saudade

Peter jumped on his feet. “I have to go now.”

“What happened?”, Harry asked.

“The police wants to speak with me about my uncle’s death.”

“I’ll accompany you.”

But before they left, Peter called Aunt May to tell her they’d pick her up. Bernard drove them to Aunt May’s house and then to the police station where they were guided to Captain Stacy’s office.

“Good evening, Mrs. Parker, Mr. Parker and … Mr. Parker?”, Captain Stacy welcomed them.

“Osborn”, Harry clarified but he couldn’t suppress a smile. One day he’d like to share a last name with Peter whether it’s Parker or Osborn.

“Right, sorry. Sit down, please.”

Peter refused. He just wanted to know what they found out without this small talk. As if anyone here cared about him or his aunt.

Harry helped Aunt May with sitting down.

Captain Stacy showed them the photo of the man Peter hunted down right after Uncle Ben’s death. The memories of it were still fresh.

“We originally thought this man was your husband’s killer. We were wrong”, Captain Stacy told them without beating around the bush.

“What?”, Aunt May gasped.

Peter’s eyes widened.

He was responsible for the death of an innocent man.

“Turns out Mr. Carradine was only an accomplice. The actual killer is still at large.”

He was still a thief and he helped Uncle Ben’s real murderer, but he didn’t deserve to die, did he? Peter looked at the floor and swallowed. He had killed a human being that didn’t even kill his uncle.

Instead of justice, Peter had practiced injustice.

“This is the man who killed your husband.” Captain Stacy showed them another picture.

Peter felt the need to throw up. It was the man he fought with in the afternoon.

The sandman.

“His name is Flint Marko. He’s a small-time crook who’s been in and out of prison. Two days ago, he escaped. Evidently, he confessed his guilt to a cellmate, and we have a couple of witnesses who will corroborate your story.”

But Peter didn’t really listen anymore. His mind was occupied with imagining Uncle Ben’s death.

He was probably just sitting in his car, waiting for Peter to come, as this criminal approached him with a gun and pulled him out of the car. Knowing Uncle Ben’s kindness, he probably told his murderer he didn’t have to do it, that he still had a choice. And then he got shot.

The lump in his throat made it harder for Peter to breathe and he didn’t recognise his tears until Harry wrapped his arms around him.

“I’m sorry, Pete”, he whispered.

Peter buried his face in Harry’s shoulder.

“Could you put these photos away, please?”, Aunt May asked Captain Stacy.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Parker. I know this isn’t easy but please, be patient with us. We’re doing our job. We will catch him.”

Peter freed himself from Harry’s arms. “No, you’re not doing your job. I watched my uncle die and we chased down the wrong man. Now you’re telling me you had suspicions for two years? Witnesses? Why weren’t we told about this?”

“Pete, settle down. I understand your anger”, Harry said quietly and grabbed his hand.

“I have no intention of settling down”, he shouted. “This man killed my uncle and he’s still out there!” He pushed Harry away and stormed out of the room.

“I’m sorry for my nephew”, Aunt May said as she got up.

“It’s fine. I understand he’s angry”, Captain Stacy assured her.

“Harry, dear, please take care of him. I’m worried about him”, she begged him as they left the room.

“I’ll do my best, Aunt May”, Harry promised.

They found Peter standing in front of the police station.

“Are you okay?”, Harry asked.

“Yeah, I just … it doesn’t matter. I’m sorry for how I treated you. I know you had good intentions.”

“It’s fine, Pete”, Harry assured him.

“I’ll spend the night at Aunt May’s house, okay?”, Peter asked.

“Sure …”

Bernard drove them back to Aunt May’s house. Harry accompanied them into the house.

“Pete, can we talk?”

“Sure, let’s go upstairs.”

“What is it?”, Peter asked as he closed the door behind Harry.

“I’m worried about you”, Harry said.

“Don’t be. I’m fine.”

“I don’t want you to do something stupid.”

“Like to find my uncle’s killer?”, Peter suggested.

“And do something you’ll regret. Like with the other guy”, Harry added.

“He had a gun on me. I made a move and he fell. I told you that.”

“I’m not accusing you of anything, Pete.”

“Besides that, especially you should understand how I feel”, Peter said, his voice filling with anger. “You should keep your mouth shut considering what you have done.”

“What are you talking about?”, Harry asked. What had he done? Flashbacks of his dream crossed his mind. Was he a criminal? Did he hurt someone?

“Doesn’t matter.”

“I’m trying to be there for you, and you keep pushing me away. What did I do? What are you talking about? Answer me”, Harry demanded. “What happened that I can’t remember?”

“Nothing, I was just being stupid. It doesn’t matter. I’m just overwhelmed with my own feelings and thoughts. I need some time to think about what Captain Stacy said”, Peter shoved him off.

“I think I should leave now. If you want to talk, you can call me.”

“Thank you, Harry.”

When Harry was gone for a long time, Peter left Aunt May’s house and got back to his small flat. He listened to the police radio and put on the Spider-Man suit just in case. But as it got late, he got tired and fell asleep. Different scenarios of Uncle Ben’s death haunted him.

Suddenly, Peter was in that warehouse where he confronted the thief again.

“What about my uncle? Did you give him a chance? Did you?”, he shouted at the man of whom he thought he murdered Uncle Ben.

The thief stumbled into the window and fell on the ground. A laugh could be heard.

Something was crawling on Peter’s body, inhibiting his ability of breathing.

When Peter opened his eyes, he knew it wasn’t a dream. It was reality. A black, slimy substance crawled along his face. The last thing Peter saw was that his whole body was covered in this black slime.

When he regained consciousness, Peter didn’t know where he was. A look below told him he was somewhere high above the streets of New York. He was hanging on a building. Peter crawled a few metres and recognised the wall was mirrored. Inside, he saw a figure in a Spider-Man suit. But it wasn’t his suit.

The suit was black.

What the hell was this? Peter didn’t understand what was going on, but he couldn’t deny it. The new suit felt good. He had to test it. So, he jumped of the building and swung through New York.

The suit felt familiar, yet different. Peter felt alive, like new strength found its way into his body. Even if it seemed impossible a couple of hours ago, he was happy.

Back in his flat, he put off the suit and put in a box, but he cut off a small piece of the stuff it was made of. Peter wanted to show it to Dr. Connors. He knew it was in the middle of the night, but he also knew that his professor spent many nights in the lab, seemed to be an occupational disease.

Peter entered the lecture hall and found his professor experimenting with something.

“Parker? What are you doing here?”, he asked as he recognised Peter’s presence.

“I, uh, discovered something and I thought an expert should examine it.”

“Let me see.”

Peter handed the piece of his suit over to Dr. Connors who put it under the microscope.

“What do you think?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like it. But I’m a physicist, not a biologist. Let me do some tests in the morning.”

“Can we do that now?” Peter wanted to know what he was wearing.

The piece of slime moved and approached Peter, but he quickly imprisoned it with a glass.

“It seems to like you”, Dr. Connors said. “Don’t let any of that on you.”

“Why not?” After all, that thing has already touched him.

“It has the characteristics of a symbiote which needs to bond to a host to survive. And sometimes these things in nature, when they bind, they’re hard to unbind”, Dr. Connor’s warned him.