Paraplegic (COMPLETED)

Chapter 23

Maverick pounces on the opportunity, clearly pleased that someone's finally taken an interest in him. "I was once abducted by aliens!" August's eyes grow wide as he listens to Maverick's story. "Yeah. And it's as bad as it sounds. The little buggers beamed me up to their spaceship where they poked me with their slimy fingers and ran a bunch of experiments on me. But I know what they were truly after." He taps the side of his temple with his forefinger. "This all-encompassing supercomputer of mine."

"Yes. That brain of yours is indeed coveted by all," Calix grumbles.

"Quiet, Cal! This fine young man and I are having a very serious conversation."

"You're completely right. I'm sorry I didn't recognize the severity of this subject initially. Shall I go fetch you a tin foil hat to protect that supercomputer of yours?" I can see he's trying to resist a grin; the corners of his lips begging to bloom.

"Ya know, that's not such a bad idea. Everyone knows tin foil reflects electromagnetic frequencies."

Calix can't stay straight-faced any longer; he caves and that signature goofy grin of his lights up his face. Maverick simply shakes his head, unamused by his humor.

"Ha . . . ha . . . ha. Make fun all you want, but when those green little buggers return with a vengeance, I'll be the only one prepared."

"The only thing you'll be is a human baked spud with that tin foil wrapped around your noggin'."

A part of me is telling myself not to encourage Maverick's erratic behavior, but I can't help myself. "I thought you said you lost your ear because of some bug—uh, what was it called?"

"African Assassin Bug," Calix is quick with an answer, the grin still plastered on his face.

"Yes, thank you. African Assassin Bug."

Maverick throws his hands toward the ceiling in frustration. "I'm a victim of all kinds of nefarious attacks! First, the bug got to me. They tried to take me whole, but I would have none of that. I was soon thwarted by hundreds, thousands even; all of them buzzing around trying to sting me with their dagger butts."

"Dagger butts, you say?" Calix seemingly can't rid the smile from his face.

"Don't make fun, Cal! It could happen to you just as it did me." He takes a deep breath before continuing. "Anyway, I quickly became outnumbered. They didn't fight fair, but I should've expected no less. They overtook me. Everything went black and there's a hole in my memory as to what happened next. I awoke a while later to find myself—" He halts from his story, as if he's struggling to recollect the so-called "horror" he experienced. "My ear . . . it was . . . gone!"

Calix slowly claps his hands. "Bravo, mate! That was simply riveting. Maybe we can arrange story time next week as well. Say, three-ish? I'll bring the scones."

Maverick ignores Calix's jesting words and returns his attention to August. "Then, not more than four weeks later, I awoke one night to a white light bursting through my bedroom window. I leaped from my bed to see what it was and saw this little green figure floating towards my window. Before I knew it, I was on my bicycle trying to flee the neighborhood, but it beamed me up into its spaceship."

"Pretty sure that supercomputer of yours just morphed E.T. and Star Trek together, mate."

Maverick looks up at the ceiling, as if to ponder the possibility that he may have done such a thing.

August had been standing there the entire time with his mouth hung open halfway to his toes. The last thing that juvenile mind of his needs is another juvenile mind feeding him a bunch of fluff. "You're really weird, mister," he says, then proceeds to the closest corner of the room where he takes a seat on the floor and resumes playing his PSP.