by David Bruno
*****
Vanessa sat in the shotgun seat as her dad drove. She stared at her phone in boredom. With the tracker on Benny’s phone, there was no need for them to follow closely. They knew exactly where Benny was even from many miles away, which allowed them to stay out of sight. With Max’s past work in the CIA, Vanessa was comfortable her dad knew how to surveil people. It was, in fact, what he’d used to do. But it didn’t make it any less boring.
“Dad, we’ve been tailing this guy for two weeks now. I think you just wanted to go on an extended vacation. When are we ever going to meet him? You’ve watched him from a distance and we even went to eat at a restaurant because you knew he was washing dishes behind the counter. Either we meet him or take me home. I have things to do.”
“My sources tell me Benny just took a job as a security guard. I’m going to get a job there too and have some one-on-one time with him to get to know him. When the time is right, I’ll tell him who we are and offer to have him meet you. He seems like a nice guy. So just be yourself. May I suggest you try an accent? Maybe he likes Southern girls, like me. Who knows?” He laughed at his vision of how his daughter would be able to befriend Benny.
Vanessa curled her face with the new knowledge of her dad’s preference for Southern women. “TMI, Dad! Geez, he must really be special if you want to go through all this. Fine. A little more time,” she huffed. “But if we don’t get this done soon, I want to go home.”
*****
Benny’s boss approached him as he arrived for work. “Mr. Brown, I’d like you to meet your new partner. The two of you are going to guard tonight’s cash delivery. Should be uneventful. But our policy is to have two people on duty.”
“Hiya, Benny. Name is Max. Good to meet you. Looks like we’re partners tonight.” The middle-aged man shook Benny’s hand. He seemed friendly enough. But with a partner, it would be more difficult for Benny to use his powers if the need arose.
From Max’s perspective, this was his best opportunity to observe Benny. There were no guarantees of action. But he might at least have some alone time to talk about superpowers. He wondered how to delicately bring up such a sensitive and private topic.
*****
That evening at the bank started quietly enough. The sky was dark, and the air was cool and crisp. Pigeons perched on the streetlights and painted the sidewalk below. Traffic was light in the area. It was the same as any other evening.
“Hey, Benny, I’m gonna hit the head. Be back in a few,” Max said.
“No worries, I’ll be here,” garbled Benny as he replied with a mouth full of candy bar.
Benny stood guard outside the main entrance. The delivery was due to arrive in half an hour. He wanted to make sure the area was secure. If anything happened, he would be ready.
Out of nowhere, three masked assailants jumped Benny. Before he could react, the second man pulled a gun and fired two shots at Benny’s chest at point-blank range. The force of the rounds knocked Benny off his feet.
“MMFFFF!!” Benny groaned as he held his chest, lying flat on his back. His physiology had protected him, but his organs felt scrambled. After a few moments to assess the situation, he realized he was okay and leapt back up to his feet.
“What? You wearing a vest, rent-a-cop?” snapped one of the masked men.
Benny, bright pink and energized, ran toward the men and began a hand-to-hand melee. With one swift swing, he connected a fist with the head of the first perpetrator. His fist crushed the bone and penetrated into the soft, spongy tissue beneath. The robber fell to the ground, motionless and facedown by the curb near the gutter. The next man came up behind Benny. Before the robber touched him, Benny executed a spinning hook kick, knocking him to the ground. Benny dropped down and pounded on the man’s face and head over and over with superhuman force, until the man stopped moving. His head was flattened, its contents emptied onto the sidewalk. Benny, coming off his adrenaline and energy high, stood up and casually brushed off the tooth that had flown out of the man’s mouth and stuck to his shirt. He had yet to fully comprehend what he had done.
Max heard the commotion, zipped up his fly, and ran toward Benny to help. The third man saw what Benny had done and started to run.
