Transcendent

by Lisa Beeson

  The girl came around the end of the aisle, staring him down and putting her hands on her hips, trying to look intimidating. He would have laughed if his nose didn’t hurt so badly. This kid was about as intimidating as a growling puppy. She had taken off her sunglasses and now he could see her crystal blue eyes. He had pegged her for Latin-American or maybe Indian, but now he wasn’t sure. All he knew was that she had the soft features of a kid who’d been sheltered all her life. Not exactly the quality you need to be a successful street kid. She needed him.

  ******

  Ari hadn’t meant to hit him that hard, but she couldn’t back down and show weakness.

  He was at least five or six inches taller than her, and he was lean like an athlete. His hair was long and shaggy and reached down to the bottom of his neck. It was a dark chocolate brown, which matched the color of his slightly Asiatic shaped eyes. He was as bright as the last Progeny she ran into back at that barbeque restaurant – maybe even a bit brighter. She had noticed him while giving Travis, the street performer, a hug of thanks. She figured that she must have gotten carried away while they were singing, and amped the kid as he passed by. He had been across the street, but she could tell he was staring at her. She had tried to lose him, but now that he stood here in front of her, she knew that he didn’t mean her any harm. However, he was still sneaking around and following her. “Why are you chasing me?”

  “What? …ah! I think you broke my nose; am I bleeding?” He took his hands away and lifted his head for her to see if there was any blood.

  “No, you’re not bleeding, you big baby. I didn’t hit you that hard. Now, out with it – why are you chasing me?”

  He tenderly rubbed the end of his nose. “I’m not chasing you. Well, not in a creeper kind of way,” he said, and shrugged his shoulders. “You just… you looked like you could use my help, that’s all.”

  “What do you mean by that? I’m doing just fine,” she said, thinking about the money she just earned from singing.

  “I can spot a street kid from a mile away …and that wad of cash Hippy Longstockings just gave you won’t be yours for very long, especially if you keep it in the front pocket of that backpack. Trust me, there are a lot of skeevy people out there in the city.”

  “Hippy Longstockings?” she asked, trying to hold back a laugh.

  “Yeah, you know. That white Bob Marley-lookin’ guy you were jamming with. You got a nice set of pipes, by the way. You should’ve taken all the cash. He wouldn’t have gotten any of that without you.”

  Ari knew that the boy was right, but she didn’t feel right taking all the money. Travis was street-performing for a reason. “His name is Travis, and he needed that money too. And just so you know, I can take care of myself. I don’t need your help.”

  “Of course you do…,” he said with a confident smirk.

  “No thanks, I’ll pass,” she said as she started to walk away.

  “Wait!” he called as he loped after her, his long legs letting him catch up to her in only a couple strides.

  A lady shushed him from one of the work tables.

  Ari glared up at him. “You’re going to get us kicked out. Now, leave me alone,” she said in a harsh whisper.

  Take a hint, guy.

  “Look, we got off on the wrong foot. Let’s start over.” He held out his hand. “Hi, I’m Cam…and you are?”

  She paused, looked into his eyes, and knew that he genuinely want to help her out. With a sigh of resignation, she reluctantly shook his hand. “I’m Ari.”

  “Hello, Ari. The city at night is not a safe place for a young girl like you. Where were you planning on sleeping tonight?”

  She hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. She was too preoccupied with trying to figure out a way to eat. Just the thought of food made her stomach growl.

  The embarrassing sound made Cam smile. “That’s what I thought. C’mon, Pipes, I’ll take you to a guy that has the best food truck in town. Then I’ll hook you up with a place to stay.”

  Ari was too hungry to argue, and she got a good vibe from the kid, so she followed him back through the library to the front entrance. When they got back outside on the street, Ari asked, “How did you know I was a…street kid?”

  He glanced over at her as he led them towards the L train. “Because I used to be one,” he said with a smirk. “I know the look of hungry and desperate kid. But now that I’m gainfully employed, I have a full belly and a roof over my head.”

