It was well after dark by the time I got to the last item on my list, replacing some of the lights on the roof. The tenants used it as outdoor space for the building. I didn’t want anyone going up after dark and falling off the side of the building.
I walked up the two flights of stairs to the roof with the replacement bulbs and a flashlight, making sure to move quietly past Mike’s third floor apartment. I didn’t want to run into him tonight if I could help it. I told him I had plans that night to avoid him inviting me over to his place. I’d spent the last three nights in a row there. If I spent another one there, I’d be practically living with him. That was the exact opposite of what I should do if I wanted to keep things casual.
When I opened the door to the roof, my heart sank. It was trashed. Everywhere I looked, there was destruction. Beer cans and broken bottles littered the ground. The chairs and tables we kept up there were knocked over and scattered about. Someone had dumped the trash on the ground, spreading litter all along the roof top.
“Damn Pham kids,” I mumbled to myself. Mrs. Pham lived in 2B with her four rowdy kids. The oldest one was currently hitting puberty, which had turned him into a really annoying bag of hormones. I suspected he had something to do with this. I opened up my mental checklist and added “Corner the biggest Pham kid and threaten him.” For now, I’d have to clean it up. “Was I this annoying as a teenager?” I asked myself. It was a rhetorical question. Of course I was.
I grabbed the trash can and started adding the remnants of someone’s epic party into it. Over on the east corner of the roof, I stumbled upon a pile of vomit. I covered my mouth and nose to block out the smell but I was still fighting a drive heave. I took an involuntary step back, tripping on a beer can and tumbling over the side of the building.
It’s not that I’d never fallen from a building. When you have a talent like mine, you tend to find yourself in positions like that. I’m probably less careful than I should be because I can take it. Why look both ways before you cross the street if you know you can take whatever comes your way? Maybe I was just used to being in peril.
But I’d never been saved before.
I’d practically prepared myself to go splat on the sidewalk in front of my building when I felt strong, heavy hands snatch me out of the air and pull me upward. “Hold on,” a deep voice whispered into my ear. I opened my eyes. Beneath me, the ground receded as if I’d suddenly been knocked into reverse. I looked up but couldn’t see my benefactor because of the position he was holding me in.
Shit! I’m flying!
Before I could get used to the feeling, I was being set back down on the roof and standing across from the most beautiful being I’d ever laid eyes on. He was tall and beefy with rippling muscles bulging under the sleeves of his light jacket. “Aren’t you cold?” I blurted out.
He chuckled, displaying a perfect row of white teeth. “Not really.” He ran a hand through his perfectly tousled midnight black hair and shrugged. It fell right back into place, with a single curl landing in the middle of his forehead. “I guess I just run hot.”
You’re damn right you do. I blushed at my own thought. I had to get myself together. “Um, thank you for saving me. Who are you?”
He stuck out his hand. “I’m Nathaniel Kane. I’m your probation supervisor.”
I took his hand and limply shook it. If I’d known probation came with this guy, I might have tried to do something about it earlier. “I’m Audrey Hart.”
He laughed again but didn’t let go of my hand. “I know. That’s why I came here. And I’m glad I showed up in time. You were about to take a nasty fall.” He sounded like a comic book character.
“Yeah, I guess I owe you one.”
He winked one of his cobalt blue eyes at me. “I know.”
I realized that I was still holding his hand in an awkward not-quite-a-handshake and suddenly dropped it like it was hot iron. “Nate, I’ve never been on probation on before. I’m not sure what happens next.”
“Nathaniel,” he corrected me.
“Huh?”
“My name is Nathaniel. Not Nate.”
“Oh,” I blushed. “Sorry.”
“And as for probation, we have some wiggle room with that. What are you doing Saturday night?”
“Whatever you want.” I sounded like a horny idiot. Snap out of it! I yelled at myself in my head.
Nathaniel pulled his cell phone out of his jeans back pocket. “What’s your number?” I gave it to him. He deftly tapped his phone’s screen and then put it away. “I just sent you the details. I’ll see you then.” He winked at me again. On another man, this would be cheesy and stupid. On him, it was the sexiest thing in the world. “Goodbye, Audrey.”
