Fuzzy memories and things that never happened

Hero

June 3rd was the day, the day he would become a hero. He knew this. And even though he knew this, he was sweating profusely. The droplets formed rivers to the tip of his nose and fell like a salty rain, landing on his throw-away cell phone. The phone that would make him a hero.

Should a hero be nervous to the point of shaking? He was nervous and excited. He'd been planning this for six years and this day was the special day. This day he would repay the ones who did him in. They took his life away from him. He would repay in kind and expose the darkness he saw in them for the world to see. They told him he had darkness inside. He knew he didn't. He would "McVeigh" the building they gather in at high noon.

If it hadn't been for them and their big thumb squeezing his life, taking his freedom, his pleasure. If they'd just left him alone to look at his pictures in private. His collection they stole from him. They stole his computer, his 31,000 pictures and videos and the rest of his life. Today they pay it back.

He left his place of registered domicile on foot carrying no identification but fingerprints and the dental records in his mouth. He carried a brand new flip phone that he'd purchased with the ID of some poor sap from Minnesota. He walked to the place where he kept the car full of fertilizer stored. The car he registered under the name of the aforementioned chump. All he needed to do was install the trigger.

He opened the door of the garage and a white cat with green eyes jumped at his face, he dropped the cell phone and screamed at the cat. He did not like cats. They never listened to him, they are uncontrollable, and he could tell they didn't like him.

Iggy was playing outside in the grassy area 30 feet from the stoop of the building she lived in. Iggy was what her dad called her, her name was Elizabeth but dad always called her Iggy, so it stuck. She liked it. Her mom kept an eye on her from the stoop, her dad kept an eye on his computer screen six miles away. Her dad was finishing reports.

"Hi mister" Iggy greeted the stranger as he walked past her. The stranger stopped and smiled at her. He looked down at his phone and continued walking as if he'd never stopped. Iggys mom was glad he continued on his way, he seemed a little creepy. He was sweating like a sinner in a church.

"Mommy!" Came Iggy's scream. Mommy ran to her injured girl. It was just a knee scrape, but to a six year old a knee scrape is a big deal. After the wound was cleaned, covered with a hello kitty band-aid and sealed with a kiss, Iggy stopped sobbing and decided she had to call daddy and tell him what happened.

'Mommy whats daddys work number?"

"OK, you can call daddy and tell him what happened but keep it short, daddy has work to do."

"I know mommy, daddy has to get the bad guys, right?"

"Thats right baby, daddy is a bad guy catcher, he stops them and puts them away."

"Daddy is a hero isn't he mommy?"

"Well I certainly think so."

"Me too."

Iggy pressed the buttons as her mom told her the numbers. Iggy said them aloud as she pressed them.

"Ready for the last four?"

"Yep."

"Seven"

"Sebin"

"Three"

"Free"

"Two"

"Two"

"Three"

"Free"

Iggy had learned to say the names of the numbers the same as her mom, but sometimes she just wanted to act like a preschooler.

As Iggy spoke the last "free" the cat jumped into her lap.

"Mommy, Jiro made me push the six." "Bad kitty!"

Iggy knew what to do, she hung up the phone and started over.

"Daddy, guess what, I fell and I got a owie and Jiro made me call someone I don't know."

"Did doctor mommy fix you up?"

"Yep, and hello kitty too!"

"Mommy is such a good doctor isn't she baby?" "She's a hero."

"She is daddy, shes a hero and you're a hero too." "Will I ever be a hero daddy?"

"Heroes never know they are heroes Iggy, but if you want my opinion, you can't avoid being a hero, in fact you have just rescued me from boring stuff, like a hero."

"Yay!" "I love you daddy."

"I love you punkin, the phones are going crazy here, I will see you and mommy tonight, muah."

"Wait daddy, did you hear that loud boom?"

"I did hunny and I think I should find out what it was."

"OK daddy, I love you, muah!"

The car rolled slowly through the deserted alley. The driver stopped and picked up his cell phone. He plugged it into a bundle of wires that lead to the trunk of the nondescript Buick. The last piece was in place, the only thing left to do now was park in front of the police station and walk away. The wig and fake moustache would hide his identity from the cameras. He looked a lot like the sucker from Minnesota. Jeff Healey from Minnesota will be the prime suspect. Even though he knew he wouldn't get the credit, he'd know that he himself was the real hero.

He didn't hear the phone ring as his ear drums tore like rice paper. He didn't know that someone had accidentally dialed his trigger phone.He never got to watch the news reports of a hero who fought back against the oppressive system that takes away people's pleasure and freedom over a few pictures. Pictures as innocent as the subjects in his opinion. He didn't feel his fingerprints burning off or his dental records being slightly altered. An end had come to his long awaited day. Before the sunset lit up the sky in bright orange brush strokes his thoughts of becoming a hero went up in a bright red spatter.

The explosion took out an empty warehouse.

It was heard for miles.

The investigation turned up a name, a criminal record, a cell phone and a last and only number ever to call it.

Officer Davis never told his daughter she saved his life.

Jiro sat on the window sill watching the man inside. There were pictures on his computer screen. Jiro loved people, but not all of them. Sometimes you have to take matters into your own paws.

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