Felix walks over to me and extends his hand for the other rifle. I hand it to him and he takes it and smiles. This is when I get an odd feeling about Felix. I don’t want to be around him any longer. He looks down at the man struggling on the ground and says, “Poor slob. How much longer are you going to let your pet keep playing with him?”
“I think he’s had enough.” I can see the man has given up, and I reach down and recall her back onto my arm where she reverts back to her inky design. I know she’ll be more comfortable when she’s on my skin. She isn’t like Spike, and she has no hesitation as she returns to me.
Felix says something that surprises me, “Maybe you should’ve let your snake and dog finish him off. You know, get rid of him. It’s a well-known fact we let too many of the bad guys go, and it would be better just to kill them off instead.”
I say, “We are going to wait for the police. I will turn the Blinker over to them.”
Felix continues, “One by one, they kill us off, but we do nothing to them. The only thing we do to them is put them in jail. Eventually they all get out again.” He looks at me. “You don’t work with the other members of the Auxiliary Corps like I do. They struggle the same as your group does. Maybe it’s time to do things differently.”
“It’s not our way. I like to think we’re on the right side, you know, the good guys,” I say, still spooked by what Felix has said. Oscar is still lying on the ground next to us and with a quick glance I can see he’s waking up. He’s been out of it after losing his fight with my snake, and now I think he’s going to be okay. I hope that he’ll recover at the hospital.
Felix gets my attention. “They’ll kill us off. It’s only a matter of time before you and I end up dead. There’s nothing stopping it; death is driving a big Greyhound bus, and we are all standing in the crosswalk waiting for him to run us over. You know he’s coming for us sooner rather than later.” I notice his skin is now looking paler than I remember, and I swear he starts to look more like the other Blinker on the ground than he had just a minute before. Has he become dangerous? He can still use his rifle if he wants to. I still have Spike next to me, but even without my dog I am sure I can defend myself. I want to get back to my friends, but I know I can’t leave the other Blinker here alone with this man.
“Isn’t he a Blinker like you?” I ask.
He says, “”No, he’s not a member of the Brotherhood. Isn’t that clear by looking at him?””
“Why don’t you hand me your rifle?” I ask Felix. “I’ll hold it until the police and the paramedics can get here. I can take it and keep it safe.”
“You can’t have this other rifle,” says Felix. Now I know I’m going to stay here as long as I need to. I want to make sure he doesn’t try anything.
I hope that my brother, Smokey, and the Lady are going to be okay. I reach into my pocket and pull out my cell phone and place another call, this time to the Auxiliary Corps’ dispatch. I tell them the important information, and when I finish, I look at the man standing before me.
This is when I notice it. I see it, and it happens right before my eyes. Felix starts to change. I’m surprised. It’s a physical change. First, the color of his skin becomes lighter, like I noticed before, but his face also changes, and his physical frame even gets smaller. Felix has changed into a different man. He has changed into the one who is lying on the ground. I glance down, and I can see that the man on the ground has switched. This isn’t good. My enemy is standing before me with a rifle, and the one we hired is unconscious and lying on the ground. I look at the standing man, and it’s Oscar. I’m sure he’s going to try to kill me. “This is interesting,” says Oscar. “I’m feeling much better, and I think I’m fully recovered now. It was smart of you to take the bullets out of those rifles, but you didn’t for both. I saw you do it when I was lying down there and struggling. Sometimes I don’t think those of you in the Auxiliary Corps are very smart, but maybe you’re just one of the especially dumb ones.”
“How did you do that?” I ask, still surprised by how the two men could have changed places in front of me.
“Aye, you mean about the poor fellow lying down on the ground there and me changing places. How did we make the switch, you mean?” asks the man. “I can morph into the other. It isn’t a normal trick, and only a few of us can do it. It takes practice, but eventually I can make it happen, and I can switch places with another Blinker.”
