“Hi Mrs. B,” said Lisa, “I think Bonnie went home.”
“I know,” said Betty, “I’m here to shop. So, Lisa, how was she today?”
“Is this what you call shopping? Checking up on Bonnie left and right?”
“Well, I hope you don’t think…”
“It’s alright, Mrs. B. My mom does the same thing. Anyway, she did great today. Never forgot the greeting once. There was one little hitch. She didn’t notice when a customer was struggling. So, we reminded her to look out for customers with special needs.”
“Thanks Lisa.”
As Betty walked home, she was dismayed to see many streets barricaded. Each street had a sign reading, “Local residents only,” with a security officer standing guard. The way that was opened led through the checkpoint right near the subway station.
It was now relatively quiet, perhaps because it was still early in the afternoon. The officer looked at her suspiciously. Betty felt intensely uncomfortable, sensing that she was being probed; for a few seconds, it was almost as if all of her privacy had disappeared, and the officer was privy to every personal detail of her life if he wanted to force it out of her. But soon, he waved her on.
As she walked away, she could not shake a miserable feeling that she was being watched. She could not stop looking behind her. Nobody was there, and she knew it, but she could not keep herself from looking again, and again.
She desperately wished her daughter was with her. She had a horrible anxiety inside; a part of her was convinced that she and her child might be separated permanently any second. She wanted to find her, wherever she was, and flee into the wilderness, or into space, and disappear forever.
She stopped herself and took a few slow, deep breaths. She knew that she was overreacting. This fear was a familiar one from the distant past. This was just how it felt when she knew that she wasn’t quite free.
Upon switching on Bonnie’s light, Betty let out a long groan, closing her eyes in disgust at the unholy mess before her. “No!” she said to herself, “I can’t!”
Resolutely, Betty stood at the doorway and looked outward at the hall, trying desperately to ignore what she had seen. Her room, her responsibility, she thought. But as much as she tried to hold to that resolution, she could not get the repulsive picture out of her mind.
Soon, she could no longer help herself. Taking a garbage bag in from the bathroom, she began to clean. “Whenever she does settle on a man,” she said to herself, “He’s going to have to be someone with much better housekeeping skills.”
With some disbelief and disgust, she picked up a cup of instant noodles from under Bonnie’s bed. “That,” she said, “and I would also insist on a decent cook.”
After a few minutes, Bonnie flew into her closet through her escape hatch.
“You’ve been up on the dark side of the moon,” said Betty, “Working on the spaceship again?”
“I just needed time to think,” said Bonnie, “The spaceship is where I get to use my powers freely.”
“And I think your attention should be down here. Sometimes I feel like you can get a little out of touch with reality up there.”
Bonnie looked down, a wounded look in her eyes. “Mom, I don’t think that’s fair. How do you even know what I’m doing? How long has it been since you’ve been up there?”
“Very well,” said Betty, “So what were you doing up there?”
“I built a racetrack,” said Bonnie.
“You see, this is what I…wait! You did what? You built a racetrack?”
“Yes.”
“You put a racetrack on a spaceship?”
“And this bothers you?”
“How does it not raise a red flag to you? A racetrack? I’m just not sure what your logic is.”
“Well Mom,” said Bonnie, “I need to exercise. If I’m ever on a long mission, I might need these amenities.”
“Okay, so you might need…but, wait! Wait! These amenities? What else have you put in there?”
Bonnie slouched and turned slightly away from her mother. “You know. Things like that.”
“Like what?”
“Things like…well, do you really want to know.”
“I think I need to.”
“Well there’s a pool.”
“A pool?” said Betty, her brow furled, her right arm now curled on her hip.
“Yes,” said Bonnie, her face now beginning to turn red.
“A racetrack on a spaceship isn’t enough. You had to put in a pool too?”
“Well, I mean, is that wrong?”
“I can’t even conceive of the idea., I mean, you had room for both of them?”
“I…sure.”
