Chapter 13: Enlightenment and Darkness

Wednesday, July 15, 2009 10:00 AM

“Miss Sanchez? Good to see you this morning. Please, come in.” Amanda Weaver stood up from behind her desk and greeted the three as they entered her office. “I trust you are in better spirits today?”

“Yes. Much better,” Tricia said, smiling and shaking the lawyer’s hand. “Thank you so very much for helping me last night.”

“My pleasure. And who do we have here?”

“These are my friends and roommates. This is Annie. Annie Friedman.”

Annie extended a hand and shook Amanda’s. “Shoolem Alaykhem. Pleased to meet you. I’ve been reading about you on Wikipedia; Legal council for EarthGuard members, congressional testimonies on behalf of super-humans ... Very impressive.”

Amanda paused momentarily as she processed Annie’s looks and voice, and nodded to her. “Alaykhem Shoolem,” she responded. “Pleased to meet you too, and the last I checked, my entry in Wikipedia is accurate.”

Annie did a double-take. “Oy! At long last! Somebody knows the correct response!”

Tricia grinned and gestured to Joey. “This is Joey Harper.”

“Pleased to meet you.” Amanda extended a hand to Joey.

“Hi,” he said shyly. He shifted his Harry Potter book to his other hand and shook hers.

“Please. Take a seat,” she said. Tricia and Joey took seats and Amanda returned to her chair behind her desk. The office was small, but covered with filled bookshelves, framed certificates, and newspaper stories. Photographs of Amanda Weaver with various superheroes adorned the walls. Tricia noted one photograph of her standing next to a white and red blur, and recognized the blur as Quantum Knight.

“Now, let me be up front about my fees. I normally charge two hundred dollars an hour, but I adjust according to my client’s income. So far, you have only required five minutes of my time, but because it was under a stressful situation, I consider last night pro bono. This initial consultation is free, so at the moment, you do not owe me anything.”

Tricia sighed. “That’s good to know. I’m running a little low right now.”

Amanda nodded. “Are you familiar with ASHA and all we do?”

“We were reading some of your literature in the waiting room,” Tricia said. “You help people with super-powers?”

“That is correct. It is ASHA’s position that the presence of super-powers does not denote the absence of humanity. We provide legal assistance, employment opportunities, educational assistance, service recommendations, and we lobby Congress for favorable legislation. Now, we met last night because you were suspected of possessing super-human abilities. According to the police report, fourteen people witnessed you performing feats of super-human strength. Is this an accurate description of your abilities?”

“You said that I was just having a bad hair day.”

“I said what I needed to say to convince Captain Smithfield to not test you.”

Annie chuckled under her breath. Joey looked at her. “What?” he asked.

“A policeman named Smithfield ... It’s the name of a brand of pork sausage,” she explained.

Amanda looked at Annie blankly. “Humorous. I never noticed that before,” she said nonchalantly, and she turned back to Tricia. “The police report described that you easily managed to break free from a full tackle from a three hundred pound man, and it took three men to subdue you. This sounds like a testimony of enhanced strength. Is this accurate?”

“I ... no. I don’t,” Tricia admitted. “It was actually...” she began, but she noticed Joey glaring at her. “Well, I’m not sure if I can talk about that right now.”

“If you cannot be upfront with me about your abilities, there is very little I can do to assist you. This consultation is confidential, so anything you say here stays here.”

“Oy! So it’s like we’re in Las Vegas!” Annie said.

Amanda gave Annie another blank look, and returned her attention to Tricia. Tricia gave Annie a grin, and looked at Joey. “It’s okay. She can help us. We can trust her. She defends superheroes.”

Joey sighed and nodded. “Okay.”

Tricia turned back to Amanda. “I don’t have superpowers. But Joey here does. He ... boosted my strength temporarily.”

“But I didn’t mean it!” Joey blurted out. “It was an accident! I didn’t mean for it to happen.”

Amanda turned to Joey. “It’s all right. You’re not in any trouble. So you claim to have the ability to increase her strength?”

“I ... guess so.”

“How do you do it? Are you channeling magic, or are you a mutant?”

“I ... I don’t know. I think I’m a mutant. I just ... sometimes I can do that.”

“Have you been tested?”

Joey shook his head. “Do I have to?”

