The Super Killer

Ch.6

Heather closed the front door behind her and thought, I had it. She dropped her bag on the ground and took off her sneakers. I really thought I had it. Everything around Heather appeared hazy and blurred, as if the common room in her house was covered by a thick blanket of grey fog. They could've seen my face on television. Heather noticed one bright spot in the room, and it was coming from the kitchen along with soft bits of laughter, which floated into the common room. It was the sound of laughter that snapped Heather from her incessant thoughts, and she walked toward the sound like a moth to a bright light. She came up to the open door frame but didn't enter the kitchen. She watched as Kevin and the girls sat around an open box of pizza playing their silly game. Kevin's strong hands that could fix anything covered his eyes. He said to Gracie, "Try to guess what I'm thinking."

Gracie, tall as ever, thought for a moment. She said, "You're thinking of a squirrel."

"Good guess, but I wasn't thinking of a squirrel." Kevin turned to Cheryl and closed his eyes. "Your turn."

Cheryl took only a moment and said, "You're thinking of a triangle with little lines in it."

Kevin laughed. "I was thinking of a triangle with little lines in it. Very good. Two points for you."

Heather didn't understand the game, but she loved the laughter that it brought. She walked into the kitchen to be with her family. "I thought we agreed dinner had to have vegetables?"

Kevin looked up with a slice of pizza in his hand. "Honey. You're home early." He looked at the large box of pepperoni pizza and said, "Pizza is technically a vegetable."

"Says who?"

"The United States government."

Heather kissed her daughters on the tops of their heads and said, "I love you." She kissed Kevin on his greasy lips. "I love you even though you listen to the government over me."

"I thought you said it was going to be a late night?"

"I wanted to surprise you. Aren't you surprised?"

"As surprised as I've ever been," Kevin answered. "Today's been full of surprises."

Heather sat at the table and took a slice of pizza from the soggy box. She asked her husband, "How was your day today?"

"Productive. We closed the Stark account, finally."

Heather folded the slice of pizza and took a bite. She asked Gracie, "How did basketball practice go?"

"It was good. Coach played me as a shooting guard against the boys, and we won our scrimmage."

"That's impressive. Maybe we should sign you up for those extra lessons?" Heather turned her attention to Cheryl and asked, "Did anything exciting happen at school today?"

Cheryl nodded as she ate her crust. "Superman flew by."

Heather coughed. "He what?"

Cheryl nodded her head. "It was during our math exam. Principal Stanton told us over the loudspeaker to look out the window, and we saw Superman flying in the sky. It was cool, but I lost my concentration."

"So, you didn't actually see him, just his—"

Kevin coughed and said, "Oh, honey. Did you notice that the bookcase was gone?"

Heather, surprised, spun in her chair to look toward the living room. "My bookcase? What happened to it?"

"I came home and found all the books on the ground. Looks like the top shelf gave out and took the rest of the shelves with it. That or we have a ghost."