Detention of Power

Wesley had just received his scoop of spaghetti with meatballs, when he found an empty seat next to Jamie, seated at the long, narrow table in the far corner of the grammar school cafeteria. Wes always wanted to sit close to Jamie, so that he could keep an eye on him. He knew that his best friend was the most powerful human being in the universe, and it was becoming just much too easy for Jamie to use his amazing super powers in school. Wesley was deeply concerned for Jamie’s safety and his mom’s. Wesley was constantly reminding the super kid NOT to use his strength or his other powers in school. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done! Jamie was SO powerful, that it took more effort on his part to SUPPRESS his powers than it did to just go ahead and use them.

Jamie got up from his seat and strolled over to the soda dispensers. He contemplated which fountain drink to take, finally deciding to take a little from each soda tap. His concoction was a dark brown effervescent liquid consisting of a mixture of every soft drink in the dispenser. He sat back down next to Wesley, contentedly nursing his soda through a straw. Wesley made a face. Softly he mumbled to Jamie. “Only YOU could get away with drinking that much soda without your face breaking out in a gazillion zits!” Jamie cracked up. Wesley was a total health nut. He rarely drank soft drinks. He stuck to milk, fruit juices and distilled water. But Wesley knew Jamie needn’t worry about what he ate or drank. The super boy could drink poison with no ill effect. And, as Wesley knew very well, Jamie needn’t eat anything at all unless he wanted to. Although he could and did eat food and derive nourishment from it, all of the bad chemicals were “flared off” by his super metabolism. But, in the absence of food, Jamie’s body could derive nourishment directly from earth’s yellow sun, absorbing, channeling and amplifying the sun’s radiation like a super power transformer.

“Darn it! My chili’s cold!” Gregory groused; as he spat a mouthful back onto his plate. Gregory was one of the loudest kids in class. Wesley didn’t particularly like him. He dismissed Gregory as little more than a loud mouth and a clown. But Jamie was so easy going, he would talk to everybody and he was friends with everyone. Wesley was afraid that Jamie’s rapidly growing popularity among their classmates was attracting too much attention. Several of the kids had already confided to Wesley their suspicion that there was something very unusual about Jamie Wilson.

“Here, give your plate to me…” Jamie said to Gregory. “I’ll fix it for you…”

“Here…” Gregory said, as he handed his plate off to Jamie. He laughed, “But don’t eat it!”

Jamie quickly glanced around and realized that nobody but Gregory and Wes was paying attention to him. Then Jamie turned his attention to the mound of chili on Gregory’s plate, focusing his vision on the food with his big blue eyes. Red heat rays shot from the boy’s pupils, quickly heating Gregory’s plate of chili. The food was warm. Jamie shut off his heat vision and handed the plate back to Gregory. “Here yah go, my friend. All warmed up for yah.”

“Oh no…” Wesley sighed. “Not again…”

Jamie giggled. Jamie just loved pleasing his friends. He wanted to use his powers to make them happy.

Gregory was wide eyed. “Wow! How’d you do that?” Gregory exclaimed.

“Oh I don’t know… Just something I can do… I was just born this way” Jamie responded honestly.

Gregory continued to stare at Jamie, amazed, his mouth wide open.

Wesley stood up and tapped Jamie’s broad muscular shoulder. “Dude, we need to talk… Let’s go to the boy’s room… Now!”

Jamie obediently followed Wesley like a little puppy. Although he and Wesley were close to the same age, Wesley had always been like something of an “older brother” to Jamie. Jamie idolized Wesley, almost to the point of ‘hero worship.’ He regarded Wesley’s counsel as wise and well intentioned. He would do anything Wesley told him. He trusted his friend implicitly.

As soon as the two boys were in the boy’s bathroom, Wesley quickly swept the room making sure they were alone. He was exasperated at Jamie. “What do you think you’re doing? Using your heat vision in the cafeteria here at school? C’mon, Jamie, are you nuts?” Wesley hissed at the super boy.

“Nobody else saw it! I just wanted to help him out…” Jamie responded, spreading his hands.

“Jamie! How many times do I need to tell you not to use your super powers here at school?” Wesley said to him, as he folded his arms across his chest. “You’re risking blowing your secret identity and one day the whole world is gonna find out that there’s a kid in this school who has super powers… People won’t leave you or your mom alone, just because everyone will know that you’re Superboy!”

Jamie just sighed, as he bowed his head and closed his eyes. This was not the first time they’d had this conversation. Wesley had warned Jamie repeatedly NOT to let any of the other kids in school see him using his powers.

“I can’t turn my powers on or off like a switch. I’m born with them and I’m so used to using them I don’t know how to go through my day WITHOUT using them!”

Wesley wasn’t buying Jamie’s excuses.
“Jamie! That how lame is that? Look at me. This is me, WESLEY yer talkin’ to here. And I know you like a book. I know you like I know myself. You can turn off your powers as easily as I can shut my eyes to turn off my eyesight. You’re just not trying. We both know you can do better than this.”

Both Jamie and Wesley regarded each other momentarily. It was so quiet in the bathroom; you could hear a pin drop. Jamie sighed deeply, before responding to his friend.

“I’m sorry…”

Wesley moved closer to Jamie and gently rested his hands on the super boy’s broad shoulders. Jamie hated it when he and Wesley argued, and Wesley realized that it hurt his friend deeply when he showed any feeling of anger towards him.

“Look, Jamie…” Wesley said quietly, as he held on to the shorter, but far more muscular boy. “I know you mean well. I know anybody with powers like you’ve got would be just itchin’ to use `em. But you gotta think about your mom. Yah gotta wait till you can get away… till you can get off by yourself. You can’t let anybody see.”

Jamie just nodded, and he raised his hand so to wipe a tear from his eye.

“You’re such a good kid… I know all you wanna do is help. That’s why you try so hard to please everybody. But people are beginning to notice that you’re stronger than everybody else. You’re faster, you can jump higher, and you always win at every sport you play… You’re attracting way too much attention to yourself. You’ve gotta be more careful, Jamie! Wait will school is over, and then you can fly us home. All right? “

Jamie just nodded his head.

Are you wearing your cape underneath your shirt?”

Jamie nodded again, for he knew that Wesley was right.

“Good…”

Wesley said, as he turned around and walked towards the door. “Let’s get back to the cafeteria before our food gets too cold. And if it’s too cold, please, just use the microwave to heat it up, okay? And please watch out for guys like Gregory! He talks too much… Don’t let him get you in trouble…”

Jamie realized that Wesley was right, as usual, and he decided just to remain silent, as meekly, he followed Wesley back into the busy cafeteria.

Jamie and Wesley barely finished eating when the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch break. Wesley strolled over to his next class, while Jamie and Gregory walked down the hallway together. They were both scheduled for English this period, but the class had been moved to the science lab, because their own classroom was being repainted.

While Jamie and Gregory were walking to class, they spied Mr. Bonesworth, the vice principal approaching. He was wearing a white button down long sleeve shirt, with blue necktie. He didn’t appear to be in a very cheery mood.

“Gregory Henriquez! I need to have a word with you!” the man said to the boy.

“You brought a lizard to school, yesterday. Must I remind you that this is a school, and not a zoo?

“It was an accident, Mister Bonesworth! I forgot that I was carrying him in my shirt pocket. It was an accident. He jumped out of my pocket during English class! I couldn’t do anything.” the boy argued.

“And all the girls in class shrieking in class, panicking and falling all over each other to get away from that lizard. You disrupted class and you upset the girls in your class. Mister Henriquez, you were in my office serving yet another detention only last week! One more infraction, young man and it’ll be SUSPENSION, NOT DETENTION. Got it?”

“Yes sir…” Gregory replied quietly.

“Good! Now get to class, both of you, before the two of you get marked as being tardy!” Mr. Bonesworth snapped. “I’ll be keeping an eye on you, Mister Henriquez!”

Gregory and Jamie hurried along to class. Just before they stepped into the classroom, Gregory looked back down the hallway at Mr. Bonseworth.

“Bonehead!” he said crossly, but not loud enough for the vice principal to hear him.

“`Bonehead?’ What’s that all about?” Jamie asked.

Jamie had never had detention. His deportment record was spotless, so he’d never been obliged to have a ‘chat’ with Mr. Bonesworth. All he knew was that this was one of the most hated members of the faculty. As vice-principal, he was in charge of student discipline. Among his many duties, remaining after school to supervise the students held in detention. He would assign the students study work or odd jobs or other onerous kinds of “busy work.” He was known to keep students in class for at least an hour after classes were over. The students had dubbed him “the warden,” or “Mister Bonehead,” the latter appellation because of his bald head.

“I hate him” Gregory hissed, as he sat down on his chair. There were several microscopes, Bunsen burners, and other instruments in front of him on the table. “He’s the meanest teacher in school and he always keeps me here longer than an hour when I get detention. He makes me feel like I’m in prison…”

“Well, just stay out of trouble, I guess…” Jamie shrugged, as he set his backpack on the floor, taking the seat next to Gregory.

Gregory was the kind of kid who loves to play with instruments and with chemicals. He snatched a vial from one of the other tables, and he tried to get the gas burner to work.

“Hey Jamie, watch this…” Gregory said, as he twisted the burner knob. “If I heat this vial above the burner, it’ll really make a stink! Yeah! A stink bomb!”

He turned knob, only to be disappointed when the burner didn’t light off. Evidently, there was another gas valve farther up the line that remained closed. Fortunate since Gregory had no match and hadn’t realized that, in the absence of a pilot light, he would’ve needed a match to light the flame.

“Darn it… there’s no gas…” Gregory said, while holding up the vial with a tong. “Hey, Jamie, I need your help…”

“With what?” Jamie wondered, while curiously watching his friend while he was trying to get his experiment to work.

“Do me a favor…” Gregory said, as he turned to Jamie and held the vial before him. “Zap the base of this vial with that “heat ray” you got in your eyeballs, just enough to heat it up a little, okay?”

“Sure!” Jamie cheered, as he turned towards the vial. He focused his gaze at the base of the vial. Heat rays emanating from his pupils struck the vial. After a few seconds, there was a sudden popping sound as the room was engulfed in a horrible stench.

