The narrator recounts a story from his childhood in East New York, where he grew up with cousins who were teenage drug dealers. To protect him, his father devised a plan to shield him from the neighborhood, but the cousins, Carlos and McGee, would often scare him, wearing a Joker mask. When the narrator turned 6, his father told him to "man up" and handle the situation. The narrator's mother helped him come up with a plan to dress up as Batman to confront his cousins. The plan worked, and the cousins started to respect him. However, being "Batman" became stressful, and the narrator eventually retired the mask.
Years later, when the narrator was 15, he visited his aunts and cousins, and Carlos revealed that he had been scaring the narrator on purpose, as instructed by his father, to keep him away from the cousins' influences. The narrator realized that his father was the real "Batman," who had been working behind the scenes to protect him.
The story concludes with the narrator, now an adult, discovering that his father had been keeping guns in various houses, including his own, to protect his family. The narrator feels touched that his father, the "Batman," finally revealed himself to him, and he realizes that he is more like Alfred, Batman's trusted butler.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The narrator grew up in East New York.
2. The narrator's father once stabbed someone over a can of Snapple.
3. The narrator's father tried to protect him from the neighborhood by buying houses for his sisters next door.
4. The narrator was bullied by his cousins, Carlos and McGee, who lived upstairs and next door.
5. The cousins would wear a pale white mask with green hair and scare the narrator.
6. The narrator's father told him to "man up" and handle the situation.
7. The narrator's mother suggested he become Batman to deal with the cousins.
8. The narrator's father bought him a Batman costume for $65.
9. The narrator wore the costume and confronted the cousins, who laughed at him.
10. The narrator became known as "Brooklyn Batman" and was called upon to solve problems in the neighborhood.
11. The narrator eventually retired the Batman costume and stopped being "Brooklyn Batman".
12. The narrator's cousin Carlos went to jail and later explained that he had been scaring the narrator on purpose to keep him from hanging out with him and his friends.
13. The narrator's father had been the one who told Carlos to scare him, as a way of protecting him.
14. The narrator's father is revealed to be the real "Batman", who had been working behind the scenes to protect his family.
15. The narrator's father kept guns in every house he owned, including the narrator's, for protection.