Hero Worship Read Online Free PDF Page A

saved me and my mom and dad from four bad men. He moved faster than Streak and was as strong as Lieutenant Mercury. He was amazing.”
    â€œAnd who is this hero?”
    â€œHe said his name was Marvin.”
    â€œMarvin?”
    â€œYeah, Marvin.”
    â€œIf you could say one thing to Marvin,” Yvonne asks, “what would it be?”
    â€œMarvin, you’re my hero,” Kent squeals. Satisfied with their taunting, my friends turn to me, waiting for an explanation.
    â€œOh, crap, it was on the news?” I say.
    â€œYep.” Yvonne smiles. “Every channel this morning.”
    â€œWhat were you thinking?” Kent asks. “Did you think you were clean?”
    â€œI wasn’t about to let those thugs jump that family,” I say.
    â€œBut why’d you tell them your name? Now everybody knows about this mysterious Marvin kid who saves motorists.” Yvonne groans.
    Dismissing her with a wave of my hand, I say, “Nobody knows who I am.” Kent shoots Yvonne a look.
    She glares at him. “Just say it.”
    â€œLieutenant Mercury does,” Kent shoots back.
    Kent and I never say the name Lieutenant Mercury in front of Yvonne. I don’t know what the deal is, but it’s like fingernails on a chalkboard to her. She really doesn’t like the guy, and she’s never explained why.
    â€œHold it … what?” I say. “Lieutenant Mercury knows about it?”
    Yvonne grimaces at the mention of his name. “Yeah. They had a sound bite from him on the news.”
    â€œWhat did he say?”
    â€œWhile he ‘admires anyone who comes to the aide of others,’ he ‘hopes the person isn’t dirty,’” Kent tells me.
    â€œAnd he wants you to pay a visit to the Core Mansion so you two can discuss the matter,” Yvonne adds.
    â€œHe said that?”
    â€œI know, right?” Kent laughs. “What a tool.”
    â€œLike you’re stupid enough to roll up to the Core Mansion,” Yvonne says. “They’d neuter you.”
    â€œBut it would be nice to check the place out,” Kent mutters.
    I nod my head, agreeing with him.
    â€œIt’s that kind of thinking that will get us nabbed,” Yvonne snaps.
    She and I find a quiet booth at Eat-A-Rama, an all-you-can-eat buffet, which is just what the doctor ordered to satisfy my hellacious appetite. I clear two plates before Yvonne joins me with her tray, which consists of salad.
    â€œSo, the Core, huh? You’d like to be a member?”
    â€œWho wouldn’t?” I say.
    â€œDid you know that more members of the Core kill themselves than die in the line of duty?” she asks.
    I set my fork down and swallow my food, wiping my mouth with the napkin. “Oh, come on.”
    â€œIt’s true,” she says. “What does that tell you about their outfit? They have secrets and agendas we don’t know about.”
    â€œI don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
    â€œMarvin, if you put your faith in institutions like the Core, they’re going to let you down every single time. How many dirties and cleans are there? Two, three million maybe? Most are dirty, like us, trying to blend in or enrolling in the Power Aversion Program.”
    While I was still living at home, I’d desperately tried to blend in and go unnoticed, but that was easier said than done. When my father drank, it was hard to escape his attention, and whenever it became clear that he was coming after me in a drunken rage, my mother would try to distract him and protect me. While I was trying to go unnoticed and blend in, she was sacrificing herself for her child. I could’ve—should’ve—acted, but I didn’t.
    I won’t do that again. Ever.
    I pick at my food with my fork. “It felt good.”
    â€œWhat did?”
    â€œHelping that family,” I say.
    â€œYeah?”
    â€œFor that brief time, I forgot about