“It is the foundation of this argument to declare, once and for all, in stone so deep that only God’s holy light may pass through that All Men Are Created Equal under the law and that Even One Drop Of Human Blood is enough to fully entitle one to the rights of humanity. No matter how difficult the preservation of those rights is.”

-Attorney General Joseph Jackson in Hamilton v. Georgia

First Degree Love

The sky over West Progress High’s field yard was cloudless. The sun shined down on Brick as he gazed into the sun, shielding his eyes with his massive hand. Summer still had its hold, but the breeze kept the heat away. It sure was a nice day. Brick hoped that tomorrow would be nice. His mama wanted to go shopping, and the bags were easier to carry when it was nice like this.

“Ready or not! Here it comes!” Adrian yelled out across the field and then started running at Brick. He was going very fast and it looked like his fist was glowing. He leaped into the air screaming out, “Hell Hammer Punch!”

He threw his fist into Brick’s shoulder. A direct hit. The blow sent a shock wave out blowing dust up with a powerful boom that the whole field could hear. Everyone watched as Brick stumbled and was knocked an entire step back.

“Hee, that was really good Adrian,” Brick said with sincerity.

“What! That was my strongest punch!” Adrian was in disbelief.

“It felt like it too,” Brick said.

“Shut up! You should be crying uncle right now!” Adrian yelled.

“Face it, man.” Their friend Kevin called out from where some of their other friends were watching, “Brick is the toughest in class. You’re wasting your time.”

“Shut up! Tough doesn’t mean strong. No beats me at bloody uncle!” Adrian yelled back.

“Speaking of, Brick it’s your turn!” Samantha yelled out.

“Oh yeah!” Brick pulled his massive arm back and before Adrian could protest decked him in the shoulder. Adrian was sent flying back all the way to the school building wall. The crashing wasn’t as loud as the bang Adrian’s punch made, but the cheers definitely were. Adrian collapsed to the ground and didn’t move.

“Yo A, you okay?” Kevin jogged over to his friend and looked him over, “Already. It’s over. I’m calling uncle for him.”

The crowd moaned in disapproval, but Kevin didn’t listen as he told off Adrian and started helping him to the infirmary. Samantha bounced over to Brick, “Wow! You really are the strongest!”

“Oh no.” Brick blushed, “There’s a lot stronger than me.”

“Indeed. There are beings capable of leveling mountain ranges,” York explained as he waddled over, “However, within Class J and possibly the entire school you have the highest yield of force.”

Brick scratched his head thinking.

“He means you’re the strongest here, and that’s what matters,” Amanda said.

“Just remember that raw strength does mean much in combat.” Jerry said strolling up, “If you two were to have a real fight it wouldn’t be so clean cut.”

“Giving Adrian quite a lot of credit, aren’t you?” Amanda asked.

“Not at all. Adrian wasn’t able to take Brick’s punches, but he also didn’t try to dodge any.” Jerry explained, “Brick is strong, but he’s not quick. Almost anyone would be able to wear him out.”

“Jerry!” Alice yelled, “Brick is right here. Don’t talk like he isn’t.”

Jerry sighed, “Sorry. That was rude. Brick, you do understand what I’m saying. Right?”

“Umm,” Brick scratched his head thinking, “It don’t matter if I hit hard if I don’t hit. Right?”

“Yes. Which is why we need to be practicing. At least eight hours weekly.” Jerry said.

“I have extra classes literally every day,” Abraham said lifting one of his bony fingers.

“There’s the weekend.”

“I go to church.”

“That still leaves Saturday. Plus, we don’t have to train all together every time.” Jerry said. “I’ll see you tomorrow team.”

Jerry continued his way around the school and disappeared from sight.

“I don’t get Jerry,” Alice said.

“What’s there’s to get.” Abraham offered, “The guy wants to help his friends improve while still being a mysterious jerk.”

“But he always acts likes so… so…” Alice tried to think of the word.

