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I Spy With My Little Eye
Marco wasn’t so much spying on the Prime of Darkness as he was watching him very closely without the Prime of Darkness knowing about it.
The binoculars he’d gotten from Aunt Iris for his birthday were blue and yellow, and worked surprisingly well for a device purchased from Toys R Us. They hung around his neck from a blue cord when not in use, but right now he had them pressed against his eyes as he peered into the sun, trying to make out exactly what the Prime of Darkness was doing with his motorcycle.
“He’s just doing something to his bike,” Marco said, shrugging one bony shoulder. “Think we should go over there and see if he wants to come play?”
“No way,” Alma said, reaching for the binoculars. Marco scowled and handed them to her, pressing his head against hers. They were, after all, still attached to the cord around his neck. “Didn’t your mom say he was a social degenerate or something?”
Marco hooted. “Yeah, she did. She loves to say stuff like that. She says the same thing about Simon Cowell.”
“Who’s Simon Cowell?”
“You know, that guy on American Idol who says everybody sucks?”
Alma made a face. “You know I don’t watch television. Hey, look, what’s he doing now?”
She handed the binoculars back to Marco, who took a moment to adjust them while he peered across the yard to where the Prime of Darkness was standing very still, staring up into a tree in front of Gracey’s house. The only movement was his red cape as a soft breeze rustled by.
“That guy is so weird,” Marco said. “What’s he looking at?”
Alma shook her head. ” I don’t know, I can’t tell. I thought maybe you could see. Maybe there’s birds in that tree. A nest.”
Marco chuckled, shaking his head. “I don’t think anybody who looks like that cares that much about birds.” When Alma didn’t disagree, Marco continued. “What are those things on his shoulders, anyway? Those shiny, pointy things?”
“I think those are his pauldrons,” Alma said, reaching for the binoculars again. “But I don’t know why he’s wearing them. I think they’re for like, ancient warriors or something. Or superheroes.”
Marco whistled. “How do you know about pauldrons?” he asked.
Alma looked sternly matter-of-fact as only an eight year old girl can, even as she peered intently through the binoculars. “I read it in a comic book.”
Marco looked impressed. “Yeah? Which one?”
Alma handed the binoculars back to Marco, bored now of watching the Prime of Darkness stare up into a tree. She rolled over onto her back, folding her hands across her stomach. “I don’t remember,” she said. “I read a lot of comic books.”
Marco took the binoculars off and set them aside. “Which one is your favorite?”
Alma thought a moment, making hrmmming sounds as her mind whirled. “Well, I really like X-Men,” she said, slowly, “but I also really like Steady Beat, but that’s not really a comic, more like a manga. And there’s no superheroes in it.”
“What’s a manga?”
But now Alma was tired of answering questions. Rolling her eyes, she slapped Marco on the knee. “You don’t know anything,” she said, shaking her head. “Hey, where’s your brother?”
Marco shrugged, stung by Alma’s off-hand remark. “He’s at our dad’s place in Odessa.”
Alma cocked her head to the side. “How come you don’t go?”
It was a question Marco had stopped asking himself, because he was confused about the real answer. Their dad liked sports, talking loud, and driving too fast. He thought reading was a waste of time. Alejandro and their father had many of these things in common, but Marco, even though he and Alejandro were twins, couldn’t relate. Still, he wanted to spend time with his dad. He just wasn’t sure his dad wanted to spend time with him. In fact, he got the feeling he kind of creeped his dad out.
But he didn’t want to share any of this with Alma. “I don’t really like Odessa that much,” he said lamely.
Alma let the subject drop, refocusing her attention on the stranger with the tree fascination. She lifted the binoculars and looked across the street again, but the Prime of Darkness was nowhere to be found.
October 29th, 2009
Why was marco and alma spying the prime of darkness?
October 29th, 2009
I guess you’ll have to keep reading to find out