Both boys laughed gleefully. The classroom smelled of their “stink bomb!”

“That was awesome! Jamie, here, stare real hard at this…” Gregory said, as he tore a sheet of paper from his note pad.

“If you set this on fire, then we can set off a few more of these things!” Gregory chuckled, as he waved the sheet of paper in front of Jamie. “Blast away, fire boy!”

Jamie focused his heat vision on the paper setting it ablaze.

“Guys! Put that out! Teacher’s comin’!” Jeremy said. Jeremy was one of Jamie’s classmates. He stood by the door when he heard the teacher talking to someone down the hall, just as he was approaching the classroom.

Jeremy immediately ran to his chair and sat down. Realizing that the teacher was about to enter the classroom, Jamie quickly blew out the burning paper in Gregory’s left hand.

Mr. Johnson, the English teacher, entered the classroom just as Jamie managed to douse the flames. The teacher noticed the smoke coming from the scorched paper in Gregory’s hand.

“Who’s been playing with fire? Gregory, did you set that piece of paper on fire? And what’s that smell?” the teacher demanded angrily of the boys seated on the front row.

For a moment, everyone in the classroom was silent. The teacher stared at the three boys, knowing very well that they had been playing around with materials reserved for chemistry class.

“I’m going to ask this for the last time: Who set that paper on fire?” the teacher demanded.

“I did, Sir…” Jamie said timidly, knowing that he would be punished for his stupidity.

The teacher snatched his notepad off his desk and scrawled out a note. He motioned Jamie forward.

“Come here…” Mr. Johnson said to him.

Jamie was angry, at himself mostly, ashamed, anxious and nervous at the same time. He realized that he had done something stupid, and he would now have to face the music. Meekly, he stood and went up to Mr. Johnson.

“Take this note to Mr. Bonesworth. You’ll remain in detention after the sixth period this afternoon.”

The students in the class were all very quiet as Jamie glumly trudged out the door. Jamie was humiliated. He bowed his head as he shuffled down the hallway towards the vice-principal’s office. This was such a strange experience for him. He’d never been held in detention before, and he’d already decided that he would do anything to prevent this from happening ever again.

When he arrived at Mr. Bonesworth’s office, he lightly rapped on the door and waited for an answer.

“Come in…” a voice called from inside the office.

Jamie entered the outer office where Ms. Stella Washington, Mr. Bonesworth’s secretary was seated at her desk. In spite of his predicament, Jamie noted that Ms. Washington was a friendly and very attractive younger lady.

“I have a note for Mr. Bonesworth…” Jamie said to Ms. Washington.

“Just take it to the first office on the right…” she replied, as she continued typing away at her computer keyboard.

Slowly, like a condemned criminal on his way to be hanged, Jamie walked toward Mr. Bonesworth’s office door. He was scared. He had never had a reason to talk to the vice-principal before. He’d never been in any trouble at school before.

Mr. Bonesworth’s office door was open, and Jamie observed a large desk in the center of the big office. There were two wooden chairs on his side of the desk, and Mr. Bonesworth was talking on the phone as Jamie went in. Quietly, he sat down on one of the chairs, as he waited for the vice-principal to finish his telephone conversation.

As he waited, the boy gazed at the books on the large bookshelf behind the vice-principal’s chair. He also noticed various diplomas and certificates hanging on the walls. Several bore the words “Miami-Dade County School District,” and “Florida Department of Education”. One bore the legend “This is to certify that Mr. Julius Bonesworth, MA, PhD, has been awarded the distinction of “Administrator of the Year” for the Miami-Dade County School District”.

As soon as Mr. Bonesworth hung up the phone, he turned towards Jamie.

“Mister Johnson told me to give you this…” Jamie said nervously, as he handed the man the note from his teacher.

Mr. Bonesworth quickly read the note from Mr. Johnson. “Detention?” he said, as he looked up from the handwritten note. “You? Well, I guess there’s a first time for everything. Come back here as soon as the sixth period is over. You’ll be stay here with me for at least an hour after your last class.”

Jamie just looked at him in shame. For the first time in a long while, he felt awful. He felt helpless, hurt, and angry. Now he was at the mercy of this grumpy old man, and he definitely wasn’t looking forward to staying an hour after school was dismissed for the weekend. He just wanted to get home, and he was feeling tired and hungry. Staying an extra hour after school was out was sure no way for him to spend his Friday afternoon.

“You’re dismissed…”

“Yes sir,” Jamie said as he quietly got up and stumbled down the hall back to English class. He felt extremely so. No power on this earth could’ve held Jamie without his cooperation, but he’d decided just to stick it out.

He quietly approached his table and sat down next to Gregory.

“What happened? Did you get detention?” Gregory whispered.

“Yes…” Jamie snapped. He was very perturbed at Gregory.

“Why didn’t you keep your mouth shut when Mr. Johnson asked who had set the paper on fire?” Gregory asked him.

“Because I didn’t wanna lie?” Jamie responded sarcastically.

“You’re so honest, Jamie!” Gregory whispered to him. “And now it’s gotten you into trouble. Welcome to Bonesworth’s Prison! Join the crowd…”

“This is your fault!” Jamie whispered back hotly. “It was YOU who told me to set the paper on fire!”

“Will you shut up?” Gregory replied. “You set the paper on fire, not me. It’s your own stupid fault!”

Jamie decided just to stay quiet. He had a hard time concentrating on the lesson, as he just stared to the front. He didn’t even want to talk to Gregory right now. He was angry that he used his power in class. He felt ashamed that he done something that he wasn’t supposed to, and he was embarrassed that now he had to stay a whole hour longer at school.

The last period dragged. It seemed like it would never end at all! Jamie continued to stare at the big, round clock on the wall, realizing that with every second that passed, he was coming closer to facing his first detention ever.

He started to feel like he was a prisoner, a criminal, or a thief. He had done something stupid, and now he was going to be punished for it. To make matters even worse, he remembered how Wesley had warned him about Gregory and he had also told him not to use his powers at school. If only he had listened to Wesley…

When the bell rung, all the other kids grabbed their books and stuffed them into their backpacks. Then they streamed out classroom door. They were happy that the weekend had finally arrived. Jamie didn’t even feel like getting up. For him, the weekend had to wait at least another hour. He was feeling lonely and angry, as he found himself the only remaining student in the classroom.

He quietly shoved his books into his backpack and then stood up. He looked over at Mr. Johnson steated at his desk, now grading exam papers. For a brief moment, Jamie hoped that perhaps the teacher would feel pity on him, and reverse his decision.

But the hoped-for “reprieve” was not forthcoming. The teacher continued working through exam papers, not even looking at Jamie.

Jamie felt like a death row prison inmate. He had hoped that he would get a stay of execution from the teacher. But the teacher paid no attention to Jamie, and the boy just bowed his head in shame, as he quietly opened the door and walked out of the classroom.

With every step he took, as he headed back to the vice principal’s office, he felt ever more anxious. He could feel his heart beating in his chest as he broke out in a sweat. He couldn’t think of anything he could say or do to get out of the situation. Here he was, with all the super strength and super powers he possessed, knowing that he was the most powerful kid on earth, and yet, he was just a little boy, scared to death of what he was about to experience.

He walked slowly to the vice principal’s office. By the time he got there, he realized that he was the only student left in the building. All the other kids were already outside or on the way home; everyone except for him.

He felt so lonely. Why couldn’t he just walk out the door and fly away? Why couldn’t he turn towards the door and run away at super speed? Nobody could catch him or stop him. Still, even thinking about what he could possibly do now only made him feel worse.

He sighed as he came to the entrance of the vice principal’s office. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt so scared. What was this man going to do to him?

The boy set his jaw, determined to take his lumps like a little man. He resolved to do whatever the teacher told him to do and do it as quickly as possible so that he could get this over with. He just wanted to do the work he was assigned and go home.

When he walked into the office, the secretary had already gone home for the day. Only the light in Mr. Bonesworth’s office was on, and the old grouch was going over some letters he needed to sign.

“Have a seat, Mr. Wilson…” Mr. Bonesworth said with a gruff and unfriendly tone. He had the thankless job of staying late after class was over. He worked late almost every day, and he was usually the last administrator to go home. He was almost always the faculty member who watched over the kids who had to remain behind for detention.

Another man entered the office. He wore an old shirt and jeans, and he seemed to be all sweaty and tired. He was seriously overweight, and he seemed to be sweating bullets as waddled into the office.

“Hey Julius…” the man said, as he walked in the door. “You got the key to the other building?”

Mr. Bonesworth pulled a key out of his desk drawer, and handed it to the man. He was obviously the janitor. He was the man would clean the classrooms and mop the hallway floor after the students had gone home.

“There’s a bad spill down the hall…” Mr. Bonesworth said to the janitor. “Some kid spilled a bottle of soda all over the floor in the hallway outside room 103, so make sure that gets taken care of first! This was at the very end of the sixth period, so…”

“Kids these days…” George, the janitor, chuckled. “They spill things, break things, and set fires…”

“That’s what this kid is sitting here for…” Mr. Bonesworth said, as he pointed at Jamie. Jamie felt even more angry and ashamed, but he decided it was just best to remain quiet. “Kids just break, lose or destroy school property, while I have to beg for more money from the school district in order to replace all the broken supplies and furniture around here… Nobody seems to appreciate the work that gets done around here; they just take it all for granted… It’s a crying shame, you know what I mean?”

“Oh definitely, I know exactly what you mean. Ahh, I see that you only got one customer today, huh?” George laughed, as he glanced at Jamie. “And he’s a newcomer at that! I’ve never seen you in here before…”

“I guess…” Jamie mumbled dejectedly. He was embarrassed that the administrator had told the janitor why he was sitting in his office.

“Oh, it won’t be so bad, kid…” George said to him. “You’ll just be in a classroom all by yourself for an hour or so. Be over `fore yah know it. After that, you can go home…”

“I’ll take care of this disciplinary situation, George!” Mr. Bonesworth snapped at the janitor. “Just go mop up that mess in the hall!”

