Moe Harris
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Moe Harris
"It's surreal isn't it? Living in this world. Living as a comic book character, I mean." he said with the biggest smile I've seen on a person.
I let my face slip for just a second! In that second, his smile became a smirk.
'He knows!' my mind hissed.
'He knows….is he like me or….'
"Peter Parker….Spider-Man!"
'That confirms it. He knows.'
"I have no idea what you're talking about." I replied with politeness.
'Better play it safe.'
He has the jump on me now, fighting in your enemies backyard with limited knowledge was a rookie mistake. I was not a rookie!
"Bitten by a radioactive spider, gets his uncle killed by letting that guy get away. The guilt eats him alive, making him a life of crime fighting!" He was still maintaining a friendly smile.
'How much did he know?'
"You're making no sense! Thanks for the free coffee but I have to go now."
'but I'll be back soon. We'll have an in depth conversation then!'
"A Pizza delivery boy with a part time photography gig at the daily bugle all the while juggling school. Your personal life, a mess. Constantly being blamed for everything when all you want to do is help people!" he continued
I got up to leave.
"Son….Sit down…I didn't mean to scare you. I'm sorry if I came across with the wrong intentions. I was just messing with you!" he said with panic.
"Who said I was scared?" I said with a stony blank face.
I was hesitant to say anything.
'What if he knew some way to go back!....Do I even want to go back?"
The man looked earnest and I don't know if I should trust him but….He might have some important information. If worst comes to worst, there's just us here, I felt I could take on this geriatric old man.
I sat down, not breaking eye contact, watching his every movement.
'How many times today, did I get up to leave only to sit back on this chair again?'
"Are you a native or a transplant?"
"Umm….."
"Oh sorry…it's been a long time, I forgot you don't know. Were you born with memories or one random day you just….remembered your previous life?"
"Assuming that I even have any idea what you're talking about and not think that you're some crazy old man! The answer to your question would be....you first!"
I wanted to play it safe so I neither confirmed or denied instead deflected the question right back to him.
"Man you're really paranoid about this aren't you..like I said I'm not going to do anything!"
I waited for him to start talking.
He sighed,
'Okay…I'm a native. Which means that I grew up with my memories of a previous life since birth! Are you satisfied?"
I stared at him blankly.
'I wasn't alone here. There are people from my world here!'
I was kinda relieved that I wasn't the only one who could remember that world but this realization soon turned to terror.
'They know all about me…well not the other me but they knew about Peter Parker. They knew his origins, his deepest motivations and desires!'
In other words, Moe here knows the full extent of my powers and still chose to provoke me.
'He doesn't seem like it but he's either dangerous or suicidal, maybe even both. Better keep my distance for now!'
"Well I've told you about myself, how about you?"
"…"
"C'mon kid don't be so suspicious!"
"I guess I'm a transplant, I mean we're in New York for Christ sakes." I joked all of a sudden.
"What….?" Moe was confused by the sudden change in tone.
'I'm neither gonna accept or deny anything. I'll play this out naturally just in case I'm being recorded.'
This is a dangerous world…even more than my previous one. I can't simply outright admit to anyone out loud that I have superpowers. Superpowers that the government would be very eager to replicate.
"Damn….you're really a tough nut to crack aren't you! Fine you win, I'll answer any questions you have for me!"
'Why is he so accommodating…the entire thing seems too good to be true.'
"There's no point in having this conversation if you don't trust me. So I might as well earn yours before we talk anymore."
It was getting late…..but there is so much I want to ask.
"Okay first question, How many Native New Yorkers were there?"
"Presently? It's just me, the last one I knew died last year. She….was an extraordinary woman." He mellowed, they must have been really close.
"What is Spider-man, is he a comic book character? What do you know about him? As a matter of fact tell me everything you know about him!"
His face lit up with happiness,
"Spider-Man is the greatest comic book hero! Like his namesake he can climb walls, swing on webs and not to mention, a pretty 'Amazing' guy."
"Really? When was the last time you read him or watched him?"
"Watched him?"
'Huh…he seemed like he was a huge fan…. Oh wait he looks as old as Uncle Ben. Maybe they didn't have Spider-Man movies when he came here.'
"Yeah..watch him like in movies or cartoons!"
"Cartoons?"
