Super powered

Echoes

New York - 1950's

The door to the suite of the midtown hotel opened and the bellhop ushered an older, heavyset man into the room. There was a strange calm about him as he just smiled and handed the bellhop a twenty.

"If there's anything else, Mr. Brown, just ask," the bellhop said.

"A bottle of your finest would do nicely," Hecky Brown replied. He peeled off another twenty and held it out to the bellhop with a wink. When the younger man reached for it, the man flicked it away from his grasp with a smile.

"When you bring it back," Hecky said.

"I'll have it here right away, sir."

Hecky nodded and turned away as the bellhop left. Once the younger man was gone, Hecky took a deep breath and looked around him. It had been too long since he'd been in a room like this. It seemed like only yesterday he'd been one of the top comedians in the business and one of the stars of a hit show on the rapidly growing new medium of television. Life had been so sweet. All those years of struggles and hardships had finally paid off.

There was a knock on the door. Hecky went over and opened it. The bellhop was back and he pushed in a cart. A bottle of champagne sat wrapped in a bucket along with two glasses. Hecky smiled at the sight.

"I got it here as fast as I could, Mr. Brown."

"Well done, young man, well done."

Hecky fished out the twenty and added another to it. He slipped them into the breast pocket of the bellhop.

"Thank you, Mr. Brown and if there's anything else you need," the bellhop offered.

"No, this will be it," Hecky replied.

"Well, if you change your mind, just call," The bellhop said. "Have a pleasant stay."

"Thank you."

The bellhop smiled again and left the room. Hecky loosened his tie and opened the top two buttons on his shirt. He slowly moved over and opened the window. There was a light rain falling and he could hear the sound of the traffic far below. Hecky gazed out at all the bright lights of Broadway. His name used to be up there with the greats, but no more.

Turning away from the window he smiled as he saw the champagne bottle waiting. Where are my manners, I shouldn't keep you waiting, Hecky chuckled to himself. He rolled the bottle back and forth in the ice, savoring the anticipation for a few moments. With a flourish, he popped the cork and poured himself a glass. Closing his eyes, he tasted the bubbly and smiled. This is how it should be, he thought.

A second glass followed the first rather quickly. He knew no one would disturb him; they'd all stopped calling long ago. They wouldn't even take his calls anymore. He was on the list. Once you're on the list, all those friends you'd made and helped over the years seem to vanish.

The tragic irony of it wasn't lost on Hecky that all this nonsense was over the fact he marched in a parade so he could hit on a sexy girl with a great body. What was her name? Margaret? Muriel? She had been a fun weekend that was for sure, Hecky remembered. What a body and those cans, fantastic.

When his producer told him to go to their office, Hecky hadn't even realized that was what it was all about. As soon as Hecky sat down the man started right in with the accusations, in a cold, matter of fact way. He'd tried to tell him about the sexy girl, but the man Hennessey just sat there with disgusted look on his thin mustached face. The very thought that Hecky Brown was a radical and a communist was silly. He was a borsch belt comedian, that told mother in law jokes. He wasn't political by any stretch of the imagination. He voted for Eisenhower, for God sake, Hecky told him.