The Super Trio

Rafter Hans Bailey looked at the clock. In 12 more minutes he would finally be ten. And in 12 more minutes, he would finally be a superhero.

He sat on the piano bench, next to his twin brother, Benny. It was Benny’s big day too. A lot of their family had gathered for the event. Eight superheroes, Rafter thought to himself, all in one place. And soon there will be two more!

Some of his cousins were outside playing in the yard, but the older relatives were gathered in the living room. His frail, old Grandmother sat snoring softly in her wheelchair. Dad had pointed her toward the fireplace, because earlier she had sneezed and almost set fire to the drapes. Grandma’s glory days were long gone, but she still had some of her powers left.

“So, what do you think your superpowers will be?” Aunt Verna asked from the couch. Aunt Verna was a whale of a woman who took up two whole couch cushions. She wore her makeup thick as frosting, and almost as colorful. Rafter thought it was a strange thing for somebody to spend that much time making herself pretty, when her superpower was to turn invisible.

Benny answered Aunt Verna, “I hope that I will get a power that lets me move fast. If I can run fast, then maybe I’ll lose my baby fat!”

Although Rafter and Benny were identical twins, Benny was a bit bigger. He had a round face and plump cheeks. Aunt Cornelia always said it was because Benny still hadn’t lost his baby fat.

Uncle Chambers, who sat next to his wife, looked at Benny over his glasses. “Hmmm, cousin Leroy was a fast runner, wasn’t he Verna? I doubt we’ll have another speedy this soon,” he said with a sniff.

Uncle Chambers had dark hair from the top of his ears to his bottom of his neck. The crown of his head was bald and shiny. He had thick glasses that sat on a large nose.

“Chambers!” said Aunt Verna, “More cake.”

Uncle Chambers reached out for the lemon cake. One of his fingers suddenly became long, thin, and sharp. He cut a slice of cake with his knife-finger, and passed it to Aunt Verna who put the entire thing in her mouth.

“Hmmmm, now more pie.” She said, spilling crumbs down her chin.
Rafter looked over at Benny, then back to the clock. Nine more minutes. Ten years ago, at 3:48 in the afternoon, Benny and Rafter had been born.

Rafter remembered his birthday 2 years ago, when his dad took Benny and him camping up into the woods. He remembered his father telling them over the campfire that they were special boys – that they had been born into a special family. And how they must never share their secret with anybody.

“In two years,” their father had told them, “On your tenth birthday, you will receive your own superpowers. It might be super strength, like Grandpa, or super sight like Uncle Norman. I can fly and you have a cousin Jimmy that can melt bullets as soon as they are fired. It could be anything. And then once you have your powers, you will join the rest of the family in our fight against evil.”

“Samantha! You unfreeze your cousins this instant!” The shouting came from the kitchen, and was their mother’s voice. “No! Not there, carry them to the tub, I’m not going to clean up another one of your puddles.”

Rafter wanted to get up and run – to go and play with his cousins. It was always fun when his family got together. But right now he was too nervous.

“It’s almost time!” Shouted his father, coming into the room. “Round up the older kids, let’s get this show on the road!”
The younger cousins were playing out back on the swing set and in the sand pile. None of them knew the family’s secret.

Rafter’s older brother and sister came into the room. His sister, Jessie, stuck her tongue out at him, and Rafter replied by rolling his eyes back at her. He was convinced that her real superpower was to be super annoying, but since she could also shoot lightning out of her fingertips, he couldn’t pick on her. Maybe his new superpower would give him something to get even for all the times she had shocked him.

Rodney was his older brother. His superpower was all in his brains. He played football, and ran track, but he could do just about anything with computers or other machines. He had once reprogrammed a toaster to make fresh sushi. Rafter secretly hoped that he would get a superpower like that.

Rafter realized his dad was talking.

“Thank you all for coming, this is really an exciting day. We haven’t had twins receive powers since Wilbur and Wendell Bailey did in 1925. I’ll never forget the story of how Wendell shot Wilbur onto a speeding train to stop some bandits from stealing a freight of gold. Exciting times!

“It is our hope, that with the addition of Rafter and Benny’s superpowers, we’ll finally be able to triumph over our arch enemies, the Johnsons!” Rafter’s dad shook his fist.

The Johnsons were super villains that lived on the other side of the highway and six blocks down. The Baileys and the Johnsons had been fighting for almost a century, longer than even granddad remembered. Just like the Baileys, their children received their superpowers at the age of ten. In fact, one of the Johnsons went to school with Rafter and Benny. She had turned ten 5 days ago and hadn’t been to school since. “She is probably practicing her powers so she can destroy you two boys,” their father had said, “You better keep your wits about you until you get powers of your own.”

“I’m feeling something weird,” Benny suddenly said. “It’s like a tingling.”

“Then it’s time!” Rafter’s dad said, “You were the first one born, so you’ll get your power first. Rafter will be a few minutes later!”

Rafter watched his brother. Benny closed his eyes. He didn’t look like he was in pain, but he didn’t look comfortable, either.
Benny gasped and opened his eyes.

“I have it,” Benny said slowly. “I know what my power is.” He looked crestfallen. It must not have been the speed he was hoping for.

“What is it?” their mother asked, “What is your power?”

“I…uh…” There was a soft pop.

Rafter gasped. He felt a strange tingling. It started in his toes, and began to work its way over his entire body. The feeling became stronger and stronger, and then a strange sensation overcame him. It was like a disk had been inserted into his brain, and files downloaded. He suddenly knew what his superpower was. The power that he would have for the rest of his life.

He jumped off the piano bench and ran from the room, so nobody would see him cry.