Not All Heroes by Josephine Cameron

Author:Josephine Cameron
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

GREAT DAY

Derek looked more tired than when we’d seen him before. A lot more tired. He had a bit of black beard stubble around the scar on his chin, and his eyes were bloodshot, but his smile was the same. It lit up his face and made me grin.

“I’m Spectrum now,” I said.

“Nice! See? That’s what I’m talking about. Simple. Elegant. None of this Panther-lasser stuff.”

“She’s decided to stick with Ocean,” I said.

“Good,” Derek said. “That’s better. What are you?”

He nodded toward my aunt and she reached a hand out from her rain poncho to tip her fedora at him.

“Miles,” she said.

“Whatever floats your boat.” It was still raining, but only a little. Derek glanced around the square. “Did you see anybody over there? That doorway looks dry.” He hoisted his duffel bag onto his shoulder and motioned with his other hand toward a boarded-up falafel shop that had recently gone out of business. Before we could answer, he started walking toward it, taking long strides. I almost had to jog to keep up with him.

“Do you guys have any food today?” he asked. He was still smiling but his lips were tight. Like it wasn’t exactly easy to make the smile happen.

“Yeah. Burrosas. They’re like a samosa in a burrito disguise.”

Derek chuckled half-heartedly at my joke. He dropped his bag in the doorway and sat down on top of it. I watched as he leaned into the side of the building like he needed something to hold him up. He rubbed his hand over his head and almost didn’t notice that Miles was handing him a burrosa.

“You want a water?” she asked.

“Thanks.”

“We’ve got socks, too.”

I nudged Miles. Derek wasn’t like the others. He’d just come out of Starbucks. “He doesn’t need socks,” I whispered.

“Hey. Rainbow. I’ll take ’em,” Derek said. His hands were busy shoving the burrosa into his mouth, so Miles set a package of socks next to the water bottle on the ground.

“It’s Spectrum,” I said.

Derek’s eyes got a little more focused and he laughed. “Right. Sorry. I forgot. Good name. Seriously.”

I fumbled under my poncho and pulled the bus pass he’d given me out of my pocket. I set it on top of the socks.

“We didn’t need it after all,” I said. “So I thought you might want it back.”

I didn’t know if it had anything to do with the bus pass, but Derek stopped trying to smile. Some burrosa rice spilled onto his jeans.

“Derek. Are you okay?” My aunt stepped closer and put her hand on his shoulder. She looked worried. We’d only met this guy twice, but I felt the same way. Like he was our friend. Which was probably silly, but that didn’t change the way it felt.

Derek stared at the bus pass. Then he took a giant bite of his burrosa. “It’s all good,” he said. “Some bum luck with medical bills, but I’m like a cat. I always land on my feet. If you don’t mind leaving an extra water…”

“Sure.” I knew all about medical bills.

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