“Alright, Julius…” then George turned to Jamie. “See yah round, kid…”

Jamie returned George’s cheerful “farewell” with a nod and a hang dog expression. He just wanted to get this over with. He felt so helpless and lonely, and now he was at the mercy of this mean old man. And to top it off, now there were other people who knew that he was in detention. His unblemished reputation here at school had been ruined in a single afternoon. He tried unsuccessfully to nurse his grudge against Gregory. Jamie had to face the inescapable conclusion that he had no one to blame for this but himself.

“Alright, Mister Wilson…” Mr. Bonesworth said, as he slowly got up from his chair. He walked towards the office door and turned around.

“Follow me…”

Jamie slowly got up and walked behind the administrator. Mr. Bonesworth led the boy to an empty classroom. He opened the door and waited for Jamie to enter through the door, before closing it behind them.

“This is where you will remain for the next hour or so. When you’re done completing this assignment, you are to return to my office, is that understood? If you don’t come back to my office, then you’ll go through this all over again on Monday.”

For Jamie, Mr. Bonesworth just seemed like this mean old man who took fiendish delight in making little kids suffer. He decided to do the assignment as quickly as possible so he could get out of there.

Mr. Bonesworth drew a fresh stick of chalk from the desk drawer, and handed it to Jamie along with a chalk board eraser.

“I want you to erase everything from all these chalkboards. When you’re done, I want you to write ‘I will not start fires in class’ on every board in the room. I want you to fill up all the chalkboards in this classroom. Just as soon as you’re done, I want you to come straight back to my office. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Sir…” Jamie meekly replied.

Mr. Bonesworth turned on his heel and walked to the door. He stopped and turned around, looking on as Jamie took the eraser and started erasing all the writing on the first blackboard.

Wesley was walking down the hallway, when he saw as Mr. Bonesworth left the classroom, closing the door behind him. Mr. Bonesworth didn’t see the boy who had stepped around a corner, out of view. Wesley had been looking all over for Jamie. He’d never seen him come out of the building.

He knew that Jamie wouldn’t leave school without him. Jamie always gave him a ride home. The super boy delighted in giving Wesley that little two-minute ride home, because it was the first time after school that he could use his powers. So, Wesley knew that Jamie had to be somewhere inside the building.

Once he was sure Mr. Bonesworth was headed the other way, he closed his eyes and focused his mind on the classroom. He confirmed that Jamie was indeed inside the otherwise deserted classroom and then went inside.

“Jamie! What are you doing here?” Wesley asked, as soon as he slipped into the classroom. He closed the door behind him making sure nobody heard their conversation.

“You really don’t want to know…” Jamie answered dejectedly, as he continued erasing the chalkboards.

“Let me guess. You got detention, right?”

Jamie hung his head momentarily, and then continued erasing the chalkboard. He still had several more boards to erase, and he was already running out of patience. He just wanted to get this over with so he could go home.

“What happened? What did you do?”

“Gregory asked me so set a sheet of paper on fire, so he could use it to heat up these chemical vials he found in the chemistry lab. I did, but then Mr. Johnson walked in just after I blew out the fire but he wasn’t fooled. He knew we’d been playing with fire. He sent me to Mr. Bonesworth’s office and that’s how I got detention. So now I’m stuck here,” Jamie said glumly.

“I told you to watch out for Gregory! You don’t listen to me, and now look what it got you!” Wesley sighed.

“Yeah, well now I just wanna get this stupid assignment over with as quickly as I can.” Jamie replied, as he stepped over to the window to close the shades. “Help me close all these window shades so that nobody can see what I’m doing in here…”

“Why? Now what’re you gonna do?” Wesley asked, as he joined Jamie in pulling down the shades..

“Just do it…” Jamie brightened, with a mischievous smirk. “You’ll see…”

Wesley closed the shades as Jamie walked around and checked, making sure that all the windows were covered.

“Now go stand by the door and make sure nobody’s coming down the hall.

Wesley walked over to the door and opened it slightly; just enough so that he could pop his head out and see both ways down the hallway.

“The coast is clear…” Wesley replied. “Now, can you tell me what this is all about?”

“Watch this…” Jamie said, as he snatched up the long stick of chalk that Mr. Bonesworth had given him a few minutes earlier.

Jamie moved over to the blackboard closest to the door. He stood near the far left edge of the board and gently pressed the chalk against it. Then, his super speed kicked in, as he started writing “I will not start fires in class.” He had the first blackboard filled in three seconds he could have done it faster, but if he’d tried, the chalk would’ve crumbled in his fist.

Then Jamie stepped over to next board to the right, and continued writing. Within seconds, he had finished. Then he moved on to the third board. About thirty seconds later, all seven boards in the classroom had d been filled with Jamie’s handwriting!

Jamie raced over to where Wesley was standing. He displayed the small stick of chalk for Wesley. His hand was covered with chalky white powder. He blew the powder off his hands, tossing the chalk into the air, catching it with his right hand.

“There, all done!” he cheered. “Yaaaay!”

“Holy smoke!” Wesley said, as he stood there, looking over all the blackboards in the classroom in awe. “You did an hour’s worth of work in just thirty seconds!”

“Thirty seconds?” Jamie said just a little disappointed. “Oh well, I could’ve moved a lot faster, but if I’d tried, my chalk could never have held together in my hand.”

“So, now what are you going to do?” Wesley asked him.

“I need to go back to Mr. Bonesworth’s office…” Jamie shrugged. “Maybe he’ll let me go home early…”

“Well, I’m going to the restroom, so I’ll be right back…” Wesley said to him.

Both boys walked out of the classroom, going in opposite directions. Jamie went to the vice principal’s office, while Wesley walked down to the restroom.

Jamie returned to the principal’s office. He wasn’t feeling all that nervous anymore. He had completed his assignment, and he hoped that now Mr. Bonesworth would let him leave.

He passed through the darkened outer office to the dimly lit doorway leading into the vice principal’s office. Jamie was struck by how quiet the building was with all the other kids gone for the day. Suddenly, he felt very very alone.

“Mister Bonesworth?” Jamie quietly queried, from the doorway. . Mr. Bonesworth was busy reading.

“Well, come in, Mister Wilson. Don’t just stand there.” the teacher ordered.

Jamie obediently walked up to his desk and reached out with his right hand, showing the vice principal the chalk fragment.

“I did it all, just like you told me to do…” Jamie said, as he handed the chalk to Mr. Bonesworth.

“What? You’re done already?” the teacher said in disbelief. “You’ve only been in there for a few minutes! Let’s go see what you did…”

Mr. Bonesworth stood up and walked out of the office.

“Follow me, Jamie…” he said, as he marched down the hall back to the classroom.

Mr. Bonesworth gasped as he entered and glanced around the room at the chalkboards bearing Jamie’s work!

“Well, …” Mr. Bonesworth mumbled, as he looked at his watch to check the time. “That was very fast!”

“Can I go home now?” Jamie asked Mr. Bonesworth in a sad tone of voice.

“’MAY I go home,’ not ‘CAN I,’” Mr. Bonesworth corrected. “And, No, you may NOT!” Mr. Bonesworth replied. “You have detention, young man. I don’t care how fast you are, I’m supposed to keep you here for at least one hour, and you will NOT leave until you’re released to go home, is that understood?”

“Yes, Sir…” Jamie replied. He was very disappointed. He just bowed his head in shame as the Mr. Bonesworth reminded him that he was still in detention.

Right then, Wesley opened the door and walked in the classroom.

“Hey Jamie, Nobody else is… Uh oh…” Wesley said, as he walked in the room. He caught his breath as he saw Mr. Bonesworth.

“What are you doing here, Wesley?” Mr. Bonesworth asked the boy.

“I’m waiting for Jamie. We always go home together…”

“Go on home, Wesley. Jamie has detention, and he’s supposed to be here by himself! If you don’t have detention, then you’re not even supposed to be here! Now, go home!” Mr. Bonesworth said sternly

“Yes, sir. Call me when you get home, Jamie…” Wesley said to his friend, as he grabbed his backpack and hustled out the classroom door.

Mr. Bonesworth walked over to the bookcase behind the teacher’s desk, and he removed a math book from the shelf. He opened the book and turned to a lesson plan for Jamie’s class. Jamie just sat down at a desk on the first row, as he waited for his next assignment.

“I want you to copy all the math problems from chapters six and seven on this drafting paper. Then I want you to solve all the problems as well. Write all your answers to the problems to the right of each one. There, this should keep you busy for the next thirty minutes. I want you to come to my office as soon as you’re done!”

“Yes, sir…” Jamie responded sadly.

The teacher then walked out of the classroom, closing the door behind him.

“Thirty minutes…” Jamie chuckled to himself. “Ha!”

Jamie glanced down at the math book that lay before him, reading over all the problems neatly printed in columns on the page. Dramatically, he laced his fingers together, turned his hands palms outward and cracked his knuckles.

“Alright, super powers… Don’t let me down!” he chuckled to himself, as he gently put his pen on the top left line of the blank sheet of drafting paper. Jamie quickly glanced over at the stopwatch setting on his watch, clicking the start button just before he started to copy the problems from the book.

He began to copy all the problems from the math book onto his work sheet. He wrote down the problems neatly in columns, just as they were printed on the pages of the book.

He flipped the page and continued copying. Within seconds, he had four dozen rows of problems copied onto the sheet, neatly written in his own handwriting!

Then he flipped the page and neatly copied the last two facing pages of problems, writing them on paper at blinding speed. When he finished writing, he closed the book and focused all his attention on solving the problems.

He worked through each problem at super speed. He calculated in his head the way Wesley had coached him and neatly wrote down the answers, in rows and columns. He raced through the entire sheet, doing several problems per second. Finally done solving all the problems, he lay his pencil down.

“Thirty minutes…” Jamie chuckled, as he looked back at his watch. “How lame is that? I didn’t even need thirty SECONDS. I got it done in just sixteen!”

He then got up and casually strolled over to the teacher’s desk, placing the sheet of paper on the desk, whistling tunelessly to himself.