I reach down for Spike and grab him by the collar. He’s a big dog and it takes a great deal of strength to make sure he doesn’t go anywhere. I want to make sure he doesn’t get injured at this moment.
Oscar doesn’t seem too interested in what I’m doing, but he glances at me and says, “”That must be really uncomfortable for you, to go around with no shirt on all of the time, especially this time of the year. Aren’t you cold?””
“Spike,” I say in a gentle voice. I’m trying to control my dog, and my dog growls at the other man. I want to protect him, and I’m glad when he settles down quickly.
“I don’t want to make your big dog mad at me, or I might end up back down there again, and it wouldn’t be to my liking next time. I may talk a good game, but that’s for another night. I’m really glad I have this ability.” He distracts himself and starts to think about something else. “No, I’m not a cold blooded killer. That’s not me. But didn’t you say you should permanently get rid of all of us. Didn’t I hear you say that a few minutes ago?”
“No, that wasn’t me, that was your friend down there,” I say. “It makes you think wonder who is in the right and who ‘is in the wrong, doesn’t it? I mean, I’m in the Auxiliary Corps. I’m no killer, but your coworker could easily become one.”
“If he would’ve shot me, not you or anyone else would’ve known. We trust you because you’re in the Corps. I always thought the Brotherhood of Blinkers to be enough, but now I’m not so sure. Oh, I shudder at the thought of what he might have done to me if you’d left us alone.”
I start to worry about Spike. He’s too vulnerable. We’ve waited too long for help to arrive and I decide to recall the dog back onto my skin. Spike is reluctant, but he eventually obeys me and allows me to touch him on the top of his head and with that action, the dog becomes a part of me again.
“That’s a neat trick. We all have our tricks, don’t we? But it’s not as impressive as my own,” says Oscar. “Blinking has its limitations, but there are still plenty of possibilities I haven’t yet discovered. It seems your friend down there is the one you should worry about, not me. Oh yes, he may not be a problem this evening, but mark my words, he’ll become a problem later on. I heard him speaking to you, and you must agree with me.”
“He was caught up in the moment,” I say, and I’m not telling the truth. “He’s not all that bad.”
“Sure, whatever you say, friend,” he says. He pauses for a moment and then he speaks again, “But it makes you wonder how many more out there think and feel the same way he does. Doesn’t it?”
I don’t know what to say; I feel relief when I hear the sirens finally coming our way. The lights are flashing and I know they are right around the corner, and m. Maybe the police will be able to help me in this situation. I know they won’t be happy, but I also know they will have to give me assistance, and that’s what I need right now.
“Don’t worry, friend, I won’t be here much longer,” he says. “I’m feeling healthier and better than ever, considering what you did to me, so let’s just keep me healthy for the rest of night. Yes, worry about the Beat and the Black Shirt because they’re dangerous. And you might, if you are given a chance, worry about me because I might be capable of causing some of my own small amounts of mischief. Yet there’s a bigger threat out there, and it’s in your own Auxiliary Corps. Believe me or don’t believe me, but it’s your problem and not mine. There’s a real threat and you don’t even see it coming. You’re dumb blind to it, but so was I to most things in the world when I was your age.”
; The headlights from the ambulance lights the area where we are standing. I turn my head to see them approaching. The flashing lights and the noise from the siren fill the whole space between the buildings on this street. A patrol car closely follows the ambulance, and I know I will have to spend the rest of the evening answering questions and making statements. When I turn back to look for the Blinker, I see he has disappeared. I’m still surprised even though he told me to expect it.
I hope my friends and my brother are all okay. Standing there by myself, I have plenty of time to think about what the other Blinker had said to me. I don’t know for sure, but I hope what the villain said wasn’tit isn’t true. I don’t need to worry about those in the Auxiliary Corps turning on each other. There is too much to think about or worry about now, and I know I will spend the rest of the night being anxious.
