Meeting (14 page)

“Well, there is that.” Dad tapped a pencil against the table a few times. “If this thing with Candra gets serious, though, I want to see where Evren lives. Does he have parents? If he does, who are they? Maya, do you know anything about his family?”

Maya shook her head. She closed her sketchbook on Rimi’s rendering of her Evren drawing and went back to the sink. “I don’t remember much about him,” she said. “We met him when we went over to see Gwenda’s closet.”

“Is he related to Gwenda?”

“Same last name,” Maya said. “A lot of people over there are related to each other.”

“Is he Gwenda’s big brother?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Well, it might amount to nothing,” Dad said, and he and Mom bent back to their work.

 

 

 

Maya tested Rimi’s alarm clock capabilities the next morning. Rimi shook her awake, not just on the shoulder, but all through her. Maya felt like a bowl of jiggling Jell-O. She snapped her eyes open. “Ow?” she said, experimentally.

“It doesn’t hurt, it just feels weird.” Maya sat up and looked at the clock. “It’s fifteen minutes before I wanted to wake up.”

I didn’t want to wait any more,
Rimi thought.
It always takes you longer than you think.

“Okay,” Maya said. She got up. Rimi had already put her homework and art supplies in her backpack. “Whoa. Thanks, Rimi.” Maya dressed, pulled on her pack, and headed out into the hall. She almost collided with Peter.

“So you were always talking to Rimi,” he whispered.

“My shadow,” she whispered back. “Were you listening at my door?”

“No, just on my way downstairs.” He had his school backpack on, too, and his shoelaces were untied.

“Hey, you could trip—” Maya said, and then Rimi tied Peter’s shoelaces.

“Oh, wow,” he said.

She put extra knots in the laces.

“But I won’t be able to get them off,” he said.

Ask me and I’ll untie them,
Rimi thought.

Maya relayed the message.

“Yeah, but you’re not at my school. I’ll need to change for P.E.”

Rimi paused, then undid the outermost layer of knots.

“What are you guys talking about now?” Candra said, breezing past them on her way to the stairs.

“Peter’s shoelaces,” Maya said. “Hey, how’d your walk with Evren go last night?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Candra was gone down the stairs.

“Yes!” Maya yelled, following her. Peter was on her heels. They all headed for the kitchen.

It was Cold Cereal Day. Mom and Dad were already sitting at the table drinking coffee. Candra grabbed a box of cereal from the lineup on the counter and poured some in a bowl, added milk, and started scarfing. Peter poured a pile of ChocoNut Bits into a bowl. Maya got honey-nut cereal for herself.

“What happened last night?” Maya asked Candra again.

Candra just smiled and ate. Then she said, “Live in ignorance, the way you made me live all these weeks.”

“Candra, where did you and Evren go?” Mom asked.

“Just around a few blocks, Mom. There were streetlights all the way.” She hunched her shoulders. “This is our neighborhood now. I don’t want to be scared of it. I don’t have to, do I?”

“No,” said Dad. “As far as we know, this is a safe place to live and wander.”

“Good.” She finished her cereal and rinsed out her bowl, then stuck it in the dishwasher.

“Did you kiss?” Peter asked.

“What? Of course not,” Candra said, blushing. “All we did was talk.”

“What about?” Peter demanded.

“That is seriously none of your business, squirt,” she said, then relented. “We mostly talked about me. I didn’t notice until after we said good night. I had so many questions for him, but somehow, he sidetracked me into talking about me. Next time I’m going to change that.”

“There’s a next time?” Maya asked.

“There will be.” Candra settled her messenger bag over her shoulder. “Dad?”

“Sit down, Candra. I’m not leaving until I’ve finished my coffee.”

Candra frowned and sat down, but her posture was tense. She jiggled one leg.

“That’s not going to make me drink any faster,” Dad said, and focused on the newspaper he was reading.

Maya ate quietly and got up. She put her lunch in her backpack and went to the door.
No rush rush, Rimi. I might be able to get used to this. Thanks again.

Time is easy to watch, but not always interesting,
Rimi thought.

“See you later, everybody,” Maya said, and left.

Aunt Sarutha sat on the Janus House porch again, weaving something about six inches wide, and this time Maya walked over to her. “Morning, Namdi. Did the others leave already?”

“No,” Sarutha said. She smiled. “Maya, would you skip singing class this afternoon and stop at Columba’s apartment instead? I’ll be by to pick you up. I shouldn’t be too late, if all goes according to plan.”

“Sure,” Maya said.

Sarutha rummaged in a bag beside her, then held up a square of material. It looked thick and stiff and dark, and it had a picture picked out in colored thread. A quick look showed Maya three figures that looked humanoid but not human. “Here’s some homework for you and Rimi. See what you can learn from studying it. I’ll leave it with Columba for you.”