“Bonnie, I need you to answer me honestly. How big is this thing?”
“The pool or the spaceship?”
“Alright,” said Betty, "Now this is getting scary. For now, how big is the pool?”
“You know,” said Bonnie slowly and tentatively, “Olympic sized.”
“Olympic sized? You have an Olympic sized swimming pool and a racetrack, on a spaceship.”
“Well yeah. I do. I like to be comfortable.”
“Yeah. Sure. You want to be comfortable. Of course you want to be comfortable. You know what works for me? A couple of throw pillows for the couch. Twenty bucks each from the Queens Center Mall.”
“They have them for twelve at The Big Box…”
“Never mind that!” snapped Betty, “Just how involved are we talking about? I mean, Olympic sized pool. Hot tub too? Do you have changing rooms? I mean, you shouldn’t need them.”
“Well no. I guess I don’t exactly need them. I mean, I can just, you know, make my clothes…”
“I know, Bonnie. Costume transformations. It’s ridiculous. I don’t know why it’s so hard for you to dress yourself like everyone else. So, you don’t have changing rooms?”
“Well, actually I do.”
“Of course you do. So, this thing is full service then? Changing rooms, am I to assume there’s a hot tub, showers, full-sized saunas?”
“Not full-sized. I had to compromise on the saunas.”
“You did? So why was that?”
“Well, they would have run into the tennis courts.”
“Bonnie! How many ridiculous things have you put on this spaceship?”
“Um…Mom? How long do we have?”
“Bonnie, this is exactly the kind of thing that I’ve been talking about. Don’t you see how excessive this is?”
“Look Mom, that’s the point. Can you please, please listen to me? There is something I need to do, and it’s far more important than building things like this. I believe this world can benefit from my abilities.”
Betty paused, and took a deep breath before sitting on the bed. “Alright. I see what you mean. You have a need of your own. And if you don’t speak up for yourself, then who will? But then, you are in this for the benefit of others. If this were all about you, then who are you, anyway? And then, if this is not the time, then what is?”
“I feel like there is a saying in there…”
“In our native communication, there was something. It’s just not as catchy in human language.”
“That’s alright. Let’s stay with English.”
“Alright Bonnie. Just remember why I’m concerned about your job. If you don’t notice the special needs of a customer when you’re a cashier, will you remember the special needs of any person when you’re Ms. Infinity?”
“I see what…wait! What’s going on now? Are you outside watching me with your x-ray vision?”
“Once again, Bonnie, I have my ways. Look, I do see that you are trying. Do you promise to keep improving?”
Bonnie sat on her bed next to her mother. “Mom, of course I do.”
“And Bonnie, I want you to promise me that you will never consider yourself better than anyone else. You are just a person with some special abilities. And you must promise, once again, whichever guise you are in, that yo
u will always respect the power and importance of all others around you.”
“Mom, I proudly promise both of those things. I am not better than anyone, powers or no powers. And I promise I will always remember the power and importance of all others. I do so with all of my heart.”
“Well then, Bonnie my love, you have my blessing.”
As Hal and Stacy rode the elevator of their building, Stacy looked up at Hal. “Did we really have to go to that store just for a band-aid? Why didn’t we just go home?”
“They have better ones there,” said Hal.
“You like that girl, don’t you?”
As they entered their apartment, it was strangely quiet. Hal took Stacy to
her room. Then he heard another door open. He looked back and saw a man sticking his head out of the bathroom.
He ran to the bathroom with a start. “Who are you?” he shouted.
The man ducked back into the bathroom. Hal began to wonder if he should grab Stacy, run out of the apartment, and call the police. But then he suddenly noticed his mother in the bathroom, wearing nothing but a towel. A moment later, the man ran out of the bathroom and out of the apartment, barely dressed. His shirt was half on, and his pants were only on one leg.
Hal found himself desperately holding back his anger. That exit seemed too good for that man. Why wasn’t he just going down the fire escape? Or better yet, he could just kick him out the window. It was only five stories.
