Superhero

Chapter 11

"I came in earlier today to see if our local superhero shows up again," Fiolina said as soon as she entered. "I'll wait here."
"Seriously, Fio..." Addison sighed, shaking her head. "I don't think the guy's gonna come here again, especially since the police showed up earlier today."
Fiolina's eyes almost popped out of her head. "The police are hunting for him?! What did he do? All he did was help people in the streets!"
Addison shrugged. "You know how they are. Probably trying to hand him over to the government or something."
"I hope he doesn't get caught in their grasp," Fiolina said, sinking down on the chair near the window. "What did they want?"
"I dunno, it wasn't during my shift," Addison admitted. "Jeff said they were digging in the trash for the food containers and stuff the guy threw away here. Luckily, the cleared the trash before they came. The garbage man had already collected them too."
"That's a relief," Fiolina snorted. "I don't think those policemen would wanna dig in the landfill."
"I hope so," Addison agreed. "Anyway, you're always early. Except that one day I really needed you to be here."
Fiolina groaned. "I know right... it was at that time I was unavoidably detained."
Addison chuckled and got out of the counter. She went to the food warmer and took out a chicken pie before popping it into the microwave.
"Those pies are so good..." Fiolina said, watching Addison put two of them into the microwave. "Always buy some and eat them when there's no customers."
"Really?" Addison said, pretending to be surprised. "I thought you don't even pay for them! Just take and eat 'em, especially when there aren't any customers here."
Fiolina blew her tongue out at her. Addison had this special skill where she found it fairly easy to make friends. At the same time not. It was like she had two traits that contradict each other, but they're there nonetheless.

Addison waved Fiolina goodbye and started making her way to the bus stop once again. She saw the free bus standing on the side of the road and ran towards it, afraid that it might leave without her.
Thankfully, she managed to get in. She sat herself on the first row and took her phone out, browsing through social media as the bus drove on.
All of a sudden, the bus violently jerked to a stop, making the passengers stop whatever they were doing to see what was up. The driver was breathing heavily, his eyes fixated on the road.
Addison looked up too, and saw a light appear on the other side of the road. She made out the silhouette of a person crouching, as if putting something on the ground, then disappeared into a white light once again.
"What is it?" Some guy asked.
"Is everything alright?"
"Is something wrong?"
"It was the Superhero!" The driver exclaimed. "There was a cat on the road, then suddenly a flash of light, and boom!"
"Where did he go?" Someone asked.
That's what Addison wanted to know too. She peered at the window to see if she could spot him, but nope. She figured that he must've teleported to a safe distance.
"He landed on the other side of the road, and disappeared again," the driver explained what Addison already knew. "He must've rescued the cat."
Addison leaned back in her seat and peered out of the window as the bus drove on. She could see nothing by the side of the road, except for the silhouette of the confused cat wandering about, and the shadows of trees and lampposts.
She looked forward to her temporary home and the hot shower in the bathroom it came with.
And the chicken pies in her backpack.

"Addie!" Felicia shouted, banging on the door. "Addie, you awake?"
Addison sat up and scratched her eye, not sure what's going on. She got off the bed and pulled her bathrobe on before opening the door.
"What is it?" Addison asked before yawning.
"Addison, the police are here," Felicia said in a worried tone. "And they're looking for you."
"What?! But I did nothing wrong!"
"I don't know, but they said they wanna question you about something."
"Tell them I'm coming," Addison quickly said, looking down at her clothes with a frown. "I need to change."
"I'll tell them."
Addison closed the door and took a moment to panic before changing into something else. She brushed her hair slightly and pulled it into a low ponytail before heading downstairs to see what's up.
Just like what Mrs. Kennedy had said, she saw two police officers sitting in the living room as she descended the stairs. She gulped and slowly went down the last one, her legs feeling like jelly.
"Miss Addison Parker?" One of the policemen said, standing up with the other.
"Ye-Yes," Addison said, walking towards them. Felicia instantly stood up. "I'm Addison Parker."
"Would you guys like something to drink?" Felicia asked, walking towards the kitchen.
"That would be lovely, Mrs. Kennedy," one of the policemen, a burly guy with dark hair, said with a smile. Addison looked at his name tag, which read Cooper. He suddenly turned to Addison, who gulped. "Miss Parker?"
"What's this about?" Addison asked. "I didn't do anything."
"We know that, Miss, but you serve as a crucial witness for our case," the other policeman, who's name was Lincoln, said. "We just came over to question you, nothing else."
"Umm... witness?" Addison repeated in a shaky voice. "Witness of what?"
Officer Lincoln took a sharp intake of breath and leaned forward in his seat. "The night before yesterday, a man walked into the convenience store you work at."
"Lots of men come and go, who are you referring to?" Addison asked, still not very sure what this was about.
"The Superhero," Officer Lincoln said, his eyes narrowing at her. That was enough to send shivers down Addison's spine.
"O-Oh..." Addison said, realising what they wanted. "He just came in, slept for a while at the table, ate, then left."
"What did he look like?" Cooper asked. Lincoln pulled out a notebook and jotted down whatever information she gave.
"I-I don't know... he... he was wearing a hood, always kept his head bent low."
"Can you give us a detailed description of him?"
"Umm... I couldn't see much of his face, but he was tall, about this high," Addison stood up to show her estimation of the Superhero's height with her hand. "He was wearing a mask, but I couldn't see that too, since he always kept his head low whenever he faced me. But I know the mask is white."
"How?"
"I saw it in the security footage," Addison explained, sitting down again. "All I could see was something white protruding from under his hood. That's all."
The policemen nodded. Addison hoped that was the end of it.
"Did he look like anyone you knew?" Nope, it wasn't the end of it.
Addison shook her head. "No, I don't think so."
The policemen nodded again. Officer Cooper opened his mouth to say something, but Felicia came in with a tray of cups. She handed them a cup of juice each and gave Addison a reassuring smile, together with a comforting squeeze on the shoulder. Cooper only spoke after she left.
"What did he eat, Miss Parker? Do you remember?"
"He bought instant spaghetti carbonara, moist chocolate cake, and blue cotton candy flavoured SlurpSlurp. And then he bought a pack peppermint gum."
"Did he buy anything else?"
"No, he didn't," Addison said. "He left as soon as my friend came in for her shift."
Addison bit her lip and looked at the grandfather clock behind the officers' couch. It was almost time for her to get ready for class.
"I-It's almost time for me to get ready," Addison said, standing up. "I'm sorry, but I really need to go."
The officers took the cue and got up.
"You have given us a lot of information, Miss Parker," Lincoln finally spoke, shaking her hand. "It's been a pleasure."
"It's been a pleasure too," Addison said, shaking Cooper's hand now. "But... can I ask you something?"
"Go ahead," Cooper shrugged.
"Why are you looking for him?" Addison couldn't help but ask. "The Superhero did nothing wrong besides save a lot of lives and send crooks directly to your doorstep. Why are you looking to arrest him?"
"Arrest him?" Lincoln snorted. "Girlie, we want him to work with us!"
Addison looked at him in surprise. "Work with you?"
"Yes, Miss Parker," Cooper chuckled. "With someone like that, we can catch all the criminals in town!"
That was true too, but it seemed a little too... unreal.
Lincoln cleared his throat. "We better let you go, Miss Parker. You need to get ready."
As if on cue, Addison's phone alarm went off in her pocket. It was the time that she would usually wake up, but not today. She smiled and turned it off before thanking them for excusing her. She saw them off and headed back upstairs to get ready.