  Ari looked at him warily. “So, is this like an Oliver Twist kind of thing? Are you the Artful Dodger, taking me to some guy named Fagan so I can become a pick pocket?”

  Cam laughed. “Nothing as nefarious as that, Pipes. Besides, the Artful Dodger ain’t got nothin’ on me!” Just as they were about to go down the stairs leading to the L train, Cam ran up the wall they were walking beside, and did a back flip. He landed softly on his feet and stood up straight, holding up his arms like a gymnast at the end of a routine.

  “Impressive… but it still doesn’t tell me what you do,” Ari said, and started walking down the stairs.

  “Sure it does,” he said, jogging down the stairs after her. “I do amazing parkour stunts while wearing my boss’s gear. You know, for publicity.”

  “What’s parkour?”

  He stopped and gave her a wounded look. “What’s parkour? You’re killin’ me, Pipes.”

  They got on the train heading north and sat down. “It’s also called free-running. It’s getting from point A to point B in the most efficient way possible. I use my body and the stuff around me to propel myself from one place to another while keeping up momentum. It’s a total rush.”

  “And you get paid to do this?”

  “Yup…” he said, sitting up straight and pointing to the logo on the front of his shirt.

  P.K. Hawk’s

  Sports store & Gym

  “Hawk pays me and my buddies to wear stuff from his store. We strap on bird masks with cameras on them and record each other doing mind-blowing stunts. We call ourselves ‘The Flock’. We’re pretty much YouTube celebrities,” he said, beaming with pride.

  “Why the masks?”

  “Mostly because Hawk pays us under the table for the videos, and a couple of us are self-emancipated and don’t want the Department of Child Services on our butts.”

  They got off the train and went up the stairs to the street above. “Self-emancipated… is that another way of saying runaway?”

  Cam turned around and shushed her. “That is a dirty, dirty word, Pipes. Self-emancipated sounds more… dignified,” he said in a pseudo-serious tone.

  They turned the corner and Ari was hit with the most amazing smells, making her mouth water. Parked all down the road was food truck after food truck.

  “You like empanadas, right?” Cam asked as he led her down the row of trucks.

  Ari nodded her head. Just about anything sounded good now.

  “Good, because this guy is the maestro of empanadas. I like to call him Chester because he kinda looks like Chester Cheetah from those Cheetos commercials.”

  Cam led her to a red food truck called ‘Papa’s Empanadas!’ and she had to fight back a laugh because the guy really did look like Chester Cheetah. He had the bushy, white mustache and goatee, dark sunglasses, and everything.

  “Chester, my man… Can I get two meat and cheeses and two bottles of water for my friend and I, please?”

  The guy gave him a wary look. “Two carne con quesos, coming up. And I told you, kid, my name’s not Chester – it’s Miguel.” He wrapped the pastries in wax paper and handed them to Ari and Cam. Then, he got two bottles of water and placed them on the ledge under the window. “That’ll be $12.50.”

  They both put their food down and reached for their money.

  “Don’t bother. I got this,” Cam said while he unzipped the pocket on his athletic shorts. He saw her look down. “The zippers were my idea. My stuff kept falling out of my pockets while I was doing stunts. So, I told H
awk to put these babies on there. I’m pretty much a fashion genius.” He grinned and pulled out his wallet.

  Cam’s sense of humor was starting to grow on Ari. He had a twinkle in his eye and an impish grin that let him get away with almost anything. But she was perfectly capable of paying for her own food, so she continued to reach for her money.

  “I said I got this…,” Cam insisted.

  “But…”

  “Shut your stupid face, Pipes. I’m being a gentleman!”

  Ari closed her mouth and slung her backpack back around as she tried not to laugh at his contradiction.

  “Kids these days…,” Cam said dramatically, as he shook his head, and handed Miguel the money. “You know what I’m talking about, huh, Ches?”

  Miguel took his money and turned around without a word.

  Cam grabbed his stuff and turned to Ari. “He knows what I’m talking about.”

  Ari smiled, despite herself, and joined Cam at one of the small fold-out tables for the food truck patrons. She drank half of her water, then downed her empanada in about ten seconds flat.