“If you give me thirty minutes…” he chuckled to himself, “I could have copied the entire math book AND solved all the problems! God, I just love my powers.”

Jamie then walked over to the window at the back of the classroom. He raised the shade and rested his elbows on the window ledge. The boy was bored silly, and he was longing to go outside.

“I wanna go outside and fly…” the super boy moaned, as he looked out onto the schoolyard. He savored the warmth of the sunlight shining through the widow. He had an incredible urge to go outside, but his conscience was tugging at his heart, reminding him that he had to serve his time, just like he was in prison, just like any other kid who’d gotten caught breaking the rules. No special exceptions for him, just because he is Superboy.

It was as if a little demon stood on his broad shoulder, softly but insistently whispering temptation into his ear.

“Darn it, Jamie…” he said to himself. “There isn’t anything in the world that could keep you here… I could get outta here at lightning speed, fly to clear to China back, before anybody even knew I was gone…”

He remembered who he was and what that really stood for. What his dad stood for.

“The only thing that can keep me here is… me!” he whispered to himself. “I don’t want to sneak out of here now and come back later. I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.”

He then stood up straight, and closed the shade. He decided not to look through the window anymore. The temptation to sneak out of the classroom and fly away was getting too hard to resist. He remembered his lessons from Sunday school. He’d been taught to face up to everything, but that it was OK to run away from one thing: temptation. Jamie had been taught, “Face up to everything else, but RUN from temptation.”

“If a grown-up tells me that I hafta stay here, then I’ll stay here,” he thought to himself. He then glanced at his watch, and noted that it had only been ten minutes since Mr. Bonesworth left him all by himself in the deserted classroom.

“If I go over to his office now and hand in my work, he’s gonna freak… I’d better wait a few more minutes…” Jamie said to himself, as he walked back to the teacher’s desk. “So, what am I gonna do now?”

Jamie thought that it was so ironic… All his super powers and strength, and, yet, he found himself confined to this classroom after school. He was bored out of his mind, and he started to pace around the perimeter of the classroom.

When he came to the rear of the classroom, he spied an aquarium, resting on a small, wooden table near the window. He walked over to the glass box, wondering if there was anything in it that he could look at or play with.

He saw that there was just about an inch of clear water in the aquarium. There was one five-inch-wide rock set off to one side of the glass box, with a small, round creature lying on it.

Jamie just loved animals, so he decided to pull up a chair and set it right before the wooden table. He sat down, leaning with his chest against the back of the chair, and resting his elbows on the flat edge of the wooden table. Then he rested his chin on his folded arms, so he could get a closer look at the little turtle.

There was a small sheet of white paper, taped to the top edge of the glass. It had the text “This is Johnny. Please do not touch unless you are in Mr. Yunger’s biology class.”

“Hi Johnny…” Jamie said to the turtle, whose neck was slowly extending out from the round tortoise’s shell. “My name is Jamie!”

Jamie just chuckled when the turtle looked at him. He seemed to be curious about the human boy, who had decided to take the time to talk to him.

“I bet you must be feeling really lonely in there…” Jamie whispered to him. “Boy, can I relate to you!”

The turtle turned away, before he swung his head back around, staring straight back into Jamie’s eyes.

“Gosh, getting stuck in an aquarium all by yourself must seem like serving in detention, huh?” the super boy wondered. “At least I got a classroom I can walk around in…”

The turtle slowly crawled over to the edge of the rock and started to look down, gazing intently down into the water.

“Wouldn’t you rather be swimming in a pond or something?” Jamie chuckled. “I can take you and fly you to some big pond in Africa, if you want…”

The turtle turned his head back, facing Jamie once again.

“Oh, I guess you’ve never gone flying before, huh? That might seem too scary for you…”

Suddenly the turtle crawled off the edge of the rock, plunging into the water. He swam across to the glass wall opposite Jamie.

“You look so sad…” Jamie continued, in a quiet tone of voice. “I wish I could take you away… But where would I take you?”

The little turtle then stopped swimming and raised its head above the water, looking curiously at the big, human face staring back at him.

“I don’t think I could take you to the Fortress of Solitude… It’s too cold for you way up there…” Jamie pondered out loud.

“I may need to get Mr. Yunger’s permission to take you with me…” Jamie explained to the turtle. “You look so sad, all locked up in the lonely aquarium all by yourself… I wish I could take you home… I could fly you home in some plastic box or something… Hmm… I need to think about that…”

“You must love to go swimming all the time, huh?” Jamie chuckled. “I wanna go fly so bad right now… Just leap up into the air… To fly around in the sky… To feel the wind blowing in my face… With my cape blowing behind my back… That would be so much better than being cooped up in this classroom… As soon as I get outta here, I’m going on a long, long flight…”

Suddenly the classroom door swung open, and Mr. Bonesworth walked in. This startled Jamie, who was sitting in the back, by the aquarium. He realized he’d lost track of the time. Deferentially, he rose to his feet.

“So, how are you doing, Mister Wilson? Are you finished with your math problems?” he asked.

“Yes, Sir.” Jamie replied anxiously. “My assignment’s on the desk, over there!”

Mr. Bonesworth stepped over to the desk and picked up the sheet of drafting paper. Then he took the math book, flipping to the pages with the math problems he’d assigned to Jamie.

He took a moment to go over all the problems, checking to make sure that Jamie had indeed done all the work. When he was finished, he closed the math book.

“I wrote out all the problems, Sir…” Jamie confirmed..

“Yes, I can see that, Mister Wilson.”

“Mister Bonesworth…” Jamie asked him again. “MAY I go home now?”

“No, Jamie.” The man replied sternly. “You’re still on detention and you MAY NOT go home unless I tell you that you may. Don’t ask me that again. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir.” the boy replied, disappointed.

“Follow me to my office, Jamie.” the teacher instructed, as he started to walk back to his office. “I have another assignment for you…”

As soon as they walked into the office, Mr. Bonesworth took a stack of four reading books from the edge of his desk, and handed them to Jamie. Jamie took the books, placing his left hand at the bottom of the stack, and his right hand at the top.

“Now, take these books to Mrs. Cooper in the library. As soon as you’re done, come right back over here!”

The student library was in a separate building at the opposite end of the school yard.

“Yes, sir…” Jamie said obediently. He strolled out of the office and walked down the hall, with the books in his hands. When he came to the double doors at the end of the hallway, he turned around and pushed against the bar with his back. This allowed the door to open, so he could get outside.

Once the door had closed, he looked out over the wide expanse, stretched out before him. The small building housing the library was clearly visible across the schoolyard.

Jamie glanced around. No one else around, he was all alone. As soon as he’d made sure the coast was clear, Jamie vanished, transforming into a blur, rematerializing at the library door. He’d reduced a ten-minute walk to a half second super sprint!

He opened the door and walked in. Mrs. Cooper was sitting at her desk.

“Hi there, Jamie!” the older lady said to the boy. “I see you got the new books from Mr. Bonesworth’s office.”

“Yes, ma’am…”

“Just set the books on my desk, Jamie!” she instructed him.

“What are you doing here at school, so late in the afternoon? Don’t tell me you have detention!”

Jamie just nodded back in response.

“Oh Jamie, you’re such a good boy! I don’t think you’ve ever had detention before! What did you do?”

“I set a piece of paper on fire, ma’am…” he said softly.

“Oh yeah…” the librarian responded. “That’s asking for it…”

“I’d better get back… Mr. Bonesworth is waiting for me…” he said to her.

“Alright, Jamie… You behave from now on and don’t bring any more matches to school!”

“Yes ma’am! See you later, Mrs. Cooper…” Jamie said, as he turned around and opened the door.

Once outside, he disappeared, instantly reappearing before the double doors of the main classroom building, clear across the schoolyard from the library.

Jamie opened the door and entered. As soon as the door closed behind him, he made a high-speed dash for the entrance to the vice principal’s secretary’s office. As soon as he got there, he quietly walked back through the dark front office to the office of the vice principal.

“You’re back, already?” Mr. Bonesworth asked in amazement.

“Yes, sir…”

“Did you deliver those books to Mrs. Cooper?”

“Yes, sir…”

Mr. Bonesworth was understandably skeptical. He picked up the phone and dialed Mrs. Cooper’s extension.

“Sit down, Jamie…” he instructed the boy. Jamie quietly sat across from Mr. Bonesworth.

“Barbara? This is Julius…” he said on the phone. “Did Jamie just deliver four books to you?”

Jamie just sat there with a smile on his face. He had completed every assignment he had received so far. He hoped Mr. Bonesworth would let him leave soon.

“He just left the library?” the vice principal asked the librarian. “No, he’s sitting right here before me, in my office… Yes, that IS… Yes! VERY fast… Okay, as long as you have your books… Okay, good bye.”

Mr. Bonesworth hung up the phone and staring at Jamie with a confused look. His mouth dropped wide open, as he double-checked his wristwatch.

“How did you do that?” he asked the little boy.

“What do you mean, Mister Bonesworth?” Jamie asked him disingenuously.

“How did you deliver those books and get back here so fast?”

“I ran…” Jamie shrugged, as if it was the most normal thing in the world to him.

For a few moments, Mr. Bonesworth just stared at this strange boy. There was something very odd, almost creepy about this kid.

“Well, you still have about ten minutes left in your detention. Here, let me give you this little book to read…” the teacher said, as he took a small book from his bookshelf, and placed it on the edge of the desk, right in front of Jamie.

Jamie took the thin hard covered book, opened it and quickly thumbed through the pages with his right hand from front to back..

“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked the boy, annoyed.

“I’ve finished the book, sir. Thanks! I liked it. That was a good story!”

“You read the whole book in two seconds?”

“Yes, sir. But, sir, actually, it was closer to one point five seconds.”

Mr. Bonesworth just stared at him, exasperated.
“You thumbed though the book, Mr. Wilson, you didn’t read the book. I told you to read it. Not thumb through it. Or get smart with me.”

