How many secrets do people keep from their kids? Santa Clause. Easter Bunny. Tooth Fairy. Think about it. Most parents don't even tell them the truth eventually. They find out from their friends, or worse: they catch their parents in the act of lying. Wrapping presents. Drinking Santa's milk. Placing the dollar under the pillow.
But I never expected this.
My name is Tommy Queen. I am twelve years old, going on thirteen. I live in Starling City. My mom's the CEO at Smoak-Queen Consolidated. My Dad? Well, I just found out that he's the Green Arrow.
First, some background. Two years ago I went for a drive with my dad. I forgot where we were going, but that doesn't matter. What matters is where I ended up. Out of nowhere, a car came and T-boned us. My dad was fine, but I wasn't.
I wasn't awake much for a while after that, but the first time, my parents were there. And when you're ten, and you see your parents crying, your dad crying, it changes you.
Here's the thing: my spine was damaged, badly. They weren't sure if I was going to make it, but Mom was determined. She had me transferred to Central City, where I got injected with Uncle Ray's nanobots. Apparently it was the same stuff that saved Starling from the Alpha-Omega virus. They saved my life, too, but not my legs. I still go every few months to try to get feeling back into them, but we've had no luck yet.
That didn't tip me off right away, though, surprisingly. I should have figured it out a long time ago. Sometimes my dad missed my basketball games for no reason, before the accident. Or he'd have to take off during dinner, or the middle of the day, or in the middle of the night. Now that I think of it, he's run off for no reason a LOT, and as long as I can remember, he's had to call Aunt Thea or my Babysitter, Sarah. And now that I think of it, every time that happens, the vigilante appears on TV.
And sometimes, when Mom comes home, she goes into the computer room and locks the door. She'll be in there for hours on end, and won't let me come in. I've assumed she's just doing CEO stuff, until today: Dad got a call and ran off during dinner, and Mom locked herself in at the same time. Eating dinner alone, I was finally suspicious.
It's hard to evesdrop in a wheelchair. You can't exactly put your ear against the door without knocking yourself over, and everyone knows the glass doesn't work. So I got out of the wheelchair.
Well, my mom's a hacker. It was kind of fuzzy but I'm pretty sure she hacked into the city cameras to spot some guy named Malcom Merlyn. Wait. Aren't I named after a Tommy Merlyn?
Then I heard it.
"Hello Oliver. Or should I say, Green Arrow."
"Why are you here? I thought we had a deal." That was definitely Dad's voice.
"What, you mean the truce not to cause problems in Starling City? Well, I'm not causing any problems. Hello, Felicity, I know you're on the other end."
"Shut up, Malcom," Mom snapped sourly.
"How's your son? He's what, three, four, now?"
"He's twelve, and that's none of your business."
Wow, go mom.
"I would think you'd show more respect to the father of the man you named him after. Well, I'm sorry I can't chat with you, but I need to speak with Oliver. Alone."
"Wait-!" The static from the call turned off abruptly. She pounded on the desk, and then it was quiet.
Oh no. She was coming through the door. I had to get back into that wheel chair. I scooted over, dragging my useless legs along with me, and tried to lift myself back into it. I promise, I was SO CLOSE, when the chair shot backwards from under me and the footrest nailed me in the head.
"Ouch!"
And this is when Mom decides to slam the door open, agitated. She turns to me, and stops, the expression wiping off her face. "Thomas." I don't like when she uses my actual first name. When I'm in trouble, it's Thomas Robert Queen, but when it's just Thomas it means she's worried. "How much of that did you hear?"
I rubbed my scalp and sat up slowly. "Enough."
"Oh." She stopped a second, looking towards the front door, then back at me. With nothing else to say, she said, "Frack."
Frack is right.