Chapter 21
My week from hell began with a Spanish test. The twenty minutes I had done of revision the night before wasn’t enough. The test that Senor Valdez gave me was harder that I expected. There were parts of it that I wasn’t even prepared for. I was going to get in trouble for that. I was going to have to ask Alyssa for her help. Sometimes conjugation was difficult. It was hard enough trying to memorize a word in a different language let along trying to remember all the different ways it can be said and written to match the person, the number and the tense. Alyssa, even though Spanish was her second language, seemed to be able to use conjugations with ease. I guess it had something to do with her time in South America. I made a metal note to start revising more.
At lunch time, Clint picked me up. Neither of us wanted to think about what we were going to do so we tried to focus on something else.
“What did you do to your nose?” I asked, spotting the Hello Kitty band aid covering the bridge of his nose.
“I waked into the cupboard door,” Clint said, “That’s you left open by the way. What made you hurry that you forgot to close the door on the one cupboard above the coffee machine?”
“I had to catch a train – and I was running a bit late. I didn’t even realise I left it open. Sorry,” I said, “Are we out of normal band aids or something?”
“Yep – I only have the ones that Lila gave me for Christmas last year,”
“What about the Star Wars box I gave you for your birthday?”
“Cooper took them. And I used the last ones in the first aid kit back in March,”
“I always knew you went through band aids like they were a chocolate bar, but I thought we wouldn’t be facing the apocalypse until at least September,”
“Autumn came early this year,” Clint said, “Do you want to stop to get something to eat or drink before the meeting?” I shook my head.
“Too nervous?” Clint asked
“I don’t think I could eat even if I was hungry. There’s too much… I don’t know… looming despair, I guess, and I’ve got to be the one to stop it,”
“You do know you always have me to help right?” Clint asked.
“I do,”
“And you have your friends and your adopted family. You’re never alone,”
“I know,” Silence fell. I looked out the window and saw we weren’t moving.
“Traffic jam?” I asked.
“No,”
“Red light?”
“No,”
“Super villain blocking our path?”
“I wish,”
“Then why have we stopped?”
“Because we’re here,”
“Are you stalling?”
“Yes,” Clint admitted, “They had to choose this guy for the mediator,”
“Which guy?”
“Quinten Brown,”
“The insurance guy on TV?”
“That’s the one,”
“I’m sure he can’t be that bad,” Clint just gave me one of his signature ‘just you wait and see’ looks.
“Okay then,” I said, “Let’s quit stalling and get this over and done with,” I undid my seat belt and opened the door. The building that Clint parked in front of was a building. One that looked similar to every other building I saw on a daily basis. Sure the glass and the stone and outfitting was different but that didn’t matter – it was all the same design.
“Now who’s stalling,” Clint said, walking past me. I took a deep breath and followed him.
My grandparents were waiting for us when Clint and I arrived. So were the lawyers. I recognized both from the hearing. Clint shook hands with both lawyers. The one who had been helping Clint, put his other hand on Clint’s shoulder as they shook hands. The other lawyer kept the hand shake with Clint short.
“Hi Grandma, Hi Grandad,” I said.
“Hello Abigail,” Grandma said, “How’s your wrist?”
“It’s feeling okay,” I said, “Although I regret not wearing my brace today,”
“Hello Mr Barton,” Grandad acknowledged Clint.
“Good afternoon Mr Jackson, Mrs Jackson,” Clint said, “How are you?”
“We’re good thank you,” Grandad replied.
“What happened to your nose?” Grandma asked, noticing Clint’s band aid.
“Someone left a cupboard open and when I went into the kitchen at three am I walked right into it,” Clint said.
“Why didn’t you turn on the lights?” Grandad asked
“You can see them from the bedrooms,” I said, “Clint didn’t want to wake me up. I only found out that it had happened this morning when I woke up,” Grandad didn’t seem that satisfied with my answer, but he didn’t have any time to press further as Quinten Brown came out of his office door.
“Noel, Annette, it’s wonderful to see you,” He said, shaking hands with my grandparents. Brown then turned to me.
“You must be Abigail Jackson. I’ve heard wonderful things about you from your grandparents,” Brown and I shook hands.
“Nice to meet you Mr Brown,”
“Please call me Quinten Abigail,” Brown said, “You Mr Barton, can call me Mr Brown. Now how about we all come into my office and we can discuss visitation,”
My grandparents wanted me to stay for the entirety of the summer holidays with them. I did not want to spend three months in Dallas, Texas. Mostly because I would be miles away from my friends. And as far as I was aware, there was no super villains in Dallas for me to beat up when I got frustrated. Brown was all for my grandparents’ plan. Clint, and his lawyer, wasn’t.
“What about if my friend wants me to go to Europe with them?” I asked, “Stassia mentioned that her family is thinking about going to Europe and she asked me if I would interested in going with her if the trip did go ahead since it’s meant to be a business trip for her parents,”
“If you can provide a written letter from Stassia’s parents, proof of plane tickets and regular updates on your… what is it called… insta snap?” Grandad said, “Then we will let you go to Europe,”
“Firstly, it’s Instagram. Secondly, my Instagram has absolutely no photos of me or my friends. That’s a rule that my parents made me agree to when I first got a phone several years ago. And thirdly, what about the fact that I turn 18 on August 24th? Surely that means you can’t have me for the entire holidays, right? Legal adult and all that jazz,”
“Miss Jackson does have a point Mr Brown. Her 18th birthday does mean that Mr Barton no longer has to act as her legal guardian and any visitation rights given to her grandparents would also be null and void,” Clint’s lawyer said, jumping on the chance.