But there’s a little bit of good news to come, and when the police are taking my statement, I see my brother. He comes up to me and pats me on the back while I’m still talking to the police. He’s safe. We don’t need to say anything because we know each other so well, but when I’m finished talking to the patrolman, I do get a chance to talk to him briefly. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he says. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I reply. “Grandmother will be happy neither one of us ended up in the hospital tonight,” I say.
I also see Smokey and the Lady Jane following behind my brother. Smokey comes up to me and shakes my hand. I can tell he’s glad to see me. He says to me, “Big guy, it looks like you handled everything by yourself. No one’s been killed tonight and that news is good enough for me.”
“I had some help from the two Blinkers,” I say back to him. “Both the one we hired and the one the Beat hired.
“That doesn’t sound right. The Brotherhood of Blinkers is supposed to be neutral.” I continue to tell him about what happened and my encounter with the two Blinkers. It doesn’t put his mind at ease.
“That’s unsettling,” says Smokey. “The world is changing around here, and we can’t see everything that’s going on. Things are changing for all of us, and we were lucky no one got killed tonight.”
Book Two Chapter Five
-From the book, The History of the Hero Union Corps, Chapter One, “Heroes: A Violent Start”
September 5, 1943, Los Angeles police were unwilling to step in and protect civilians. One policeman was quoted after the riots saying, “You say that the cops had a ‘hands-off’ policy during the riots? Well, we represented public opinion. Many of us were in the Great War, and we were not going to pick on kids in the service.”
The violence continued during subsequent nights, enveloping even those who had no connection to jazz or the heroes. When a group of heroes exited a local club, they too were attacked. The men were all adults, and many of them were not Heroesheroes, but ordinary civilians. Military commander Clarence Boggs reported that there were “hundreds of servicemen” prowling downtown Los Angeles — mostly on foot, disorderly — disorderly — apparently on the lookout for heroes.” The Navy reported that, “Groups vary in size from 10 to 150 men and scattered immediately when the Shore Patrol approached. Men were found carrying hammock cues, belts, knives, and tire irons…”
Although groups of armed servicemen roamed the streets attacking civilians, the military seemed more concerned with regaining control over their men than with the violence they were committing. There was negative press that would result from mass arrests. Admiral Bagley, the commanding officer, appealed to his sailors’ “common sense.”
Yet the heroes organized and fought back. Joseph Leyvas, ‘The Falling Cat’, and his friends set traps for the sailors and civilians who were pursuing them, using decoys to lure their attackers. And they let out a cry: “There they are! There they are!” And they came in. As they came in, once they got all the way in, we all came out … I myself had my powers. aAnd they were super. And I used them.”
The television drones on only for the sake of itself and it makes noise in my studio apartment. It’s one of those rare nights when I’m not on patrol. I will need to walk Spike later on tonight after I feed him, but I want to make sure that I am rested. I like to nap on these days and I try and take it slow and easy.
It’s hard to explain, but sometimes I need to be removed from my tattoos. To feel clean. To be separated from them. And sometimes I think they might need to be separated from me too.
I place my hands on them one at a time. First, I remove Spike. I touch his tattoo and he eagerly leaps down onto my bed in a very puppyish way. He wants to play, and I let the dog bite at my hands for a few minutes before I remove the rest of them.
When I finish playing with Spike, I reach for the snake. She senses the dog and moves away from him when I place her down on the bed.
Spike jumps on and off the bed for a few more minutes, but he doesn’t bother the snake too much. I take the Beretta Tomcat off of my upper arm. I feel some guilt when I take my pistol off. I put it on top of my refrigerator, away from the animals on my bed. I know I should practice more with it; maybe I should even take it to a firing range and spend time with the pistol so I can learn to fire it properly and accurately.
Except I won’t, because of what had happened to my father. He died when I was twelve. He had been shot a few streets away from my grandmother’s house. The police had caught the guy and it turned out the thief had shot and robbed my father for ten dollars and some change.
