Freddie Ramos Zooms to the Rescue (3 page)

3. Silver Goggles

The grass beside the overhead train track is the world's best place to run. I spread out my arms, pretending to be an airplane. Airplanes can beat trains, and that's how fast I am.

My legs spun faster and faster. A light cloud swirled around me.
Rápido!
The train fell behind me as the wind whooshed hard against my face. But it didn't hurt my eyes, not with the silver goggles protecting them.

I ran past the train station, down a trail that leads to a bridge over the tracks. Then I stopped and checked my watch just as the 5:35 came speeding in beneath me. That's my mom's train. I love to watch it come through. She leaves work at the same time every day, and walks from the station. When she comes home she expects to see me with open books, doing my homework.
No hay problema.
Mom wouldn't beat me home.

Smoke whooshed out of my super shoes as I ran down the trail. Between the trees, I could see the track getting higher as it rose to meet the station. And I could see the letter “W” on a red baseball cap stuck in a tree.

Zapato Power smoke gave me super vision, like looking through a telescope. And with my silver goggles, I didn't have to squint in the wind anymore. Next to my super sneakers, they were the best gift ever.

When I got home, my guinea pig, Claude the Second, stood up in his cage.

“WHEET!” That's Claude the Second's way of saying hello. “WHEET!”

I gave him a carrot and went to the mirror to look at my silver goggles again. Who gave them to me?

My Uncle Jorge mailed presents sometimes. I looked at the padded envelope the goggles came in. The return address was Cleveland, Ohio. Uncle Jorge lived in New York. I didn't know anybody in Ohio.

There were no clues inside the envelope, either. Just more of that gray fluffy stuff that made me sneeze.

It was a mystery I'd have to figure out after my homework.

“How was your day, Freddie?” Mom came through the door and smiled to see me with my math book open. “Anything exciting happen?”

I told her about the squirrel. She thought it was so funny, I didn't have to add anything else, like how I got a mystery package with silver goggles. Besides, Mom was excited to show me something.

“Look what I bought for you on my lunch hour.” She held up an orange bathing suit with palm trees all over it. Orange was not my favorite color, and I wasn't so sure about the palm trees, either.

“It was on sale,” she said.

That didn't surprise me. Mom loved sales. But why did she get me a bathing suit?

“Where am I going to wear it?” I asked.

“Summer camp!” Mom said. “I signed you up!”

“Isn't that expensive?”

“A little,” Mom admitted. “But your Uncle Jorge sent me some money to help pay for it. He wants you to learn how to swim.”

“He didn't tell me that! We talked last week.”

Uncle Jorge called me a couple of times a month to ask if I was still playing basketball and wearing my hair short like a soldier. My dad was a hero in the army. And ever since we lost him, Uncle Jorge helps my mom and me out whenever he can.

“Summer will be here soon,” Mom said. “Only one month.”

“You're right!”

Camp didn't seem like such a bad idea. And I'd always wanted to learn how to swim. It was a good skill for a superhero to have.

4. The Storm

That night, just after I went to bed, we had a thunderstorm. It was a really loud one, the kind that sounds like horses stamping on the roof while some crazy cowboy shoots a rifle. My mom got a little scared, so I ran out of my bedroom to keep her company.

Crash! Crack!

“What was that?” Mom shouted.

I thought about putting on my purple sneakers and silver goggles. Superheroes are supposed to be brave and check out loud noises. But it was dark outside, and mom looked like she needed me.

“
No te preocupes.
” She touched my cheek. “Don't worry. We're together.”

Another crash of thunder made us both jump. We hugged on the couch until all the roaring, pounding, and booming stopped. It was nice to have a mom to take care of.

In the morning, I left the house with my purple zapatos on my feet, my wristband on my arm, and my silver goggles in my backpack. If there was a superhero job at school, I'd be ready.

Mr. Vaslov met me at the stairs leading down to Starwood Elementary.

“Look at that!” He pointed at the school.

A huge tree had fallen, hitting the edge of the gym roof, making a hole. Mrs. Connor wasn't going to be happy about this.

“The winds were really high last night,” Mr. Vaslov said.

“And loud. I'm glad it's over.”

“The storm is,” he answered, “but not the clean up. More trees could fall.”

“Really?” I asked.

Mr. Vaslov nodded. “Bad storms weaken them.”

We talked about falling trees until Mr. Vaslov looked at his watch. “You're going to be late, Freddie.”

“No, I'm not!” I said, taking off. “I have Zapato Power.”