“It would help me in the things I could do for you if I knew more about your abilities.” Amanda answered.

“How can we go about testing him?” Tricia asked. “Can you do that?”

Amanda shook her head. “We don’t do that here, but any licensed physician can perform blood and radiation tests in an office visit. Some have mages on staff for magic tests.”

“That’s actually one of the things I wanted to talk to you about,” said Tricia. “We would like to take Joey to a doctor, but he isn’t covered by our insurance.”

“Who is his legal guardian?”

“He doesn’t have any,” Tricia answered. “Right now, Annie and I are taking care of him.”

Amanda nodded. “How are you related to him?”

“We’re not.”

“I see. Joey, do you have any family?”

He shook his head. “My parents are dead. I don’t have any family.”

“Is she a friend of the family?”

“No ... I um ... I was homeless, and she found me, and let me live with her.”

Amanda thought for a moment. “Were you aware that to knowingly take in an unrelated child and assume guardianship without government approval is illegal?” Tricia cringed. Amanda held up a hand. “I am not contacting the authorities. This is a confidential consultation, and I don’t see any criminal intent or harm.”

Tricia breathed a sigh of relief.

“But in order to progress any further, I would need some documentation or strong evidence of his abilities. Now, this enhanced strength claim is borderline at best, but not enough for ASHA to become involved.”

“What do you mean?” asked Tricia. “Are you saying it’s not enough of a power?”

“No. I am saying that I don’t have enough evidence to support the premise that he has abilities.”

Tricia, Annie, and Joey all stared at Amanda incredulously. Amanda continued. “Don’t take this as an insult, but you would not be the first adult to be conned by a needy child claiming superhuman abilities. If Joey was homeless, and he saw you as a sympathetic mark, he could pretend to have abilities to entice you to take him in. It has happened before. Usually it is a promise of a subtle power, such as a claim to increase luck, intelligence or sexual prowess, and I have even heard of such children claiming to improve the strength of an adult. Strength does fluctuate with emotional prodding.”

“I’m not a poser!” said Joey. “I’m not like those kids who pretend to have powers. They don’t know what it’s like.”

“And I am not making such an accusation. But I would require some proof of actual super-human abilities in order to proceed in assisting you. Now if we could get you to a doctor for some tests...”

Joey stood up and held both fists up. Fountains of sparks suddenly flowed from his hands. “What do you need?” he challenged. “Is this enough? Will you help us now?”

Amanda didn’t flinch. She watched him coolly. “That will be fine. We can proceed.”

Tricia reached out and put her hand on Joey’s shoulder. “That’s enough Joey.” She turned to Amanda. “Sorry about this.”

“I don’t like being lied about,” snarled Joey. He stood defiantly with the spray of sparks falling from his fists.

“And she wasn’t lying about you,” said Tricia.

“She was just doubting and verifying, which is what we want in someone who is going to help us,” added Annie.

“Sit down, sweetheart, and turn off the fireworks,” suggested Tricia.

Joey did a double-take to Tricia on the word ‘sweetheart’, and shut off the sparks. He sat down. “Sorry,” he said.

“That is all right,” said Amanda. “Now, let’s organize our tasks. There is the issue of guardianship, a medical checkup, and special education for his abilities. Have you looked into finding any extended family?”

Tricia nodded. “I’ve checked a bit at work. I haven’t found anyone. But we were hoping that you could help us with foster parenting.”

Amanda nodded, and she looked back and forth between Tricia and Annie. “And are you two married?”

Tricia’s jaw dropped. Please tell me you didn’t ask that! she silently prayed, and she looked at Annie, who had a HUGE grin on her face.

“Well, not YET!” said Annie. She clutched her chest. “But I have been waiting very patiently for her to pop the question,” she said in mock sadness.

Joey started shaking with laughter. Tricia pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head.

Annie continued. “After all, it’s not like I’m going to be the one who get down on one knee. How am I going to get back up?”

“Annie ... please!” said Tricia. “Not now.”

“Oh! That’s what you ALWAYS say whenever I bring up marriage! Now I know you don’t have any problem with us living in sin, but me, I’d like someone who can make me an honest woman!”

Tricia looked up at Amanda’s blank face. “We are NOT gay lovers.”

“Oh come ON!” pleaded Annie. “Come out of the closet! It’s fun out here! We have cookies!”

