by Ade Adepitan
I could feel myself beginning to doze off when I was woken by Salim. Or, to be more precise, what sounded like Salim snoring.
“Hey, Salim, wake up,” I whispered in the half-light. “You’re snoring.”
“I am not!” replied Salim. “How can I be snoring if I’m awake?”
“Well, you must have fallen asleep for a few minutes because I definitely heard it.”
“Maybe what you heard was yourself snoring.”
“How can I hear myself snoring? You have to be asleep to snore, so it’s impossible. No, it must have been …”
I stopped. I heard it again.
Only it wasn’t snoring.
We slowly turned our heads towards the wall. Sure enough, we could just make out someone shaking a spray can. The rattling noise must have been what I’d mistaken for snoring. It could only be one person.
It was time to make a call on the walkie-talkie.
11
CHHHAAAAAAAAAAAARGGGE!!
“SHED,” I whispered. “Operation Night Spider is go. Repeat. Night Spider is go. Over.”
“Got it. Will send cat signal and rendezvous at stakeout. Over and out.”
Five minutes later we were all huddled together behind the bush. It was getting quite dark now and it was difficult to make out the figure of the Night Spider, but we could clearly hear the rattle and hissing sound of a spray can as my nemesis repainted the wall.
“What’s our next move?” whispered Shed.
“Well,” said Brian. “There are only three ways he can go, left, right or back. So, if we split up and station ourselves in pairs at points in those directions, we will definitely apprehend him.”
“Nah,” said Dexter. “I think we should build a tunnel from here to the wall, crawl through it and jump out at him.”
“Um, it might take just a little bit too long to dig the tunnel, Dex,” said Melody. “I think Brian’s idea is quite good, actually.”
“Really?” said Brian, a little surprised. I don’t think anyone had ever understood, let alone liked, one of his ideas before.
“But what if he goes over the wall?” said Salim.
“It’s too high,” said Shed. “He’d never make it.”
“He might have a rope with him, though,” countered Salim.
“Hang on a minute, everyone,” I said, in as loud a whisper as I could. They all turned to look at me. “Those are all good ideas, but I think we should do this.”
Then I pushed down hard on my wheels and took off as fast as I could in the direction of the wall shouting, “Chaaaaaarrrrgggggeee!”
The others were so stunned that they did nothing for a couple of seconds. Then they hurtled after me, shouting and whooping at the top of their voices.
As I headed towards the wall I could just make out the Night Spider. He’d clearly been spooked by the yelling and was throwing spray cans into a bag as quickly as possible. Then he shot off.
The chase was on.
I pushed down hard again on the wheels of my chair and felt it speeding up. As it did so I could sense myself changing …
In no time at all I was Cyborg Cat again, but this time I felt different, as if I had merged with the wheelchair. I could feel my wheels buzzing and humming with energy. The whole chair was glowing and sparks were flying off it in every direction. I was feeding off that energy, growing stronger with every spin of the wheels.
I got faster and faster as I closed in on the Night Spider. It was just a matter of time before I caught up with him and then this mystery would be solved once and for all.
He slipped round a corner and I lunged forward, pushing myself and the chair to the limit.
Vvvwooooo!
A low-level hum was coming from the chair, like it was a hyper-car revving itself up at the start of a race and I could feel it vibrate. I wasn’t sure what was happening, but whatever it was, I liked it.
The world was flying past me at incredible speeds and for a moment I thought I might actually take off. And as I sped around the corner, expecting to be within grabbing distance of the Night Spider, two of the wheels on my chair did lift up off the ground. But I didn’t take off. And this time I wasn’t popping a wheelie like I’d practised in my garden, either. I’d taken the corner too quickly and at too sharp an angle.
“Wooooaaah!!!”
In a flash the chair tilted violently sideways. My heart was in my mouth as I balanced precariously on the left side of the chair, trying desperately not to tumble to the ground. With all the energy I could muster I threw my weight back to the right.
Crack!
The chair landed back on four wheels with a loud noise. A wave of relief passed through my body. That had been a close one. Salim had taught me a lot of cool moves, but a sideways tilt on two wheels wasn’t one of them.
I looked up to see the Night Spider fading into the distance. I could feel disappointment welling up inside me, and the frame and wheels on the chair were glowing an angry red. It was like both the chair and I knew we had missed a great opportunity. But there was no time to feel sorry for myself because a moment later another wheelchair zoomed past me.
“I’ll teach you how to take corners at speed tomorrow. Nice tilt, though,” Salim yelled as he took the bend perfectly and flew off in pursuit of the Night Spider.
“Look at him go!” shouted Melody as the others caught up with me.
“He’ll catch the Night Spider in no time,” said Brian. “Come on!”
We all sped off again expecting to find Salim with our foe well and truly captured, but as we turned left into Uplands Road we suddenly found ourselves in a huge cloud of rainbow coloured smoke.
I could barely see my friends next to me the cloud was so thick. My eyes started to itch and my throat felt scratchy. All I could hear was coughing and spluttering.
Was this another of the Night Spider’s mysterious powers?
As the smoke began to clear I could see my friends rubbing their eyes and shaking their heads, but I could also make out the shapes of four or five other people.
