First Offer (Minimum Wage Sidekick Book 3) Read online

  I looked at Barriers’ business card with a lot less interest than before. In fact, I was almost disgusted by it. “He at least fights crime, doesn’t he?”

  “Sometimes,” said Rubberman. “He was never very proactive in doing it and I know for a fact that the police hated working with him because he never took it very seriously. The only crimes he ever took interest in were those that would directly benefit his business. For example, one time he saved an entire family from a burning house just because he thought it would make him look good. It actually did increase his earnings and give him more media exposure, so it was a calculated risk, but I know of more than a few times when he refused to help some people because he didn’t think it would help his business.”

  I bit my lower lip. “That reminds me of what Fro-Zen said, about how some superheroes were just in the business for profit and not because they care about people.”

  Rubberman sighed. “Fro-Zen was insane, but unfortunately he was correct about that. In fact, although I don’t know for certain, I suspect that it was Barriers’ greed which influenced Fro-Zen’s thinking on the subject. I remember how surprised and disturbed he had been when Barriers tried to poach him from me. He never talked much about it, but I think that probably did lower Fro-Zen’s opinion of the superhero business a bit, especially when I told him about Barriers’ decision to save that family.”

  “But most superheroes aren’t like that, right?”

  Rubberman nodded. “Yes. Fro-Zen just blew the whole thing out of proportion. I suppose he also fell in with some people who encouraged his ideas, but I don’t know who they are. Probably a bunch of conspiracy theorists on the Internet, I imagine, though I have known a few superheroes and sidekicks who quit the business because they didn’t care much for what they saw in this industry.”

  I understood that. While I agreed with Rubberman that most superheroes were good people trying to do the right thing, I had to admit that I could see how someone like Barriers would sour your whole view of the industry. It disturbed me to know that some superheroes might decide not to help people purely on the basis of whether or not it helps expand their business or give them more media exposure, rather than whether it is the right thing to do or not. Fro-Zen’s solution of killing all superheroes was probably not the right way to go about handling the issue, but I still wondered sometimes if there was a way to deal with superheroes who may have been super but weren’t actually heroes.

  “What I don’t understand is why Barriers came out of retirement,” said Rubberman, leaning back in his chair, a thoughtful look on his face. “When he retired a year ago, he explicitly told the Superheroes Weekly writer that he was done with the superhero business. He told Superheroes Weekly that he intended to spend the rest of his life on his private island in Jamaica in luxury and pleasure with not a care for the world.”

  “Why did he retire in the first place?”

  “Because his business peaked,” Rubberman replied. “Barriers is many things, but I can’t deny that he does have good business sense. He sensed that the Barriers brand had reached its zenith, so he sold it to Munroe Acquisitions for ten million dollars and then went to Jamaica to enjoy his retirement. That isn’t unusual in this business. It’s actually pretty rare for a superhero to stay in the game for very long. Most end up burning out after a couple of years or, like Barriers, sell their business when it no longer becomes very profitable. That’s how companies like Munroe Acquisitions exist. If most superheroes stayed in the business for longer than a few years, superhero acquisition agencies would be in a lot of trouble, financially-speaking.”

  “Huh,” I said. “Guess he must have got bored of his little island in Jamaica or something.”

  “Maybe, but I doubt it,” said Rubberman. “I find it very strange that Sasha contacted him directly about taking up the brand again. That’s extremely unusual in this business. Most superhero acquisition companies like to focus on profiting from a brand, and even if they do decide to make it active again, they’ll usually hire a totally new person to don the costume and name. That Sasha directly contacted Barriers and offered him his identity back is practically unheard of in this business.”

  I remembered Sasha Munroe. I’d only met her once, but she had reminded me of my first grade English teacher, although I’d been told that she wasn’t anywhere nearly as nice or polite as she seemed. “Maybe Sasha thinks Golden City needs more superheroes, like Barriers said.”

