Drip. Drip. Drip.
"Geh! Hah! Ugh..." Harvey continued to sweat onto the floor but suddenly collapsed, Too tired to continue his push ups. His limbs were shaking. Veins stood out prominently from his body, pulsing; he flipped himself to his back to breathe easier.
'123 in a row. Not bad, not superb either. But it's better than 15.' Spirit mocked from within their soul space.
"Yeah, well, shut up." Harvey breathed out. After a few minutes of resting, he stood and walked over to the makeshift pull-up bar he made. After converting his garage into a slapped-together home gym, he could now push his body to its limits.
"15 was the best I could do a few days ago. 123 is a huge leap for me." Harvey kept lifting his body up and down until his arms started to shake from fatigue. He then let go and landed on his feet. "Geh! 25! Damn it."
'Indeed. You are slowly gaining more strength. We should soon be able to go out without fear of you getting your ass handed to you again.' Spirit nodded.
Harvey sucked his teeth, annoyed. He then looked to his right at the full length mirror he brought to the garage. After walking a little closer, he inspected his body; the thin frame he once had was gone. Strong, lean muscles adorned his frame; if he could compare, he would say he was on par with some competitive swimmers.
"You were right. I can get stronger at incredible speeds. Almost feels like cheating." Harvey posed a little in front of the mirror. Some hair got in his face, so he had to shake his head slightly to move it away from his eyes. "I'm due for a haircut."
'Of course, I'm right. Now, continue training. We are nowhere near acceptable levels of strength.' Spirit commanded. The boy progressed well for their four training days, but it was far from enough. If Havey lacked the combat ability to punish all those who wish to inflict harm and evil on the innocent, he would have to overpower them in strength and speed.
"I think this is enough for today. We've been at it for too long without any breaks. I think I earned a one." Harvey wiped his face with a towel; after walking inside, he went to his bedroom's bathroom to shower.
'Earned a break? Earned a break, how!? We still haven't punished a single soul!' Spirit was upset. How could Harvey stop when he was making such great strides?
"Believe it or not, I won't become unstoppable after a week of training. That's not how this works." Harvey said while washing away the sweat and grime. "Besides, I'm gonna go crazy being holed up in here."
'...Fine. Have your break.' Spirit relented.
"Don't worry. After I return, we will get back to training." Harvey looked through his closet for some casual clothing. After grabbing a dark grey hoodie and some blue jeans, he walked off to get dressed. Once he was dressed, he looked at himself in the mirror and noticed a vast improvement in his appearance. The muscles he gained from training filled him out; he no longer looked like a gust of wind would knock him over.
"Nice, but the hair has to go."
'Indeed.' Spirit said.
•••
"Roberto! You got a customer!" A tall black man yelled across the barbershop. He was wearing a blue button-up shirt and khaki pants.
"Jesus, Johnson. You ain't gotta yell; you'll scare him away!" Roberto joked as he waved Harvey over. "Sit down, son."
"Thank you, sir." Harvey said as he sat down in the chair. Roberto wrapped the barber cape around Harvey, after securing it he chuckled to himself.
"Yikes! I can see why you're here young man, that mop of yours must be scaring away all girls! Don't worry, Roberto here has you covered." Roberto joked. "Anything in mind?"
Harvey laughed at Roberto's joke. The man had a light mustache and dark skin, was of average height, and had an open brown patterned button-up shirt; the hat and sunglasses gave off an easygoing personality.
"Just here for a trim, sir. Anything that'll get the hair out of my eyes." Harvey said.
"That I can do." Roberto smiled as he got to work. "I don't think I've seen you around here?"
"Yeah, I decided to try a new barber. My last one retired a while back." Harvey said as he looked at the mirror. He was impressed at the practiced ease with which Roberto worked.
"Ah, I see. Well, rest assured! You're in good hands with me!" Roberto happily said. "Even on days I'm not here, these guys will take good care of you. They might not be as good as me, but they're good enough."
"Yeah, Yeah. Joke it up Roberto! Remember what happened with that Josh kid?" Another barber across from them spoke, causing the whole room to laugh.
"When will you guys let that go? The kid sneezed, sneezed, I tell you!" Roberto stopped and waved his hands, and the room laughed.
'Yeah, this place will do.' Harvey smiled. This was a great place. No one here made his senses go wild. These were good people.
•••
The next day…
"Alright, class dismissed!" The science teacher announced, and everyone gathered their notebooks and supplies. This was the last period of the day; Everyone was excited to head home or to their clubs.
"Mr. Miller, a second of your time." The teacher spoke as Harvey was about to leave. Harvey then walked up to the teacher as everyone filed out.
"Yes, Mr. Brooks?" Harvey said.
"I've noticed that you've been working hard, Mr. Miller. Your grades have been picking up nicely; keep it up." Brooks said as he smiled at Harvey. Harvey smiled back at the teacher. While most of the student body didn't like him, the teachers didn't hold him in such a negative opinion of him.
"Thank you, Mr. Brooks." Harvey said as he was about to leave, but Brooks spoke again.
"Listen, Harvey. I know things in school haven't been... ideal. After what your father did, I know things can't be easy. But the teaching staff knows what truly happened." Brooks stopped to gather his thoughts; he had to be careful about what he said next.
"You had no part in that. Your father was the one who was embezzling all of the school's money and ran off with it, not you! Don't let the rest of your peers get to you. You have great potential, and I'm glad you're finally getting out of that rut you were in." Brooks said as he stood up and patted Harvey's shoulders. Harvey frowned and narrowed his eyes but then sighed. It was pointless to let what happened to him keep holding him down. He had to focus on his new responsibilities.
"Yeah, you're right. I have to... let what happened go. I had nothing to do with what that man did." Harvey said as he finally came to terms with what was holding that part of him back.
