chapter 4

At age 10, Ebony was visiting a friend at an apartment several blocks away from home. The girl's name was Corvette. She was a cute African-American girl who wore a pink t-shirt and cut-off shorts. Her long black hair was in ringlets.

Ebony wore a grey hoodie with blue jeans.

Ebony remembered Corvette as a girl who always seemed to be very active. She wanted to be a gymnast, like the ones she saw on tv, but their school didn't have a gymnastic programme for girls and her parents couldn't afford to have her join a local club. At 10 years old, Corvette didn't understand that she was too old to join a gymnastic club eventhough she was more flexible than most girls in her age group and also in better condition than most girls at her school. That didn't stop her from doing gymnastic routines on any surface that could hold her weight.

"Ebony," Corvette moaned as she got tired of Ebony forecasting her future using playing cards. "I'm bored with having my fortune told! That's all you seem to do! You do it at school, at your home, at parties, and here."

"Well, my mom's a psychic, you know, Corvette," Ebony wondered what Corvette was on about. "Everyone keeps asking me to do their fortunes. So, I do."

"True," Corvette said as she stood up. "But, when you visit me at my house, you gotta play gymnastics with me."

"But, I can't do gymnastics like you can, Corvette," Ebony protested. "Besides, there's no room in your apartment for us to do gymnastics."

"We'll do it outside on the balcony," Corvette then explained. "My momma always lets me do gymnastics outside on our balcony...especially after I broke a table doing it in the apartment."

Corvette then led Ebony to the balcony which also doubled as a fire escape in case of emergency. While it was a little rickety, it was stable enough to hold people.

"So...now what?" Ebony asked.

Corvette then removed her shoes and socks and placed them at the entrance to the balcony. "First, we take off our shoes and socks," Corvette explained. "Gymnasts need the best grip on the floor or whatever they're balancing on. Bare feet are the best."

"Okay," Ebony nodded as she removed her shoes and socks and placed them beside Corvette's shoes and socks by the entrance to the balcony. "What's next?"

"First, let's play 'Follow Me'," Corvette explained. "I do something, and you have to do it, too. Okay?"

"Sure," Ebony nodded.

"Let's stand on our hands," Corvette announced as she did a perfect handstand in mere moments. "Like this!"

Then Corvette bent her body and she rolled over and stood back up flawlessly.

"Now, you try, Ebony," Corvette turned to Ebony.

"I don't think I can do that, Corvette," Ebony realized she never did anything like that before.

"It's not hard, try it!"

"Okay," Ebony replied as she tried to copy the handstand Corvette just did.

Unfortunately, Ebony's body wasn't used to doing a handstand and getting the balance to even attempt a handstand was nearly impossible without her falling back down on her feet or on her back.

"Here, I'll give you some help," Corvette replied. "Put your hands on the floor."

Ebony did what she asked.

"Now, stretch your body straight out," Corvette ordered.

Ebony did what she asked. Ebony felt a little embarrassed by what she was doing. "Now what?"

"Hold still and keep your hands on the floor," Corvette then bent over and grabbed Ebony by the ankles and began to lift her legs into the air.

"What are you doing?" Ebony felt unsteady as Corvette began to lift her legs into the air.

"I'm showing you how to do a headstand," Corvette explained. "Don't move too much or you'll lose your balance and fall over."

"But..."

&qu ot;And keep your hands on the floor!"

Slowly, Corvette lifted Ebony by the legs until Ebony was almost perfectly balanced on her hands on the floor with her feet in the air...even with Corvette holding her by the ankles.

"I-I'm doing it!" Ebony looked surprised that she was doing a handstand.

"Not quite," Corvette replied. "I'm going to let you go now. Then, you'll be doing a handstand."

"O-okay," Ebony nodded.

Corvette then let go...

...and for a few seconds Ebony was allowed to do the handstand on her own.

Then, mere moments later, Ebony's arms began to weaken and her balance began to get very wobbly.

"Whoa! Whoa!" Ebony could feel her body begin to fall backwards toward Corvette.

"Go limp, Ebony!" Corvette rushed to grab Ebony by the legs again. "I'll catch you!"