Were these the Night Spider’s henchmen conjured up by him to block our path?
Unfortunately, it was worse than that. As the smoke lifted completely I could see exactly who it was. Spencer and his mates.
To make matters even worse some way behind them I could just make out the Night Spider disappearing into the distance.
“Get out of our way, Spencer,” I snarled.
“Or what?” he growled back at me. “You’re stuck in a wheelchair, so what are you going to do to me?” He turned to his mates and they all laughed.
I was furious. I could feel anger boiling up inside me like a volcano. But I knew I could handle this. I needed to channel this anger. I was Cyborg Cat. I might be changing, but I was still the same person and I knew I could draw on the powers I had. I looked down at my caliper. It was full of energy and glowing brightly.
I took a deep breath and then, using all my strength, I pushed myself up and out of the chair.
Spencer and his mates looked like their eyes would pop out of their heads. It was as if they were witnessing a miracle.
“Spencer!” cried one of them nervously as he began to back away. “He … he … he’s walking. He must have super powers!”
I smiled at their confusion as I walked confidently right up to Spencer. Shed came to stand behind me and the rest of the gang backed me up too.
Staring straight into his eyes, I said, “You and your friends are in our way. Could you move, please?”
I could tell that Spencer was nervous. He’d obviously not expected me to get up, but he still tried to bluff it out.
“Yeah, whatever, we were going anyway,” he said. “And you’ll never catch them, they’re long gone. Come on, let’s go.”
Spencer shuffled off, followed by his group of followers.
“Lucky escape for you lot,” shouted Shed after them.
“Wow, that was amazing, Ade,” said Dexter, once they’d gone.
“Hopefully he won’t bother us again for a while,” I said, returning to the wheelchair. “But don’t you realize what this means?”
The others looked at me blankly. In all the excitement of the chase it hadn’t dawned on them yet.
But I knew we’d just found out that Spencer couldn’t be the Night Spider.
And if it wasn’t him, who was it?
12
Home Not-So-Sweet Home
“I STILL can’t believe it,” said Brian. “I was sure Spencer was the Night Spider. It just doesn’t make sense.”
“Maybe he still is,” said Dexter.
We all looked at him, wondering how exactly he was going to explain this one.
“Maybe he cloned himself from one of his toenails, and that clone is the Night Spider. In fact, maybe he has an army of clones all over London spraying walls with graffiti.”
“But he’s only got ten toenails,” I said. “That wouldn’t be a very big army, Dex.”
“I guess you’re right,” agreed Dexter.
It had been a long, gloomy trek back to Parsons Road. After the stakeout we were further away from solving the mystery than ever, and on top of that I still had to figure out what to do about school the following day. I’d managed to get out of the chair to confront Spencer, but I knew there was no way I’d be able to get all the way to school tomorrow without a wheelchair, let alone get around to all my classes.
“Bye, then,” said Salim, as we turned towards Parsons Road. He lived a few streets away on the other side of a small park.
“Yeah, see you, Salim. Thanks for helping today,” I said.
“No problem, any time. You can keep the chair for a bit, Ade, I doubt I’ll be needing it,” he replied, starting to head off.
“Actually, hang on a minute,” I shouted after him.
Salim stopped and waited. I gathered the others together in a huddle for a few seconds then went back over to him.
“Salim,” I said. “We’re the Parsons Road Gang, we always stick together no matter what. And today you stuck with us. So what do you think about joining us permanently?”
“Become one of the gang?” exclaimed Salim. “But I don’t live on Parsons Road.”
“Neither do I,” said Melody. “But they let me join.”
“Yeah,” said Brian. “You don’t have to live on Parsons Road to be in the gang. It’s only because the four of us who started it live there, so that’s what we called it.”
“It’s what you do that counts, not the name,” I agreed. “So what do you reckon then, Salim?”
“I’d really like that,” he said, smiling.
“Well, then, welcome to the Parsons Road Gang,” I said, and we did the special handshake to seal the deal.
Having Salim in the gang cheered us up a little; even though we’d just suffered a defeat, it felt as if we’d got stronger.
“What are you going to do tomorrow?” Shed asked me as we headed towards home.
“I don’t know, Shed,” I said. “After tonight I don’t reckon my parents will let me stay off school again, and it’s the trip the day after tomorrow, so –”
“DOYIN! ADEDOYIN!”
Hearing my name shouted so loudly made me almost jump out of my skin. My friends looked terrified.
It was Dad.
With everything that had been going on I’d completely lost track of time and, worse still, I’d forgotten Dad didn’t know about the wheelchair.
“DO YOU REALISE WHAT TIME IT IS? AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THAT WHEELCHAIR?” he bellowed.
I felt the blood rushing to my face. My friends’ eyes were fixed firmly on the ground and I’m sure I saw a few of our neighbours’ curtains twitching.
“It’s not my chair, Dad,” I said, my voice quivering. “It’s Salim’s. It’s not like the other one, this chair is really cool and –”
“I don’t care whose it is,” Dad said, his voice a little bit quieter but still terrifying. “Get out of it now!”
“But, Dad …”
“NOW, Adedoyin!”