He bent his legs slightly and launched himself off into the air. It was so smooth and effortless, obviously he did that a lot. As I watched him disappear into the skyline, I found myself simultaneously wondering what the fuck was going on, questioning how I could possibly have such a hot probation supervisor, and wishing that I could fly.
Chapter 4
The next morning, I was sure it was all just a dream. For most people, meeting the most beautiful man in the world on the roof after he swooped in to saved you from a three-story fall to the pavement would be the stuff dreams are made of. For me, it was just life.
I still had a few more things to do around the building so I dragged myself out bed. First thing on the agenda? Breakfast. I didn’t need to look in my fridge to know that I didn’t have any food. Well, I probably had some Cheetos and some soda, but I’d need more than that for breakfast. So, I pulled on some clothes—a pair of jeans, a long sleeved tee that said “Feed Me,” and some sneakers—so I could head out to the bodega on the corner.
As I was shrugging on my coat, I asked Crash if he wanted anything from the store. His eyes told me he’d rather have fish food. I sprinkled a couple of flakes into his bowl. “You’re so picky.”
There were two grocery stores in the neighborhood but since I didn’t cook, I didn’t really frequent them. I spent a lot of time at the Chinese place next door, the pizza place up the street, and the chicken spot two streets over. But I spent more time at the bodega than all three because they gave me a steep discount ever since I’d interrupted a robbery last fall. Half the time, I didn’t have to pay at all. And free is always in my budget.
As I pushed open the door, the familiar jingling of the bells on the door made everyone in the store look up. Rafi was at the counter as usual and he gave me a wave. “There she is. How’s it going, Audrey?”
“Pretty good. I’m starving, though. Can I get a bacon, egg, and cheese on a roll? Extra cheese?”
“Anything for you.” Rafi moved to get my sandwich going. A few months ago, he would have given me shit about my order but I guess me saving his life from a gun wielding robber upgraded my status.
I wandered around the store, browsing the various snacks. I saw all my old friends: Doritos, Fritos, and Cheetos. In the candy aisle, I saw another familiar face—an Asian kid in a school uniform with spiked hair. One of the Pham kids. “Hey,” I called out. “Which one of the Pham kids are you?”
He pulled one of the ear buds blaring music into his head out of his ear. “Huh?”
“Don’t you live in my building? Aren’t you one of the Pham kids?”
“Yeah.”
“There have been some parties that trash the roof. The roof is for everybody so if you’re gonna hang out up there, you need to clean up after yourself. Understood?”
He made a dismissive noise and went back to checking out the candy. That’s when a little Asian girl with two pigtails and a school uniform came around the corner. Now this kid, I knew. Little Cindy Pham. “Hey, Cindy, what’s your brother’s name?”
She thought for a moment. “Which one?”
I pointed to the one standing less than a foot away from her. “That one.”
“That’s Jimmy. He’s got a girlfriend. She comes over a lot. My mom doesn’t know about it. She thinks h
e’s at the library studying. But they go on the roof and hang out up there.” It came out like rapid fire.
Jimmy gave her a push. “Shut up!”
“Hey, don’t push her! And I don’t care about whether you have a girlfriend. Just clean up after yourself on the roof. Or I’m gonna tell your mother where you are when she thinks you’re studying. Understand?”
Jimmy grumbled something that sounded like an agreement and took his candy to register. I fished a dollar out of my pocket and handed it to little Cindy Pham. “Here. Buy yourself something full of sugar that your mother wouldn’t want you to have.” I couldn’t help myself. I was a little sister, too.
She took it with a big smile. “He’s weird about his girlfriend. But lots of people have boyfriends and girlfriends. You have Mr. Mike.”
Suddenly, I wanted my dollar back. “Mr. Mike is not my boyfriend. He is a friend. We just hang out.”
