Read Johnny B. Fast: The Super Spy Part One Page 19
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Johnny bounced down the stairs of his house two at a time, landing on the main floor with a loud thump that took him into a slide toward the kitchen.
“Hey dad,” he called as he dropped his backpack onto the floor and started digging around in the fridge for something to eat.
Henry was lost in a stack of papers, still trying to find the missing reports that he had failed to turn in to Mr. Underling. There was a cold, untouched piece of toast on the table beside him. Henry looked up to his right where Johnny had just come in, and then turned to look to the left as Johnny walked back around to the other side again. Henry looked to the right one more time as Johnny sat down at the table with some cereal and a jug of milk. Finally managing to catch a glimpse of his son, Henry gave him a warm smile.
“Hi son. Did you have a good night’s rest?”
Johnny froze in the act of pouring the milk onto his cereal. He looked up to see that his dad’s attention was back on the stack of papers. For a moment Johnny thought that his dad had found out that Johnny was out all night. Looking back down, Johnny saw that he was about to overfill his cereal with the milk. He was able to stop pouring just before the milk spilled out of the bowl.
“Yeah, I’m all ready for school.”
Henry was holding up two different pieces of paper and trying to look at both of them at the same time.
“That doesn’t seem right,” Henry said as he crossed his eyes comparing the two texts.
Johnny glanced up again with a spoonful of cereal in his mouth. Henry finally uncrossed his eyes and put the papers back down on the kitchen table, inadvertently placing one of the papers right onto his toast.
“Not again,” Henry said as he lifted up the paper and got a napkin, trying in vain to wipe the jam off the paper and succeeding only in smearing it around even more.
Frustrated, Henry put the paper down on top of another piece of toast and got the jam on that one too, although he didn’t notice it yet.
“Rough time at work?” Johnny asked.
Henry let out a long held breath.
“I just don’t seem to fit in well there with my other colleagues. I try hard, but I can’t get used to organizing everything on the computers. You know, maybe one day you could show me some pointers on that machine you have upstairs,” Henry said.
Henry was referring to the really old computer Johnny had in his room. He didn’t know his son had a state of the art holographic computer with processors faster than anything anyone could buy from a store. Of course, even that paled in comparison to the speed of the Super Chip.
“Sure dad, we’ll see what we can do,” Johnny said.
His dad gave him a smile.
“Everything going well with math class so far?” his dad asked.
“It was English class. Too early to tell, but I’ll let you know how I do on any upcoming tests or assignments,” Johnny replied.
Henry cleared his throat, getting serious for a moment and giving Johnny his full attention.
“I know that times have been hard for you since your mom passed. But you’ve got to keep trying your best, you’ve got to keep doing well, it’s what she would have wanted,” Henry stumbled over his words, but he forced himself to press on. “I just want you to know that if there’s anything on your mind, you can tell me. I’m here for you, and it isn’t always easy for me to be a good parent, there’s a lot I still have to learn, but I’ll do my best.”
“I know dad,” Johnny said as Henry searched for his next words.
Johnny hated when his dad got so hard on himself. Henry Clunker wasn’t exactly someone who made his way easily through life, he struggled in a lot of ways, but he had a good heart and always tried to do the right thing, even when other stronger people might be tempted to do otherwise.
“I want you to know that I’ll always keep trying, I’m always in your corner, right or wrong,” Henry concluded.
That was one area where no one could compete with Henry; he had a big heart and wasn’t afraid to show that he cared. Johnny often wondered how his dad would feel if he ever found out that Johnny was a super spy and that he was concealing so many things from him. Johnny imagined that his dad would be crushed, and it was a moment that Johnny wanted to do his best to spare him from ever having to go through.
“Thanks dad,” Johnny said, mostly because he didn’t really know what else to say. He wanted to say that his dad didn’t have anything to worry about, that Johnny was not only doing fine, but thriving in his newfound profession. But he couldn’t. He had to keep it a secret. There was a moment of awkward silence between them where both father and son cleared their throat at the same time.
Johnny pushed back his chair and headed for the sink with his bowl.
“I better get going,” Johnny said as he started rinsing it.
“Don’t worry about that, I’ve got it,” Henry said as he went back to comparing the different reports in his hand.
Johnny smiled to himself. His dad always said that, but if Johnny never helped with the dishes, quite frankly, they would never get done. His dad tended to forget things like that.
Johnny picked up his backpack and headed for the door.
“Have a good day,” father and son said at the same time, and then, “Thanks,” also in unison.