“Mr Servetti does raise a fair point,” My grandparents’ lawyer conceded, “I propose that unless Abigail provides a written letter from her friend’s parents, proof of purchase of aeroplane tickets and regular updates on a private Instagram account that only Noel and Annette have access to as well as an intinary that Abigail will follow each day she is in Europe, up until the 24th of August where Abigail can make her own travel plans for New York if she so wishes,”
“I like it,” Brown said, “It is the perfect compromise between the two parties. I’ll draw up the paperwork and Noel, Annette and Mr Barton can come back and sign it. I also propose that Abigail has up until two weeks before the end of the school year to alert Noel and Annette to her travel plans,” Knowing that this was going to be the best we could get, Clint and Servetti agreed to the plan. Everyone shook hands and left Brown’s office. As soon as my grandparents left the building I was on my phone calling Stassia.
“What’s up Abigail?” Stassia asked, “I’m missing an important class to take this call,”
“Your parents would be cool letting us go to Europe, wouldn’t they?” I asked.
“What are you planning?”
“Essentially, I either spend my summer holidays until my 18th in Dallas or I spend it in Europe with you,” I said, “I may have fabricated the later to get out of the former,”
“You sneaky, devious person,” Stassia laughed, “I’ll see what I can do. By what time do you need the cover?”
“Two weeks before the end of the school year,” I said, “Thanks so much,”
“No problem Abs. I’ve got to go. See you tomorrow,”
“See ya,” I hung up the phone and smiled at Clint. He just laughed and shook his head.
“Thanks, Servetti for your help,” Clint said.
“No problem Clint. Just jumping on Abigail’s now true story,” Servetti said, “Brilliant loophole,”
“Thanks Mr Servetti,” I said.
“I’ll see you when Brown has the paperwork drawn up Clint,” Servetti said, hailing a taxi.
“Tonight, Hayden Hamilton sits down with a local teenager and discuss what the next generation wants from their lawmakers,” The pre-recorded voice over announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, Mayoral candidate Hamilton and Abigail Jackson,” The stage lights turned up and I smiled at the camera pointed at me.
“Hello Abigail,” Hamilton said, “It is lovely to see you again,”
“Likewise, Mr Hamilton,” I said, “Thank you for having me,”
“No problem,” Hamilton smiled, “Let’s talk about what’s happened recently in your life with the loss of your parents, and your brother. You lost them in the apartment collapse a few weeks ago, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, I did,” I nodded. Even though I knew Hamilton was going to talk about the apartment collapse, it was still hard.
“How are you feeling? About your whole experience,”
“It still hurts. Not as bad as it has been though,”
“That’s good to hear,” Hamilton said, “Now you’ve lived in New York your whole life, tell me what you as someone who has grown up here feels about Superheroes,” Like with asking about my family and the apartment collapse, I knew Hamilton was going to ask about superheroes as one of his many policies were to create tougher regulations for superheroes due to the large number living and working within the city. Clint and I had talked about it while going through various hashtags on twitter. Together we came up with a story for me to tell.
“I was a kid when the Battle of New York happened. We were actually visiting the park so we weren’t directly affected by the battle expect for a few stray aliens who came across us. Hawkeye actually saved my life that day. So I guess anything he does doesn’t bother me as much as say Captain America does. Have you seen the videos he did talking about health and detention he did? Absolute bane of my life. And then there’s the day at the beginning of June when you’re sitting in class cursing the Avengers because you had to take three days off due to your school being a little bit beaten by Iron Man flying through the cafeteria,” I said, “I get why superheroes do what they do, sometimes its just too… I don’t know… dangerous I guess to be an average civilian. That being said, and I think you’ll find that most New Yorkers agree with me, Spider Man is just doing his best and I support him. And a lot of the younger heroes are in the same boat as him, so I guess by putting my support behind Spider Man, I’m putting my support behind his friends,”
“Even Ligero? The mutant that lost control of her powers recently,”
“If you watch the clip from that particular incident Mr Hamilton, you’ll see that it’s a three on three battle; Slingshot, Fe and Ligero veruses three bank robbers. Slingshot and Fe have been doing the hero gig for years now, but Ligero has only recently been on the scene. You would expect that she’s inexperienced and therefore would likely have more trouble bringing down her respective bad guy. Also there is video footage that places all three heroes in the battle against… Mole Man, was it?... about ten minutes before the robbery. It makes sense that Ligero, and Slinghot and Fe, would be exhausted. If anything I support Ligero more for giving it her all when it’s clear she is working with other heroes who have ten times more experience that her,”
The rest of the interview went on. I made comments on gun reform, LGBTQ+ matters and racism. When the interview was over and the cameras turned off, Hamilton thanked me for my time and that I had given him a lot to think about if he did become mayor. Clint was waiting for me in the wings.
“You did good,” He said, “How are you feeling?”
“Alright. I probably have adrenaline pumping through my veins right now. I was so nervous,”
“Let’s get some pizza and a drink or two,”
“Sounds like a great way to end my week from hell,”