Maybe the Tomcat reminds me of the gun the man had used to kill my father. I have the Tomcat tattoo because it fits on my left arm and I can grab it quickly when I need to, but I think I really have it because it reminds me of his death. I’ve seen the police report on my father, and my pistol is similar to the one the killer used. The only reason I got the tattoo in the first place was because the Corps couldn’t understand how someone with my abilities in transforming tattoos wouldn’t want to use a firearm. I had been resistant, but eventually I’d given in.
I fall asleep.
I hear the noise of the TV when I awake from my nap and it says, “There is something more for you today. A New Awakening.” I don’t think I’ve slept for too long, and I move closer towards the TV and look at the advertisement that’s caught my attention, but it becomes fickle, like a lover, and fades away. Maybe I’m still asleep and I can’t focus. I swear there are times when I should call the cable TV company and ask them to install one of their boxes so I won’t have to play games with my TV’s antenna any longer. I’m frustrated with its reception, but I don’t turn it off.
Spike has moved to the floor, and he opens his eyes just a little bit when he hears me wake up. The snake is lying next to me on my right side. I hope she’s sleeping, but I know she’s really there because she wants to get as much of my body heat as she can.
There is still one more tattoo I haven’t removed. It’s my cross. It’s my largest tattoo, and it’s located on my back. My grandmother tells me I should be more religious, and maybe she’s right. I take the cross off and place it next to my gun. It’s heavier when it is away from my skin. It’s made of wood with traces of silver in it when it’s free from me. I never show it to Smokey anymore because he’s afraid of the silver it contains. He always claims to be allergic to that metal.
I’m now devoid of my tattoos and I’m finally free when I step into the shower. I notice how there is a patch of drywall that is starting to rot, and I would have to get my landlord to replace it before it gets even worse.
The water in my shower is hot, and I know I can rely on the boilers of my apartment building to heat as much of it as I need. Tonight, I am hoping to stay in there for a long time. At first I scrub my skin hard, almost as if I’m trying to remove the top layer of it, but after a few minutes I settle down to just let the water flow onto my back and anchor me into one place in my shower.
There are those very rare times in my life when I find absolute peace and contentment, and standing in my shower, being free of my ta
ttoos and letting the hot water warm my skin is one of those moments. I can relax. I don’t have to worry about my brother, Spike, or Smokey. I find strength at times like these. I’m ready to turn off the water and to step out of the shower.
Something is wrong.
It doesn’t take long to realize the peace in my apartment has been disturbed. Something isn’t right on the other side of my bathroom door. It wasn’t a sound or a noise but more of a feeling that I often have when I am cocooned inside the warmth of my small bathroom. I slip on the pants that I wore earlier.
There’s a crashing sound from the other side of the door and it makes me jump. While I am standing in the warm fog, I hope that’s only Spike playing around in there and maybe he’s knocked something over.
I step out of the bathroom.
I see my white curtains blowing out of my apartment after I open the door. It doesn’t take me long to see who’s in my apartment. There are two of them. I know I’m outmatched when I recognize them. They have caught me unprepared.
I open the door quickly, before I can even see what is coming at me. I move just fast enough before the dagger strikes the door frame next to me. It’s the Black Shirt. He misses me on purpose. I know he could have struck me if he had wanted to.
I look around to see what has happened to my animals and my gun. I don’t see any of them. The animals are no longer on the bed, and the pistol is no longer on my refrigerator. I look around, but I don’t see them.
The Beat is there too, he’s inside my apartment. When he begins to speak to me, he’s no longer speaking in his usual poetic style. He sounds more like my English teacher I had when I was in my last year of high school. “If you are looking for your dog and snake, they are gone. They are safe but they are no longer here. We have also taken your handgun and your ridiculous cross.”
Auxiliary Hero Corps: Collection of books one, two, and three in the Auxiliary Hero Corps series. (Superheroes Of The Hero Union Corps) Page 10