Amanda looked at the three, and centered her attention on Joey. “She is joking, right?” she asked dryly. Joey shook his head. “I thought so.”

“Ugh!” Annie grunted in frustration, and she pointed a finger at Amanda. “I will make you smile at some point today! Mark my words! I WILL break you!”

Amanda paused a beat, and returned her attention to Tricia. “Foster parenting usually involves placing the child in the care of a previously established foster parent, so unless we are able to find an advocate for you within the fostering system, moving Joey into the system would most likely involve him going to a different family. I have some contacts, so I can look into this for you. But I cannot make any promises yet.”

Tricia nodded. “I understand.”

“In the meantime,” Amanda continued, “I can suggest a trustworthy general practitioner.” She pulled out a Post-It note and wrote a name and address down from memory. “She can give Joey a physical, provide some basic care such as vaccines and inoculations, and perform the mutagen and magic tests. She is also sympathetic to the needs of the super-human, and has found several ways around the insurance problems.” She handed Tricia the Post-It note.

Tricia took the note and glanced at it. She was startled when she saw the name. Dr. Tina Booth ... Where have I’ve seen that name before?

“Is everything all right?” asked Amanda.

“Yeah. Just a little deja-vu.”

Amanda shrugged. “Now as for the special education, there are several schools which specialize in super-human training, which would allow Joey to maximize his...”

“I don’t want to go to a special school,” said Joey.

“Excuse me?” said Amanda.

“I just want to go to a normal school.”

Tricia leaned towards him. “Joey, you have special needs. Maybe these schools can teach you how to use your powers. Give you more control over them.”

He shook his head. “I don’t want powers. They don’t work much anyways. It would be better if I didn’t have any powers to begin with.” He slumped in his seat. “Nobody would get hurt then.”

Annie turned to him. “If you can’t control your powers, I would expect you would hurt more people accidentally.”

“I just want to live a normal life. I don’t want to be a superhero. I don’t want to go to a superhero school.”

“The schools don’t teach you how to be a superhero,” said Amanda. “They provide a safe environment for experimentation, guidance, support, and training for creative use of your abilities. But the last thing they do is to teach you how to be a superhero.” She paused. “They didn’t teach me that when I attended.”

They all looked at her in shock. “You? You have superpowers?” Joey asked skeptically.

Amanda nodded. “I do. I tested positive as a mutant. Would you like a demonstration?”

He nodded.

“I notice that you are reading Harry Potter. What page are you on?”

Joey looked down at his book. He opened it and looked down at the bottom of the page. “Two oh two.”

Amanda recited. “Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well. A Very Merry Christmas to you. There was no signature. Harry stared at the note. Ron was admiring the cloak. I’d give anything for one of these, he said. Anything.”

Joey looked at the words in the book. They matched what she had said perfectly. “Are you a telepath?”

“No. I have a photographic memory. I read that book over the course of an hour about six years ago, and I memorized it. Like I have memorized all of these books in this room.”

They all three looked up at the hundreds of books in the room. Annie whistled. “Wow. What are they all doing here, then, if you don’t need to read them anymore?”

“I am not the only one who uses this office. Now Joey, this school taught me how to control my ability to memorize and retrieve information. Before I attended, I would fall into trances for hours, memorizing every event that occurred around me, but would be completely unresponsive until I managed to wake up on my own. They didn’t teach me how to become a superhero. They just taught me how to control it, and how to be the best I could be.

“You say you want to live a normal life. And I can tell you that you are already living a normal life. What is normal is that every person on this planet has some special ability. Some skill, some talent, some gift. We are all good at something. Some of these special talents are mundane and can be taught to other people, and others are super-human and cannot be taught. But whether it is a mundane or a superhuman ability, every person’s job is to find out the absolute best thing they can do with their gift.

“What I discovered in this school was not just how to control my abilities, but what I could do with them. And now I am a lawyer, and I help superheroes, so much so that they refer to ME as a superhero. But this career, this path I took, this was my decision. The school didn’t tell me I would be best as a lawyer. That was my judgment. If you go to one of these schools, you will learn exactly how your power works, what its limits are, and give you the tools to use your power in new and creative ways. But what you do with it is entirely up to you. That is a normal life.”