'Just how old is this guy? I mean didn't they have an animated series in the 1960s or something.'
"Yeah like moving comics…you know what a cartoon is right?"
"Of course boy, I'm not stupid I know what a cartoon is!"
"Okay and?"
"I haven't watched a Spider-man cartoon, God I wished they made one in the old world!"
"What was the year when you…..left the old world?"
"1876!" He said happily,
.
.
.
.
My face contorted and all I could say was,
"Mate what the fuck are you talking about!"
"Hey language son….it's not good for a young man like you to swear!...."
He went on a huge lecture about the importance of using clean language.
'1876. I'm pretty Stan lee's dad wasn't in his dad's balls then. That makes no sense at all. Like none whatsoever......Unless'
"Who created Spider-man?" I asked with creeping dread.
He dropped his lecture and immediately answered,
"oh that's an easy one, it's Charlie Heston. Great writer but an even greater illustrator. Huge fan of his by the way."
I looked for any signs of a lie but I couldn't find one. He was telling the truth or he was a damn good liar.
'It makes sense, since I'm in one. I should have thought-'
"What do you think about Marvel or DC?"
"What's there to marvel about? Oh you mean how a comic book world is real. It sure is marvelous isn't it….."
'It isn't out of the realm of possibility, in fact if I lived here, it's more than likely it's real. It's actually the natural conclusion of my current living situation!'
"What do you think of Bruce Wayne? Clark Kent?"
"I don't have a single clue who they are." He said nonchalantly,
'The multiverse exists. Of course it exists, I'm in a comic book world. It would be mad for it not to exist in my previous world too.'
"History? How similar is this comic book world to your old one."
"It's very different. The first president in my previous world was George Clooney, not Washington. Isn't that the same for you….." his words trailed when he realized what I was getting at.
"No…but everyone I knew…all the people from the old world were from…." He said as the shock was settling in as he was losing words to describe the situation.
"But that…doesn't make a lick of sense. So you're saying you're from a different world. I mean your past self was from a different world."
"Ssh be quiet, someone will hear us? Calm down."
"Oh yeah, my bad." He rubbed his balding head.
"I'll ask you this once and only once; If you've been screwing with me all along then now is the time to come clean."
His face was dead serious. In fact he looked a bit offended that I asked him that.
*Sigh*
I cracked both sides of my neck.
'Here goes nothing!'
"You're right! I have memories of another world. They're damn near identical other than some few changes here and there. Superpowers are one of them!"
"Oh..okay!" He said uninterested.
I couldn't help but ask,
"Doesn't the existence of another universe surprise you? I mean from what you're telling every 'Native' person you met was from your world right? Am I not an anomaly to you? Why are you so nonchalant about this!!!"
He replied with a smirk,
"Son, I've lived for a long time, in both worlds! At my age very few things surprise me!!" He laughed out loud,
"It seems that you're not concerned with protecting yourself anymore eh…" He kept laughing.
All my senses were telling me to trust him.
"Well that was before you told me the first president of the USA was George Clooney! You know he's an actor right? even in this world!"
"Yeah imagine my shock when my youngest daughter took me to watch one of his cheesy movies!!" He laughed out loud again.
'This guy might be dangerous but…he was alright!'
"How many people were there? You know people from your world!"
"In the sixties there were twenty of us. Some of us met each-other through sheer coincidence. Some met through newspaper ads with secret references only people from our world would get!"
"So you found your people."
"Yes..for some time. Then disagreements came about and the group splintered. People grouped themselves in factions. The natural conclusion of any big group!"
"Do they all know about me, I mean the Spider-Man part!"
he scoffed,
"I was the weird one out, no one in that group cared for comics. I wouldn't worry too much about them."
I sighed a breath of relief.
"BUT don't rule out the possibility that you're the only one from your world!" He said, looking at me intensely.
'That was actually a good point, maybe I should consider changing my name to throw off strangers!'
"Young man, you worry too much. Take this lesson from an old man, don't live your life worrying about the future. Just take it one day at a time! Live a little..enjoy the time you have."
"Hmm...maybe!" I muttered
'Yeah he had Uncle Ben Vibes alright.' That brought me to the next question,
"You told me you knew Uncle Ben."
"I lied!" He said with a small wry smile.