  Cam sat there with his eyebrows raised. “And I thought that I ate fast…”

  Ari held up her finger, telling him to wait a minute. Then she got up and bought another carne con queso from Miguel.

  She sat back down and tried to eat slower so she could prolong the savory deliciousness. “These things are heavenly,” she mumbled around a full mouth.

  “I told you,” he said as he pulled back the top longer pieces of his hair into a half pony tail. The way he did it, without pulling the ends all the way through the hair tie, made him look like a modern-day Samurai. Then he dug into his own pastry. “I found this guy a couple months ago, and I haven’t gone anywhere else since. This stuff’s like crack.”

  Ari finished off her second pastry, and then gulped down the rest of her water. She could’ve eaten more, but she wanted to save her money. She sat back, waiting for Cam to finish.

  Cam took his last bite and then licked the tips of his fingers. “Your eyes are like crazy blue. Are you a mutt like me?”

  “Excuse me… a mutt?” she asked, taken aback. She wasn’t sure if she should be offended or not, before self-consciously putting her sunglasses back on.

  Cam innocently shrugged his shoulders. “You know, a mutt. Practically everyone is nowadays. Take me for example… my dad’s half Japanese and half Irish. And my mom was a mixed bag of German, French, and Italian.”

  “Your mom…was?” Ari asked sympathetically, picking up on his nuance.

  Taking a sip of water, he looked off down the street. “Yeah, she died when I was eight. It was a bad winter. She slipped on some black ice while walking into work. She hit her head pretty bad, and died at the hospital from a brain hemorrhage. My dad had skipped town before I was born, so that’s when I came to Illinois to live with my Grams.”

  Ari felt bad that she brought it up. “I’m sorry. That’s awful.”

  He gave a fatalistic shrug of his shoulders. “Life’s full of meetings and partings, that’s the way of it.”

  Ari looked at him in surprise. “Hey, that’s a quote from A Christmas Carol. You read Dickens?”

  “I take offence to your astonished tone, young lady…but no, I don’t. I got it from the movie version. Grams and I would watch it every Christmas. She had a thing for George C. Scott,” he said with a smirk. “Anyway, back to you. What kind of mutt are you?”

  Ari shifted in her seat. “Um…I don’t know. No one knows who my birth parents are.”

  Cam leaned forward. “Oooo… Pipes has a mysterious past,” he said, twirling an imaginary mustache between his fingers.

  “Why do you keep calling me ‘Pipes’?”

  He held up his pointer finger. “First rule of street kid code – never talk about street kid code.”

  Ari rolled her eyes.

  Then Cam held up a second finger. “Second rule of street kid code – never go by your real name. It helps with deniability for all parties involved.”

  “So Cam isn’t your real name?”

  “Nope.” He leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers behind his head. “In fact, my friends call me Eagle Eye Cam.”

  Ari smirked skeptically. “Really?”

  “Well, no…but they should.”

  Ari laughed. “So why do you go by Cam?”

  He brought his hands back down to the table and leaned in conspiratorially. “…Because my eyes can zoom in on things really far way, like the lens of a camera.” He looked at Ari intently, trying to see if she believed him or not.

  So that’s what his ability is…

  Since she didn’t call him out on it, he went on. “The kids at school didn’t believe me, but it’s the truth. The optometrist was stumped. He said that I must have over-developed corneas or something. Speaking of which…,” he said, giving a meaningful pause as he stared her down. “Let’s talk about the gigantic elephant in the room…”

  Oh jeez, here it comes…“What are you talking about?” Ari asked innocently.

  “C’mon, you know what I’m talking about.” He leaned in closer and whispered, “How you were able to make me see through walls like freaking Superman!”

  Holy Crap, I made him see through walls!

  Ari cleared her throat, feeling uncomfortable. “Look, I can’t do it again, if that’s what you’re after. I have no control over it. It sort of just…happens.”

  “But what is it exactly?” Cam asked, intrigued.

  Ari pushed back her chair. “I should really get going. Thanks for the food.” She quickly stood up and started to walk away.