Joey sat quietly, thinking. Tricia leaned over to him. “Joey, I think it would be a shame if you didn’t learn to develop your powers. No one can force you to do this. After all, it’s your body, and your decision ... But you can do things for this world that no one else can do.”

“This is not something we have to set up right now,” Amanda added. “First thing I would suggest is to get him to a doctor for a check-up and testing, and then we can work on guardianship. We have a few months until the school year starts again, so we can take some time exploring the schools. Okay?”

Joey nodded. “Okay.”

“Say AHH.”

“AHHHHHHHH”

“Now say EEEE.”

“EEEEEEEE”

“Okay. Say OHH.”

“OHHHHHH...”

“All right. Your vowels sound good, and your throat looks good too.”

Dr. Patina Booth had a tongue depressor inside Joey’s mouth and she was shining a flashlight down his throat. She was a beautiful, dark-skinned, East-Indian woman with black hair and deep brown eyes. “Tonsils are healthy. No infections. Very sexy uvula.”

Tricia and Annie giggled and chuckled at that as they watched the boy going through the rigors of his physical. Joey blushed at the comment.

Dr. Booth threw the tongue depressor away and wrote something on her chart. “Roll up your sleeve.”

“How much longer until the results of the blood test come in?” asked Annie.

“Should be in a couple minutes. Which reminds me!” She put the chart down, opened a cabinet, and pulled out a Geiger counter. She checked the settings and turned it on. It started clicking randomly. She extended the detector wand and ran it across Joey’s body. Head, chest, abdomen, arms, legs. The random clicking didn’t change.

“No excess radiation. Not science based.” She turned off the Geiger counter and put it away. Then she put a blood pressure cuff on him and started pumping, taking his blood pressure. “One-ten over seventy-five. Good. Lie back please?”

Joey lay back on the table, and she prodded about his abdomen. “Tell me if anything hurts.” After a couple of minutes of prodding, she was satisfied, and had him sit up again.

“How does he look, doc?” Tricia asked.

“So far, so good. I can see some residual symptoms of malnutrition and iron deficiency, and the rash on his side looks like it is nearly fully healed. So I would say that you two are doing a fairly good job taking care of him. I would like to see him again in a couple of months to check on his progress.” She pulled out her flashlight and looked in his eyes. “And how about you Joey. Do you think they’re taking good care of you?”

“Yeah! I think so.”

She nodded. “Must be nice to live with these two beautiful girls.”

Joey blushed. “Yeah, I guess so.”

A nurse came in and handed a folder to Dr. Booth. “Thank you,” she said, and she took it and read it.

“Interesting,” she said.

“What is it?” asked Tricia.

“Results of the blood test. Congratulations. You are not a mutant.”

Joey blinked. “What? I always thought I was. I had to be.”

“No. You tested negative for the catalyst gene.” She handed the folder back to the nurse. “Can you fetch Willow for me please?”

“Yes, Doctor.” The nurse left.

Tricia and Annie looked at each other in amazement, and then at Joey. “Magic or Cosmic?” Tricia asked.

Dr. Booth nodded. “Most likely Magic. Cosmics are extremely rare. Nearly one in a billion. Magics are closer to one in every half-million.” She placed the stethoscope on his chest. “Deep breaths.”

Joey breathed in and out deeply several times.

“Lungs sound good. No congestion.”

A young girl came into the room. She was very pretty, with dark skin, hair, and eyes, and looked about sixteen. “Hi Mom,” she said.

“Willow. Come in please.” She turned to the others. “My daughter,” she explained. “Willow, can you test him for magic please?”

Willow nodded and scrutinized Joey.

“What is she going to do?” he asked.

“It is a simple test. It doesn’t hurt,” said Dr. Booth. “You won’t feel a thing.”

The girl frowned and raised a finger. Blue light glowed from her fingertip, and Joey jumped as he saw her fingertip light up. She traced her finger in the air. The light left a trail hanging in mid-air, and she drew a strange glyph, and then a circle. She looked through the circle at Joey.

The girl frowned. “I don’t see anything. Did you do the other tests?”

Dr. Booth nodded. “He’s negative on radiation and mutation. What did you check?”

“Contagion. You sure he has powers?”

“I have powers,” said Joey.

“Can you use them safely? Maybe I can only see them when you are using them.”

