Fire Girl Part 1 by Alivia Anderson

cupboard. His clothes
were rumpled and it didn’t look like they’d been washed for a
while. He shrugged. “I don’t know.”
    “It’s over on the counter by the fridge.
That’s where I saw it last.” Grace’s voice was soft.
    I stood up.
    She didn’t smile.
    I acquired the soap and squirted some into
the sink. “Thanks.”
    Tommy pulled on my shirt. “I can tell you
where to put everything. I do that for your grandma sometimes.”
    I gave him a nudge with my hip and smiled at
him. I immersed my hands into the water. “Sounds good.”
    “I like it when your grandma comes.” He
looked thoughtful. “She makes really good dinners.”
    A proud warmth spread through my chest. I
thought about my dad and how he bragged that Grandma could feed any
amount of people at any moment. I opened their dishwasher and
started to load the bowls and cups and silverware into place.
“That’s like her superpower.”
    Tommy smiled. “Yeah.”
    I gave him a knowing smile.
    Tommy ran to the wall and pressed his body
into it. “Spiderman is my favorite. Do you know how strong spider
web is?”
    I shook my head. “Nope.”
    Tommy pointed at me in the air like a teacher
would do to explain something very detailed. “Different spider silk
is different levels of strength, but I read this article about how
the webbing could hold a person up to five-hundred pounds.”
    “Wow.” I put on my extremely interested face.
Cause it did seem interesting. “What grade are you in, Tommy?”
    “Second.” He moved back to me. “What’s your
superpower?”
    I had to think about it. “Don’t have
one.”
    Tommy tapped the side of his face.
“C’mon.”
    I took bubbles and perched them on his nose.
“You’re silly.”
    He threw back his head and giggled.
    I put more bubbles on his nose.
    Tommy stayed beside me. “Mrs. Cannon is my
teacher and she is really nice, but today she had this black thing
in her teeth and I didn’t want to tell her.”
    I bent over and found rubber gloves and a
scouring pad in the cupboard. “That’s probably good. Most people
don’t want their flaws noticed.”
    Tommy nodded. “Yeah.”
    There were several pans that looked like they
had been used a few days ago and food was caked on them. I took one
and filled it with water. I’d let them all soak while I scrubbed
the counters and swept. I avoided looking at Grace, even though I
could feel her staring at me.
    Grace cleared her throat. “Tommy, I don’t
think your teacher would have minded if you would have told her she
had something in her teeth. She might have appreciated you telling
her. It’s good to be honest, most people aren’t.”
    I moved the pan I had filled onto the counter
and started to fill another one.
    A knock sounded at the door and Tommy ran for
it.
    The door flew open.
    A small girl in a pink dress and piggy tales
ran through the door and straight to Grace.
    Grace cuddled her up and let out a light
laugh. She put her hand to the little girl’s head. “Hey Lisa, how
are you tonight? I’ve missed you.”
    Lisa kept her head against Grace’s hand. “Are
your fingers working better today?”
    My heart fluttered.
    Grace lifted her hand and wiggled her
fingers. “Right as rain.”
    Lisa beamed at Grace. “Mommy and I said a
prayer for you last night that your fingers would work today, and
they do.” Her voice held an awed tone.
    Grace squeezed Lisa into her. “Prayers always
work.”
    Lisa hugged Grace back and closed her eyes.
“I love you, Grace.”
    Grace blinked. “I love you, too.”
    Lisa turned to Tommy. “Can you swing?”
    Tommy shook his head. “I have to help clean
the kitchen.”
    I cleared my throat. “No, go ahead, Tommy. I
got this covered.”
    Tommy turned to Grace in question.
    She waved him out. “I’ll help her.”
    Lisa laughed and her piggy tales bounced as
she ran with Tommy out the door.
    I took a wash rag and started to wipe around
stacks of mail on the counter. “You think it’s smart to give