Jamie regarded Mr. Bonesworth with wide eyed innocence. Jamie sensed Mr. Bonesworth’s irritation and had no wish to aggravate him further. There was not even the barest hint of sarcasm or defiance in his voice. As deferentially as he possibly could, Jamie said, “But, sir, I read the whole thing, sir, honest.” Two sirs in the sentence might not have been the most elegant of phrasing, but Jamie reasoned that this would make it clear to Mr. Bonesworth that he meant no disrespect.

The teacher snatched the book, opened it and leafed through the pages. He read from one of the pages about half way through the book.

“What was the name of the boy’s puppy dog?” he asked Jamie.

“Sir, His dog’s name was Rex.”

“What was the name of the little boy’s nephew?” he asked next.

“Sir, his nephew’s name was Albert.”

“How old was his grandfather, when he died?”

“His grandfather was 84 years and six months old when he died.”

Mr. Bonesworth looked up at Jamie for a moment. He was still very skeptical. Either this kid was an incredible con artist, or he was really, really good!

“What was the home address of the boy’s oldest cousin?”

“The home address of the boy’s oldest cousin was 110 Peacock Road.”

Mr. Bonesworth gasped for a moment, before he closed the book and placed it on the bookshelf behind him.

“Jamie… Why are you even here?” the teacher asked him out of amazement.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Bonesworth… I… I don’t understand what you’re asking…” the boy replied.

“I’m here because I need to learn how to read and write so that I can find work later on when I’m a grownup…”

“No, Jamie. What I meant was: Why are you serving detention?” the teacher asked him.

“Because I did something really bad and I needed to be punished for it so that I would learn not to make the same mistake again…” Jamie said.

“I’m rather surprised by all this. Mr. Bonesworth responded. “You’ve never had detention before and now you’re sitting here in my office because you set fire to a sheet of paper in a classroom. Do you realize how dangerous that is? You could have set the whole school on fire and that would have been a huge disaster! The fire could have destroyed school property. People could have gotten seriously hurt or injured, and you wouldn’t have a school to go to. You know how bad that would have been? We don’t have the money to build a new school, we can’t afford to buy books and supplies, and all the teachers and staff would be out of work. Do you understand that, Jamie?”

“Yes, sir… I’m really sorry about this…” Jamie said, as he bowed his head in shame.

“You’re not the kind of boy who gets in trouble like this, unlike some kids who walk around this school, thinking they can do whatever they please and not have to bear any responsibility! Kids who walk around with this “king of the world” ‘Superman. I can do anything I want’ attitude,” the teacher said to him.

The last remark nettled Jamie. He couldn’t let it pass that vice principal would equate misbehaving kids to Superman.

“Sir, that’s not true!” Jamie replied hotly. “Superman doesn’t have that kind of attitude at all! How can you say that about him? If you could even think that about him, you don’t know him at all?”

“How do you know that? Is he a personal friend of yours?” the teacher asked sarcastically.

Jamie looked down, as he wracked his brain for an answer. He knew he would risk revealing his secret identity to the vice principal of the school, and he pondered what to say in reply.

“I know him…” he whispered. “I know how Superman is.”

“Oh really?” the vice principal snarled. “And where do you know him from? Do you visit him at his house?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.” Jamie answered quietly. He figured he was already in enough trouble, and he didn’t want to lie about who he was. He just couldn’t allow the vice principal of his school to have this attitude about his adopted father. He decided to prove to him who he was so he could assure him that Superman was, in fact, a very responsible person!

Mr. Bonesworth just looked at him in skeptically. He looked like he didn’t believe a word Jamie was saying to him. It irked Jamie that his words would be dismissed out of hand, even by this grownup.

“Mr. Bonesworth. I’m here in detention because I started a fire in school. I lit a piece of paper on fire and I guess I deserve what I got as punishment. But I’m NOT here because I lied. I COULD’VE lied. But, sir, I DIDN’T. I owned up to what I did and took responsibility for breaking the rules. I do not lie, Mr. Bonesworth. I would never lie to you.”

“Jamie,” he replied calmly. “You’re a nice boy and a good student. You’re quiet, you’re down-to-earth, and you don’t pick fights with other kids and you normally don’t get into trouble. I’ve never meet Superboy in person, but I would certainly hope that he would have the same kind of character as you do. I don’t believe you would tell a lie, at least not intentionally. But sometimes boys your age can get lost in their day dreams. Some times they get confused between what is real and what is make believe. This isn’t about you telling me a fib, young man. You’ve convinced me that you would not deliberately tell me something you knew wasn’t true. But I’m not letting you leave this room until your mind comes back down to reality. We have to straighten out this little point of confusion before you can go home.”

“What if Superboy were to show up here in person, so he could tell you about Superman? Then, would you believe me?”

“Jamie, you’re not the type of boy who would lie or cheat. But there is no way you could’ve met Superman in person if you believe he’s like you say he is. He is arrogant and he looks down on all of us, quite literally, even. He can fly as you know. Power like his can only corrupt. There is no way he could be anything but a conceited egomaniac. I know young boys your age love to hero worship this, this alien. But, even though you’re not fully grown up yet, young man. It’s time for you to stop believing in Santa Clause, or the tooth fairy or the Easter Bunny or that Superman is this big hearted super hero.”

“Please, don’t talk like that! I don’t like it when people talk like that about Superman! He’s my… my…”

“He’s your… what?” Mr. Bonesworth demanded.

“He’s my father…”

“Oh come on, Jamie! This is ridiculous! Do you really expect me to believe nonsense like that?”

That was the last straw for Jamie. Now he had to prove who he was. His dad’s honor was at stake. It galled him not end that the vice principal of his school thought his father was nothing but a super jerk.

“Mister Bonesworth… I need to go to the bathroom…”

“Alright, Jamie.” He replied. “But come back here right away. You are still in detention and I have not given you permission to leave!”

“Yes, sir… I’ll be right back…”

As soon as Jamie got out into the empty hallway, he scanned the entire building with his his x-ray vision and super hearing. When he was absolutely certain that there was not another soul in building beside the vice principal and himself, he dashed to the boy’s restroom and changed. In a matter of seconds, he walked out of the bathroom, wearing red boots, red shorts, his choker chain, S-medallion and red cape.

He reappeared just outside the vice principal’s office and gently knocked on the door jam.

“Mister Bonesworth?” the boy said quietly.

“Don’t just stand there in the dark, Jamie! Come in…”

The boy took a step forward into the light in the vice principal’s office.

“Remember when I asked you what you’d say to Superboy, if he showed up and walked into your office one day?”

“Yes?” Mr. Bonesworth replied, while he continued to glance at the papers in his hand, not yet noticing the caped figure standing in front him. “Why do you ask that, Jamie?”

The boy took another step closer, allowing his face to be illuminated by the fluorescent lamp suspended from the ceiling in the vice principal’s office.

“Well… I am Superboy.”

For several seconds, there was stone dead silence except for the steady “tick tick tick” of the circular wall mounted analogue clock hanging on the wall.

The vice principal regarded the figure of a boy standing before him, but the figure was like no boy he has ever seen before. He snatched his glasses and put them on.

“Good Lord…” the teacher gasped. His jaw dropped wide open when he realized who he was looking at.

Julius Bonesworth slowly put his papers down, as he very slowly rose up from sitting in his chair, while he continued to look at the boy astounded and very VERY afraid.

The boy was short and muscular, wearing his red boots, red shorts, and his bright, red cape hanging from a choker chain . A medallion hung, suspended from the chain. It was centered over the boy’s much expanded, muscular pectorals. The medallion was engraved with Superman’s world-renowned “S” logo.

“Jamie? YOU are Superboy??? Is… is… that… really… you?” Mr. Bonesworth stammered.

“Of course!” the boy smiled. “Here, let me show you…”

The super boy spied a candle resting on the corner of the vice principal’s desk.

The teacher gasped when suddenly two bright red beams of light flashed from the boy’s pupils, striking the top of the candle, lighting it instantly.

“See?” the caped boy shrugged, while looking at the teacher with a tentative grin.

Julius Bonesworth was flabbergasted and very fearful. He sagged and grabbed the edge of his desk before he slowly sank down to his chair.

“I can blow it out for you, if you want. But please hold onto the candle with one hand, while you hold on to the armrest of the chair with the other!” the boy urged.

The teacher followed the caped boy’s orders, and grasped of his armrest with his right hand, and the candle with his left.

Superboy took a deep breath, faced the candle as he formed an “O” with his lips. Then he blew a mighty gust using his powerful breath.

The boy’s breath was so strong, that it not only doused the candle. It also shoved the teacher against the back of his office chair, propelling the backwards into the bookcase behind him!

The mighty gust of wind blew most of the sheets of paper from the teacher’s desk as well!

“Oops! I didn’t want that to happen!” Superboy exclaimed, as he placed his hand before his lips.

Mr. Bonesworth set the candle back down on the edge of the desk and stooped down, to pick up the sheets of paper one-by-one.

“I’ll get those papers for you!” Superboy said. “I made the mess, so I’ll clean it up!”

In an instant, all Mr. Bonesworth would see was a pale pinkish blur, flashing about the office at blinding speed! In less than a second, the red caped super boy stood before the vice principal.

“Here are your papers, Mr. Bonesworth!” Superboy said politely. “I’m really sorry about that…”

Julius Bonesworth recoiled at Jamie’s gesture. He was terrified.

Finally, Jamie sensed his vice principal’s fear. “Mr. Bonesworth,” he pleaded earnestly, “Please don’t be afraid. I’m not a monster. Neither is my dad. He’d never hurt you and neither would I.”

Again Jamie offered the sheaf of papers to Mr. Bonesworth.

His hand trembling, Mr. Bonesworth took the stack of papers from the super boy. He set the papers down on his desk. He was completely undone by this completely unexpected turn of events. Here was Superboy, son of Superman, standing right here, in his office!

“Tell me… Superboy… Can you… can you…?” the poor man stuttered, as he stared at this alien boy.

“What? Can I what?” the boy asked him gently. “You mean, can I fly?”

Mr. Bonesworth just nodded.

Jamie smiled “Yes sir, I sure can!” the boy replied with a wide grin. “Here, let me show you!”

Suddenly the boy’s body started to rise off the floor. He’d initially ascended about eighteen inches off the floor.

