The doorbell rang, and I frowned,
getting up.
It’s not Nikki because she just left. It might
be Ivan’s goons.
I looked through the peephole to see
Brian holding two red cups.
I opened the door and smiled.
“Lemonades, Mr. Allen? It’s a hot
day.”
“It is.” I took the cups. “Cassie,
lemonade.”
Brian wore shorts and a video game
tee shirt, what most kids would be wearing on a summer day. Tommy, though was
not normal. He stood off to the side of the front step, halfway behind the
bushes in front the house. He had a dark blanket wrapped around his shoulder,
safety pinned together at his throat. A red, knit scarf covered his mouth and
nose, and he wore a broad brimmed dark hat. Likely all three belonged to
Tommy's mom Andrea.
Cassie took one of the cups from my
hand. “Hi, Brian.”
“H-hi, Cassie.”
"What's with Tommy?" she
asked.
"There is no Tommy!" Tommy
proclaimed. "For I," he flourished the makeshift cloak for
effect, wrapping it around him, "am The Shadow!"
I couldn't stop my chuckle. Cassie
looked questioningly at all three of us. “Anyone want to clue me in?”
"My fault," Brian
admitted.
"How so?"
"I dug up the old Shadow
serials on the internet."
"Who knows what bad
stuff—" Tommy began.
"Evil," Brian and I
corrected.
"Lurks in the hearts of men. The
Shadow knows!" Tommy finished.
I chuckled. "Any evil nearby,
Tom—I mean, Shadow?"
"The Shadow knows!"
And with that he swooped his cape and ran off, ducking behind hedges and trees
to stay hidden.
. . .
"What's done is done. Besides,
that was too much power. It would go to my head, then I'd be in real trouble.
Brains over brawn. You know that."
Brian nodded.
Tommy approached, giving his best
Shadow laugh. "Mom wants you to take the trash out." Tommy said
behind his scarf.
"How do you know?" Tommy
replied.
"The Shadow knows!"
"Uh huh."
"She said so."
"You're old enough to take it
out. Why didn't she ask you?"
"I have the power to cloud
mom's mind."
I snorted into a laugh. "He's
got you there."
"Come on, Shadow. Let's go take
out the trash." Brian turned.
"Villains beware!" Tommy
flourished again.