“I’ll get him, Benny!” shouted Max, having caught a quick glimpse of the overwhelming power Benny had used on the robbers. Max knew he had to catch the man, because he had seen Benny’s powers. He was an older man with a bum knee and couldn’t run as fast as the robber. However, he had a clear view of the man’s back as the gap increased between them. While running, Max unholstered his concealed handgun and fired two rapid rounds at the man directly at his center of mass. Both hit the man in the back and sent him to the ground.
As Max approached the man, who was still writhing in pain, it was clear that he was paralyzed from the waist down. Max grimly frowned, trying to catch his breath, as the man begged for mercy. “You’ve seen too much. Sorry, pal. You have five seconds to make peace. Five, four…” After five seconds, Max placed a final round into the man. His blood flowed from the open wounds onto the sidewalk. The flow stopped moments later as the man’s heart succumbed to the trauma. Exhausted but relieved, Max limped back to Benny.
Max looked Benny up and down. “Wow, you are one tough hombre. Did they hurt you?”
Benny nonchalantly pulled his jacket shut to cover the bullet holes in his shirt. He turned to address Max. “No. I’m fine.” He looked at his fists in shock and horror. They were stained with another man’s blood. He had killed two men. That hadn’t been his intent. He’d simply reacted. His gifts easily overpowered mere normal men. Sure, they were bad men and they’d needed to be caught. But Benny had crushed them with his bare hands. He became nauseated as he glanced at their broken bodies.
Max put his arm around Benny and handed him a handkerchief to wipe his hands. “It’s alright. You did the right thing. You saved your life and probably mine too.”
“What happened to the other guy? I heard gunshots,” asked Benny as he tried to clean his hands.
Max thought fast. “Oh, he shot at me and missed. I couldn’t catch up with him and he got away.”
“Ah.” Benny began to worry. The man had seen his powers. He needed to get out of town and lay low for a while. Thus concludes one more job on my resume. I sure hope that wasn’t caught on any camera.
The police and emergency services soon arrived and began to assess the scene. They were astonished at the carnage, having never seen hand-to-hand combat resulting in that kind of bodily damage. The head of one of the men had caved in from a single punch. The other man’s head was flattened like a pancake. Max knew he had to protect Benny without him knowing it. He approached the police for a private discussion.
“Officers. I’d like to speak to whoever’s in charge. There’s something you need to know about these events.” Max spoke to the police for several minutes, out of earshot from Benny.
Benny sat on the curb outside the bank, still coming to terms with what he had done. He had never killed a man before. Today, he’d killed two, and now he awaited his punishment.
After the discussion with the police, Max went to Benny. “Hey, Benny. It’s all taken care of. We’re free to go.”
“Huh? Really? But I… killed those guys. Don’t I have to go to court and then to jail?”
“I told them it was self-defense. Those are known bad guys and the police are just happy they don’t have to deal with them anymore.” Max smiled at Benny. “Just go home. Don’t worry about it.”
Disheartened by his inability to exercise restraint, Benny slowly strolled back to his RV, which was parked in a small lot a couple blocks away. His hands were still discolored and clothing was stained with the blood of the robbers he’d killed. When he arrived at his motor home, he removed the clothes and put them in a trash bag. He showered to remove the blood, but it couldn’t erase what he had done.
The physical stains washed away. But the mental stains from that evening remained etche
d in his brain. When his body was clean, he took the bag of bloodstained clothes outside and tossed them into a dumpster a block away. He returned to his RV and drove, leaving Minneapolis for good.
*****
Vanessa took the wheel of the RV. It was her turn to drive. They were heading west, a safe distance from Benny.
“So, Dad, are you going to tell me what happened?”
Max had been quiet since the events at the bank. He didn’t want to talk about it. He didn’t want to scare Vanessa with tales of the awesome power Benny possessed.
“It was nothing, really. We got jumped by some bad guys. Benny took care of them. His strength is out of this world. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“What did he do? What happened to the bad guys?” she asked innocently as she guided the RV down the highway in front of them.
“Benny confronted them, did some fancy martial arts, and stopped them. Then the police came. Those guys won’t be robbing banks anymore.”
“That doesn’t sound horrible,” she said. “So why did we leave Minneapolis, and why is Benny not stopping anywhere?”