“Knowing more than the rest?” York tried, “It’s perfectly understandable given his unique gift. That being precognition to an efficient degree.”

“Precognition?” Brick questioned.

“He can see the future.” York simplified.

“He probably has foreseen the ends of fights before they happen,” Abraham said as he started flipping through an old leather book. “Runesir challenged me to a wizard duel last week and Jerry hinted that Runesir would have beaten me. So I turned it down.”

“How is that even possible? If the fight didn’t happen then how did he know you would have lost? It didn’t happen.” Alice asked.

“Sweet Mercy Alice!” Amanda leaned against Brick, “Don’t ask questions like that unless you’re ready for a six-hour lecture from York.”

“I’ll have you know I’ve managed to condense my explanation of temporal echo disruption down to five hours,” York said.

“Oh so much better,” Amanda said

“Guys! You can’t honestly be okay with just accepting that kind of treatment!” Alice tried to reason with her team.

“Why not?” Samantha asked, “He’s not being hurtful. Annoying, yes. A jerk, also yes. But he’s looking out for us. Remember last Friday?”

“That was fun.” Brick said thinking about the dodge ball games they played. “We almost won.”

“Because Jerry knew exactly how to play,” Samantha said. “He knew our strengths and weaknesses before we started.”

“I think that might be the issue Alice has,” York said.

“No, it’s not. It’s just… Forget it. I’m going home. See you tomorrow.” Alice walked away.

“Wait, Alice!” Samantha called, “We didn’t mean to-”

“Forget it, Sam. Alice is going through something.” Amanda said, “She just needs time. Let’s start planning for tomorrow. I’m free all afternoon.”

“I’m not,” Abraham said.

“Yes, we remember. What about you Brick?” Amanda asked.

“What? What about me?” Brick had lost track of the conversation. Amanda asked again and Brick shook his head, “Oh no. I got to go with Mama to the store tomorrow. Actually, I need to get home soon. Mama don’t know about extra training.”

“Alright then. We’ll make do without you.” Amanda said.

“Oh! I want to meet your Mom!” Samantha jumped, “We live in the same direction. Can I come meet her?”

“Sure. She said she wanted to meet my friends.” Brick said and two of them started their way.

“Fine then. It’s us three left.” Amanda said.

“Actually I need to be going. I have an extra class soon.” York said as he waddled back to the school leaving Amanda and Abraham alone.

“I have no excuse or reason to leave.” Abraham explained before turning and walking away, “Later.”

“Wow. And you called Jerry a jerk?” Amanda crossed her arms. She then smirked and laughed to herself, “Luck for me I didn’t want to stay either. Lucky lucky me.”

She skipped her way across the field to leave the school.

All of Team Three of Class J of Year Nine had left the field yard in different directions except for Brick and Samantha who paced across sidewalks to the dense suburban area of the outer city limits. Samantha’s giddy pace was enough to keep up with the quick pace of Brick’s naturally long stride. The boy towered over everyone in the class, and over the teachers as well. His frame was broader than the most trained athletes with muscles to match. His footsteps naturally shook the ground under them causing a booming effect with each step.

“I can’t believe I’m about to meet your mother?” Samantha said.

“Why not?” Brick asked, “We’re going where she is. When we get there, we’ll see her, and then we’ll talk to her.”

“I mean I’m excited. I bet your mom is super cool.”

“I think she is,” Brick said. “Is your mama cool?”

“Oh yeah. My parents are amazing. You should come meet them!”

“Okay, but first I need to tell Mama.”

“What about your dad?”

“Papa don’t live with us.”

“Oh. Does he visit you?”

“No. We have to visit him. He’s too big to travel.”

“Too big? How big is he?”

“Really big. Bigger than the whole city.”

“Bigger than the city? Who is your dad?”

“My dad is Atlas.”

“Atlas!” Samantha gasped, “The guy who holds the sky?”

“Yep. That’s my dad.” He confirmed as they turned into Brick’s home.