With the passing of his mother and his father's criminal actions, It all pushed him to alcohol and drugs to cope. He felt he was at fault and took the bullying from the other students as a form of self-punishment. That money was supposed to be used for many of the school's sports and club activities, alongside last year's end-of-year field trip. It was no wonder a majority of the students didn't like him.
'To continue to dwell on that is foolish. You had no part in that. That is not your sin to bear.' Spirit spoke to him, and Harvey almost chuckled. It was odd to hear Spirit say something positive.
"Good. Very good, if you need anything. Myself and the teaching staff are here for you; don't be afraid of reaching out to us." Brooks said as he nodded. "Now go on; I've taken enough of your time."
Harvey nodded and walked off to the door but stopped. He then turned around and looked at his teacher. "Thank you for what you said, Mr. Brooks. I needed to hear that."
Brooks smiled and waved him off. "No, I should have said something long ago. This is me taking action to fix that mistake."
"I see. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." Harvey smiled.
"Yes, and don't be late to class!" Brooks joked as Harvey chuckled and nodded. Brooks was a good man, he wouldn't forget that.
•••
"Luke, are you sure this is gonna work?" Manny Delgado said to his nephew, Luke Dunphy. They were both walking side by side, currently they were a few feet away from a group of girls. They were inside a shopping mall, and the rest of the mall shoppers provided them with enough cover to be inconspicuous.
"I'm not sure this is gonna work, I know this is gonna work. Trust me, my friend Kevin told me Sandra was eyeing you at school all day. You have to go make a move!" Luke said confidently. "All you have to do is walk up to her when her friends aren't around and ask her out. We just have to find the perfect opportunity."
"Seems like a pretty big risk. What if your friend is wrong, what if Sandra was just eyeing the stain I had on my shirt that day!" Manny walked around and got in front of Luke, panicking at the prospect of rejection.
"Manny, listen. I know she's into you. She kept going on about how she likes small, exotic men. Or did she say small exotic animals? I don't know. It was pretty loud in the cafeteria." Luke's face scrunched up in thought; he smiled and nodded at Manny. "Anyways! You have to go shoot your shot!"
"I don't know. What if-" Manny didn't get to finish as a man dressed in black clothing bumped into him as he ran by.
"Outta the way, kid!" The man yelled in irritation. He held a box of shoes in his hands.
"Hey! Stop!" A teenager said as he gave chase but was much farther away. A round mall security officer was close behind.
"Holy crap, did you see that!" Luke said to Manny.
"Of course, I saw that! He almost ran me over!" Manny yelled. They both looked down the escalators where the thief ran down from and saw him keep running.
"Someone! Stop that thief!" Manny yelled down; he was angry at the thief for shoving him and hoped that someone would stop him from escaping.
Another shopper exited a clothing store and saw the thief running his way; he then looked around at all the other shoppers who seemed to move to get out of the thief's way, not wanting to get involved.
The shopper then stuck out his leg and tripped the thief, causing him to fall and drop the box of shoes. The shopper then walked over to the thief and crouched on his back with his knee, pinning him in place. This allowed the teenager and the security officer to catch up and grab the thief.
"Wow! Did you see that!" Luke said excitedly.
"Wait a minute! That's Harvey!" Manny exclaimed. Luke looked confused.
"Harvey? Do you know him?" Luke asked.
"Yeah, well, sorta. He goes to our school. Let's go down there!" Manny started running off to the escalators, and Luke followed closely.
•••
"Thanks. This guy sure is fast. Almost got away!" The security officer said as he placed handcuffs on the thief.
"Ah, no worries. I didn't do much. Just stuck my foot out." Harvey said as he grabbed his bags. He didn't expect today to go this way. After all, he just came to buy some clothes for his nightly activities.
"Don't underplay yourself, young man. Thanks again." The security officer said as he started to walk off with the thief towards the designated room that holds thieves until a police officer arrives.
"Thank you! I know it's silly but you saved my shoes. I owe you one! The names, Diego Dawson." Diego said as he shook Harevy's hand.
"Harvey Miller, don't worry about it. Just happy to help." Harvey said. Diego nodded.
"Alright, well, I have to follow them. I have to call my dad. He's a cop, so I'm sure hell like to bring that dirtbag in." Diego said as he walked off; he waved goodbye to Harvey and then ran behind the security officer and the thief.
"Harvey! That was impressive!" A familiar voice spoke behind him. Harvey turned to look behind him and saw Manny alongside another kid with curly hair.
"Yeah, man! That was so cool!" Luke said in excitement.
"Manny. Ah, who's this?" Harvey walked up to the two.
"This is Luke, my nephew." Manny said as he waved at Luke.
"Dude, I thought we agreed you wouldn't call me that." Luke said in an annoyed voice.
"Sorry about that, forgot." Manny rubbed the back of his head.
"Luke, it's nice to meet you." Harvey said. "I think I've seen you around the school."
"Forget about school, dude! You're like a total hero!" Luke was excited, but there was something in his mind he felt he was forgetting.
"I wouldn't say all that; I just tripped the guy." Harvey was a bit embarrassed. This was a bit much.
"Hey, I have an idea. Let's go get some pizza at the food court!" Luke told Manny and Harvey.
"That's a great idea! It'll be my treat! That guy you tripped practically ran me over. It'll be my way to thank you!" Manny said as he patted Harvey's shoulder. Harvey was a bit taken back by the sudden invitation, he was about to decline when he remembered the empty home waiting for him.
"Alright, sounds like a plan. What do you mean by him running you over?" Harvey said to Manny as the three started to walk off to the food court, all the while talking about what had just happened. They even started exaggerating the events that occurred.
Harvey smiled and laughed. He was having fun with his new friends.