Superhero for a Day: The Magic Magic Eight Ball

by Dustin Brady

  After a few moments, the fax machine next to Lenny printed another piece of paper. Lenny pulled it out, read it slowly and looked at Jared. Jared nodded. Lenny looked both ways, got out of his seat and walked to Jared. He got real close to the window. “What is this?” he whispered as he jabbed his finger at the faxed piece of paper.

  It was a note that said, “I’M SORRY. I WAS WRONG. BRE’S IN TROUBLE. HELP!”

  Jared tried to explain everything so Lenny could understand, but instead it came out in one jumbled sentence. “A weird scientist with bees and a tree hand gave Bre a wheat shot and put her in a news van and she might die!” he whispered with wide eyes.

  “What?”

  It took a couple more tries before Jared could get Lenny to half understand what had happened. Finally Lenny shook his head. “I don’t know what you want me to do,” he said.

  “Please, you’ve got to help me get out of here so I can save her.”

  Lenny looked both ways and whispered a little louder. “Look, ever since that eight ball showed up, you’ve done nothing but get me into trouble. My mom is mad at me, your mom is mad at me, the carnival is probably mad at me, the school is DEFINITELY mad at me.”

  “I know,” Jared said. “I was selfish, and I got you into a ton of trouble for no reason, and then on top of all that, I was mean to you, and I feel awful for how I treated you. I’m sorry.”

  Lenny sighed. Just then —

  CLICK

  Principal Cochrane’s door unlocked.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Code Orange

  “Leonard, we’re ready for you,” Vice Principal Fuqua said as he stepped out of the office. “Leonard?”

  Lenny was not sitting in his chair. Lenny was not standing in the office. Lenny was crouching in the corner behind a cardboard cutout of a little girl holding a box of cookies just out of sight of Mr. Fuqua. The vice principal looked around the office, then remembered the other troublemaker that he had locked up. “Jared! Jared, if you’re a part of this, so help me…”

  Mr. Fuqua looked into his office. No Jared. Also no Patton poster on the wall.

  “JARED!” Mr. Fuqua unlocked his door and barged into the office. WHAT DID YOU…”

  Jared spun out from behind the door and sprinted past Mr. Fuqua. He didn’t have the eight ball to tell him if this would work, but he was hoping that Lenny had remembered their move from Pee Wee football.

  “COME BACK HERE!” Mr. Fuqua roared as he tried to grab Jared. “I’LL…”

  THUNK!

  Mr. Fuqua tripped over a balled-up Lenny lying on the ground. It was the same technique the cousins had used to get Jared his only touchdown of the season last year. When Mr. Fuqua tried to catch himself, he dropped the eight ball. Lenny scooped it up and joined Jared running out the door.

  “I’M SO SORRY PLEASE DON’T BE MAD AT US!” Jared yelled on his way out. If his read face and roar of anger were any indication, Mr. Fuqua was not accepting the apology.

  Lenny caught up to Jared. “Now where?”

  Jared answered by diving into the school nurse’s office. Fortunately, it was empty. “Where’s the EpiPen?” he yelled once he got inside.

  TOP DRAWER ON THE LEFT

  Jared grabbed the EpiPen from the drawer while talking to the eight ball. “Should we call the police now?”

  NO

  “Why not?!”

  THE BAD GUYS WILL LOCK THEMSELVES IN UNTIL IT’S TOO LATE FOR BRE

  “So we have to sneak up on them?” Lenny asked.

  “I guess,” Jared said. “Where do we go?”

  14346 LAKEVIEW DR.

  “Lakeview Drive? My uncle lives there — that’s the street on the lake with all those nice houses. It takes like a half hour to drive there!” Lenny said.

  “How do we get there?” Jared asked the eight ball.

  GRANDMA MURRAY

  “I thought you said she was bad,” Lenny said.

  Jared shrugged. “I guess we’ve got to take our chances.”

  Lenny started opening the door, but Jared grabbed his arm. “Should we go now?” he asked the eight ball.

  WAIT

  Just then, the cousins heard the CLOMP CLOMP CLOMP of an angry vice principal running down the hallway.

