Who is Killing the Great Capes of Heropa(66)
“Defending the little man. A simple but worthy pursuit. Never once led astray?”
“How do you mean?”
“By the prejudices of the era, or the people publishing the comic?”
“Sure. You’ve got to sift through this stuff and place it in context. The Soviets and geriatric Nazis get a bad rap, but overall Cap was a decent human being, and Jack Kirby drew him so damned well — even if the character, along with the suit, was too patriotically American.”
“Hence the name. Interesting.”
The Professor commenced filling a corncob pipe from a tin marked Capstan Navy Cut. It sat precariously on his lap.
“Now that we have superheroes out of the way — what is it to be human, Jack?”
Well, this was an offbeat tangent. Why not?
“The way I understand it, Homo sapiens developed in Africa, broke away from there to take over the world, dominated everything — then, finally, depopulated most of the place.”
“The sad Homo sapien genome story in a prize nutshell, to be sure, and let me add we still share ninety-nine percent of our DNA with chimpanzees.” The man poked about his pipe with a matchstick — tamping, Jack guessed. “No, I’m thinking on a more philosophical level — what is it, exactly, that defines us as human?”
“Haven’t thought much about that before now.”
“Go on, then.”
“I don’t know. Breathing?”
“All animals breathe.”
“Good dress-sense.”
“Debatable.”
“Thinking, then.”
“What’s to say some of our animal friends don’t have the capacity for cognition?” The Professor dropped his match on the table, fished out a pigskin-and-nickel lighter, and lit up. He burned his hand in the process and stuck a finger in his mouth. “Ouch.”
“All right.” Jack raised an eyebrow. “The ability to learn from something and avoid doing it again.”
“Well said. I liked the droll flourish. One lesson that always escapes me.” The Professor held up his pipe in mock salute. “A condition reflex. Something animals are also capable of — remember Ivan Pavlov’s dogs.”
“Whose dogs?”
“Oh, it matters not — I prevaricate.”
“I think you also expect better responses.”
“Or barks? No, no. Let’s continue, shall we?”
Do we have to? Jack thought.
“Shall I steer us via the psychological characteristics that all people are supposed to have in common? The ‘human condition’ that tells one the sum total of experience existing as a human being? Do we look at the nature of humanity, which is the act of tending for kin and befriending others? Self-awareness as the litmus test of humanity? Indeed. The qualities of introspection and the ability to reconcile oneself from the whole — in terms of knowledge, attitude, good and bad taste. ‘I think, therefore I exist’, and all those other throwaway philosophical nuggets?”
The man puffed at his pipe and exhaled towards the ceiling, waiting.
“I have no idea,” Jack finally admitted.
“Well, think about it. Humans search for purpose and thrive on new stimuli, correct?”
“I guess.”
The old man’s eyes twinkled. “You’ll have to do better than that, Jack.”
“Okay — yeah, they do.”
“Then humanity is all about a sense of curiosity, sapience, an ongoing search for the meaning of life, and obviously an anxiety about death. Living life demonstrates to us what it’s like to live, and thereby shows clearly the nature of being human.”
The Equalizer stared at the Professor for a while, soaking up the commentary, feeling bamboozled — thank Christ, Louise stepped in and broke the highbrowed moment.
“Hello, you two. Who’s up for coffee?”
Jack jumped to his feet. “Actually, I was hoping you might be up for dinner.”
“That’d be lovely. What about you, Prof?”
“By all means, children. The night is young — for the young. I need to close up shop, and then joyfully potter through mundane accounting. Go and have fun.”
Taking Louise by the arm, fetching his hat, and walking her out of the store, Jack finally relaxed.
“Know any decent places round here? I’m lost.”
“Sure. There’s always Jim Hammond’s over there.” Louise pointed across the road at a place painted on the outside various shades of red and orange, mimicking fire. “Cheap, really sweet people, and they do a great barbecue.”
“Do we need to B.Y.O. fire-extinguisher?”
Louise nudged him. “Oh, you!”
“Okay. Yum. I’m up for that.”