Joey glanced at Tricia and Annie for support, and then shrugged. He lifted a hand and a shower of sparks appeared.

Willow did a double-take. “Whoa ... Wasn’t expecting so big a show. Thought it was going to be more subtle.” She peered again through the fading circle and frowned. “Can you keep that going?”

“Yeah.”

Willow wiped her hand over the glyph and circle, erasing them from the air, and started a series of new glyphs traced around a circle. She muttered to herself. “Names ... words of power ... knowledge ... association ... similarity ... identification ... possession ... polarity ... balance ... finite ... infinite ... true falsehoods ... beliefs...” The glyphs hung in the air and wavered as they jostled into each other. She drew the final circle in the center and looked through again.

She frowned. “I don’t see nothin!”

“You sure you’re doing it right?” asked her mother.

Willow raised her hand up and looked at it through the circle. A brilliant light illuminated her face from the circle. “Yeah, I’m doing it right. I can see me.” She wiped the glyphs away and shook her head. “He’s not Magic.”

Everyone stared at Joey. Joey shut off the sparks from his hand and looked very shy.

“Are you a Cosmic?” Willow asked. “I’ve never met one before.”

Joey shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“What can you do?” she pressed.

“Um...” Joey looked nervous.

“That will be all,” said Dr. Booth. “Thank you Willow.”

“But I want to know what he can do!” she pleaded as her mother scooted her out of the examination room.

“Doctor-patient confidentiality. He doesn’t have to tell you. Thank you! Go do some filing.”

“Mommm!” Willow whined, and she groaned and shuffled down the hall. Dr Booth closed the door. She returned to Joey.

“Well, I don’t know what you are. It does not look like Science, Mutant, or Magic, but we’re not sure about Cosmic. I cannot do a Cosmic test here. You will have to find one on your own.”

“But ... I thought I had to be one of those, and if I’m not the others, then I should be Cosmic, right?”

Dr. Booth shook her head. “Cosmics are so rare, it would be more probable that one of the other tests didn’t work right. But it would still be a good idea to consult with an actual Cosmic to determine that.”

“I think I can arrange that,” said Tricia.

Annie looked at her skeptically. “Nu? What? So you’ve got Quantum Knight’s number on speed-dial?”

“Maybe,” she grinned.

Annie raised an eyebrow. “Are you seeing other superheroes behind my back? That’s hardly proper side-kick behavior.” She turned to Dr. Booth. “Don’t tell anyone, but under the cover of darkness, I turn into ... The Ronin Rabbi!”

Tricia laughed, and smacked Annie’s chair. “What is this then?”

“The Schlepn-mobile, of course!”

Dr. Booth smiled. “It must be very dark then. I’ve never heard of you.” She turned to Joey. “So, aside from the fact that we don’t know where your powers are coming from, you appear healthy. Do you have any questions or health issues you are concerned about?”

Joey bit his lip and looked back at Tricia and Annie. He nervously shook his head. “No. I’m okay.”

“Are they answering all your questions?”

Joey hesitated and nodded.

Dr. Booth considered the boy for a moment. “Good ... I want to check one thing again.” She pulled out her stethoscope and listened to his heart.

“What is it?” asked Tricia.

“Most likely nothing. I thought I heard an arrhythmia at one point.” She listened some more.

“What’s...” Joey began.

“It’s an odd heartbeat,” said Annie, concerned.

“Is there a history of heart conditions in your family?” Dr Booth asked. “Heart attacks, heart disease?”

Joey shook his head. “I don’t think so.” He looked nervous.

Dr Booth removed the stethoscope. “I don’t hear anything unusual now, but I want to bring in a consult, a heart specialist. I’ll be right back.”

“You have a heart specialist in your practice?” Annie asked.

Dr Booth smiled. “My husband is a heart surgeon. He is here to take me to lunch.” She stepped out into the hallway.

Joey looked at Tricia and Annie with a frightened expression. “What’s happening? Am I sick?”

“We’re not sure yet,” Tricia said consolingly. “If anything, it’s good we’re finding out something early.”

Joey looked back out into the hallway and saw Dr. Booth speaking to another doctor. He could hear a couple of words, including ‘homeless’, ‘women’, ‘young’, ‘questions’, and finally ‘heart’. The other doctor, an East-Indian man nodded, and they came to the examination room.