  NOW

  Jared and Lenny ran the opposite way down the hallway toward the school kitchen. Inside the kitchen, they found Grandma Murray nervously scrubbing counters.

  “Mrs. Murray, we need your help!” Jared panted as he rounded the corner.

  Grandma Murray jumped when she heard the sixth graders. “You can’t be in here!”

  “We know about the crazy scientist!”

  Grandma Murray dropped her sponge. “I—I said you can’t…”

  “Breanna Burris is in huge trouble right now because of that guy, but we can save her if we hurry.”

  Grandma Murray stumbled back a little and leaned against the sink. “I knew he was trouble. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it.” She looked up at Jared and Lenny. “I didn’t mean for anything bad to happen, I promise.”

  “It’s OK Mrs. Murray,” Jared said. “We just need your help.”

  Grandma Murray took a deep breath. “What do you need me to do?”

  Just then an out-of-breath voice came over the school intercom. “Attention school. Attention school.” (GASP GASP) “We have a Code Orange. This is not a drill.” (GASP GASP) “Two fugitives by the names of…”

  Jared looked at Grandma Murray. “First, it would be great if you could sneak us out of the school.”

  She nodded and directed the cousins to a metal cart. Lenny smooshed himself into the bottom of the cart and Jared tried to squeeze in after him. It didn’t work. They tried several different combinations until they found one where both of them could fit into the cart if Jared curled into an upside-down ball. “OK, go!” Lenny said with his stomach sucked in.

  Mrs. Murray put a tablecloth over the cart and started pushing it. “Oof!” The cart was a little heavy for her, but she pushed like a champ.

  Squeak-squeak-squeak-squeak

  If they continued at this pace, they’d reach the bad guys maybe next week.

  Squeak-squeak-squeak-squeak

  Maybe if Jared rowed with his hands a bit.

  Squeak-squeak-squeak-CRASH!!

  When Grandma Murray tried turning the corner into the hallway, she accidentally tipped the cart and dumped Jared and Lenny into the hallway. Jared tried scrambling back into the cart, but got interrupted by a swift kick to the ribs.

  “OOF!” Jared crumpled to the ground. He winced and looked up to see a foot coming at him again. A foot attached to a pair of bright plaid bellbottoms.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Reply Hazy

  “OOF!” Another kick to the ribs.

  Kodey sneered. “Too bad you don’t have a girl to protect you this time.”

  “Wait!” Jared said. He grabbed his iPod out of his pocket. “You want this?”

  “We are way past…”

  “You can keep it.”

  Kodey stopped and stared at Jared.

  “Let me just get it ready for you.” Jared stood up and played with the iPod for a few seconds. “OK, it’s yours.” He flipped it to Kodey. “Enjoy.”

  Kodey looked down at his new iPod while Jared and Lenny took off toward the service exit. “I thought you were always going to give that iPod to me someday,” Lenny said.

  Jared winced with every step. “If you want to take it back from Kodey, be my guest.” The cousins crouched next to Grandma Murray’s minivan and waited for her to emerge from the school. Jared glanced down and noticed Lenny’s watch. “Hey Lenny, what time is it right now?”

  “2:27.”

  “OK, first thing. Can you give me a heads up when it’s almost 3:30?”

  “Sure.”

  “Second thing. We need a plan. Fast.”

  Grandma Murray finally emerged from the school and started the car. Throughout the drive, Jared and Lenny ran plans past the eight ba
ll.

  Fake delivery?

  SECURITY CAMERAS

  Sneak in through a basement window?

  ALARM SYSTEM

  Chimney?

  YOU’RE NOT SANTA

  Sewer?

  GROSS

  By the time they reached Lakeview Drive, they were no closer to a plan than they were when they left. Also more bad news: the houses at the end of the street were all behind a tall gate with bars that ended in spiky points at the top. It was a fancy gate with one of those electric card readers. Grandma Murray parked on the street. “Now what?” she asked.

  Jared had no idea. The van was silent for a few seconds as everyone stared at the lake. “Look out there.” Lenny pointed at clouds rolling in. “It’s getting real dark.”

  That’s when Jared remembered one of the very first questions he’d asked the eight ball. He asked it again. “What will the weather be today?”