Stacy emerged from her room. “What happened?” she called, “Who was that?”
Sarah Holstein opened the bathroom door slightly. She looked at Hal with a begging expression, as if to implore him not to tell his sister what was quite obviously going on. Hal collected himself before he spoke.
“Uh…I think that must have been the plumber.”
“Yes dear,” said Sarah, “That was. We had a bad leak here. His clothes got a little wet from cleaning it all up.” She stepped out of the bathroom, now fully dressed.
Stacy ran to her mother. “Hi Mommy!” she said as she hugged her, “Hal took me to the park, and The Big Box.”
“He’s a good brother,” said Sarah, “Why don’t you go watch TV? I have to talk to him.”
Hal wanted nothing less in the world than to talk to his mother right now. He was now in absolute shock, and there was nothing she could possibly say that could make this scene better. But as Stacy left for the den, his mother seemed to say even less than nothing.
“Thank you Hal,” said Sarah, barely holding back her tears, “You really are a hero to her.”
She then walked into her room and began to cry. Hal simply remained in the kitchen, standing alone in complete shock. He had heard his father make accusations of infidelity, but he had not believed them. The troubles in his family suddenly seemed more real, and more desperate, then he had ever dared imagine. As he stood alone in the living room, he sensed his entire world crashing around him. At any rate, he could hardly imagine less helpful words than those his mother had just said. Did anyone care about him? Where was his hero?
6. Heroic Emergence
“This is it! This is me as Ms. Infinity!”
Betty tried her best to smile, but she was feeling deeply conflicted at what was before her. She was looking at a gorgeous woman, about a foot taller than herself, with roughly Bonnie’s olive-colored skin, but with the face and body of a model or an actress. Betty could scarcely convince herself that she wasn’t talking to a stranger in her daughter’s room. Knowing this was really her daughter was a paradox between her thoughts and her senses, even for one who possessed the same power of shape shifting. She wore a blue costume with a gold tiara and belt, each with the infinity symbol, and a yellow cape. There was a stylized letter “I” on her chest, seeming to suggest the infinity symbol on its sides.
“Okay,” said Betty, “If you’re sure.”
“I was hoping you would like it,” said the newly minted Ms. Infinity.
“It’s…just not you dear. I mean, I know you were going to change, but is this your idea of perfection? It certainly can’t ever be as beautiful as my Bonnie. I sure hope you know that.”
“I know, Mother. This is something I have put a great deal of thought into. Now I am Ms. Infinity. I will change back when I’m not in hero mode. I promise.”
“Okay dear, but ‘I know, Mother?’ You’ve never called me that. What’s with the talk?”
“It’s the persona. When I am Ms. Infinity, I speak differently. I have thought many things through.”
“All the time? Even with me? Cut the nonsense.”
“Mother, I have spent many long years hiding who I really am. It is time I at last release myself from this ceaseless repression.”
Betty paused a moment in disbelief. “Well if ‘who you really are’ means talking like a fantasy novel, sure. Bonnie though, it’s enough for now. Change back into yourself until you really have the necessity. I mean…this? Come on!”
“Damnit!” said Ms. Infinity in annoyance, “Fine, Mom!” A second later, she metamorphosed into herself again, or not herself, depending on which version of the story was to be believed. Once again, she was Bonnie Boring, a petite and slender young woman, wearing her customary t-shirt with loose fitting shorts.
“I like this better,” said Betty, “I always will.”
“Whatever!” said Bonnie.
“Look Bonnie, I understand. Just remember this is no career.”
Bonnie rolled her eyes. “I know Mom!”
“I’m serious,” said Betty, “This is something we should also talk about. Twenty four is too old to be with no direction, and an Associate’s degree is never going to cut it in this economy!”
“Alright,” said Bonnie, “If you’re done criticizing, I’d like to watch TV.”
Bonnie stared at her television for a moment and concentrated until it switched on.
