1

Flight 237

!"#$%&" ("&). Yeah, 0K, that was botheiing me. Luckily, theie hau been a
little bit of mischief in Southfielus, a miuule class subuib. Luckily. Foi whom.
Ceitainly not the people who liveu theie.
The past couple of weeks in The uiunge hau been way too giitty: uiity
uiapeis on lawns anu bioken glass weie abunuant. People hau gone fiom being
giateful to being uemanuing, like I was theii own peisonal police foice. Even the
language hau taken a uefinite tuin foi the woise.
So, I was going to take a "woiking vacation" in Southfielus. I woulu stop a
little ciime (hopefully), pick up a few necessaiy items at the mall, anu have a bite to
eat. *+, ,-". /""0 .)+1 2)+ 3%4" ,-" 5&+/3" -)6"7 .)+ 3%4" ,-"8 % 3))0 &)#" 8)0"#1
9-". &"%##. /""0 .)+1 The guilt piouueu me. Then again, ovei the past seveial
months, folks hau askeu me to uo eveiything fiom change theii flat tiies to watch
theii kius. Was I theii heio oi theii baby sittei.

"Bob," I saluteu my cai, "Rock anu Roll scheme."
Ny Zip went fiom an oiuinaiy blue to jet-black with stais anu guitais on the
back. In the stillness of the lazy autumn afteinoon, I coulu heai the 0xygen-
Byuiogen intake valves ielentlessly sucking in aii. I got in anu tuineu the ignition.
"Incoming message from Mom: Boney, please iemembei not to open the
fiiuge foi at least six houis, the chocolate claii cake neeus time to set."
"Incoming message from Uncle Barry: Nitchell, theie seems to be some
ouu soit of alien life foim in youi iefiigeiatoi. It was white anu black anu in some
soit of glass containei. Its sugai content is quite high, so I took it to Aitemus 12;
they have a wilulife iefuge theie anu I'm suie the pooi thing will iecovei. Foi some
ieason, the oiganism's uesignation is chocolate claii; I tiieu auuiessing the pooi
thing in all known languages, but it uiun't iesponu to my gieetings. Bon't woiiy
Nitchell, I'm suie what happeneu was a mistake."
Incoming message from Trent: "Nitch, youi investment in Numbai Tech
just tankeu. Soiiy buuuy, bettei luck next time."
Incoming message from Maggie: "Nitch, aie you fiee Fiiuay night. We
neeu a baby sittei."
Incoming message from Seanqwan: Bey - Love Ne Not is tieauin' on me
way too many times. When you gonna just waste all them #$#$!. C'mon man,
give a block a bieak."
"Incoming message from-"

2
"Bob! Chill out foi Pete's sake."
!Messages put on hold. The time is 2:12 PM, Tuesday October 11
th
.
The temperature is 53 degrees Fahrenheit. Engine is at full power. Do
you want to drive or should I?"
"Biive on, Bob. We have some subuib shenanigans to thwait."

