The little girl and I chatted until I reached my stop. I got up slowly, trying not to make any sudden moves. “I have to go now.” I gave her a little wave. “Bye-bye, princess.”
She waved back at me. “Bye-bye, Superman.”
As I stepped off onto the platform, the little girl’s mother gave me a little smile and I nodded at her in acknowledgement. I felt really good.
But an even greater test lay ahead. I’d decided to see what it felt like being around a crowd of people, so I’d planned to go to a popular night spot and hang out. When I reached the door, I could see that the place was packed, and I hesitated. Then I thought to myself, “Superman wouldn’t be scared to go in there. He’d walk in like he owned the place.” So I pushed open the door and entered.
As I walked toward the bar, I could hear the volume of noise drop as I went by knots of people. As soon as I passed them a sort of buzz filled the quiet, and I knew that people were wondering what to make of me. But the bartender was cool when he spotted me, and he calmly asked me for my order like this happened every night. My request for club soda and lime didn’t even merit a raised eyebrow.
As I stood there sipping my drink, a guy standing next to me tapped me on the shoulder. “So, like, are you in a movie or something?” he asked.
“No,” I told him, “I just wanted to do this to try something different.”
“Okay, cool,” he said, and started to turn away. I felt relieved. I’m normally pretty introverted, but I decided that if I had come this far, I might as well push myself a little further.
“So are you a fan of the Superman movies?” I asked him, and soon we were in a conversation about comic book hero movies. Other people around us started to join in and we had a great time debating the relative merits of various action heroes. Finally, a woman next to me pulled out her cellphone to take a picture of me, and when I saw the time I was surprised. I’d been having such a good time I hadn’t realized how late it had gotten. I settled up with the bartender, leaving him a nice tip, and headed for the exit. As I reached the door, someone in the crowd shouted out, “Good night, Superman,” and a number of people joined in. I turned, waved and gave a flourish with my cape to the laughter and cheers from the crowd.
Nothing else happened on the subway back to Queens, but when I walked into my apartment I felt so good that I delayed taking off my Superman suit because the whole experience had been so positive. Later, after I’d gotten into bed, I realized that that was the first time I’d spent a whole evening without thinking about Glenda.
After that, I began to wear the suit almost every weekend and a lot of weeknights too. Most people seemed to like it when they saw me in it, and I found that I really didn’t feel so vulnerable any more. And it was a great conversation starter.
Alex smiled at me, and I couldn’t help smiling back. I guess I was glad for him, but I suspected that although his life in a superhero costume had started well, there might be a dark side. I’d just have to see.