Freak the Mighty

Finally Mrs. Donelli says, "You must be Kevin, is thtat right?"
Freak has this look, he's still acting really fierce, and he goes, "Sometimes, I am."
"Sometimes? What does that mean?"
"It means sometimes I'm more than Kevin."
"Oh," says Mrs. Domelli, and you can tell she has no idea what he's talking about, but she thinks it's important to let him talk. "So, Kevin," she says, "can you give us all an example?"
Next thing I know, Freak has his hands on my head and he's getting himself on my shoulders and he's tugging at me in a way that I know means "stand up," and so I do it, I stand right up in class and I can see Mrs. Donelli's eyes getting bigger and bigger.
I'm standing there with Freak high above me and it feels right, it makes me feel strong and smart.
"How's this for an example?" Freak is saying. "Sometimes we're nine feet tall, and strong enough to walk through walls. Sometimes we fight gangs. Sometimes we find treasure. Sometimes we slay dragons and drink from the Holy Grail!"
Mrs. Donelli is backing up to her desk and she says, "Oh, my, that's very intetesting, I'm sure, but could you both just sit down?"

Because later, when we're down by the pond and the first of the rockets is streaking up, up, up, Freak is making a fuss bacause he can't see. There are so many people crowded around, all he can see are feet and knees, and people are lifting their little kids up to see the fireworks explode like hot pink flowers in the sky, and so I just sort of reach down, without thinking and pick up Freak and set him on my shoulders.
He's kind of trembly up there until he grabs hold on my hair to steady himself, and then the first really big rocket whams off, a humongous thud! I can feel in my stomach, and Freak is shouting, "Awwww right!" and I know it's okay, he's not flipped out because I picked him up and put him on my shoulders like he was a little kid instead of possibly the smartest human being in the world.
"Magnesium!" he shouts as the white sparkles glitter down over the pond. "Potassium chlorate!" as the shells go womp-womp-womp and everybode goes ooooooooh. "Potassium nitrate! Sulphur! Aluminum!" And after a burst of hot red fire in the sky, Freak tugs my hair and screams, "Coper! That's copper powder combusting with oxygen!" And then when the fire blossoms are flashing blue he goes, "Good old strontium nitrate!" and I'm thinking whoa! is there anything this little dude doesn't know?