In front of the house a woman was checking the mail and saw the pairing. She waved at them. Samantha shouted, “You’re married to Atlas!?”

The woman hid her face in the mail, “Oh Sweet Mercy.”

Brick’s mom invited Samantha in and they sat at the dining room table. They ate oatmeal cookies that were as large as saucers. Still tiny in the hands of Brick.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“I’m Sarah Butler, Benjamin’s mom, but you already knew that.” Sarah introduced herself.

“Oh, your name is Benjamin?” Samantha looked at the large boy.

“Yes, darling. I promise you, I did not name my son Brick.” Sarah smiled, “In fact, did you know that Benjamin was underweight when he was born?”

“Really?” Samantha nibbled on another cookie.

“Yes, the doctors were worried about his weight. At least until he started feeding.”

“Mama. Don’t embarr- embarr- Don’t make fun of me.” Brick said to his mother.

“Don’t be lazy with your head Benjamin. Embarrass.” Ms Butler scolded her son.

“Em- Embarrass me,” Brick said with effort. “Sorry Mama.”

“What does ‘lazy with his head’ mean?” Samantha asked innocently.

“A lot of people think he isn’t smart, or that he has a learning disability.” Sarah explained, “He doesn’t. He’s incredibly intelligence in fact. It’s just for him, because of his demitype, using his mind takes a lot of effort.”

“I gotta think twice as hard to be half as smart.” Brick said as he ate another cookie causing his mother to scowl. Before she could say something Samantha spoke up.

“Brick! That’s a terrible thing to say. You’re plenty smart.” Samantha had tears in her eyes.

“I know that because I have a secret.” Brick tapped his temple, “I can think twenty times harder than other people. When I want to.” Another cookie was crushed under his teeth with a satisfying crunch.

“Yeah! That’s Brick for you!” Samantha jumped in the air, “Nothing can keep him down!”

“Nothing except Daddy,” Brick said.

“Oh yeah. Your dad. Atlas. How did that happen?” Samantha leaned over the table at Sarah.

“Well, I was part of a research program commissioned by the Department of Demi-Humans in North Africa. We were digging for old ruins that were rumored to be the area. I went into a mountain cave and went too deep for my own good. When I came out I was near the summit of the mountain, and there was Atlas. Bigger than anything I ever saw. He told me to leave, and I begged for my life.”

“Begged for your life?” Samantha gasped. “Was he going to kill you?”

“I don’t think so, but I kinda panic. He was obviously a god of some kind. It would have been easy, but he didn’t. Instead, he offered to help me down. After I finished groveling. In the dirt.” Sarah laughed at the embarrassing memory, “When I came to my senses my researcher’s instinct kicked in and I started asking all kinds of questions. Eventually, he told me he was often alone up there and I offered to visit him. He rejected the offer at first saying it was an insult to him to just show up for a chat.”

“No! How could he? Didn’t he see how amazing you were?” Samantha said around the cookie she was biting on with anticipation.

“I guess not, but I had a clever idea. It took a while to figure out the way to and from, but I started going back under the guise of a worshiper. Random researchers couldn’t come and go, but acolytes bringing offerings was a different story. I would show up with gifts of all kinds of stuff. Food, snacks, booze, toys, games, books, art, jewels, even gold and silver. Anything I could think of. Just to visit and talk. I asked questions about the lands and the history of them as well as about the people who lived in it. Of course, it eventually started turning to questions about him. He had a lot of history. Before long I started to notice that he was growing smaller and smaller with each visit.”

“How? Doesn’t have to hold up the sky?” Samantha cut in.

“Oh no. That was the old way. They created these powerful pillars centuries ago. Now he guards those. Of course, he’s never allowed to leave. Ever. For any reason.”

“Not ever to use the bathroom?” Samantha asked causing Sarah to burst out laughing.

“I never asked about that, but he told me he can’t take one step off the mountain, so I guess not. I was often the only person to visit. The others never seem to be able to follow me through the caves. We stopped trying after we lost one of our research team. That caused problems.”