But the little girl was ignoring me, picking out a package of peanut butter M&Ms. “Yeah, he’s a boy and he’s your friend. That’s a boyfriend,” she explained with the air of someone who knew exactly what she was talking about.
Somehow, I felt like I knew less about the world than little Cindy Pham, but I pushed on. “Not exactly.”
“Sometimes you spend the night in his apartment and not yours. I saw you. When you get married, can I be in your wedding?”
I held my hand out. “OK, give me my dollar back.” But she just giggled and went to pay for her candy.
Great, I thought. The kids are on to us. How long until the rest of the building knows? Gotta be more careful in the future. Not that I even know that my boss Hy would mind. He might not even find out since he lived in Miami. I just want to keep this job. It’s the best I’ve ever had. And maybe I should get a Butterfinger or something to help me cope with this shit.
“Hey.” It came from just behind my ear just as I was reaching for the candy bar, startling me out of my thoughts.
“Shit!” I turned around and saw Mike standing there with a big grin on his face and a styrofoam coffee cup in his hand. Brown skinned, clean cut, and dimples, Mike was very good looking. Still, I wasn’t that happy to see him. What is this? A neighborhood reunion?
“I didn’t mean to scare you,” he laughed. “I just stopped in on the way the work and noticed you over here planning our wedding with Cindy. So what are you thinking for the reception? Skittles or Starbursts?”
“Ha. Ha. Ha,” I deadpanned.
“Oh come on. Kids say the darnedest things, right?” He smiled at me in that way that made me really want to swim backstrokes in his eyes.
I went back to studying the candy selection. “I just want to keep this whole thing professional. I don’t want to lose my job because I’m doing one of the tenants.” And I also don’t want a boyfriend. But I kept that to myself.
He must have read my mind, though. “Just explain to Hy that you have tried every man in New York City and the best one you could find was two floors up.”
“Or I could just explain that I’m lazy and so I only looked two floors up.”
“Or that.” He picked up two Butterfingers and gestured for me to go to the register. “I’m gonna buy these for you.”
See? I thought to myself. This is why I like him. He gets it.
At the counter, Mike put all of the stuff next to my sandwich. “Hey, Rafi. Put this all together. I’ll take care of it.”
“Sandwich is on the house,” Rafi said before giving him the total for the rest of the stuff.
Mike handed Rafi some money. “What did I do to deserve that?”
Rafi handed him back his change and nodded to me. “Not you. Her.”
I grabbed all of the stuff from the counter and rushed Mike out of the store. I didn’t want him to know about me and the robbery. I didn’t want to explain why I got involved and why I wasn’t afraid to be shot.
Outside on the street, I tried to draw attention away from what had just happened. “So, um, what are you doing today?”
Mike looked at me strangely. “Like I said, I’m headed to work. You?”
“Oh, you know, stuff around the building. I have to work on 2C. Something is wrong with one of the dryers. You know—”
“Yeah, yeah, super stuff,” he finished for me. I tried to push down the flutter of anxiety that appeared in my stomach. I knew he was using it in the lowercase way but my body got nervous at the idea of him knowing about me in the uppercase way. “What about tonight? I’m meeting some guys from work for happy hour. You wanna come?”
“Uhhhh. . .” I was having dinner at my parents’ house but I didn’t want to tell him that because I wasn’t ready for him to even know my family existed. And the last thing I wanted was to meet his coworkers. “I have book club.” It came out before I could even think about it. And it was the stupidest lie in the world. When had anyone ever seen me with a book?
Mike cocked his head to side and echoed my thoughts. “I didn’t know you were in a book club. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with a book.”
“Well, um, we’re a secret book club. So we don’t advertise that we’re reading. We only read when no one can see us.” Mike just looked at me. “What? You don’t know everything about me,” I finished defensively.
“No,” Mike said. “No, I don’t.” He wrapped me in a bear hug and kissed me on the forehead. “Stop by after your secret book club if you want.”
I hugged back, gingerly at first and then with more pressure. “OK,” I said, muffled by the hug, my own anxiety, and the weight of my own lies.