  PARTLY SUNNY WITH A STRONG THUNDERSTORM AT 3:10 P.M.

  Jared smiled. “I’ve got an idea.” He hopped out of the van, ran to the front and snapped off the antennae. Grandma Murray gasped.

  “No time to explain, sorry Mrs. Murray!” Jared said. He sprinted down the street while yelling questions at the eight ball.

  Lenny finally caught up to him. “What in the world are you doing?!”

  “Making a lightning rod.”

  “A what?!”

  Instead of replying, Jared jumped onto a low-hanging branch of a nearby tree and began climbing. The first drops of rain started falling. He climbed high enough to look down on the houses, glanced at his eight ball for a second, then picked an old-looking branch to climb onto. Even though the branch bent beneath his weight, he pressed forward. Finally, when it looked impossible for the branch to sag this much without snapping, Jared stopped and aimed the antennae like a spear. He glanced back at the eight ball, adjusted his aim a little, then cocked the antennae behind his head and launched it at a downward diagonal angle. The antennae flew through the air and…

  ZAP!

  …Stuck in the coils next to the trash-can-looking transformer thing on top of a nearby telephone pole. The coils sparked a little bit, but nothing else happened. The antennae remained sticking straight up in the air. Jared admired his work for a second before climbing back down and dropping next to Lenny. “Back to the van!”

  Wind started whipping around them and the rain fell harder as the cousins sprinted to the van. The dark clouds had rolled overhead now, making it feel like nighttime. It got so dark that the streetlights came on. After hopping inside the van and slamming the door, Lenny turned to Jared. “You want to tell me what’s going on yet?”

  “You’ll see.”

  “When?!”

  “In five, four, three, two, one.” Jared pointed to his telephone pole lightning rod. Just then a gigantic lightning bolt struck it and the loudest clap of thunder that Jared had ever heard shook the van. The transformer on top of the telephone pole exploded, and all the streetlights went dark.

  “Come on,” Jared said as he opened the door. Lenny followed him out.

  “Where are you going?” Grandma Murray called after them. “How can I help?”

  “We’re getting Bre now,” Jared said. “We need you to stay here so you can drive her to the hospital.”

  Lenny caught up to Jared and pushed open the now unlocked gate. The cousins found house number 14346 — the tall, old house at the end of the street — and started running. “Where is Bre?” Jared asked.

  SECOND LEVEL, THIRD WINDOW FROM THE LEFT

  Jared looked up. No easy way to get there. “Where are the bad guys?”

  GETTING FLASHLIGHTS IN THE BASEMENT

  Jared grabbed a handful of gravel and ran to a tree near the house. He climbed up to the same level as Bre’s window and looked in. Even though the room was dark, he could make out the outline of a shaking girl. He threw the gravel. Bre half turned. He threw more gravel. She came to the window.

  Jared gasped when he saw her face. It was red and blotchy and beyond puffy. He signaled for her to open the window. She shook her head “no.” He pointed to the eight ball and mouthed, “It’s OK.” She finally, shakily cracked open the window, all the while cringing as if she expected a security alarm to go off. Jared held up the EpiPen and signaled for Bre to open the window more. She nodded and weakly creaked the window open a few more inches. As she did, Jared sized up his opportunity.

  The tree was about 15 yards away from the house, and Bre had only been able to open the window about eight inches. With the wind whipping around him, the throw seemed impossible. “How can I make this work?” Jared asked the eight ball.

  BEES

  “Bees? Bees?! WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?”

  REPLY HAZY, TRY AGAIN

  Jared felt a stab of fear in his heart. No! Nononono, the 24-hour timer couldn’t be up already! “Please tell me how I can make this throw!”

  MOST LIKELY

  “Please!”

  YOU MAY RELY ON IT

  “Hey,” Lenny shouted up. “I forgot to let you know earlier, but it’s 3:30! Is that important?”

  Jared had run out of time and options. Dr. Plotke would be back in Bre’s room any second now, and yelling at the no-longer-magic eight ball was just wasting time. He took a deep breath, aimed the EpiPen and launched it toward Bre’s window with all his might.