“Oh no! Problems.” Samantha’s jaw quivered until the cookie snapped. She chewed it as Sarah continued.

“We had to report the disappearance. We were all from NA five countries, and they filed a complaint through the UN. This caused the news to get to Olympus, and on one of my visits Zeus showed up.”

“Zeus! The Zeus! He showed up!” Samantha shouted in surprise.

“Yep. We were just talking about something and then boom. Zeus. Lightening sparking around him. By this time Atlas was the size of a very large man, but he was still small enough for Zeus to tower over him. They argued in some language I didn’t know, and it got bad. Zeus ordered that I leave and never returned. Atlas was about to fight him then and there. He even grew in size to match him, but I stopped it and left without protest.”

“No!” Samantha started crying, “It’s not fair! It’s not fair! You were in love, or falling in love at least! It just isn’t fair!”

“Sweetheart, the story isn’t over, and it ends on a happy note.”

“It does?”

“Of course. How you do think my little Benjamin got here?”

“Huh?” Brick said confused before looking around and under his chair, “Is there another Benjamin?”

“She’s talking about you!” Samantha stood on the chair and hugged her friend, “You still need to enter the story.”

“But,” Brick scratched his head with force, “I’m not little.”

“You were once. So little you scared me. But that’s still a while away. At this point I was heartbroken. After Zeus’s order, the team started to pack it up. We had collected a lot of data and there wasn’t much reason to stay now that Atlas was cut off from us. But I didn’t want to leave. I couldn’t stand just up and going, so I sat around in bars and drank. At first lightly, but before long I was blacking out and waking with hangovers from hell. I was not in a good spot. That’s when he showed up.”

“Atlas! He came down the mountain just for you!” Samantha guessed passionately.

“Nope, even better. A man by the name of Benjamin North. He joined me for a drink one night and started to tell me his own story. He was a child of a fairy and a nun and was unwanted by both halves of his family. He told me he was an evil and angry man who wanted to cause as much pain and suffering to those in power as possible. A task that was impossible through force alone, which was why he dedicated his life to international and inter-reality law, and he had heard about my situation. We started a court case with the UN against Olympus. It was a long and difficult fight, but the final verdict was that Zeus had no right to banish me because I was one of Atlas’s acolytes and thus couldn’t be banished by a Level Seven or higher being directly. Only someone to whom Atlas had allocated that authority to could ban me from his temple. Of course, the grand finale was when Zeus tried to have a default judgment called on Atlas.”

Samantha’s sparkling eyes dulled in confusion, “What does that mean?”

“Default judgment is given when you don’t show up to court to defend yourself, even if you have proxies, you still have to show up in court.”

“Oh.” Samantha thought for a moment before shouting, “But Atlas wasn’t allowed to leave the mountain. That Bastard!”

“Yep, he thought he had us, but we were two steps ahead of him. North went in front of the judge and everyone and agreed with Zeus. That if Atlas did not show up he was denying Zeus the right of satisfaction in court that he was demanding. He asked Zeus to confirm it. Which he did, and fully. Then he turned to the gallery where many important and powerful people and beings were watching and asked them. The room was split between us. His side cheered, and ours booed. But that was all a part of the plan. Zeus’s half was full and had all of the other twelve Olympians agreeing. And then, and I remember the look on everyone’s face, North turned to our half where Hades had sat, the first he ever showed in the two years we had fought in court. Literally a hundred sessions and this was the only one he showed to. North turned and asked ‘And do you also agree with this demand?’ and Hades smiled as he said yes.”

“I…” Samantha furrowed her brow and tilted her head, “I don’t understand. At all.”

“Atlas was not allowed to leave on the orders of the original six Olympians. Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia, and of course Hades. All of whom had essentially summoned Atlas through agreeing with Zeus’s demand for satisfaction.”

A moment passed as Samantha thought and a spark of glee shined in her eye.

