Chapter 8

Jose stopped communicating with Suit and looked down at Ralph with a questioning look.

Ralph asked, "Did you see the woman who dropped the vial into the well shimmer? She is a large green guy. She is with the Pure Water organization. We have to find out what their plans and time frames are. We should break into their offices tomorrow night and see what we can find."

Jose agreed and went off to call Isla. Ralph said, "I'm exhausted; I need to sleep before we do anything tomorrow."

Enez understood and told the children that señor Ralph was tired and wanted to sleep. Lizzy approached Ralph and hugged him and kissed him good night on the cheek. He hugged her back and said, "Good night." All the other children did the same thing and went off to bed.

Enez told Ralph, "They like you."

Ralph said, "Well, I like them too." Enez turned off the light and closed the door. Ralph fell asleep quickly with a smile from all the hugs the children gave him, thinking this would soon happen with his new son.

The following day, the laughter of the children woke him up. He transferred Suit on and got up. He called Pam, told her what had happened last night, how Jose and Enez were here, and helped him through the episode. He told her how progressive Jose and Enez were with their children and how they all knew about the Hero League. He told Pam about Lizzy being so sweet and asking lots of questions. Pam told Ralph that they had tracked down the Verde Grande Corporation, which looked like it was associated with the Other's organization. Ralph told her the plan for tonight was to break into Pure Water and see what they could find. As they hung up, they said, "I love you."

When he opened the bedroom door, Suit made Ralph stand with his fists on his hips and the cape floating out behind him to impress the children with a heroic stance. Ralph stood in the doorway, and all eyes were on him. He smiled at them and tried to pull the cape down. He said, "Suit is trying to impress you guys. Could you stop it? Put it down." The children all laughed.

Ralph asked where he could take a shower. Enez pointed him to the only bathroom in the house and ran off to get him clean towels. Ralph took a shower, shaved, and combed his hair back. He had Suit return his clothes to standard size and dressed in jeans and a T-shirt he had brought. Ralph had Suit reduce himself to ring mode, and the Hero ring appeared on his right pinky finger. When he came out of the bathroom, the children were playing outside.

Jose and Isla were there making plans for the break-in tonight. Ralph sat at the table and joined them as Enez put a large plate of food before him. He was famished and ate it all, praising Enez on how good a cook she was. Lizzy wanted to sit on Ralph's lap as they discussed the plans. He lifted her to his lap, and she leaned against his chest, closing her eyes.

Enez saw this and told Ralph, "You will be a perfect father." He thanked her.

When they made all their plans, Ralph said, "I want to thank you for putting up with me last night and taking care of me while I was incapacitated."

Enez asked, what is incapac…."

Ralph answered, "INCAPACITATED. It means not being able to take care of yourself. I'm sorry for using a big word. I forget English is not your first language."

Enez said, "Oh, that is okay. It is good to practice and learn new words. I am going to have all the children learn English next semester."

Ralph said, "And I will have Suit teach me Spanish. It is good to know more than one language. I will fly to San Miguel now and watch things there for the rest of the day. I'll be back in plenty of time for the break-in."

He set Lizzy down on the floor and stood up. He twisted the ring one-quarter turn counter-clockwise, and he was enveloped in a reddish light, and the suit appeared, and his street clothes disappeared. Enez gave him a bottle of water and a brown bag with a sandwich for lunch. He had Suit shrink them and place them in the pouch behind the cape. He went outside and told all the children he had to go to work and would see them later. Lizzy insisted on hugging him before he took off.

He flew to San Miguel, turned invisible, and floated above the village, following Maria with his eyes.