There he stood, his crimson cape draped along his muscular back, his black hair slicked back that highlighted his muscular and inhuman like jaw, his eyes were bluer than anything I'd ever seen in my 10-years on this planet. His white spandex costume hugged his massive arms but complemented both his crimson cape and the crimson underwear that he chose to wear on the outside of his suit. He turned to me and raised his right bow, I was frightened, so I hid from behind the tree to avoid his gaze.
“I can see you back there. Don’t worry young man, I promise that I won’t bite.”
I slowly emerge from behind the tree and get a better look at him as he stands tall with his hands’ place against his sides and a smile that could illuminate any room on his face. His gold colored boots drew my eyes as well as the sizeable golden circle with a star on his chest. I didn’t ask his name, all I could do was just stare at him.
“Testing to see if you have heat vision there chum? I gotta warn you, it might not look it but doing that does horrors on your eyesight.”, He said with a smile on his face and his arms now across his chest. “N-No, sir. I-I was just.”
“Wait. Did you just call me sir?”, he interrupted, “I’m not your dad or your teacher young man. If you’re going to call me anything, well… how about you call me Leo?”
“Leo?”
“Yeah. Leo. It is my name after all, well, my real name at least.”, he said as he bent down to my level to look me in the eyes. I didn’t know how to respond at first, but then I asked. “Why would you tell me your secret identity?”
“Who really knows. Maybe it’s because, because you seem like someone I can trust.”, The man shrugged his massive shoulders and just smiled. He then sat down on the grass and looked at me with a kind and soft look on his face. His entire body and stance just screamed comfortable, as if nothing could hurt or even bother him. He then asked me. “So then, what’s a young man doing all the way out here? Shouldn’t you be home right now?”
I rubbed the back of my head and groaned before looking away from his gaze. I know that if I were to tell him the truth, he’d just take me back home. “Are you okay, young man?” He asked in a soft and caring voice. A tone of voice that I hadn’t heard in such a long time.
“No. Not really, Leo.”, I confessed.
“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked. “I-I don’t know how.”, I said as I rubbed the back of my arm with my eyes staring down at my feet. This didn’t sway him, he gently lifted my chin up so that our eyes locked and I was now staring into his own. “Of course you do Tommy. I know that you want to say what’s bothering you, and that deep down you know how. You’re just scared. And I’m here to tell you that you don’t need to be. I’m here for you.”
Tears then began to fall from my face, I didn’t know why I trusted him or why I felt that he would change anything. But I had a feeling that anything was better than just swallowing what I thought at the time and locking it away. So, I rolled up the sleeve of my sweater and revealed to him the bruises that painted my skin. The belt marks, the welts from fists, and even some faint scars. The once gentle and kind face that I saw was now replaced by an expression of silent rage and sorrow with the latter being more outward than the former.
“Who did this to you?” was the only thing that escaped his lips.
“My dad. He gets mad a lot, but most of the time she’s nice.”, He said nothing and simply placed his hand on my wounds before releasing an almost heavenly glow from his palm. Within seconds, the bruises and scars have now vanished, and it left me astonished. “Is your dad home right now?”, he asked me. I nodded and looked away once again. The costumed man then picked me up and placed me over his shoulders before grinning towards me once again.
“I think it’s time we took you home little buddy. But how about before that, I show you my powers and maybe, stop for some ice cream?”, I gasped and smiled at him. “Do you really mean it, Leo?!” He smirked, and his body began to glow in a blue and red aura than began to lift us off the ground and into the air like a rocket. “WAHOOO!!!” I screamed at the top of my lungs as we soar over my neighborhood. He stretches his arms out, and we move closer towards the ground, allowing me to wave to my classmates. As we fly, we lower ourselves down to the Ice Cream Parlor, and Leo prepares to take me off his shoulders, only for me to cling to his head, allowing us both to have a laugh. I got Mint Chip while he had Vanilla. I told him that his tastes were boring, to which he said to me, “Well, my super-senses with any other flavor would overwhelm me. Plus, Vanilla is the greatest flavor of ice cream. And that’s a fact.”, He said with a smirk. He’s wrong though, it’s obviously Mint Chip.
After eating Ice Cream, we flew around the town for the day, he showed me his powers like Super Strength and Energy Vision, and also told me that he was a cop from a far away galaxy that came to Earth to protect the planet from monsters. I called it goofy, but he agreed and even made me his Deputy. “Now Tommy. As my Deputy, I need you to promise me that no matter what happens out there, you will never use your anger to solve a problem and that if you ever need help. Always ask for it. Because it’s better to fail together than suffer alone.”
With those final words, he placed me on his back and flew me across the town again before landing beside my bedroom window and opening it. Leo then tucked me into bed and smiled before asking me, “So Tommy. How did you enjoy your day with a real-world superhero?” I smiled and had no real words to say to him other than, “It was the best day of my life.” He ruffled my head and made his way to the window, ready to fly away again, only for us to hear the door slam shut from outside. Dad was home. Leo looked back and saw just how much I tensed up, and I began to quake in fear. Leo placed his hand on my shoulder and smiled at me before walking towards the door. I begged him no, only for him to turn and grin at me as he said. “Don’t worry Tommy. I just want to talk to your dad about how he treats you. After all, I can’t have my Deputy doing good with bruises on his arms.”
He then left the room and me behind. When the door closed, I could hear my father scream at Leo in his usual drunken fashion and threaten the hero with physical harm. All the while, I didn’t hear Leo utter a single word. But then, I hear a loud boom and something crash through our roof. Minutes go by of pure silence, I suddenly hear a knock on my door.
“C-Come in?” Leo opens the door with a smile that lights up my heart, and I jump out of my bed to race into his arms. “Hey there, Deputy. Sorry that chat took so long. But I have good news.” He gestured to the living room, just outside of my bedroom, where I found my father covered in dust and shaking as he looked at Leo and me. My dad swallowed his spit and slowly walked towards me before bending down on one knee and saying to me two words that I’d never heard escape his chapped lips.
“I’m sorry.”, he said with so much sorrow and regret in his voice. I was stunned and looked towards Leo, who simply smiled at me and nodded. He then bent down to me and told me, “Now, if your dad ever gives you any trouble like last time. Just know that I’ll always be here for you Deputy. And remember, It’s okay to ask for help. Understand chum?”
I nodded and gave him the biggest hug my small body could muster which he gently returned and with his red and blue aura once again surrounding him, Leo flew off into the sky to save another innocent life. And that was the time that I met a Superhero in my backyard.
THE END