'Good because my instincts told me something was up with that.'
If he had said he really did know my Uncle then I would have reason to doubt everything he said! That was the real test.
"You told me the last person from your world died a year ago-"
"My wife….Elaine."
"Oh…I'm….sorry..sir"
'I didn't mean to step on that landmine.'
"Nothing to be sorry about! In fact I'm sorry for you, you didn't have the opportunity to meet her, something tells me that she would have loved you! This whole thing was her idea, the cafe that is."
He smiled bitterly and his eyes started welling.
"There isn't a day that goes by that I… Well anyways that was in the past. Any other questions Young Peter Parker" he asked with weak smile
"Yes..two more actually. How did you figure out I wasn't from this world."
His mood lightened, he didn't want to talk about his dead wife.
"I didn't!"
"Oh."
"I just wanted to speak to my favorite comic book character in person! If you weren't bitten by the Spider yet or if you didn't have any memories, you would just assume I was a crazy person. If you were either of them then I could talk to you. In either scenario I would have a person to talk to daily! Either the young superhero or a compatriot from my old world"
"You like Peter from the comics that much!"
"More than you will ever know, Young Peter." He continued with a question,
"So do you have superpowers!"
I looked at him for a solid five seconds and then decided if he was a person I could trust.
'Maybe this decision will come to bite me in the ass one day but today I feel this is the right move.'
I gave a quick nod.
"So you really are Spider-Man..aren't you?"
"No, I'm Peter Parker! I don't plan to fight crime. I have to sort out my own life before I take up the role of saving everyone."
"Yeah...my wife would have loved you!" He said with glee.
'It felt good to have someone with whom you could openly talk about your deepest secrets.'
"So that's why you wanted to talk with me…because I'm like your favorite character."
"Pretty much."
"Hm..that's kinda funny I won't lie."
"You know you're the first fictional character to have memories from the other side. All the other people aren't the literal hero of their own story! You're lucky in a sense."
"You've met other comic characters?"
"More than I can count on one finger but that's for another time. Don't you think it's getting late! Didn't you have one more question?"
"Oh Yeah… I forgot. Do you know how to go back? I mean back to your world."
He took a huge breath and closed his eyes for a second and said,
"Yeah…I know the way back."
'Wait a minute..he actually knows how to go back? That's insane. I thought he was an ordinary civilian. I didn't actually expect him to say yes!"
"Do you want to go back!" he asked me,
The fact that I even had the opportunity to go back. This conversation was crazy! I didn't know what to say…
It was my turn to close my eyes and breathe.
For a few seconds there was nothing but darkness but then my Uncle's face appeared and then my Aunt's..then Harry's.
'What was I even thinking about..? The answer should be obvious.'
I smiled and replied to Moe,
"Nah..I'm good."
He looked at me with a deep smile and said,
"Yeah, I know what you mean!"
.
.
I looked at the watch and my heart nearly stopped. It was 8:45.
'Well like Moe said I'm gonna enjoy this moment and not worry too much about the future.'
"I'll be leaving if you don't mind. I need to digest all this new information."
"Digest away! oh and one more thing. All Uncommon get a flat twenty percent discount here. Since you're the only one I know who's alive anymore, I'll give you a thirty percent discount, kid."
"Uncommon? That must be what you call people with their previous memories, I'm guessing."
He confirmed with a nod,
"So what do you say kid? We can share stories from our different worlds."
I thought for a second and said,
"Sure thing Moe. I need to teach Harry some more math anyways!"
Right then Mary Jane came out from behind the counter no longer in her work uniform. She wore a brown jacket and was carrying her purse.
"Oh You're getting off this late? Peter be a gentleman and escort the lady to her house."
"Oh no Moe it's all right, I can-" she began to argue.
"What kind of man lets a woman walk out all alone in these ungodly hours. Peter here will walk you home! If my memory serves right, don't you guys live in the same neighborhood!"
"How did you know-" she began saying when Moe interrupted her
"Peter here told me all about you guys!"
She blushed.
'Was he trying to play Cupid here?'
Moe and MJ both looked at me for an answer!
"Yeah sure, I was leaving anyway! I'll walk you back."
"Attaboy!"
Moe nodded with appreciation, while MJ was twirling her hair.