“Did you seriously just compare him to a superhero?”
“Yeah, guess I didn’t think that one through.”
Glancing at his watch, Carmine pushed away from the desk. “I have to get to history before Mrs. Anderson sends a search party out for me.”
“Yeah, you do that,” Dominic said. “From what I saw, you’re not passing the class.”
“You’re really not gonna change my grade for me?”
“Sorry, no can do. What does Superman say? With great power comes great responsibility?”
Carmine smacked his brother on the back of the head as he walked past. “That’s Spider-Man, dumbass.”
* * *
Carmine got home after football practice that night in just enough time to see Haven bolt up the stairs. He washed his hands and went into the dining room where dinner waited, his father already bowing his head to pray when he sat down. “Signore, benedici questi peccatori che essi mangiano la loro cene.”
Lord, bless these sinners as they eat their dinners.
Carmine was eating before they could say, “Amen.”
Vincent tried to make conversation during the meal, and Dominic humored him, but Carmine remained silent. It was well after dark when Vincent’s pager went off, and he dismissed them, needing to head to work. Carmine made his way upstairs and hesitated when he saw Haven in the library, gazing out the window with her palm pressed against the smooth glass.
He expected her to flee, but she instead motioned toward the small flashes of light sparking in the darkness. “What are those things?”
Carmine turned to see if someone else was there, taken aback that she was attempting to talk to him. “Fireflies. Some people call them lightning bugs.”
“Why do they glow?” she asked. “Is it so they can see?”
He strolled over to her. “I think it’s how they talk to each other.”
“Wow.”
“You’ve never seen them before?”
She shook her head. “We didn’t have any in Blackburn.”
“Ah, well, we have plenty here,” he said. “They’re like flying beetles with asses that light up.”
She smiled at his description. “They’re beautiful.”
“They’re just bugs. Nothing special.”
“They’re alive,” she said. “That makes them special.”
He had no comeback for that. Haven continued to gaze out the window while he watched her, seeing the childlike wonder in her expression. She looked as if she were seeing the world for the first time, like she had been blind until now but suddenly could see. He wondered if she felt that way, too, if everything in front of her was brand-new.
He tried to think back to when he saw fireflies for the first time, but he could barely recall that point in his life. He vaguely remembered catching some in a jar once.
“Do you wanna see them up close?”
The words were out of his mouth before he realized what he was asking. He’d heard his father, but at the same time, he didn’t see the harm.
She turned from the glass to look at him. “Could I?”
“Sure.”
Excitement sparked in her eyes. The sight of it made Carmine’s heart skip a beat. It had been years since he felt anything close to that, and for a moment, he wished he could steal it for himself.