Chapter 5
“You’re alone.”
After spending the day working and eating candy bought by someone I was telling lies to, I took the 2 train from Crown Heights to my parents’ brownstone on the Upper West Side. I had a typical family growing up—two parents and an older sister. The only thing that was different was that we were all Supers. Sometimes I felt like the black sheep of the family and that made me keep some distance between us. But I came back regularly for family dinners. It’s amazing what the promise of leftovers can do.
“All my life,” I quipped as I followed my mother through the apartment and into the kitchen, throwing my coat on the couch as we passed through the living room. “Thank you for reminding me.”
My mother was still wearing the frown she had opened the door with. It went perfectly with her apron, dark slacks, and mint colored turtleneck. Her hair was dark, shoulder length, and elegantly coiffed. She put her free hand on her hip and started stirring the sauce on the stove top. “No. I mean, I thought you would bring him.”
“No, you didn’t.” I didn’t need to ask who “him” was. But I’d already told her that I wasn’t bringing Mike. What more did she want from me?
Unlike me, Mom knew what to do in the kitchen. She nimbly went from chopping to stirring to grinding, while keeping everything in check. Mom’s super power was being a brainiac but her real talent was the way she made Martha Stewart look like a raggedy slob. Even when she was still assigned the New York Public Library, Mom was always the type of person to come home and spend three hours scrapbooking our precious moments after making us a four course gourmet meal. That kind of stuff made her feel alive the same way eating raw cookie dough at 10PM made me feel. Different strokes for different folks and all that.
Even though she was retired now and my sister and I were out of the house, Mom still made it a point to cook like a four-star chef. And yet, it seemed like she was outdoing her normally high bar on that night. “Why are you making so much food?” I asked, dipping my finger in the sauce.
Mom swatted my hand away. “I thought we would be having guests so I wanted to make an impression. But since that isn’t going to happen, I guess I just wasted a few hours of cooking on you.”
I was about to throw up with the guilt of disappointing my mother yet again when I heard the front door open. Moments later my dad appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. He was a big hulk of a man in his youth but he
had gotten a little rounder with age. He was still wearing his winter coat and his reddish brown curls were covered with a knit cap. He was holding a bag with a liquor store logo on the front. “Hey, Junior,” he said, using his childhood nickname for me. He’d been hoping for a boy but he made due with what he got. We had the same reddish brown hair and the same Super power, except it was a lot more respectable on him.
“Hey, Dad. Whatcha got there?”
He pulled a bottle of wine out of the bag and showed it to me proudly. “We only have beer in the house and your mother wanted to make sure we had something fancy just in case your new boyfriend wasn’t a hobo or a DJ or something.”
*****
“I can’t believe you beat me here. That has to be a first.”
By the time my sister Ella had arrived and we got dinner started, I had already drunk three beers and had opened my fourth. I was going to drink my way through the night. Ella looked like a younger version of my mother—petite and put together. She was never late. She spent just as much time making things just-so as I did messing them up. In fact, I was just as surprised that I hadn’t been late as she was.
Mom passed me a dish of stuffed asparagus. “I told her the wrong start time so she would get here on time.”
“Figures,” I said, passing the dish on to Dad without taking anything. “You know, if people keep doing that to me, I’m going to start factoring it in and be even later than usual.”
“You’re right,” Dad said. “We just thought it might be worth it if you were bringing a guest.”
Ella took the asparagus from Dad. “Yeah, what happened with that anyway?”
“I told Mom I wasn’t bringing him. I don’t know why she didn’t relay that to everyone else.”
Ella wasn’t going to let it go, though. “But why didn’t you bring your boyfriend? Who are you ashamed of? Him or us?”
“I didn’t bring him because he’s not my boyfriend. Just because you see me with a man doesn’t mean that he’s my boyfriend.”
“Well, it must mean something,” Mom said. “We haven’t met any of your boyfriends since high school. What was his name?”
Super (Book 4): Supervised Page 2