“Booyah!” Samantha leaped up in the air and punched her fist in celebration, “Take that Zeus! You heartless heartbreaker!”

“My thought exactly. Zeus tried to reverse the motion, but it was too late. Even if Atlas hadn’t shown up that moment his case was dead. Atlas ripping off the roof of the courthouse was just the final show. North made his final argument and the judge ruled in our favor. Boom.” Sarah lightly pounded her fist on the table, “Case closed.”

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Samantha leaped up and down and then came to a stop, “Wait. What about Brick?”

“Well, that very night Atlas carried me across the land back to his mountaintop and became the size of a man. Still big, but only enough. Nine months later I’m naming my first son after the man who made his birth possible.”

“Yayyy!” Samantha cheered, “Brick was born! Hooray!”

“Yep. I told you it was a happy ending. We try to visit at least once a year. On Benjamin’s birthday if possible.”

“Oh! Oh! Can I come?” Samantha waved her hand like in class, “Oh! And the rest of the team too. They would love to meet Brick’s dad!”

“Maybe. Benjamin’s birthday is in the spring, so it’s going to be awhile.”

“Aww man.” Samantha deflated onto the table, “But his dad sounds so cool.”

“Well, I agree with you there.” Sarah laughed, “He tries to do what he can for us, and he’s always so proud of Benjamin. Well, it’s getting late. I’m sure your mother will be worried about you soon Samantha.”

“Oh she’s always worried about me, but not about staying out.” Samantha grinned and made her way out, “See you tomorrow Brick. Thank you for the cookie Ms Butler”

Like that, she was gone. Skipping her way home. Sarah Butler sighed with a smile and looked at her son, “Well she’s nice.”

“Most of my team is. Except Jerry. Jerry’s a jerk, but he’s still good.” Brick said.

“I’m so glad you’re making friends. Is there anyone who caught your fancy?” Sarah asked.

“My fancy what?” Brick asked, “We don’t buy the expen- expen- the not cheap stuff.”

“Benjamin.”

“Sorry. The ex-pen-sive stuff, mama.”

“I’m not talking about stuff. I’m talking about a feeling. Is there anyone you really like?”

“Yeah. My team. Even Jerry. I like them all a lot.”

“No, I mean you do like anyone as other than a friend?”

“Oh! Yeah! There’s Adrian and Kevin and Semy. Also Vlad, but he doesn’t like fighting. Even so, they’re really fun to fight. Today, me and Adrian played-”

“Sweetheart, that’s nice and I’m glad you’re also finding rivals, but I’m asking if there anyone that you, you know, like like?”

“Oh.” Brick thought for a moment before he blushed, “Oh! You mean like you and Dad.”

“It’s fine if you don’t Benjamin. I just wanted to ask.”

“Well, there is one girl. She’s really pretty and really strong.”

“Have you talked to her?”

Brick shook his head.

“Why not?”

“She don’t want to. She don’t like talking.”

“Well, hopefully, you’ll get the chance. Maybe during a fight.” Sarah stood up

“I don’t know.” Brick also stood taking the dinner plate made small in his hand. “She might not like fighting me.”

“We can hope,” Sarah said. “Now let’s start on dinner. We’re going shopping tomorrow so we can use the rest of the potatoes for mashed potatoes.”

“Awesome. I’ll start peeling.” Brick went to the corner and lifted a twenty-pound bag of potatoes that was only half full. Setting it on the corner he pulled open a drawer for a knife and started to peel. The spud was like an egg in his hand, and yet with the precision of a scalpel he glided the blade over it into a spiral as he turned his fingers. In seconds Brick set the potato to the side with the one cut skin to the other side. He started on the next one with the same grace.

Later that night, after dinner was completely gone and the evening TV shows ended Brick went up to his room and readied bed. He laid down and thought about the story his mother had told. About her and his dad Atlas.

“Goodnight Benjamin,” Sarah said as she was closing the door.