“WHAAA!” the teacher gasped, when he saw the boy floating in mid air. The poor man needed a moment to “process” this youngster’s incredible super feat.

Mr. Bonesworth grasped the armrests of his office chair, slowly pushing down on them as he stood, placing himself at eye level with the flying boy.

“I must be dreaming.” the teacher whispered, as he extended his hands, gently grabbing hold of the boy’s broad shoulders.

“You can give me a push if you want!” the caped young hero giggled. I’ll just float. I’m like a helium balloon, see?”

The man pushed against the floating boy. He drifted away. Before Jamie drifted out of reach Mr. Bonesworth latched onto his elbow and pulled him back. The boy hovered giggling sweetly as the man gradually recovered his lucidity.

“Oh my God…” the teacher said, as he looked over the floating boy, examining him thoroughly from head to toe. “You look so impressive in person.”

“Thank you, Mister Bonesworth!” the boy replied cheerfully. “You look impressive to me, too! You’re so much taller than me!”

“So… What should I call you? Are you Jamie… or Superboy?”

“Well…” the flying boy shrugged, as hovered about a foot off the floor. “People usually call me ‘Superboy’ when I’m wearing my cape. But I’m always ‘Jamie’, no matter what I’m wearing…”

“Gosh, Mr. Bonesworth! You seem much nicer when you’re here in your office than when you’re patrolling the halls!” the boy giggled again.

Mr. Bonesworth had begun to feel a little more at ease with the idea that he was having a conversation with the young super boy. At first, when the boy demonstrated his power, the teacher had been terrified. But he slowly became used to seeing this fantastic boy floating around in his office.

“Amazing… I certainly had no idea we had a boy like you in our school.” the teacher said to the flying, little boy. “I owe you an apology, Superboy… I had no idea it was you who was serving detention today… I mean, who am I, to hold Superboy in detention?”

“Mr. Bonesworth, even ‘Superboy’ can make a mistake. And I made a really big one today. And when I mess up, I don’t deserve special treatment just because of who I am. That wouldn’t be fair. If anything, I should’ve been setting an example and I didn’t. So I got detention and I deserved it. You were just doing your job."

Mr. Bonesworth stepped around the desk and took a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk. He spoke to Jamie. “Son, come down and come over here and have a seat next to me.”

Jamie landed on the floor and sat next to Mr. Bonesworth. He looked up at Mr. Bonesworth with his big blue eyes. Eyes that could be very lethal weapons. Eyes that lit a fire in the chemistry lab today. But eyes so innocent and sweet. Eyes of a boy who would sooner die than harm any living creature.

"Jamie, you are a marvelous child. You're unfailingly courteous. You’re always cheerful and kind. And you always have a smile for everyone you meet. And, Jamie, you're honest to a fault. I admire you for owning up to your mistake in starting that fire and taking your lumps. Now I have a better appreciation how much worse a punishment like detention is on a super boy like you than it would be on any other boy in this school. To have your power so confined as it has been this past hour could drive other boys to disobedience. I'm proud of you, Jamie that you've stuck it out. If you hadn't, what could we really do about it? And you'd never have had to go through detention at all if you weren't so honest in admitting what you did."

"But you're honest to a fault, Jamie. There's another quality I want to talk to you about. But, first, I want to apologize to you. I'm sorry for the things I said about your father. You're absolutely right, Jamie. I spoke out of turn. I was out of line. I don't know the man personally and I wrongly assumed the worst about a man whom the record clearly shows has done nothing but good for the people of earth. There's been not even a hint of venality or scandal in his record. But now I know I don't have to meet him to know what kind of man he must be. If you are his son, he's done a magnificent job of raising you, Jamie. I do know your mom. I've met her at our PTA meetings. She is one special lady, Jamie. She and Superman have done a magnificent job with you, young man. The world owes those two a debt of gratitude that most of us will probably never fully appreciate, much less ever be able to repay."

"And, Jamie, I so much admire your loyalty to your father. When I was thoughtlessly and so wrongly besmirching your dad's reputation, the most important thing to you was to stand up to the line to defend him. That is a noble quality, son. One I admire deeply. And I am so sorry for what I said about your dad. I hope you'll accept my apology, Jamie."

The super lad looked up at Mr. Bonesworth again with his big blue eyes and replied, "Awww sure, Mr. Bonesworth. Yah know, sir. I was wrong, too, sir, about you. I think all the kids were. I would've never figured you for the kind of man who would ever apologize for anything to a little kid. I guess maybe we BOTH learned something from my detention today. And, I know this might sound crazy. But I know one of the reasons you had to stay late today was to keep an eye on me. And I know you have to do that a lot, staying after school just to keep an eye on us for detention if we've been bad. I bet nobody's ever thanked you for that, have they, Mr. Bonesworth?"

The man chuckled. "Well, no, Jamie. I can't say that I've ever been thanked for that."

"Well, sir. I'm doing that now. I'm saying 'thank you' for staying late with me. I can't say it's all been fun, but I have enjoyed these last few minutes, getting to know you better. But now I know detention isn’t any more fun for you than it is for any of us and, yah know, that's were us kids got it wrong. We all thought you DID get off to keeping us back just cuz yer mean. And I went along with everybody else. So now it's MY turn to say 'I'm sorry, Mr. Bonseworth.' And now I hope you'll accept MY apology."

Mr. Bonesworth looked down into the face of this young super lad. His eyes and facial features were soft and guileless. The man marveled at the juxtaposition of childlike innocence with practically unlimited power. He nodded.
"Yes, Jamie... Yes, of course." He looked away. Emotions were welling up inside him. He was close to tears and he didn't want the boy to see.

Jamie sensed Mr. Bonesworth's emotions. He was only a ten-year-old child but naive as he was in many ways, in some respects, he had empathy and sensitivity far beyond his tender years. Jamie really "got it" that his simple heartfelt words had struck home with Mr. Bonesworth, that his work with the children was NOT all for nothing. That what he'd chosen to do with his life really had meant something. And that this rare privilege, to be wholly understood and appreciated by even one of his students is a blessing very few educators of children in this age group are ever accorded. Jamie picked up on all of this in an instant. He reached out and gave the man a hug.

Mr. Bonesworth was on exactly the same wave length as Jamie. He knew and, somehow, he knew that Jamie knew. He hugged back.
"Thank you, Jamie. Thank you. This means more to me than any words I have could ever tell you."

Then Mr. Bonesworth looked at Jamie.
"Son, I told you that I'm proud of you, that you wanted to stand up for your dad; that you wanted to defend his reputation. That is a good thing. Don't ever let anybody tell you it isn't. But here is something you must understand. Even though it's good and it's important, Jamie, it was NOT the MOST important thing. Not this time. Jamie, you've told me your secret. I cannot imagine that Superman or your mom would've approved of your telling me that you are Superboy. Not even to defend your dad's reputation to me. And, Jamie, knowing and understanding you as I'm starting to, I realize how hard it would've been for you to 'bite your tongue.'" But that is what you should've done with me. I know it would’ve been tough to sit there and listen to me say the things I did about your dad without defending him. And I know it's tough to have to hide who you really are and what you can do from the world most of the time. But it is sooooo terribly important that you do exactly that. Who else knows besides you, Superman, your mom and me?"

In a small voice Jamie replied, "Wesley... And I showed Gregory my heat vision."

Mr. Bonesworth sighed. "Wesley, I'm not worried about. I know you two are friends and he's got a really good head on his shoulders. I know he can keep his mouth shut. But Gregory... Gregory could be something of a problem. He'll tell everyone in the whole school if he hasn't already."

Jamie mumbled, "I'm sorry, Mr. Bonesworth. I guess I know better. Sometimes I guess I'm as bad as Gregory is that way."

"Jamie, I'd have him in my office first thing Monday morning. But this is only Friday. No telling HOW much damage he could do between now and then. We need to deal with this now... Right now. Jamie, do you think you could use your powers to go and get Wesley and bring him back here? I think I want him in on this. And then, while I'm talking to Wesley, I want you to go and find Gregory and bring him back here. This can't wait until Monday. We need to talk about this today. And once we're done, I'll drive you three boys home. I'll wanna meet with your mom and let her know about this. And, of course, she's gonna wanna let Superman know."

Jamie was not happy about Mr. Bonesworth making this into a big deal. But he knew Mr. Bonesworth was right and that he had his best interest at heart. Jamie spoke.
"Well, now that I think about it, Mr. Bonesworth, mom and dad are gonna blow their tops."

"I would imagine so, Jamie. And they have a right to. You shouldn't have told Gregory or me your secret. It's natural for a boy your age to wanna show off a little bit. It's what boys your age do. But, sometimes, Jamie, you'll hafta do things a little differently from most boys your age. You've been privileged with these fabulous powers. But with that privilege comes enormous responsibility. I know it's really not fair for a boy your age to hafta carry a burden like that, but this is your lot in life. Other children your age deal with horrible circumstances. War, poverty, disabilities. That isn't fair either, but that's just the way it is. I know you're strong, Jamie and that you can face the music when you have to. Well, your mom and dad may be angry for a little while. But it's only because they love you and want to protect you. And they need to know what they're up against now that your little ‘secret’ has been compromised."

"And, in the meantime, Jamie, now that I DO know about you, I'm going to make sure it counts for something good. You are a young super hero. You've already done one mid-air rescue that I know about. There may be other times when you hafta slip away. Here, take this."

Mr. Bonesworth handed Jamie his cell phone.

"Jamie, this is my cell phone. Don't EVER let anybody see it. It'll be our secret. But if you ever need to get away, punch in the number to my beeper."

Mr. Bonesworth quickly scrawled his pager number on a scrap of paper and handed it to Jamie.

"Memorize this number now and then give the paper back to me."

Jamie quickly memorized the number and gave the slip of paper back to Mr. Bonesworth who took it and tossed it into his waste paper basket.