  Rubberman laughed. “Sasha is an even more ruthless businessperson than Barriers. No, she would never do something as unorthodox as this unless it was part of a bigger plan. She’s clearly planning something, but what, I don’t know. What makes it even stranger is that I know Barriers isn’t doing this for the money, because if he was, he would have simply bought his brand back and went independent again, rather than split his earnings with Sasha’s company.”

  “Do you think she gave him an offer he can’t refuse?”

  “Possibly,” said Rubberman. “But knowing how hard Sasha drives her deals, she probably did something else to make him come back. Perhaps she even threatened him. I wouldn’t put anything past her. She lacks her father’s honor and sportsmanship.”

  I shifted in my seat. “Doesn’t Sasha want your business? Do you think this has anything to do with that?”

  “Maybe,” said Rubberman. “Sasha can be a hard woman to read sometimes. At this point, I’d suggest you don’t let your guard down around Barriers. I wouldn’t even contact him again. If he’s working for Sasha, he’s clearly in on her plan, whatever it is.”

  “Yeah,” I said. I looked down at Barriers’ business card, which I put in my costume pocket again. I glanced at the Rubberman clock above Rubberman’s head and said, “Oh, it looks like it’s time for me to go home. I’m going to clock out now.”

  “All right,” said Rubberman. “Tomorrow will be the start of your stay in the Elastic Cave. I’ll have Adams assign you your duties in the Cave while I’m away.”

  “You’re going to be away tomorrow? Where?”

  “To meet with the police to find out if they have been able to interrogate any of the Three Fingers gang members they arrested today. I’m interested in seeing if we can find their leader, Johnny Diamond.”

  I nodded, turned, and walked toward the office door. As I walked, I could not help but feel Barriers’ business card in my left breast pocket. I had no intention of calling Barriers, but I didn’t want to throw the card out, either. Perhaps if we needed to call him, I could use it to contact him.

  And … I have to admit, having options was nice.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  I was glad when I saw my house as I biked down the streets of my neighborhood. After all of the excitement at work today, I was ready to just go up to my room and fall asleep. I might even skip dinner. While I was hungry, I was also very tired from fighting the Three Fingers. I’m sure Mom would understand if I didn’t want to eat the dinner she made for me. Then again, Mom said she was making fried chicken and mashed potatoes for dinner today. How could I possibly say no to that, even if I was dead tired?

  As I approached the house, I saw a sleek red truck in the driveway, which I recognized as the car of my older brother, James. That didn’t surprise me. While James was currently going to college, he was home for winter break and would not be going back to school until sometime after New Year’s. Despite that, James spent most of his time outside the house, either catching up with old friends from high school or flirting with girls around the city. It seemed like a huge waste of time to me, but James never listened to my opinion on anything, so I guess it didn’t matter what I thought.

  I parked my bike next to James’ car, but stopped to admire it. James had bought his car himself with the money he’d saved up from the various odd jobs he had worked while in high school, including money he had earned from his short period as a sidekick. How he got such a nice car by often working for what amounted to minimum wage (and sometimes less) for three or four summ
ers made no sense to me, but James always did things that seemed impossible to me. But I figured I would have enough money for my car soon enough. I had saved up nearly a third of the $4,000 goal I’d set and would likely reach that goal by spring.

  At the same time, looking at James’ car reminded me of my misadventure with the Rubbermobile earlier today. James had so far refused to let me drive his car or to even sit behind the steering wheel. That used to annoy me, especially whenever he claimed it was because he didn’t want me messing up his car’s paint job, but given how I’d nearly totaled the Rubbermobile—which was a hell of a lot more expensive than James’ car—today, I realized that James was right to be concerned about my driving ability. Of course he was, because James was always right about everything.

  Shaking my head, I walked up the front steps and entered the house, saying as I did so, “Mom, Dad, I’m home!”

