"Tag!" his son reached a skinny index finger out and touched his shoulder. "You're it!"
With a fresh bite of extra fluffy pancakes, Jamar's head snapped up. From the corner of his eye, he saw his husband Evan shaking his head vigorously from side to side. His silent warning sent his sleek two strand twists bouncing across his face and a wicked grin spread across Jamar's slim face.
"No!" Evan commanded. "No, no, no!"
Jamar sprang up from the table and reached for his son but—faster than lightning—his son zipped out of the front door. Erin, their oldest son, was the fastest child in the world. His powers manifested two years ago on his tenth birthday and Jamar could not have been prouder. He was not sure, after all, if his children would take after him and develop abilities like he did a few weeks before the event. Jamar had taken to moping around the house until that fateful morning when he called his son downstairs to breakfast. Erin had sped downstairs in a blur and downed six pancakes and two glasses of orange juice before either of his parents could wish him a happy birthday. Jamar's mood had changed instantly.
His husband, however, was not enthused. Evan was mortal. He would never understand what it was to be faster than light or move things with the mind like their daughter, Eboni. Still, he remained supportive of his family's abilities and the right to express them—just not as breakfast or on the most important day of the year, the first day of school.
"We're going to be late!" Evan warned.
"I'll be back in a second." Jamar winked.
The familiar warmth spread from the base of his skull and his body vibrated against the short, wooden table before darkness enveloped him. Jamar disappeared in the blink of an eye.
His power was teleportation. He could be anywhere in an instant and he had used his gift to guide his son through his powers with an epic game of tag; and it was a game that was still going. Jamar materialized two blocks away from their house. He stood behind a tree and watched as Erin sped around a school bus and down the street. Jamar squeezed himself into the darkness again and popped out in front of Erin in the middle of the street. He touched a finger to his forehead with a smile.
"Tag. You're it."
Jamar disappeared with a clear porcelain crack leaving behind only an echoing laugh. A second later, he appeared in the garage where his son whizzed by and smacked his cheek.
"You're it!" Erin's voice was a distant whisper.
Jamar smacked his lips and disappeared just as Evan opened the garage door with a warring Eboni fussing with her hair. He heard his husband shout something about setting a good example, but Jamar was already gone. He cracked onto the playground a moment later as Erin sped by. He reached out for him, but his son narrowly avoided his touch; and with another small crack, he was gone.
His son was fast, but he had a pattern, and Jamar knew his son's route better than he did. He always ran in the same wide arc around the neighborhood. He knew Erin would speed by the donut shop, grab a strawberry glazed, leave two bucks on the counter, and head home. So, Jamar headed him off.
He materialized on the side of the low, white building and listened for the electronic buzz that raced ahead of his supercharged son. Seconds later, the hair on his arms stood up. He waited for Erin to pay for his donut and snatched him with both arms as he rounded the corner.
This time, Jamar pulled his son into the ether with him and, together, they moved through time-space. Jamar cracked onto the surface of the Gulf of Mexico just long enough to set his son on the water. Erin, already vibrating, stood jogging in place on the murky surface.
"No fair." Erin called.
Jamar vanished with a wink before he was knee deep in the murky water. He materialized in his bedroom where Evan ran a brush through Eboni's soft, black hair. Their daughter sat neatly on a stool in front of Evan with a thick book open in her left hand. Her right lay palm up with a Rubik's cube levitating inches above her skin. She, absentmindedly, spun the cube while she focused on her book.
His husband did not look up at the familiar crack which sounded his entry, but Eboni smiled. He winked at her and moved into his closet for a fresh pair of socks.
"Where's my son?" Evan called.
"Present!" Erin whizzed by his sister blowing her hair across her head. "Sorry, Eb! You're it, Dad!"
Erin nabbed his dad's socks from his hand and patted him in the stomach before zipping down the stairs and out the door. Evan gave Jamar another stern look. Jamar only shrugged before he let the warm sensation take hold.
This was uncharted territory. Jamar had taken the game to a new height, but he was unsure where his son could be now. He cracked onto the roof of the house in time to see Erin zooming across the towering bridge into Westville and met him at the bottom. He did not leave the ether, instead he reached only a hand out and touched the crown of Erin's head just as he passed under the road sign announcing the Westville City Limits.
"Tag." he called.
Erin groaned. He reached for his dad as he disappeared. Jamar laughed as he popped out on the rooftop of a nearby gas station. He lay on his back, holding his sides, as the hair on his arms stood on end once more. Immediately, he let the darkness envelope him and his son flashed by without touching him. Jamar, then, had an idea. He emerged on the starting line of a racetrack with his back to a towering glass obelisk and waited.
"Good ole Indiana." Jamar mused.
The track was empty, and the crackle of electricity was crystal clear. Erin closed the distance with his hand outstretched, and Jamar simply stepped back into oblivion. In the blink of an eye, he was standing on The Golden Gate Bridge with his hands in his pockets.
He waited patiently for Erin to scale the swaying wires at the speed of light. The wind whipped around him, and the empty breeze was his only companion until the vibrating metal beneath his feet announced his son's arrival.
"You're out of bounds!" he screamed.
Jamar held up his hands and Erin tackled him over the railing. The two of them careened down toward the Golden Gate Strait laughing while a slow-moving ship moved underneath them. Jamar pulled them into time-space once more and cracked onto Liberty Island in the next breath.
"Race you home." Jamar smiled.
He barely set Erin down on the pavement before he zoomed across the Hudson River. Jamar waited a few minutes. He pulled out his phone and snapped a picture of himself with the Statue of Liberty in the background. He aimed his thumb at the monument and mashed the button on his phone. He examined it briefly before pulling it into a text thread. He typed his husband's name with his bottom lip between his teeth. Jamar pressed send and disappeared.
He cracked into the garage where Evan sat drumming his fingers on the steering wheel of their SUV. Eboni waved to him from the back seat as Evan's phone dinged. Jamar hopped into the passenger seat. He tucked his tongue between his teeth as Evan clicked on the picture of his smiling face. He laid a kiss on his husband's cheek and Evan smiled.
"Old man still got it." he smiled back.
"Tag, you're it."
Jamar's smile evaporated as Erin leaned forward and touched a finger to his cheek.