Spoonbenders

The door to the basement had been removed, everything torn out down to the frame. Inside the room, metal panels hung above the windows, ready to swing down, like plate armor for a Civil War battleship. Bunk beds were in construction against the far wall, waiting for…crew members? Jesus Christ, if Buddy flooded the backyard he could re-create the battle of the Monitor and the Merrimack.

Matty, however, was engaged in an act of deconstruction. He knelt by the desk, pulling cords out of the back of the computer monitor.

“Matty, we gotta talk,” Frankie said.

“Oh! Uncle Frankie. Hi.” The kid looked miserable.

“What are you doing?” Frankie asked.

“Mom says I have to take it apart. Says she doesn’t even want it in the house.”

“I thought she loved that thing.”

“Yeah, well, she’s been pretty upset lately. Crying all the time. She broke up with Joshua.”

“Who the hell is Joshua?”

“Her boyfriend? In Phoenix? Anyway, it’s over, and she won’t let me use the computer.”

“Part of your grounding with the pot thing?”

Matty grimaced. “She told you?”

“Grandpa Teddy. And it’s totally hypocritical, if you ask me. Irene used to smoke pretty heavy back in high school. Probably because Lev was practically a dealer.”

“What?”

“That’s not important now. Forget about the computer. We need to talk, man to man.”

“Uncle Frankie, I’m sorry that I can’t—”

“I’m not here to convince you to come back to work on the thing.”

“You’re not?”

“Come here.” Frankie led him to the couch, which sat in a cluster of remaining normal furniture Buddy had pushed to the center of the room. “Sit with me, Matty.”

The boy sat hunched on the couch, staring at his feet.

Frankie said, “I’m here to apologize to you.” Matty started to protest and Frankie held up a hand. “No, no. I failed you. Something happened that made you turn away from me, and I want to know what it is—so I can make amends.”

“You didn’t do anything.”

“Did your mother find out? Is she punishing you for more than the pot?”

“No! I didn’t tell her anything. She has no idea about…our thing.”

“Then I’m at a loss,” Frankie said. “What happened to change your mind?”

Matty said nothing for a long moment. “I guess I got scared,” he said finally.

“Scared of what?”

The boy didn’t answer.

“Did you think you’d get caught?” Frankie asked.

Matty seemed to list away from him, which Frankie took for a nod.

“That’s impossible,” Frankie said. “You’re not doing anything. You’re just floating around, invisible. I’m doing all the work—and I’m the one taking the risk.” Jesus, was it hot in here. He was sweating just sitting down. “You have to know, if I got caught, I’d never, never ever, tell anyone you were involved.”

Matty looked up in surprise. Shit. That possibility had never occurred to the kid.

“What if there are people who can see me?” Matty asked.

“Who? What people?”

“I don’t know, like, the government?”

“Okay, I get it,” Frankie said. “This is my fault. I’ve been telling you all about Grandma Mo and her spy stuff. But what did I tell you? The Cold War’s over. The government’s done with that stuff.”

“Is it, though?”

“Of course it is. But that’s not what you’re really afraid of.”

Matty waited for it.

“You’re afraid of using your powers! You know I’m right. You can’t even say the word. P-O-W—”

Matty looked back at his feet.

“Say it. Try it out.”

“Powers,” Matty said quietly.

“Damn straight. You have powers, and you’re powerful.

What do you have to be afraid of? You can’t go through life terrified of using what God gave you. You still want to help your mom, don’t you?”

He didn’t answer.

Frankie said, “She works at that shitty grocery store, wearing that shitty uniform, making shitty money. She can’t even afford to move out on her own! How the hell are you supposed to go to college? How’s she supposed to afford that? Because you’re smart, Matty. You want to go to college, you better go. Or not. Your kind of power, you don’t have to. The thing you don’t want is to end up working some dead-end job, with a bunch of kids you have no control over, wondering what the hell happened to your—”

Frankie waved his hand as if clearing a chalkboard. “Never mind all that. Focus up.”

“You want me to focus?” Matty asked.

Frankie wasn’t exactly sure. One of them needed to.

“I know you want to help your mom,” Frankie said, lowering his voice. “And I know you want to help me. But you’ve also got to think about what’s going to help you. This is not just about the—what we’ve been practicing for. That’s just the opportunity we have in front of us at this moment. Think of it as a first step. You’re going to take a lot of steps, Matty, so many steps I don’t even know where you’ll end up. The other side of the moon, maybe! However—” He put his arm around Matty’s shoulders. “You gotta think of who you are. You’re a Telemachus.”

“I know, but—”

“No buts. Do you know what today is?”

“Thursday?”

“The last Thursday of the month. Which comes right before the last Friday of the month. And you know what that is.”

“Um…”