“Thanks for helping us, lady.”
“Sure,” I say, smiling and feeling ridiculously warm inside. I’m about to dash off when he pulls on my hand.
“Are you Superman or something?”
“Something like that,” I say.
“I thought so,” he nods sagely. I smile again and escape into the shadows. A moment later, he goes running into the crowd for his mother and a fireman. I watch from the sidelines as he diligently brings a fireman over to the linebacker. My heart is swelling with happiness. It’s almost as good as being in love.
I sneak into bed less than an hour before sunrise. Clark rolls over into me, his warmth mixing with mine and I feel a tear between us. A tear between this perfect thing I have with him, and the perfect thing I was doing an hour ago. I know that I can’t have them both. There’s going to be a moment when I have to choose.
In the morning, eating cereal with Clark, Jake, and Ryan I see both Sam and Richie on the news and almost lose my Cheerios right back up into my bowl.
“Superman saved us!” Richie yells at the TV, pointing to his Superman pajamas.
Sam shakes his head solemnly. “Uh-uh,” he says. “Not Superman, it was a girl…it was…Wonder Woman, but her hair was different.”
Richie pushes him. “Was not Wonder Woman! Wonder Woman wears a swimsuit, she didn’t have on no swimsuit!”
Sam pokes at Richie’s Superman logo. “Well, she didn’t have a cape neither!” he says, certain that that proves his case. The reporter laughs and the cameraman pulls back on the shot, focusing on the reporter while Sam and Richie jostle one another in the background.
“Those kids are awesome,” Ryan says, stuffing cereal in his mouth. Jake nods his head vigorously in agreement and I’m just sitting there, my mouth hanging open, petrified about what might come next.
The reporter smiles brightly through the TV. “Well you heard it here first Paul, Superman, or Wonder Woman, definitely saved these boys and another tenant from a burning building last night,” she says, touching her ear as she listens to the in studio newscaster. The television goes to a split screen and the newscaster asks some follow up questions and I continue to hold my breath.
“No information on the identity of this Superman though, Lane?”
“Unfortunately no Paul. Our only witnesses are Sam and Richie here as the other gentlemen in question was passed out cold and has no recollection of the event. But whoever it was, they surely saved three lives as firefighters claim that, due to the nature of the fire and quickness with which is spread and the location, it’s unlikely they would have been able to get to the tenants on the upper floors in time…back to you, Paul,” the reporter adds with a toothy smile. Clark gets up and puts a hand on my shoulder lightly. I jump what feels like three feet in the air.
“Whoa. You okay?” he asks. I nod and swallow a bit of Cherrios lodged in my throat.
“Mmmhmm,” I say and force a smile.
“You ready to go?” he asks and motions to the door.
“Oh, yeah,” I say, startled, “The park. Yes. Ready!” I grab my jacket and we head out the door together, Clark shouting goodbyes to Jake and Ryan who make teasing kissing sounds at us as we leave. The sight of my two worlds colliding is unsettling to say the least. I should seriously consider investing in a mask.
And I resolve never to stay over at Clark’s place again. It’s too dangerous. Too complicated.
A few weeks later, after a late brunch, we’re walking back to Clark’s apartment when we’re suddenly overrun by kittens in the street. I think I’m dreaming at first, that I’ve stumbled into another world and everything seems like it’s on pause, then Clark looks at his feet and lifts one to narrowly avoid a rogue kitty.
“What the hell?!” he says turning around and watching three or four kitties run around the sidewalk and dash into the street. Taxis screech to a halt. Horns start and the noise of the city crashes in on me.
“You see them too?” I breathe desperately. He looks at me, one eyebrow cocked.
“Of course I see them – they’re everywhere!” he says and then, “C’mon, We’ve got to help round them up.” We spend the next half hour chasing kitties around the street, gathering them up and returning them to the owner. They belong to some woman in the park adopting them out to people as part of some kind of pet rescue. The last kitty, a particularly clever one, will just not be caught. It takes both Clark and I, and finally me, cheating, quietly using my super speed, to catch her. The adoption woman lets us take her home as a thank you, after properly grilling us on how the kitten will be cared for. We don’t argue in front of the woman about whose place the kitty is actually going to be living in, but since I don’t know how Liesel and Ben feel about kittens, I suspect Clark will win that fight. I wrap her up in my arms and nuzzle her. She scratches my face. I don’t think I’ve ever had a pet before, I’m very excited about it.