“Hello. I am Doctor Tarak Booth. You are Joey?” he asked in his Indian accent.

Joey nodded. “Hi. Am I okay?”

“That is for me to find out.” He pulled out his stethoscope, placed it on his chest, and listened for several seconds.

“What do you hear?” Joey asked.

“Shh-shh...” He listened some more. Everyone watched him intently. Thirty seconds went by. Joey turned and looked at Tricia and Annie for support.

The doctor finally looked up at the others in the room.

“Okay! Please, will all the very beautiful women leave this room so I can listen to this boy’s normal heartbeat? Thank you! And that does include you, my good wife!”

Tricia and Annie were stunned. “OH! Sorry!” said Tricia. “We’ll step out.”

“Sorry. Didn’t know we were doing anything to him,” said Annie embarrassedly. “We’ll be outside.”

As the three women left the examination room and closed the door, Tricia turned to Dr. Booth “Is he okay?”

Dr. Booth smiled and winked at the two. “He’s perfectly fine. You can check out now, and schedule another appointment in three months, and we can work out payment options.” She leaned in close to them and whispered. “They may need a few minutes though.”

“But what is going on?” asked Annie.

“He didn’t need a heart specialist. He needed a male doctor.”

Back in the examination room, Dr. Tarak Booth waited ten seconds after the door closed before he removed his stethoscope. “You are perfectly fine. No heart problems. You heart is very strong.”

Joey breathed a sigh of relief. “What did your wife hear?”

Dr. Booth nodded. “My wife, she is very beautiful, and very smart.” He pointed to Joey. “She heard a patient lie to her. She says you have questions, but you do not want to ask them in front of your two women friends. Is this true?”

Joey looked down at the floor and nodded sheepishly.

“What are you wondering about?”

“Well...” he started. “Tricia told me this stuff about ... babies ... and how to make them...”

“Yes. Sexual reproduction. Go on.”

Joey was very nervous. “ ... and um ... there is this stuff that men make and...” He gestured to his crotch. “ ... and when it goes into a woman...”

“Semen, yes?”

Joey nodded. “Well ... Tricia and I use the same bathroom, and ... I ... sometimes...”

“You masturbate in the shower or in the toilet?”

Joey blushed and nodded embarrassedly.

“That is completely normal. You are worried that she will get pregnant?”

Joey nodded.

“It will never happen. Do not worry about it.”

Joey looked VERY relieved. “Really? You sure?”

Dr. Booth nodded. “Yes. You clean up after yourself? You flush the toilet and rinse the shower?”

Joey nodded.

“She will not get pregnant. In order for her to get pregnant, you would have to leave behind a lot of semen for her to find, and she would have to intentionally scoop it up and use a turkey baster to push it inside her. She won’t get pregnant by sitting on it or taking a bath. And your friend Tricia is a grown woman. She knows that if she wants to get pregnant there are much more fun ways to do that.”

“But ... what if it ... like ... gets in her clothes, or on her towel, or something?”

“She would have to push her clothes deep inside her vagina to get pregnant, and again, there are much more fun ways to get pregnant. No, you will never get her pregnant by masturbating.”

Joey sighed in relief. “Oh, good.”

“Did you have any other questions?”

“Um ... yeah ... like ... How many times is ... too many times?”

“Oh, if I could only have your problems! There is a very simple way to know if you are masturbating too many times. If it hurts, stop.”

After the doctor’s visit, they made a quick stop off at the police station, where Tricia positively identified her second assailant. Like all bureaucratic processes, it was a simple matter of filling out some paperwork, waiting for a couple hours, and then saying two words (“That’s him.”). She wondered if this process was similar to getting married.

While waiting in the police station, Tricia received a text message from her assistant Judy. “Marty does not like kid pix. Wants 2 C U.” Tricia groaned, realizing that Marty was going to kill her story unless she kept him happy. So she checked her purse for her breath mint supply, and bought a fresh pack in the vending machine.

When they got home around five in the afternoon, Annie excused herself to go to the bathroom, Joey took Scrappy for a walk, and Tricia studied her literature on foster parenting which she picked up as ASHA. They had dinner and discussed the day’s events. Joey seemed extremely at-ease and relaxed since his private consultation with Dr. Booth, but didn’t go into details over what he talked about.