“Mama.” Brick called out, “You and Dad made a lot of people mad. Do they hate me? Because I’m… me?”

Sarah looked at her son. What was supposed to say to that? How was she supposed to explain that since his birth he’s been in the sights of many powerful beings? Could she really tell him that he already had a bounty on his head? She couldn’t, “No son. Of course not.”

Sarah closed the door leaving her son in the dark. He was tired from the day, and tomorrow was coming. So he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

Morning came and Brick rose from his bed. The air smelling of breakfast, he dressed and made his way down to see a stack of extra-large pancakes. He downed them and washed his face before hugging his mom farewell.

He made his way to school. The courtyard was still full of other students. He looked around for his teammates and the rest of his class. Kevin and York were talking about something by the school building. Elsewhere he saw Runesir reading a book. It was probably some magic book with weird symbols and cool pictures. Then he saw Gwen. She was sitting under a tree reading a book. Brick was about to scan the crowd again when he saw motion in the tree. A weird lizard-like person climbed down the tree truck. They wore a school uniform with a skirt, so they must have been a girl who went to the school. She went near the bottom where Gwen was. Gwen didn’t see the lizard girl who snapped down and grabbed her bag. The lizard tossed it into the courtyard where a blonde-haired girl caught it.

“Hey! That’s mine!” Gwen stood up and ran to the girl.

“As if.” She tossed it back to the lizard, “Fairies don’t own things. They just steal from others.”

“No, we don’t.” Gwen protested as the lizard tossed the bag to a third girl who out-sized the other two. “And I’m not a fairy.”

“Half-fairy, whole-fairy, fairy is fairy.” The lizard girl caught and threw the bag again.

Between the three of them, all taller than Gwen, they threw the bag back and forth. Brick didn’t like that. Fights were fun to watch, but they were just bullying Gwen. Brick started heading towards the girls, but before he could make it a blur zipped into the fray and caught the bag in midair. The blur was Semy who handed the bag back to Gwen. “Here Gwen. This is yours I think.”

Gwen took the bag with thanks. The blonde huffed, “Really? You’re helping a fairy. You know she’ll just trick and steal from you.”

“I don’t believe that.” Semy said, “And if she does then that for the law handle. Not little punks like you.”

“Excuse you! Do you know who you’re talking to?” The blond girl struck a pose.

“Please tell. In full actually.” The narrow frame of Abraham came up from behind her, “You know what power names have. Being a magic user and all.”

The blond girl was caught off guard by the comment. She was focusing on him which meant she didn’t see Vlad move down the same tree that Gwen sat at and placed one of his own lizard-like hands on the much smaller lizard-like girl, “Yeah, and you should know the importance of staying alert.”

“Shut the hell up!” The large girl shouted, “We’re not scared of you.”

“Well then someone really should teach you,” The voice of Adrian came from behind her causing her to turn just in time to catch a sucker punch to the chin knocking her into the dirt, “To not mess with Class J.”

“You son-of-a-” The blond started before getting cut off by Semy.

“Careful with your words. He’s sensitive.” Semy chuckled.

“To hell with you. Come on girls.” The blond and lizard girl lifted the larger girl to her feet and they made their way to the school.

Brick had watched the whole scene. He was one of the tallest in school. As such the crowd parted as he made his to Gwen and the others.

“Thanks, Adrian.” Semy waved, “Didn’t know you cared.”

“About what?” Adrian asked, “I saw some heavy hitters and wanted to join. Speaking of, hey Brick.”

Brick had just made it over and was about to greet Abraham when Adrian called. He looked back, “Yeah?”

“You, me, bloody uncle rematch, after class.”

“Can’t.”

“Fuck not?” Adrian yelled.

“Gotta help my mama.”

“Oh. Alright then. But don’t think this is over.” Adrian tsked and walked away.

The rest of them were left behind. Semy and Vlad were checking on Gwen and Abraham turned to Brick. “Morning Brick. Ready for another day?”

“I always am,” Brick said with a smile.