The Invisible Superman
“Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.” Ralph Ellison
There is a man who rides a bicycle on the old main roads of an island town. He's not really invisible because I've seen him and maybe you have as well. Perhaps while driving to work or the grocery store, you squeezed by him on Camp Road or Riverland Drive riding his meticulously adorned bicycle to and from various family members houses on James Island.
I had always wondered who this man was and why he decorated his bikes. The items are old toys and other discarded things affixed with wire that, while festive when seen driving by, upon closer inspection reveal what seem to be a rolling story board for children's books or movies.
6 years ago I was meeting my brother for the Cajun festival at the park when I passed the man on the bicycle going the opposite direction. Normally I would have kept going as I had seen him several times before and was sure that I would happen upon him again another day. But this particular day, my gut told me to turn the truck around and find this guy to talk to him and ask if I could take pictures of his bike. I wondered as I was making the u-turn if he would have disappeared like some apparition or loch ness monster sighting. Behold my good fortune he was on a corner and in a place where I could approach him. I cheerfully said hello and that I admired his bicycle and wondered if I could photograph it. As he eyed me with a bit of suspicion you could see him thinking about his decision after a short pause in a bit of an island geechee accent, he said,
"Ten dollars."
"Okay," I replied smiling, "It's a deal."
"I'll show you my other bikes too."
I introduced myself and asked him his name which sent him scrambling for something in his pocket. He hastily pulled out his ID card and showed me and asked, "What's dat say right there? I read his first, middle, and last name aloud, Edward Pinckney Champagne and he burst with pride and a smile and said, "Dat's me!". As we walked down the dirt road to his home, a cinderblock 2 bedroom structure, you could see some old carnival prizes that adorned the front yard. Most people have dobermans, rottweilers, german shepards, or some other intimidating canines for watch dogs. His guardians were a lion and a unicorn.
He parked his one bicycle on the side of the house and he pulled out his other bikes. You could see how proud he was of them. Each one was decorated uniquely. My price of admission did not allow for photos of the other bikes, nor of the subject himself, but while I was there, he invited me in. Upon entering, he proudly showed me his collection of things, toys, knick knacks, dolls, stuffed animals, meticulously arranged, and sorted into groups.
As I was getting ready to leave, he removed his hat, which happened to have the superman emblem, to reveal a shock of white hair with eyes that had this far away look of a life time of experience. He spoke a phrase after he took off his hat that I don't believe I'll forget. "I seen a lot and I know what life is all about."
I thanked him and made my way back to my truck wondering if I would see this man again. Today I was back where I encountered him and drove to the house I had seen years ago. There was a children's bicycle on the corner across from the home and I was sure that he was going to be there. I went and knocked on the door only to get no answer. I peeked in through the window and saw that the home was empty. Worried that he may have since passed on, I went and knocked on the neighbor's door and Patrice told me that her uncle used to rent him the room and explained that he had moved in with family. I left her my business card and told her I would like to meet him again to share a bit more about his story with anyone who might be interested. He reminds me of the protagonist of the Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man".
“For, like almost everyone else in our country, I started out with my share of optimism. I believed in hard work and progress and action, but now, after first being 'for' society and then 'against' it, I assign myself no rank or any limit, and such an attitude is very much against the trend of the times. But my world has become one of infinite possibilities. What a phrase - still it's a good phrase and a good view of life, and a man shouldn't accept any other; that much I've learned underground. Until some gang succeeds in putting the world in a strait jacket, its definition is possibility.”
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