and masks with skeletons on them. They were trick-or-treating, but they weren’t as serious about it as we were.

  I figured it wasn’t a real big deal if we got ahead of Mei. We had to take care of ourselves, because she didn’t care about us. Besides, I was pretty sure she was pure evil, and she might have ended up doing something real bad to us anyway.

  When we got to the end of another street, we saw something terrible! Some big kids were picking on smaller kids. The smaller kids were screaming and crying, because the bigger ones were taking their candy.

  I couldn’t let the big kids get away with that. The only problem was that I wasn’t sure if I still had my super powers. One of the bullies was about my size, but the other two were bigger than us. They could have even been in the fifth grade!

  “What do we do, Superkid?” Stickman asked.

  My heart started racing. I didn’t know if I really believed in myself, but I didn’t want to stand by while those kids lost their Halloween candy.

  Then the kids stopped picking on the little kids, and they started coming toward us. They all had masks on, so I couldn’t see their faces. I knew they were mean though.

  “Gimme your candy!” The biggest one went right after Stickman’s bag!

  “No!” Stickman held on as tight as he could, but he was just a little kid with no super powers. He wasn’t gonna be able to stop them.

  I had to spring into action. “Come on, Princess Lady Diva!” We both tried to help Stickman, but then the other two kids started to pick on us and went after our bags.

  “Let go!” the smallest one yelled.

  “Brock?” I could recognize his evil voice from anywhere.

  He started pulling harder on my bag.

  “You steal my shoes and now you want our candy?” I wanted to yell at Brock some more, but he seemed really strong! Maybe I didn’t have my powers back, but I didn’t want to give up. I couldn’t let him steal from me again.

  Just when I thought Stickman was about to lose his candy, he lifted up his stick and hit his attacker in the arm.

  “Ow!” he yelled.

  Stickman kept hitting him over and over again as hard as he could. He refused to let go of his bag. After a few good swings, his bully let go and started to run away. Stickman just earned his right as a superhero. He defeated a kid twice his size!

  I wouldn’t let go of my bag. I planted my feet in the ground as much as I could. Brock wasn’t getting my bag unless he carried me along with it. I would rather see my candy bag explode all out into the streets before letting it fall into the hands of evil.

  Then Princess Lady Diva lost her grip, and the biggest bully started running away with her bag of candy.

  “No!” I yelled.

  Princess Lady Diva glared, and it was the scariest look I had ever seen on her face before. “You’re not getting away!” she yelled.

  She started running after the bully, but he was much too fast for her to catch. Like a real hero, she reached inside her utility belt and pulled out a handful of marbles. She rolled them into the street as fast and as strong as she could, and the marbles caught up with the bully. He started to lose his balance while trying to walk on the marbles and he landed flat on his butt.

  Princess Lady Diva threw her hands up in the air. “Yes!”

  She and Stickman ran after the bully and took her candy back while he was hurt.

  Then it was only me left. It was a showdown between me and Brock, my stupid arch nemesis. I would defeat him. I had to defeat him. “Let go!” I yelled.

  “Never!”

  Never, huh? I wasn’t gonna let him defeat me, and I was never gonna let him do something to me that would make me cry again. Not ever!

  I gripped on super tight to my bag with my left hand and then let go with my right hand. I then clenched it into the tightest fist I could make. “Take this, evil doer!” I punched Brock in the face; he let go of my bag and fell to the ground.

  I knocked his mask right off his face. That would teach him! Not only should he stop stealing, but he also should be more scared of me than Princess Lady Diva. After all, he was my arch nemesis.

  Brock and his bully buddies started running away. I didn’t know who they were. They were too
big to be his usual goons from school.

  I kind of thought all the kids around us were gonna start cheering, but they were all still pretty sad about their candy being stolen. The kid who was trying to defeat Stickman got away with most of the candy. Just because we were safe didn’t mean that evil was entirely defeated.

  I couldn’t look at all their sad faces. We had to do something. We were superheroes. It was our job to defeat evil and make the world a really cool place to live.

  “Listen up,” I said loud enough for all the kids to hear. “I know you all feel violated. Now you don’t feel safe. That’s stupid! We should all feel safe. This is our world, and we can’t let stupid jerks like Brock make us scared. We have to stand up and make this world a better place!”

  “Easy for you to say,” a little girl said. “You still have your candy.”

  They didn’t know that I knew what it was like to have something stolen, and I didn’t have enough time to really tell them about my shoes being taken away. That wasn’t really important anyway. What was important was that I be strong so I could show them how important it was to be strong.

  “I’m Superkid!” I yelled. Then I pointed to my partners. “These are my friends, Princess Lady Diva and Stickman. We do good and fight bad guys.” Then I smiled. “And we’re gonna get your candy back!”

  Chapter 16

  We came up with a plan fast to ditch Mei. We told the kids that if they came by my house the next day, they could pick up their stolen candy. Then we started running so we could lose Mei. I was pretty sure I could remember how to get back home. When we were far away enough, we stopped to catch our breath.

  “Aren’t we gonna get in trouble?” Stickman asked.

  “Big trouble,” Princess Lady Diva said. “But not as much as Mei.”

  “Do you even know where we’re going?” Stickman asked me.

  I kind of didn’t know what to say. I didn’t really know where we were supposed to go. I figured Brock would be in his evil hideout. If I had a tree house, it would be my hideout. We needed to get to Brock’s house, but I kind of didn’t know where it was.