The Life of a Teenage Hero

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Friday, March 6th, 4:37PM

Lins Residence

"Hurry up! We have to leave in three minutes!" Dad shouts down the upstairs hallway. I pop out of my room just as Cyrus emerges from his room in a dark red button down tucked into a brown pair of slacks. He's pulled his curls back into a low ponytail, although he's missed a few baby hairs.

"Don't you look spiffy," I say.

"Rayleigh told me I had to dress nice since they're doing that stupid homecoming court thing," he huffs with an eye roll. He pulls his duffel bag onto his shoulder, his lacrosse sticks poking out. He and Rayleigh weren't nominated during the first semester's homecoming court but she managed to snag them one for tonight's game. Jessica is still mad because she didn't get a bid. Our school is weird because they have two homecomings. One in the fall for football, and one in the spring for lacrosse. I don't participate in either.

"You look very okay at best," I say.

"And you look like a gremlin," he shoots back. He looks over my black skirt and white long-sleeved blouse as I shift my weight from one foot to the other.

"A very cute gremlin," I clarify.

He sticks his tongue out at me and heads downstairs where we slip on our shoes and pile into the car. Dad sits in the front seat, bobbing to the music with Mom.

"Finally," Dad sings. "I thought I was going to have to leave you kids."

"That would be counterproductive," I say. He rubs his bald head and laughs.

Legend has it that before Cyrus, Dad had the longest dreads either side of the equator. He forever kept them pulled behind his head in a brilliant ponytail, but then one day while he was surfing off the coast of Ubatuba, a shark came out of nowhere and bite off his beautiful hair. He could never get his hair to grow back again.

Mom told him it was just because he's getting old and all old men lose their hair, but he refuses to accept that. The shark story is obviously more viable.

Dad begins to tell us about a customer he had today that reminded him of his childhood friend and launches into a story I've heard a million times. I lean my head against the window and zone out. Dad has a hundred Brazil stories he's told a thousand times. He goes back every summer to visit his parents. Usually he takes Cyrus with him, so he can visit his real mother's grave, but a civil war has erupted in Rio de Janerio about six months ago and the fighting has spread all across the country, so Dad doesn't feel like it's safe for Cyrus to go this year. Cyrus is still upset, which is why he's probably slumped down in his seat watching his thumbs wrestle each other.

We pull up to the Regent Academy's lacrosse field, and I scan the crowd for Jess. There's an endless sea of red and black as people pile into the bleacher seats, shake hands, or stand in line for concessions. As we climb out of the car Cyrus disappears, probably to find Rayleigh.

"Look at this crowd," Dad says as a group of cheerleaders past us with signs. A group of guys holler as they rip off their shirts to reveal the body paint all over their bare chests. "There's so much school spirit!"

He claps me on the shoulder, almost knocking off my feet. "Isn't this great, Momo?"

"Fantastic," I mumble, rubbing my shoulder.

We eventually find a group of seats near the top of the third set of bleachers. Mom and Dad are wearing their jerseys that say "Cyrus's Mom" and "Cyrus's Dad" respectively. I try not to make eye contact with anyone. They had a shirt made for me but I "accidently" dropped it into Jess's fireplace. Mom had me doing crab walks around the dojo until I couldn't feel my legs for that one.