  I expected to hear Mom’s cheery voice call from the kitchen, but instead, James poked his head out of the kitchen and said, “Hey, bro, back from saving the world already?”

  I frowned. “Where’s Mom? She’s usually in the kitchen when I get home.”

  “Ah, didn’t you hear?” said James. “Dad took her out on a surprise date tonight. They’re going to that new Chinese restaurant that just opened downtown. Mom loves Chinese food and they’re going to see a movie afterward, so I don’t expect those two crazy lovebirds to be back before midnight, if that.”

  “So it’s just you and me in the house tonight?” I said.

  “Yep,” said James. He took a bite out of a chicken leg, chewed it for a moment, and then swallowed. “But don’t worry about the food. Mom still managed to make the chicken and mashed potatoes. I left some for you, though I gotta admit, it was kind of hard because it’s just so dang good.”

  Dropping my backpack on the floor, I made my way into the kitchen past James (who was leaning against the arch eating his chicken leg) and walked over to the counter. But when I looked into the metal pot where the potatoes were, I saw that nearly all of the mashed potatoes were gone. There was just a very small amount on the bottom, probably enough to scoop with a normal spoon. A glance at the fried chicken plate showed that only a couple of pieces of chicken were left as well.

  I turned around to look at James. “What the hell, James? You barely left me anything.”

  James shrugged. As usual, he didn’t look even remotely guilty. “What can I say? I’m a fan of Mom’s cooking. You’d eat a lot, too, if you were away from home for months at a time. My roommates just can’t cook as well as Mom. Or at all, for that matter.”

  I scowled. “Well, I had a really long work day today and I was hoping to get a lot to eat. Now I’m going to have to see if we have any leftovers in the fridge.”

  “Speaking of work, I saw a news report about you and your boss foiling a bank robbery,” said James as he bit off the last bit of meat off the chicken leg and tossed the bone into the small garbage can next to the fridge. “The report said you drove your boss’s car and nearly crashed it.”

  My scowl became even worse as I picked an empty plate up off the counter and began filling it with what little was left of the chicken and potatoes. “It wasn’t my fault. The Rubbermobile is not as easy to drive as it looks.”

  “Hey, I wasn’t judging you,” said James. “I just thought that you looked pretty good despite getting involved in a car crash. I guess your boss must have given you a pretty tough costume, huh?”

  “The Rubbermobile has an AI that took over to make sure the crash wasn’t as serious as it could have been,” I said as I put the chicken on my plate. “It had nothing to do with me.”

  “I see,” said James. “Your boss was probably pretty angry about that, huh?”

  “Yeah, he was,” I said. “He’s not firing me, but I’m not allowed to go out to fight crime with him for a week. I’m just going to stay in the Elastic Cave and do stuff in there. It’s better than being fired, I guess, but I still don’t like it.”

  “Hey, you’re still getting paid, aren’t you?” said James. “I would have been more than happy to play janitor in my boss’s base when I was a sidekick. Instead, we were out almost every day fighting random criminals on the street and getting our asses handed to us just as regularly.” He shook his head. “Glad I’m not in that business anymore.”

  I turned to face James, my plate with chicken and potatoes in my hands. James rarely spoke about his time as a sidekick. Actually, now that I thought about it, I didn’t even know the name of the superhero he worked for. All I knew for sure was that he had not been working for Rubberman, but I didn’t know who he had worked for originally. I had been thirteen-years-old at the time and too busy with school to care.

  But now, I was curious, so I asked, “I forgot, what was your boss’s name again?”

  “His real name was Daniel Garcia,” said James, “but his superhero name was Windchime. I’m surprised you don’t remember. Didn’t I tell you that when I worked for him?”

  I shook my head. “No. I think it’s because I didn’t see you around the house very often when you worked for him that year, because you usually got home pretty late, by which time I was usually in bed.”

  “Well, I guess it doesn’t matter now,” said James, shaking his head. “His whole business was a train wreck. I seriously have no idea why I worked for him. I guess I just thought that being a sidekick would be cool or something. What an idiot.”

