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Flinch shook his head but offered no argument.
“I have to face facts. I’m a nerd at school and a nerd at home,” Duncan said. “Worse, I don’t even have a cool secret life anymore. Brand isn’t going to send any of us out without our upgrades.”
Dejected, Duncan sat down on the stoop, and Flinch joined him. The boys were quiet for a long time until they were both startled by a loud bang in the neighbor’s yard. They rushed to the fence to see what was going on. What they saw was a thirty-seven-year-old man floundering in a pile of garbage bags. He had red hair and one too many chins. The poor guy had clearly stumbled into his trash can and sent its contents everywhere. He cursed as he dragged himself to his feet.
“Well, it could be worse,” Flinch said. “You could be this guy.”
“Mrs. Nesbitt’s son, Albert,” Duncan said. “I think.”
“What do you mean you think?”
“I’ve never seen him before. He lives in her basement and rarely comes outside. Some of the neighborhood kids think he doesn’t even exist. He’s like Bigfoot.”
“He’s a disaster,” Flinch said, but when the man took a candy bar from his pocket and unwrapped it, the boy changed his tune. “Though he has excellent taste in chocolate.”
Flinch looked at Duncan. “Didn’t you say the guy at the bank in Scotland was overweight and had red hair?” Flinch asked.
Duncan stared at the figure. When he tried to imagine Albert in a black-and-green supersuit, he realized the resemblance was unca
“Flinch, I think my neighbor is a supervillain,” Duncan whispered.
Mama was very surprised to get visitors so late at night, but when you open the door and find the most handsome man you’ve ever seen standing there, it’s OK to let him in and answer his questions. Of course, she could have done without the blonde who came with him.
“Is Albert in some kind of trouble, Agent.. . ?”
“Brand. Alexander Brand, Mrs. Nesbitt,” the agent said.
“Oh, it’s Ms. Nesbitt, Alexander. I’m not married,” she said as an excited giggle escaped her mouth.
“We’re just curious about where he might have been yesterday, say, around two o’clock in the afternoon?” the blonde woman said.
Mama frowned at the woman’s question and kept her focus on Brand’s rugged face as she answered. “If I had to lay money on it, I’d say he was locked up in his room with his fu
Brand cocked an eyebrow. “I have a couple of questions I’d like to ask him.”
Mama thought. “On second thought, he’s probably at the comic book shop. He spends all his money on those silly things. Can you imagine? A grown man reading such drivel.”
“Is there any chance we might take a look at his room?” the blonde asked.
Mama frowned. Why couldn’t this woman leave them be? She and the handsome agent were really hitting it off. “I don’t think I should without him here. I tossed out some of his things once when he was a kid and he’s been locked down there in the basement for twenty-two years. Maybe when he gets back. He’s usually home around ten o’clock.”
Brand stood up and his companion followed. “We’ll come back then, Ms. Nesbitt.”
“Please, call me Gertrude,” Mama said.
Brand nodded and then he and his partner left. Mama watched them get into a black sedan and drive away. Once they were gone, Mama rushed to the basement door and pressed her ear against it. Albert was down there. She could hear the a
She knocked but there was no answer.
“Albert, this is your Mama. I want to see you right now.”
“I’m sleeping,” his lazy voice complained.
“Albert Nesbitt! You better march your behind up those steps and open this door on the double!”
There was no sound and, after a few moments, Mama knew more drastic measures were needed. She rushed to retrieve her toolbox, hefted it onto the table, and opened the lid. She took a hammer and returned to the door. With all her strength, she smacked the doorknob as hard as she could. Again and again she swung until eventually the knob broke off, taking the lock with it. The door opened. A wave of body odor and stale pizza rushed up the stairs to meet her. Mama hesitated, then ran back to the sink cabinet, found a can of disinfectant spray, and blasted a cloud down the stairs. She hurried down the steps and found her son hunched over a desk, working on an odd device that looked like something out of a science fiction film.
“Albert!” she shouted.
Her son started and spun around.
“Mama! This is my room!”
“Someone from the FBI or the CIA was here asking about you, Albert,” Mama said.
“Which one? The FBI or the CIA?”
“Does it matter?” Mama cried. “They told me they think you’re in trouble. They want to know what you’ve been doing with yourself.”
“It’s no one’s business but my own.”
Mama sca
“Tell me,” she said. “Are you in trouble?”
Albert tilted his head back as if pondering her question. “Yes, I guess I am.”
“What kind of trouble?”
Albert took a deep breath. “I’m working for an evil genius who is bent on destroying his former friends and then taking over the world using a machine that can hypnotize other machines.”
Mama blanched and started to cry. “You’ve finally gone crazy.”
Albert rose from his chair. He snatched his ray gun off the desk and gave it to her. “No, Mama. I’m fine. This is what I’m building. It’s a computer disrupter. It can literally control anything. Televisions, computers, cell phones—anything with a processor. If you aim it at an ATM, it will happily cough up all its money. Even the price sca
“And what does this evil genius of yours intend to do with it?” Mama demanded.
“He wants to control the world’s computer technology,” Albert said. “But he’s after some old teammates first. He’s kind of obsessed with destroying them.”
“And what do you get out of it?”
Albert stammered.
Mama could see the answer bouncing around his brain. She knew she would not like what finally escaped.
“Superpowers.”
Mama screamed. “Albert, for the love of Pete! Superpowers? How are superpowers going to pay your bills?”
“Well, I’m sure—”
Mama would not hear another word. “No, it’s time to be practical. For a device that can take over the world, you should be getting a lot more than eye lasers. What else has your boss offered you?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s some great negotiation, Albert. Way to make sure you don’t get taken advantage of by the boss! Well, lucky for you your mama is here to help. Pack your things, Albert. Pack everything you’re going to need to build this machine and every pe
“Where are we going?” Albert said as he scooped up a laundry basket of semiclean clothes.
“To talk to your boss about the terms of your partnership,” Mama said.
The goon did not intimidate Mama. She had faced down Je