“You know,” said Betty, “You have a remote!”
“The batteries are dead.”
Bonnie was about to flip through the channels, but she was caught immediately by a breaking news story on the local cable news station.
“Here it is!” declared Bonnie, “This is a job for Ms. Infinity! Here goes…Infinite Power!!!”
There was a quick puff of smoke, and the modest Bonnie Boring changed once again into the awesome Ms. Infinity.
“What?” said Betty, “What was that?”
“Oh. I sweetened the change with a quick illusion, just a little enhancement. I figured I should have a cool transformation, right?”
“You don’t need the magic words either,” said Betty, but she was unheard. By the time she finished her brief sentence, her transformed daughter had ducked into her closet, and flown out through the escape hatch. Betty watched with amazement. For a moment she wondered whether she should intervene.
“So, what does this make me?” wondered Betty to herself, “Who is that in Batman? That butler guy? I think it’s Alfred. Yeah. Now I’m Alfred.”
There was a sudden bomb blast on the Whitestone Bridge roadway. It did not harm the structure, but it caused a major accident. It was in the path of a school bus, returning from the Bronx Zoo with a full class of second graders. Suddenly it was thrown out of control, falling helplessly across two lanes of the bridge. It then tripped the guardrail, and it was now hanging over the side. It seemed like it was only seconds from plummeting.
Aboard the bus, there was much confusion. The teacher did her best to prevent her students from panicking.
“Are we going to die, Ms. Gershovich?” said Vanessa.
“Everyone stay in your seats!” said Ms. Gershovich to nobody in particular.
“What are we waiting for?” asked Omar, “We’re going to die, so what’s the difference if we’re standing or sitting?”
“It’s going to take a miracle,” said Ms. Gershovich under her breath.
“What did you say?” asked Ari.
“Oh!” said the teacher, trying desperately to keep her composure, �
��It will be alright. Someone will save us…”
“You mean like a superhero?” said Juan, looking out the window.
“Like what?”
“Like her!” Jade replied. And with that, the bus’s occupants looked outward, and their screams turned to cries of wonder.
And what a wonder was before them! Perhaps she was a paradox, but she was salvation beyond all hope. From out of nowhere she appeared, seemingly out of the wind. She was quite literally flying. An angel she seemed, an omnipotent goddess delivering mercy. In every way she defied all rules of physics, logic, even reality.
Yet Ms. Infinity was full flesh and blood, a superhero from the comics brought to life. And in every way, she could perform like one. Smoothly she flew beneath the bridge’s edge, where the bus teetered. Directly under a massive vehicle, seconds from falling, the young woman seemed unfazed by the monumental danger above her.
But the behemoth held no fear for her, for at that moment she matched her magical act of flight with a herculean feat of strength. In one clean, simple move, she floated directly under the bus. Then with a simple upward thrust, she lifted the massive vehicle, freeing it from its perilous perch. Though it was many times her size and weight, she still flew as simply as before, as though the tremendous mass above her were no more than a toy.
At first, confusion still reigned on the bus. Its occupants could not see beneath them, and for a split second, they panicked. It seemed as if they had begun to fall. But soon their fear turned to awe; it was clear that they were not falling but flying. Children and adults alike gazed out the window, wide-eyed in wonder at their fortune. Beneath them was the East River, and the boroughs of New York City, moving gently as they flew, held aloft assuredly by their savior. If the view before them was strange, they scarcely had time to notice in the face of their astonishment and relief.
Watching with much surprise and suspense were many people on the bridge, and on land where many reporters and TV cameras were now perched. Having expected to cover an unfolding emergency, they now found themselves capturing the impossible and unexplainable story of a lifetime. They filmed a young woman, miraculously carrying a large vehicle effortlessly, simply dashing about the air with her cargo above her, though she were just an ant carrying a leaf. It was possible to forget for a moment that this was a person flying, defying the laws of physics, and carrying a full-sized school bus above her head no less!
Where Infinity Begins Page 5