  I walked over to the table and sat down at my usual seat, placing the plate before me. “He couldn’t have been that bad, could he?”

  “Oh, he was,” said James. “His ‘base’ was just his apartment and we had to train at a gym, a gym he couldn’t always afford to pay membership fees for even. He never seemed to have enough money for anything. Frankly, I was shocked when he presented me with an actual costume that wasn’t something you’d find in a thrift store.”

  “Do you still have your old Lightning Fist costume lying around?” I said as I took a bite out of my chicken. “Or did you get rid of it?”

  “I tried to throw it away, but Mom wanted to keep it because she considers it part of our family history,” said James. He rolled his eyes. “I don’t know where she put it. Probably somewhere in Mom and Dad’s closet inside a cardboard box. I haven’t bothered to look for it. I don’t want to stare at that ugly thing again.”

  “It wasn’t that bad,” I said. “Granted, it’s been years since I last saw it, so maybe my memories are biased, but—”

  “No, it was bad,” said James. “And tight. Too tight, even for someone as thin as me. Windchime was just a cheapo. Not surprised he didn’t get anywhere or any respect from anyone.”

  “What happened to him?” I said. “Is he still around?”

  “Nah,” said James, shaking his head. “Last I heard, Windchime’s business went bankrupt. I think he was actually evicted from his apartment, so he’s probably bumming around bars or something, bragging to people about how he used to be a hero.”

  “And I forgot, was he stationed here in Golden City?” I asked.

  “Nah, he was in Brownville about ten miles north of here,” said James. “He was the only superhero accepting sidekicks at the time, which was why I applied to work for him. He told me that I was the only one who actually applied to be his sidekick, which made me feel special at first, at least until I got a good look at just how absurdly incompetent he was.”

  “He couldn’t have been that incompetent, could he?”

  “Oh, he was,” said James. “On our first outing as a team, he got his cape caught on barbed fence and even tore it. He never got it fixed. Another time, he got chased up a tree by a thief’s doberman and had to rely on me to lure the dog away long enough for him to climb down and go after the thief. Who he failed to capture, by the way.” James winced. “That was how I found out that doberman have very sharp teeth.”

  I grimaced. “Wow. I knew that not all superheroes are equally good fighters, but I didn’t think someone
that incompetent could even exist in the superhero business.”

  “You lucked out on Rubberman, if you ask me,” said James. “I’ve never met the man myself, but from what I’ve heard, he sounds like a pretty good boss in comparison to Windchime. Of course, that isn’t saying much, given how hilariously incompetent Windchime was.”

  I nodded, but only slowly. I took another bite out of my chicken. “Yeah, Rubberman is pretty good, but … sometimes he’s just so strict. Like grounding me in the Elastic Cave, even though we caught the robbers anyway. It’s better than being fired or having my pay docked, I suppose, but it’s still unfair.”

  “Like I said, if Windchime had chosen to ‘punish’ me that way, I wouldn’t have complained,” said James. “Of course, Windchime never even bothered to punish me, because he was usually too scared of me. I don’t think he really knew how to discipline kids, so I kept pushing him around. What a loser.”

  Suddenly, James bent over and picked up something off the floor. “Hey, what’s this? Did you drop it?”

  I looked up from my chicken to see James holding Barriers’ business card. I grimaced. “Oh, I must have.”

  “It looks like a business card,” said James, turning the card over. He squinted at the text. “’Barriers’? What does he do, build police barricades or something?”

  “He can make energy barriers with his hands,” I said. “He’s just another superhero who helped Rubberman and me take down those bank robbers.”

  “Why did he give you his business card?” said James, looking at me with a questioning gaze. “Is he going to make a business deal with your boss or something?”

  “No,” I said, shaking my head. “He actually offered me a job. He wants me to quit working for Rubberman so I can go work for him as his sidekick.”