“I think Benny got scared. He showed his powers. Anonymity is key when you have powers.”
Vanessa sighed. “Don’t I know it.”
*****
Benny was on the move, eager to leave behind the unpleasant episode in Minneapolis. Clearly, being a security guard was not his purpose in life. He traveled south to Des Moines and west through Omaha and all the way through the expanse that is Nebraska. After merging onto I-76, he stopped at a roadside bar just outside of Denver.
The bar was a local dive—a biker bar, as evidenced by the dozen or so heavy American motorcycles in the parking lot. It was the last place anyone would be aware of the events a couple nights ago. The place reeked of old beer and bad food. Benny walked to the bar and ordered a local draft beer and a cheeseburger. He nursed the frosty beer and observed the scenery. People watching was always fun. These days, it felt necessary. As Benny got around and the more he used his powers, the more likely it was that someone would catch on. Benny shook his head, wondering if he was starting to become paranoid—he had only used his powers once in public.
There wasn’t much going on in the bar. It was clearly a hangout for the biker crowd. There was no place for a live band, just an old jukebox in the corner. A woman, perhaps in her mid-to-late thirties, sat next to him at the bar. She was reasonably attractive, but had the look of being in a tanning bed one too many times. A green snake tattoo crawled up her left arm all the way to her shoulder. She gave a passing smile to Benny, flipped her hair, and ordered a beer.
“Haven’t seen you here before. We don’t usually get new faces in this place. It’s really just us locals here,” she explained.
“Well, I’m just passing through. I needed a break from driving. Don’t worry, I’ll be on my way shortly. Nice ink, by the way.”
“Thanks, but what’s the rush? I like getting to know new people. What’s your name?” Something in her tone made Benny think she was trying to pick him up, or maybe it was the flip of her hair. He wasn’t interested in a biker woman more than a decade his senior. But there was no reason for him to be impolite and not talk to her.
“My name’s Benny.” He shook her hand. “I’m on a mission. Trying to clear my head. A lot of things have been happening lately, and I’m trying to forget some of it.”
“Nice to meet you, Benny. I’m Rhonda. You have the right drink in your hand to help you forget stuff. Wanna know a secret. If you want to get it done quicker, they have liquor too. If you want to do something really crazy, you can buy me a whiskey.” There was no mistaking it this time. She was indeed trying to pick Benny up. Her dark eyeliner and false eyelashes framed her lightly bloodshot eyes as she started at Benny waiting for him to reply.
He gave her a shy smile. “Sorry, Rhonda, not tonight.”
“Then stick around and come back tomorrow. We can discuss it then.”
“You’re really persistent.”
“And you’re a good-lookin’, strong man. Let’s get crazy. What do you say?” She put her hand on his thigh.
Before Benny could rebuff her advances again, a biker with a long and greasy beard, slicked-back hair with a ducktail, and black-leather riding clothes joined in.
“Little man, you trying to pick up Rhonda? Should be easy. She’s been with everyone at this place,” he said with a laugh.
Rhonda retorted, “That’s not true, Glen. You guys started that rumor to make me look like a tramp. I’m a good girl.” She slapped Glen on the shoulder.
Glen only laughed more heartily.
Benny fidgeted . He knew he didn’t belong in a place like this and wondered if he should leave before the food arrived. “I’m just here to get a beer and burger. That’s all.”
Then the man reached over to touch Benny on the shoulder. Benny was still skittish from the events of the other day and reacted. With both hands, he grabbed Glen’s hand. His pinky fingers pressed on the top of Glen’s wrist and his thumbs applied force in his palm, placing Glen in a wrist lock. Glen immediately yelped in pain and twisted to the side. Seeing Glen’s agony, Benny released him—but not before six guns were trained on him, including one from the bartender.
Benny put his hands into the air. “Sorry, everyone. Just a reflex. I’m sorry. Can I just eat my burger and move on?”
The waitress approached Benny with his order. Benny took one look at it and noticed the fresh spit and mucus on top of the bun.