"Jamie, I'm trusting you not to ever use my cell phone for ANYTHING but this. When you call my pager, dial in an asterisk followed by three '9's.' That'll let me know it's you. I'll arrange to have you summoned to my office over the school's PA system. But you and I both know you won't be coming to my office. You'll be going off to do whatever it is you hafta do in an emergency. Now, Jamie, I'm not only counting on you NOT to run up my cell phone bill. I'm counting on you not to ever do this just so you can get out of school to go and goof off. I'm going out on a limb by doing this. I could get into serious trouble. But I'm willing to go out on a limb for you, Jamie, because I trust you to always do the right thing. If you ever get it wrong, they'd probably give you another chance. But I wouldn't get another chance. Once they found out I helped you this way, my career would be over. I'd loose my job and I'd loose my pension. And I wouldn't get another chance."

Jamie looked into Mr. Bonesworth's eyes.
"Thank you, sir. I won't let you down. I promise."

The man smiled at the super boy. "I know you won't, Jamie. I believe in you."

"But, sir, what about your cell phone?"

"No problem, son. The phone isn't what really costs. That's 'chump change.' What COSTS is if I go over my limit on my minutes. I'll pick up another phone this weekend. Just make sure you keep the phone turned off except if you need to page me. And when you go home for the evening or the weekend, leave the phone in your locker here at school. You won't be needing the phone outside of school hours."

Jamie responded, "Yes sir! Thank you sir! Thank you for trusting me. I won't' let you down. And thanks for covering for me and for being my friend."

Mr. Bonesworth smiled. "Well thank YOU, Jamie! Thank YOU for being MY friend."

An outside observer might've been amused to know that both Jamie and Mr. Bonesworth felt it was THEY who had been most honored by the other's friendship.

Jamie laughed. “Now that we’re friends, I can tell you this. I’ve always been so scared of you, Mr. Bonesworth.”

Mr. Bonesworth laughed. “I’m THAT bad? You were afraid… of me?” the man replied. “I can’t imagine a boy like you being afraid of me! Just look at you! You’re so strong… and so powerful! I can’t imagine you being afraid of ANYTHING, Jamie.”

“But this is your school! And here, you’re a lot more powerful than me, Mr. Bonesworth! You’re the vice principal of the whole school! I’m just one of your students… You tell me what to do! I’m not allowed to do anything without your permission!” the boy reasoned. “I just want to tell you once again that I’m sorry for thinking of you as a mean grownup, when you really are a super nice person!”

Mr. Bonesworth just chuckled and tousled Jamie’s hair.

Jamie beamed. “You’re alright, Mister Bonesworth!” the super kid replied with a grin. “Can we be friends from now on?”

“Sure, we can!” Mr. Bonesworth replied, as he extended his right hand. The boy and the man shook hands, as a token of their new friendship.

The boy floated from his seat and hovered above Mr. Bonesworth.

The vice principal asked, “Can I ask two favors of you, Superboy?” the teacher asked.

"First, please come back down here."

Jamie laughed. “Oh! I’m sorry Mr. Bonesworth! Sometimes I just get so happy and so excited, I just forget. Sometimes its harder for me to keep my feet on the ground than it is to just float up into the air!”

Half smiling, Mr. Bonesworth remonstrated, “Well, Jamie, you certainly wouldn’t want to have that happen in front of people who don’t know your secret. That might be kinda hard to explain!”

Jamie blushed just a little. “I know, sir. I just forgot. I’ll try to keep my feet on the ground.”

Mr. Bonesworth continued, “Good, Jamie. That’s very important, son. One other thing… I get new books from the central book depository every day, and they need to be delivered to Mrs. Cooper in the library after class is over… Could you do that for me? It won’t be like being in detention, it would be more like a small student volunteer job for you,” the teacher asked.

“I’d be more than happy to do that! I’ll come to your office every day, when classes are over. I’ll do it just before I fly home!” Superboy replied.

Mr. Bonesworth said, “Well now, Jamie, I’ll just wait right here while you go and get Wesley. I want you to bring him back here. I’ll have a talk with him while you go back out and find Gregory. I need to have a talk with all three of you right now.”

Jamie nodded “Yes sir.” He was struck by the seriousness of Mr. Bonesworth’s tone. Here was Mr. Bonesworth, the authority figure again. But now Jamie had a better understanding of where this man was coming from. He was just a “take charge” man and now he was “taking charge” to look after Jamie’s best interests. Jamie realized how much he’d come to trust this man.

Jamie found Wesley at home. He’d flown there from school in only seconds. Wesley looked up at Jamie as he descended.

"Hi, Jamie! I see Mr. Bonesworth finally let you go.”

Jamie replied. “He sent me here to get you. He wants to see you in his office. Now.”

Surprised, Wes responded “Me? Now? Why?”

“C’mon, Wes, we’ll fly there. I’ll explain on the way.”

Jamie grasped Wesley’s shoulder and the two boys lifted off. Welsey commented.
“Well, you’d better slow down, Jamie. A quick turnaround like this is gonna be kinda hard to explain to Mr Bonesworth.”

“Wes, he knows. I told him."

“He KNOWS? Jamie! I can’t believe this! WHY?”

“I’ll explain later, Wes. But, trust me. It’s OK. He’s a friend. Trouble is, Greg knows. You know I showed him my heat vision at lunch. I’m bringing you to Mr. Bonesworth now. He wants to talk to YOU while I go and find Gregory. Mr. Bonesworth is cool with us, dude. But now he wants to talk to Gregory and convince him to keep quiet about my secret. And he wants your help to persuade him.”

“Mr. Bonesworth wants MY help? I didn’t think he even knew I was alive.”

“Well, he does know, Wes. And he trusts you. He knows you better than you think and now he wants you in on this thing with Gregory.”

Jamie and Wesley arrived at school and went straight to Mr. Bonesworth’s office. Jamie was only there long enough to “hand Wes off” to Mr. Bonesworth. Then he said, “Ill be right back. I’m gonna go find Gregory.”

“Bring him straight back here, Jamie.”

Jamie was back with Gregory in less than five minutes. He’d found him at home. Gregory’s mind was still reeling from the short flight back to school.

Gregory was very apprehensive as they entered Mr. Bonesworth’s office. He knew only too well that was on Mr. Bonesworth’s “little list.” The last thing he wanted was to in any way attract this man’s attention. And now Jamie had wrenched him out of his “fun-filled weekend” and flown him into the very “jaws of hell,” the vice principal’s office!

“Gregory,” Mr. Bonesworth began, using his given rather than his surname as was his usual custom, “I think you know where you’re here, eh?”

Jamie interjected. “Sir, we came straight here. I didn’t get a chance to tell him.”

“But you know, why you’re here, don’t you, Gregory.”

Gregory flashed Jamie nasty look, muttered at him “rat!” and then looked down at the floor.
“The fire in English class,” he replied to Mr. Bonesworth.

Mr. Bonesworth laughed heartily. “No Gregory, Jamie is NOT a ‘rat.’ Until now, I only SUSPECTED you were behind it, even though I couldn’t prove it. But I never asked Jamie and he never told me. We don’t run a school of little informers here, or ‘rats,’ as you call them. Jamie took the ‘heat’ all by himself like the little MAN that he is. And I think you know WHY that was a LOT harder on HIM than it would’ve been on YOU! All that power, cooped up in this dusty old schoolhouse for an extra hour. My God! I can’t imagine how hard that must’ve been for Jamie. But he stuck it out… No Gregory, you’re not here for that. Jamie’s already paid for that, for both of you. He protected you, Gregory. Jamie really is your friend. But you and I have another matter to discuss, don’t we. Can you tell me what that is?”

Gregory mumbled, “Yes sir. You want me to keep my mouth shut about Jamie.”

Mr. Bonesworth beamed. “Bingo! Go to the head of the class! But not only that. I’ll be needing more from you than that, Gregory. It’s time for you to start growing up, son. It’s time for you to start taking some responsibility. It’s time for you to start thinking about behaving like a little MAN, like Jamie and Wesley here. I KNOW you can do that, Gregory. I believe in you.”

“Jamie is Superboy. You already know that. Well, now that you know, now that he’s trusted you with his secret, you’re gonna hafta help him KEEP that secret. He may need to slip away from school in an emergency. Lives may depend on Jamie. Well, the least WE can do, you Wes and me, is to help protect Jamie’s secret. I need you to help, Gregory. I’m DEPENDING on you to cover for Jamie. To help him slip away without anyone catching him as he changes from ‘Jamie’ into ‘Superboy.’ This is a tremendous responsibility. There are not many boys in this world your age with this much responsibility. But Jamie has trusted all three of us with his secret. And now all three of us have to work together to help cover for him. Jamie is devoting his powers and his LIFE to help protect the people of earth. The least we can do is to help him protect his secret."

Gregory was, to say the least, surprised at Mr. Bonesworth’s words. He’d never dreamed in a million that “ole Bonehead” would ever talk to him like a little grownup. That he would ever trust him with anything so important. The boy had never been shortchanged by his parents in the “love” department. But they’d never trusted him with any responsibility. They’d been terribly over indulgent, spoiling him. But Gregory decided that he LIKED being part of something important; part of something bigger than himself; to be trusted and respected. “Yeah!” he thought. “I like that! I like that a LOT!”

“Yes sir, Mr. ‘Bonehead,’ you can count on me.”

Mr. Bonesworth, Wes and Jamie roared! Gregory’s face blushed deep scarlet as he hid his mouth with the palm of his right hand.

Mr. Bonesworth chucked at that. “That’s about like closing the barn door after the horse’s gotten out, eh, Gregory?”

For the first time in his life, Gregory was speechless.

“S’matter, boy? Cat got yer tongue?”

“Oh, you think I don’t know you kids call me that? You think I didn’t have nicknames for my teachers when I was your age? Remember, Gregory, a grownup is nothing but an ex-kid. I’ve got the advantage here. I used to be where you are now. It’s amazing how you kids have got yourselves convinced that we grownup were never kids.” Mr. Bonesworth laughed again. “I don’t NEED informers, Gregory. I used to do some of the same things you kids do. THAT’s how I keep tabs on what goes on around here. I used to BE a grade school student.”

Mr. Bonesworth stood up from his desk. “Well, it’s getting late. We still need to go over to Jamie’s mom’s to bring her up to speed. Gregory, Mrs. Wilson doesn’t know that you and I know. And we DO need to tell her.”