Unfortunately, Corvette caught one of Ebony's feet in the face first.

As Ebony fell over, Corvette lost balance as well.

Unfortunately, Corvette was near the edge of the balcony at the time.

Corvette flipped over side of the balcony, but barely managed to grab the edge with one of her hands.

"HELP!" Corvette yelled as she tried to regain her balance.

Ebony got up and ran to the edge and grabbed Corvette's free hand with both her own hands.

Corvette struggled to get back on the railing, but couldn't get the leverage to do so.

"I can't get back on the railing, Ebony!" Corvette screamed. "Don't let me go! If you do, I'll fall!"

"I won't!" Ebony yelled as she could feel Corvette's dead weight on her hands as her friend held on for dear life and hoped that Corvette's mom would hear the commotion and come to help.

I can't let her go, Ebony frantically thought to herself. I hope her mom comes to help us.

Unfortunately, there was no sign of Corvette's mom. Unknown to Ebony at the time, Corvette's mom had taken that opportunity to answer a call of nature.

Finally, Ebony could feel Corvette literally slipping through her fingers. Only one chance, Ebony thought to herself. I've got to use my powers, because I don't want Corvette to die. My mom would understand if I start outgrowing my clothes.

But, I never used my powers on something as big as Corvette before.

Still, Ebony concentrated as hard as she could on Corvette's dangling bare feet.

Ebony noticed that Corvette seemed to be getting lighter and seemed to be lifting slowly into the air. Corvette seemed to feel as if she was floating and immediately placed her feet on the ledge as she made a grab with her free hand on the top of the ledge.

Ebony then began to notice her belly beginning to swell noticeably under her clothes. She was gaining weight, but Corvette still wasn't safe yet. Ebony could feel her belt getting snug around her belly, but she didn't dare let go of Corvette to loosen it. Ebony secretly hoped her belt didn't pop off while she was trying to save Corvette, her mom did say she wanted this aspect of her powers to be kept secret from everyone else. Trying to explain this to Corvette would be hard enough

"I'm okay now," Corvette gasped in relief as she got back her balance. "I can climb back over the barrier."

"Okay," Ebony let go of Corvette's hand and turned off her power.

Corvette immediately climbed back over the barrier. "Thanks, Ebony," Corvette hugged Ebony tightly. "I nearly fell off the balcony. If it wasn't for you, I'd been killed."

"No, it's my fault," Ebony replied as she covered her belly and loosened her belt enough that it wasn't so noticeable to Corvette. "I knocked you over the barrier by accident. I didn't mean to do it."

"It was an accident, but don't tell my mom it happened," Corvette cautioned. "She'll get upset and ban me from doing gymnastics on the balcony. There's no place else I can do it around here. My mom doesn't want me to do them on the roof because of some of people who do things on the roof."

"Yeah," Ebony smiled weakly.

"It's strange," Corvette wondered. "Shortly after you grabbed me, I felt as if my feet were floating in the air."

"You were really heavy," Ebony replied. "Maybe I'm a lot stronger than I look."

"Maybe," Corvette smiled. "But, you need to improve your balance."

"Luckily, the clothes I was wearing were baggy," Ebony remembered. "She didn't really notice my weight gain. And if Corvette did, she didn't say."

"So, your powers are strong enough to lift people?" Judy asked.

"Depends on the weight of the person," Ebony explained. "I was able to lift Corvette because she was lighter than me. But, I have lifted people bigger and heavier than me. Not very high or for very long, mind you. It's nothing I want to boast about because the longer I lift a person, the fatter I get."

"So, I guess you won't be lifting me, then," Judy quipped.

"Just lifting that pen made me put on weight," Ebony patted her belly. "This sweat suit's getting too small for my growing bod. Besides, my personal trainer would tear a strip off of me if I gain back all the weight I lost just before I went on tour. She wants me to get below 200 pounds before it starts."

"Understood!"
< br> "But, for the most part I stayed reasonably slim when I was teenager," Ebony continued. "Again, it wasn't easy. Especially, when everyone was asking me to do their fortune at school."

"How about your mom?" Judy then asked. "What was she like?"