  Cam scrambled up after her. “Whoa, pump the brakes…,” he said as he jogged up beside her. “Hey, if you can’t do it again that’s fine with me. Once was cool enough to last a lifetime. I was just curious.”

  Ari kept walking, looking straight ahead. “Cam, you’re a cool guy and all, but you’re putting yourself in danger by just being around me.”

  “What’s this now?” He jogged in front of her, blocking her way. “Talk to me, Pipes. What’s up? What kind of danger are we talking about here?” he asked, concerned.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Ari mumbled, walking faster.

  Undeterred, Cam sped up as well. “Look, I know what it’s like to feel isolated by a secret ability. And after what happened this afternoon, I’ll believe anything you say. I promise.” He looked down at her with his eyes full of sincerity.

  She wanted to believe him, but she’d already put too many of her friends in danger.

  “Let me help you, Pipes,” he pleaded. “C’mon, you can tell me everything on the way to the shop.”

  He did have a right to know what he really was, since it was obvious that he had no clue. And she did need a place to crash for the night…

  Ari let out a deep sigh. “Alright, fine.”

  As they walked she told him about her own special sight, and how she can affect radiant energy. Then she went into how she can boost the abilities of Progenies. She then explained what Progenies were, and how he was one. That led into who the Suits were, and how they snatch up the Progenies they think will be useful.

  When she finished talking, he stopped and stood still, making the flow of pedestrians go around them. “So you’re telling me I’m a descendent of gods? Haha, yes! I always knew I was awesome, but not this awesome! I’m like Hercules or something,” he said with a big grin on his face.

  Yeah…or something. Ari stared at him incredulously. “Did you not hear the last part about the Psycho Squad chasing after people with abilities like ours?”

  Cam waved a dismissive hand. “Yeah, yeah. I can handle those chumps. But, Pipes…” he said, shaking her shoulders excitedly. “…I’m an effin’ superhero!”

  Ari laughed. “Don’t get a big head or anything.”

  “Too late,” he said with a smirk, and started walking again.

  They walked a couple more blocks until they came to a store with a sign that
had the same logo as Cam’s t-shirt. The automatic doors swished open and a rush of a cool air conditioned air blasted her in the face. The place was well lit and chocked full of shoes, clothes, and various athletic gear. The walls were covered with spectacular graffiti murals. Ari had to admit that the place seemed pretty cool.

  A beefy guy with tattoos, a scarlet Mohawk, and the same shirt as Cam was restocking some shirts in the men’s section off to the left. When he heard Ari and Cam come in he turned around with an obligatory hospitality smile plastered on his face. But, when he saw Cam the smile fell and he gave a long-suffering sigh. “There he is. It’s about time you came back from your lunch break, Camel toe, now that your shift is almost over. Hawk’s been looking for you.”

  Cam put his hands around Ari’s ears with mock indignation. “Watch that filthy mouth of yours, Tank. We have a lady present.”

  Tank looked her over. He didn’t seem impressed. “Whatever, ‘Cam’mode face. Hawk’s in his office. You better get back there before he fires your stupid ass,” he said while crossing his fingers hopefully, like he wished it would really happen.

  Cam laughed good-naturedly. “Not a chance, Tank-a-saurus. I’m Hawk’s biggest cash-cow. He’d never fire me,” he said confidently. “But I am going to give you points for knowing the word commode. You almost sounded clever. Did you have to break out the dictionary for that one?”

  Tank responded by pantomiming cranking up his middle finger.

  Cam laughed and guided Ari towards the back of the store. “Don’t let his cute nicknames, fool you,” he said in a loud stage whisper. “Deep down, he truly loves me.”

  “No, I don’t. I hate you, and I hope you get fired!” Tank called from the other side of the store. His words were mean, but there was no venom in them. They were just guys ribbing on each other.

  “I love you too, Think Tank!” Cam belted out before he dodged a flying shoe aimed for his head. “Don’t damage the merchandise!” he warned before grabbing Ari’s arm and jogging away from anymore projectile footwear.