  The throw looked all wrong coming out of Jared’s hand. It was way too high and far to the left. But as the pen flipped through the air, a miraculous gust of wind caught hold of it and blew it back toward the window. It was still going to fall just short, but Bre used the last of her strength to lunge for the window and catch the pen before it could clatter off the house and fall to the ground.

  YES! Jared collapsed onto his branch and gave Lenny a thumbs up. Bre took a moment to collect herself, then pulled the EpiPen inside and fumbled with the cap. Her hands were shaking so badly that she needed ten seconds and all her effort just to remove the cap.

  “Come on, come on, come on,” Jared mouthed.

  Bre revealed the needle underneath the cap and brought it to her skin to stick herself. As she did, another lightning strike and roll of thunder startled her into dropping the pen. When she bent down to pick it up, Jared saw the door behind her swing open and a blinding flashlight beam appear.

  Dr. Plotke.

  Bre dove onto the EpiPen, but it was too late. Dr. Plotke ran over, threw her aside and picked up the pen. He turned it over in his hand a few times, then snapped it in half. He then swept the flashlight out the window to illuminate Jared in the tree.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Ben Franklin's Kite

  For the third time in the last three hours, Jared found himself being marched into a small room. This time, Lenny got the privilege of joining him.

  After Dr. Plotke had found him with the flashlight, Jared yelled a warning to Lenny and tried to scramble to the ground. Too late. Burly Greg was there in a flash and intercepted the cousins before they could run for help. Now Greg was marching them into Bre’s room, where they’d have to watch their friend suffer.

  Once inside the room, Greg shoved Lenny to Dr. Plotke, who grabbed him by the collar. Dr. Plotke looked Lenny up and down. “Are you interested in science, young man?”

  “She needs help!” Lenny yelled.

  By this point, Bre had curled into a ball in the corner and was shaking uncontrollably.

  “Her body is helping itself,” Dr. Plotke said. He turned to Bre and smiled. “You’re watching history here. It’s like standing with Ben Franklin as he flew the kite.”

  “You gotta see that this isn’t working!” Lenny yelled. “Please, she only has a few minutes left.”

  “Oh I’m sorry, but you’re the one who only has a few minutes left,” Dr. Plotke said.

  Jared’s mind was racing. He knew they still had one last, small hope, but they’d need some sort of distraction, and they’d need it quick. That’s when he remembered the eight ball’s last mess
age. With nothing else to go on, he waved to get Lenny’s attention. When Lenny finally looked over, he mouthed the eight ball’s one-word message.

  “Bees.”

  Lenny cocked his head.

  “Bees,” Jared mouthed again more dramatically.

  “Fleas?” Lenny mouthed back. He was the worst at reading lips.

  Dr. Plotke was done fooling around. He nodded to Greg. Greg reached for the gun on his side. Out of time. Jared grabbed the eight ball from his pocket and hurled it at Dr. Plotke. Bullseye! It smashed into the doctor’s forehead directly between his eyes. As Dr. Plotke stumbled backward, his lab coat flapped open, revealing the jar of bees he kept with him at all times.

  “Bees! Lenny yelped as he finally understood. He lunged for the jar and threw it to Jared. Of course, Lenny being Lenny, the jar fell well short of its mark and shattered on the ground. The bees took advantage of their newfound freedom by furiously trying to sting everything in sight.

  “AHHHHHHH!”

  Someone in the room let out an ear-piercing scream. Jared looked around confused.

  “AHHHHHHH! GET THEM AWAY!”

  It was Greg. Big, burly Greg screaming like a little girl.

  “ALLERGIC! I’M ALLERGIC TO BEES!”

  Greg sprinted out of the room. Dr. Plotke rubbed his head. “GREG! GREG, GET BACK HERE!”

  “AHHHHHH!” They heard Greg continue to scream downstairs. Then they heard a different voice.

  “Come out with your hands up!”

  Jared, Lenny and Dr. Plotke all ran to the window. It was Vice Principal Fuqua holding a bullhorn. He was surrounded by a half dozen police trying to take their bullhorn back. Mr. Fuqua ducked and dodged and locked eyes with Jared.

  “Come out with your hands up!”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Be Super