“Real mature, people,” he muttered as he started to walk to the door.
“Where you going, little man?” inquired Glen in a devilish tone. “We have unfinished business. Nobody attacks any one of us and just gets to walk away.”
Benny sighed, tilted his head back, turned around and contemplated what to do next. Glen reached back to take a mighty swing at Benny. As the fist approached, Benny easily moved out of the way and followed it with a light jab at Glen’s ribs.
Benny stood as Glen regained his composure. Glen was, after all, old, overweight, and badly out of shape. “You okay, old man?”
Once again, guns were trained on Benny. This time including one from Glen. Benny realized that this place was not normal—these people weren’t playing with a full deck. The perception was that Benny disrespected them. Clearly, he was not going to be allowed to leave without them thinking they defeated him or him actually defeating the lot of them. The latter might be easier to accomplish. But he really didn’t want to hurt anyone or get shot… again.
“You win, guys. I’ll be on my way.” Benny gently grinned, turned, and headed to the door.
Then it happened. Someone fired at him—at his back, no less. Following the initial sting and steadying himself from the kinetic force, Benny turned around. He pulled at the back of his jacket to examine the fresh hole and powder stains. “Hmm, I liked this jacket.” He held up his pointer finger, moving it side to side like a pendulum.
“Tsk, tsk. You shouldn’t have done that. Which one of you is going to give me your jacket as recompense?” His face became deep pink as he looked at the fear in Glen’s eyes. It was Glen who had fired. Benny swaggered over to Glen and stared at him, inches from his face. “Boo!” he blurted. Glen flinched. “Did I scare you?” Benny laughed, but knew that he soon needed to release the energy. Then he turned to Rhonda and smiled before asking, “Which bike is Glen’s?”
Rhonda feared Glen and didn’t want to divulge such personal information. “You best leave here, freak. We don’t want no trouble.”
“You guys shot me! In the back! I’ll ask again: which bike is Glen’s?”
“The blue knucklehead,” she murmured. Benny nodded.
Benny pulled Glen’s biker jacket off his body and examined it. “This jacket’s too big, fatty.” Benny ripped the sleeves off the jacket and tossed it to the ground. He then scanned the room and found another target. “You over there, come here,” Benny commanded another, smaller biker as he
examined his jacket. “This will do. Mind if I take your jacket?” Benny laughed. “I’m just being polite. You don’t have a choice in the matter, you piece of excrement.” The man nervously nodded his head.
“Take it, man. Enjoy.” He handed the jacket to Benny and made haste to increase the distance between them. Benny tried the jacket on for size.
“Thank you. Fits like a glove. Smells like dog crap though.” The last song on the jukebox finished. Awed silence filled the air as Benny departed, his stomach growling louder than when he’d arrived. He politely closed the door behind him. Glen looked over at Rhonda with a fearful yet blank stare. Moments later, a terrific crash echoed through the bar—it sounded as if it had come from the roof. Dust fell from the ceiling to the floor.
The bar patrons and workers ran outside and saw Benny’s RV disappearing into the distance. Benny held his left arm out the window with his middle digit displayed flagrantly at the bar patrons. They ignored Benny’s gesture and instead looked around trying to find the source of the noise.
“My bike! Where is it?” Glen looked frantically for his knucklehead. “That freak stole it!” he shouted.
Rhonda cackled. “Look up, you big idiot. The back wheel’s hanging off the edge of the roof.” The other bikers saw the motorcycle that Benny had obviously tossed up there and laughed hysterically. The laughter was mostly relief that it had not been their bikes. “That’s what you get for not being nice to strangers.”
On the road again.
CH 14
JUST WHAT I NEEDED
DAY EIGHTEEN, NEVADA
For what seemed like a lifetime, Benny continued to drive on what he began to call his mental-health break. He had been on his own for eighteen days so far, blissfully unaware of the shadow behind him. It was his opportunity to clear his head and get back to normal, whatever that meant. He didn’t know what he was looking for, only that he hadn’t found it yet. So he kept moving.