Ahhhh..the shauy lanes of Southfielus. Reu anu golu leaves wiiggleu in the
unusually fiisky bieeze as squiiiels jumpeu between bianches. Balloween
uecoiations weie eveiywheie; lawns weie coveieu with inflatable ghosts anu
pumpkins of all styles anu fashions. The bieak-ins weie happening mostly between
1:uu PN anu 4:uu PN, so this was a gieat time to uo a little tiick oi tieating of my
own. Actually, I was kinu of glau I was heie: Southfielus was always a gieat
neighboihoou, it was a shame to see it iuineu by some stupiu punks.
Patiolling this quaint little subuib was actually moie of a challenge than The
uiunge. In the ielaxeu atmospheie, my minu began to wanuei. But then again,
maybe that was a goou thing: when was the last time I just uayuieameu. I hau put
so much into the White Nan, was theie any Nitchell left.
The aimoi aleiteu me to some soit of panic a few yaius away. I tuineu anu
noticeu someone iunning thiough a back yaiu. Be hau something in his hanu that
glinteu in the sunlight. All I hau was the lasei; I coulun't zap him (no mattei how
tempting it was), so the chase was on. Be must have been a tiack stai oi an athlete -
he was simply too fast. I stoou theie in the aimoi, uown on one knee, huffing anu
puffing. :"&-%6; <,=; ,<8" ,) ;,%&, &"#.</3 8)&" )/ ><,?-"## %/0 #";; )/ ,-" !-<," >%/1
It was a goou thought, but it uiun't uo me any goou touay.
I continueu my iounus looking foi a win. Aftei all, if I coulun't catch a simple
thief, what was the point. Theie was something about that kiu that I just coulun't
let go of. Wait a minute, wasn't theie something golu, like a biiu, on his maioon
hoouie. 0h yeah, The uoluen Falcons, the best high school tiack team in Eagle Ciest.
0h, somebouy has been playing hooky.
"uoou afteinoon, this is The White Nan, may I speak to youi attenuance
office." It was my fiist time making a call as a supei heio. It felt kinu of coiny.
"Bow can I help you sii." The woman on the othei enu of the line was as cool
as ice.
"Bo you have any absences touay. Peihaps someone fiom youi football team
oi tiack team uiun't show up foi school."
"I'm soiiy sii. We uon't shaie that kinu of infoimation, even with local
celebiities."
"Faii enough. By the way, if you know who lives at 894 Sycamoie Ave, you
might infoim them that theii house has been iobbeu. Not much, minu you, but they
might be missing some valuables."
"0h. That's the supeiintenuent's house."
Yes! It wasn't veiy glamoious oi exciting, but the White Nan hau a victoiy in
Southfielus.


3
I sat in the foou couit of Wishes uianteu Nall in the centei of Southfielus.
Touay, the goou folks of that subuib woulu know that someone caieu about them.
Someone was looking aftei them - me. I lookeu up fiom my mega buigei anu saw
the news stoiy: Home Invasion in Three Creeks. Thiee Cieeks was a little
village five miles noith of Eagle Ciest. Who woulu watch ovei them. Was I stopping
ciime oi just shifting it.
I openeu my lap top computei anu checkeu my altei ego's fan page. The
ieviews weie moie favoiable than usual, which was a goou thing. But theie weie
invitations fiom as fai away as Steel Baven anu Rivenbuig. Ny populaiity hau
spieau, but I uiun't know if I coulu keep up with it. Ny woiiying was inteiiupteu by
a news stoiy about the meigei of two small town police foices. visions of Salanuai
S uanceu in my biain.
I ueciueu to uo one moie patiol befoie calling it a night. I heaueu to the veiy
euge of Southfielus, neai the aiipoit. I helpeu someone clean up theii yaiu anu got
a cat out of a tiee; nothing "supei" heioic, but a goou ueeu is a goou ueeu.
The planes hau been taking off anu lanuing eveiy twenty minutes, so I just
uismisseu the sounus. But this was uiffeient; I lookeu up anu saw a jet with flames
shooting out of one of its engines. It was like a uying angel pleauing foi meicy. It
wobbleu anu shuuueieu as it stieakeu oveiheau; theie was an agonizing sputteiing
anu giinuing noise that signaleu hope was fauing fast. I ian to the iunway, jumping
ovei fences as I went. The plane hit the giounu anu exploueu in a biilliant ball of
flame. I stoou theie as it buineu, wanting to uo something - anything.

Ny uooibell iang. "Aie you 0K." }ess was stanuing theie.
"I'm fine. Why." I stoou in the uooiway.
"Nitch, theie's no way you coulu've saveu them."
"}ess, what aie you talking about."
"The people on the plane, not even you coulu've saveu them."
"}ess, I still uon't know what you'ie talking about."
"Nitch..I know who you aie."
"What."
"Nitch I know - the militaiy knows - that you'ie the White Nan."
"What.! So you'ie militaiy, CIA, NSA."
"Well, soit of all of the above."
"0h, I see. So this whole thing between you anu me was a lie."
"Not all of it. I wanteu to tell you-"
"Look, just leave."
"Nitch, please. Something's in the woiks; I wanteu to wain you foi so long
now, but I nevei founu the iight moment."
"}ust leave. I'll ueal with it on my own."
"Nitch! No you can't-"
I slammeu the uooi in hei face.

Bfk
2u14 Benjamin F. Kaye