The three boys followed the assistant principal to his car, a large SUV. As he stepped around to the driver’s side to unlock the door, Jamie strolled around to the front seat passenger side and placed his face against the glass window. The super boy peered curiously through the window, and he was impressed by the luxurious interior of the vehicle.

“You got a nice car, Mister Bonesworth!” the boy said to him, as he continued to walk around the big, SUV.

“Oh no!” Mr. Bonesworth groaned.

“What? What’s wrong?” Jamie asked. He was standing side of the car opposite from Mr. Bonesworth. But quickly moved around to the driver’s side.

“Look! I have a flat tire…” Mr. Bonesworth said. He was very exasperated. He wasn’t looking forward to changing the tire!

“No problem, Mister Bonesworth! We’ll change it for you, won’t we Wes.”

Wesly grinned. “We’ll handle this, Mr. Bonesworth.”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Bonesworth. Your SUV’s not that heavy for me. S’easy! Would you like to see?”

The super kid then raised the rear end and peered underneath the chassis. Then he turned and walked his hands underneath, grasping the chassis and lifting the entire vehicle clear of the pavement and over his head!

Mr. Bonesworth almost stumbled back and tripped over his own feet; as he stared at the little boy, his jaw open wide in amazement.

“Oh my sweet Jesus in heaven…” the teacher gasped, as he placed his hand on his chest.

“Yaaaay!” Jamie cried! “See? That’s what the bottom of your car looks like!” the little boy exclaimed. For Jamie lifting a full sized SUV was no strain at all.

“Please… Superboy…” Mr. Bonesworth pleaded with the boy of steel. “Please… put… it… down…”

“Yes, sir!” the boy smiled, as he carefully set the SUV down, front wheels first.

Jamie turned to Wesley grinned like a kid a Christmas and said, “OK, dude. Lets you and me change this tire for the man. C’mon, we gotta get a move on! He’s wait’n!”

Wesley grinned back, knowing that Mr. Bonesworth was in for another series of super shocks.

Jamie lifted the rear end clear of the ground using his only his pinky. Then he rested his palm on Wesley’s shoulder. “OK big bro. Do yer stuff!”

Wesley knelt down as Jamie’s powers flowed into his body. At super speed, the boy loosened the lug nuts and removed the wheel from the hub. Then he stood up with the wheel. Both Mr. Bonesworth and Gregory looked on in open mouthed amazement.

“Jesusmaryjoseph!” Mr. Bonesworth exclaimed. “Wesley! You’ve got super powers too?”

Wesley and Jamie laughed. Wesley explained. “Well, sorta. But only if Jamie is touching me. The same thing would happen to either your or Greg if Jamie was touching you. But ONLY if he’s actually touching you.”

Wes set the tire down onto the pavement.
"OK, Mr. Bonesworth, I’m not strong enough to lift this tire into your car on my own. And Jamie’s holding up the car. He can’t keep his hand on me while I pull out your spare and stow the flat. Could you pull out the spare and put the flat back in it’s place?"

Mr. Bonesworth obliged.

He lay the spare on the ground before Wes. But Wes shook his head. “Jamie, why don’t we let Mr. Bonesworth put the spare on himself?”

Jamie grinned, his cheeks dimpling. “You up for that Mister B?”

“Well, Jamie, I don’t know…”

“Aw, c’mon, Mr. B!” All three boys pleaded.

“Oh well, I guess so!” If you boys insist.

Jamie lay his palm on Mr. Bonesworth’s shoulder. At super speed, the man maneuvered the spare tire into position and hand tightened the lug nuts quicker and tighter than if he’d used a pneumatic lug wrench. Jamie lowered the vehicle’s tire down to the pavement.

“There you go! All done!” the boy cheered! Now YOU’RE a super hero too!

Mr. Bonesworth chuckled. “Well, hardly, Jamie. But now I have some idea what it’s like to have powers like you. That was fantastic. When you rested your palm on my shoulder, I got more than the super strength and speed. My vision changed. I could see colored auras around all three of you boys. The auras were different colors, but colors I’ve never SEEN before. Beautiful but like no colors I’ve ever seen. I don’t think they’ve even got NAMES for colors like that.”

Jamie nodded. “Yes sir. Everything alive has a glow like that. I see that all the time.”

“You’re all set to go, Mister Bonesworth!” the little boy smiled.

Mr. Bonesworth’s mind was still reeling. This afternoon has consisted of not one, but a whole series of shocks. “You… You’re amazing! I can’t believe how strong you are… And you can share your powers! That’s unbelievable!” the teacher said, while looking down at Jamie.

“You can drive us home now!” The super boy replied with a shrug. At least you could drive Wesley and Gregory home. But not me."

“Well, you’re pretty much the center of attention among all of us right now, Jamie. Why wouldn’t I drive YOU home?"

“Well, Mr. Bonesworth…” Superboy answered, flashing the teacher a sad face. “You still haven’t given me permission to go home yet…”

The teacher just stood there staring at the boy in amazement.

“I can’t believe that I held Superboy in detention this afternoon…” the man said quietly.

“So… Can I go home now?” the super kid asked his teacher for the third time that afternoon.

“Yes, Superboy…” the teacher grinned. “You MAY go home now. You’re dismissed…”

“Yayyy! I made it through my first detention!” the caped boy cheered, raising both arms into the air as he leaped for joy, soaring almost 20 feet straight in the air, before slowly coming back down again.

“Well, Jamie, lets just hope it’s also you LAST detention!”

Mr. Bonesworth and all three boys boarded the SUV. Jamie sat in front next to Mr. Bonesworth. Wes and Greg sat in back.

“Make sure you boys wear your seat belts,” the man ordered.

“Yes, sir!” the Boy of Steel replied, as he placed the end of the seatbelt into the clip. In the back seat, Greg and Wes did likewise.

Superboy gave Mr. Bonesworth. The man finished an unforgettable afternoon with the Boy of Steel by giving him a ride home to his mother’s house.

Mr. Bonesworth and all three boys got down and went into Jamie’s mom’s house. As predicted, Mrs. Wilson was upset that Jamie had spilled the beans to Gregory and Mr. Bonesworth, but the man had her calmed down fairly quickly as he assured her that she and Jamie now had two additional “allies” to help Jamie slip away from school for his super exploits. Using a special signaling devise, she summoned Superman. She briefed the man-of-steel on the new situation. Jamie hastened to add the Mr. Bonesworth and Greg are friends. “They’ll keep my secret.” Gregory was wide-eyed. He couldn’t believe he was in the same room with Superman. He was shocked that Jamie had been adopted as Superman’s son. And he was very impressed that both Jamie and Wes had been to Superman’s world famous “Fortress of Solitude.” Superman smiled. “One day soon, Greg, I’ll fly you there. You and Jamie and Wes can spend the weekend up there with me.” Greg was delirious with excitement.

Superman stepped up to Mr. Bonesworth. He called him by his first name as he lay his palms on the man’s shoulders. “Julius, I don’t have the words to thank you for making our boy’s welfare your personal responsibility. I understand why Jamie did what he did. His heart was in the right place. Maybe it was wrong. But, it’s all worked out for the best. Thank you so much for looking after Jamie. And thank you for your friendship.”

Mr. Bonesworth replied, Well, Superman, I thank YOU for everything you’ve done for us here on earth. Frankly, sir, I thought you were too good to be true. But then I met Jamie here. And, come to find out, he’s a “chip off the ole block.’ So I see the apple falls close to the tree. You have a lot to be proud of in Jamie.”

Superman smiled. “Well, and I’m proud as I can be of both Jamie AND Wes. Wes is like a son to me too.” The man of steel looked over at Gregory. “And, son, I know YOU’RE gonna make me proud of YOU too!”

The boy beamed at the man of steel and replied. “Yes sir!”

As Mr. Bonesworth drove home, he marveled at the turn of events that had started with two boy’s mischief in the chemistry lab at school this afternoon. His life would never be the same. He smiled and shook his head as he drove on.

Epilogue

A few days later, Jamie and Gregory were walking down the hallway towards their first classroom.

“I got this really neat deck of cards!” Gregory was telling Jamie excitedly. “All these cards are good, and they have loads of defense points! Next time I’m gonna duel, I’ll be unstoppable! Not only that, but…”

Suddenly the boy stopped talking, when he saw Mr. Bonesworth walking right towards him, while reading over a stack of papers, which he was holding in his hand.

As the man passed, he glanced down at them, with a wide grin on his face.

“Good morning, Mister Bonesworth…” Jamie said to him, while looking up at the vice principal with his big, blue eyes.

The teacher looked down and smiled, as he gently rested his left hand on Jamie’s shoulder.

“Good morning…” That was all he said and he then walked on, while reading over his papers.

Gregory shook his head at Jamie. “I used to be SO scared of that guy. I thought he was so mean. Boy was I wrong.”

Jamie rested his palm on Gregory’s shoulder and squeezed gently, affectionately. “Yeah, Greggie. Me too… Me too.”

Later that afternoon in the vice principal’s office:

“Hi, Mister Bonesworth! Do you have any books you need delivered?” Jamie asked the busy vice principal.

“Hi there, Superboy… Sure, please take those three books over there…” the teacher responded without looking.

His response startled Jamie. Mr. Bonesworth had called Jamie “Superboy,” but he was wearing ordinary street clothes, not wearing his Superboy costume.

“Mister Bonesworth…” Jamie whispered, as he placed his index finger before his lips. “I’m not wearing my cape! Please, don’t call me that!”

“Oh my goodness! I’m Sorry, Jamie… That was a slip of the tongue. And after the way a lectured you last Friday right here in this office!”

“It’s OK…” the boy chuckled, as he effortlessly lifted the three heavy books and walked out the office door. He loved his new student volunteer job. He viewed at it as another way to help out and to use his strength for doing good. He had made friends with the most feared teacher in school, and he has changed the way he thought about people, all because of the one afternoon he had spent in detention.

“I guess detention is good for learning something…” Jamie chuckled to himself, as he walked down the hallway…