That was the end of any argument. Suddenly my body felt heavier than it had in ages and for a moment I wasn’t sure I could get out of the chair. Making a huge effort, I heaved myself up and stepped to one side.
“I’ll take this,” said Dad, grabbing the chair. “And tomorrow you can call Simon and tell him to take it away. For ever.”
“It’s Salim, Dad,” I said, but he was already wheeling the chair back into the house.
As the door slammed I looked at my friends.
“This has got to be the worse day ever.”
“No way,” said Dexter. “Once I cut my leg really badly and I had to spend hours in hospital, then when I got home the cat had done a poo on my favourite Spider-man comic.”
Normally I would have laughed at that, but today I could barely raise a smile.
“My mum always says that things are never as bad as they seem and are better after a good night’s sleep,” said Brian. “So, you know …”
He trailed off. I knew they were trying to help, but I couldn’t believe anything could get better. I wanted to crawl into my bed, pull the blankets over me and lie in the dark forever.
I looked down at my leg. The caliper that had once given me strength now seemed to be old and worn out. I’d lost Salim’s wheelchair. Cyborg Cat was finished. I had no powers left.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said to Dexter, Shed, Brian and Melody.
The four of them nodded and walked off, leaving me alone with a mammoth-sized bag full of problems.
13
Walking is Overrated
THE next morning, everything I did felt like I was wading through treacle. Getting out of bed, washing, getting dressed and eating breakfast all seemed like another obstacle course. I didn’t know how I was going to make it through the day.
Dad was still angry about the wheelchairs. He had put Salim’s chair in the shed and discovered the hospital chair too. Now they were both locked up and Dad had kept the key. Mum did her best to act as peacemaker.
“Ahh! Ahh! You two,” she said. “Can’t you even say good morning to each other?”
“Good morning,” I mumbled.
“There, that wasn’t so difficult, was it, Doyin?” she said. “Now I’m sure your father will do the same, won’t you, Bola?”
I saw Mum glare at him and even though I could tell he didn’t want to, Dad just about managed to say good morning back to me.
“Wonderful,” said Mum, chirpily. “And it is going to be a good morning, isn’t it? And a good afternoon as well. In fact, a great day. Now eat up, dear, it’s nearly time to go.”
Mum was giving my unruly afro a quick going over when the doorbell rang. She used a comb that I secretly called the devil’s pitchfork because its sharp prongs hurt so much.
“I can’t let my son go to school looking like he’s slept in a bush, can I?” she said mischievously, adding, “Don’t worry, Doyin, I’ll talk to your father, okay?”
“Okay, Mum,” I said, as I opened the door.
Waiting outside were Shed, Brian, Dexter and Melody. This was unusual because normally it was just Shed who called for me, and then we picked the others up on the way.
“Hi,” I said to the four of them, a slightly bemused look on my face.
I could tell something was up. They were bobbing around on my doorstep as if they were about to go on an amazing adventure rather than a regular day at school.
“Hi, Ade,” said Brian. “Let’s go.”
“Okkkkaaaaayyy,” I said, slightly uncertainly.
We set off but the shooting pains in my legs started almost immediately and, as we turned the corner, I had to sit down on a wall.
“It’s no good,” I said. “I’m not going to make it. You lot go on without me, I don’t want to make you late. Maybe I’ll just find somewhere to wait till the end of the day.”
The four of them
looked at each other.
“Don’t be silly,” said Shed. “We’ve got it all worked out. Come on, get on.”
“What?”
Shed knelt down. “On my back,” he said.
“I can’t spend all day on your back, Shed.”
“You’re not going to,” he replied. “Just get on, you’ll see.”
“Er, okay,” I said, still none the wiser.
I got onto Shed’s back and we set off – but not in the direction of school.
“Erm, guys,” I said. “You do know we’re going the wrong way?”
“Correction,” said Brian. “We are only going the wrong way if you assume we’re going to school. If we’re going to where we’re going, we’re going the right way.”
“So, where are we going?” I said, my head spinning with confusion.
“Here!”
I looked up to see we were at the local supermarket. This was not what I’d expected.
“Here?” I shouted. “What are we doing here? Did you forget your lunch, Dex?”
“We’re not buying groceries,” said Melody. “Right, remember the plan, you lot. Get into position and keep lookout. If anyone comes, distract them. Keep them talking by asking what types of ice cream they sell. Ade, you stay here. If all goes well, we’ll be back very soon.”
I got down from Shed’s back and watched as the four of them went into the store’s car park. Dexter, Brian and Shed stationed themselves at different points, but Melody kept walking.
Where was she going?
I craned my neck to see, but she disappeared behind a row of cars. There was nothing for it but to sit tight and wait.
A few minutes later, the four of them returned. I wouldn’t exactly say they were running, but they were walking pretty quickly, and the reason became clear as soon as I saw Melody behind them.
She was pushing a shopping trolley.
“Quick, Ade,” she said. “Get in.”
“But.. but … we can’t take this,” I spluttered.
“We’re not taking it,” said Shed.
“We’re just borrowing it,” said Dexter. “We’ll give it back when we’ve finished with it. Hurry up.”