Rimi stretched out a limb and touched the material. Something thrummed through her, reaching Maya less than a second later. Maya’s teeth felt jiggly. “What—Namdi—”

“No peeking!” Sarutha said. She tucked the square of cloth back into her bag and shook her index finger at Maya.

Then Benjamin, Gwenda, Rowan, Kallie, and Twyla burst out of the front doors and swept Maya up with them in the rush to get to school on time.

 

 

 

In social studies class, Rimi poked Maya.
That Sibyl is looking at you again.

Maya glanced up from her textbook. Sibyl was two rows in front of Maya and Travis. They had settled in the back row in this class without the excuse of Janus House kids, and sometimes Maya was sorry they’d picked these seats. She liked Mr. Harrison as a teacher. He made American history interesting, and he was funny. Occasionally he was mean when somebody wasn’t paying attention, and once in a while, that was Maya. But for the most part, she had a good time in his class.

She hadn’t noticed Sibyl particularly until this week, and this week she was only noticing Sibyl because Sibyl seemed to be noticing Maya first.

Mr. Harrison had his back to them. He was writing on the board about the causes of revolution. With his attention distracted, Sibyl had turned most of the way around in her seat to stare through her glasses at Maya. She was wearing a dark red dress today, but she had the same golden scarf around her neck. It was the prettiest thing about her.

Gwenda thinks there’s something off about her
, Maya thought.
Can you sense it?

Rimi stretched along the floor, edging closer to Sibyl. She paused before she reached the girl.
The air is
pattishaw, she thought.

What does that mean
?

Something is wrinkly in it.
Rimi retreated, tightened around Maya.
It makes me
burizz
.

Travis tapped her arm. She glanced toward him. He’d written a note in the margin of his notebook.
What’s up?

Maya wrote a note on the edge of her notebook.
Don’t know
.

They both shrugged, and then Mr. Harrison turned around and stared right at them, as though he knew they hadn’t been paying attention.

Rimi focused on Sibyl the rest of class, but nothing else happened.

She smells wrong
, Rimi thought after the bell rang and everyone rose to go to their next class.
She smells—she
sistis
strange. Or maybe something else is familiar in a strange way.

You watch her while I’m watching the school stuff?
Maya thought.

As Maya followed
Travis and the Janus House kids home from school following last period, Rimi nudged her.
Still watching
, she said. Maya glanced back and saw Sibyl leaning against the wall of the school, her head turned away as though nothing could be more fascinating than the trees across the road, with their few rags of colored leaves still dangling.

I’ll have to talk to her sometime, I guess
, Maya thought.
Let me know if she follows us.

All right.
Rimi got distracted just then, though, by something in a trash can they were passing. She had to taste it, and Maya got a fragment of the taste.

Eww. What
is
that?

Overshare!
Maya swallowed a few times, then broke out a piece of mint gum. She chomped furiously.

In the front hall of Janus House, everyone split up. Travis headed upstairs to study with his teachers. Gwenda, Benjamin, Kallie, Twyla, and Rowan also headed upstairs, for singing class. Maya knocked on Columba’s door.

Columba’s door opened. So did the door to Benjamin’s apartment. Dr. Porta came out, a bulging tapestry bag over her shoulder. “Hi, Maya,” she said as she crossed the front hall toward them. “I heard you were at loose ends this afternoon. I want to try an experiment to find out more about your
sissimi
.”

Maya stilled.
Do we want her to find out more about you?
she wondered.

I’m always curious
, Rimi thought.

She might uncover secrets about us we don’t know yet. I love secrets
, thought Rimi.

“Namdi Sarutha left me some homework,” Maya said.

“That’s okay. My experiment won’t take much of your attention. Hey, Columba. Okay if I come in, too?”

“Okay,” said Columba. “I’m still not sure about this entertaining business. You know more about it than I do. But Maya, I actually got you some bread this time.”

“Good thinking,” Dr. Porta said. “Is it some of mine?”

“From the batch of banana bread you made this morning,” Columba said.

“One of my better batches,” said Dr. Porta. She smiled. “They’re all good, though. Maya, you’ll eat, won’t you?”

“Yes. Thanks!” Maya stared down at her stomach. It growled, on cue.

“What would you like to drink, Maya? Sapphira? Tea?” asked Columba.

“I guess, as long as it’s not chamomile,” Maya said.

“Come on in.” Columba turned, and Maya followed her into the apartment, through the living room, and into the kitchen. Dr. Porta came, too.

“What kind of tea would either of you like?” Columba filled an orange kettle with water and put it on the stove to boil.

“Peppermint,” Maya said. “Do you have that?”

“Mm.” Columba opened a cupboard. Maya saw a bunch of different types of teas there. Columba picked a pink box and closed the cupboard. “Sapphira, you okay with peppermint?”

“Sure, sure.” Dr. Porta put her satchel on the floor and took out a blue crystal bowl, a clear glass rod, and some cloth zipper pouches. She set the bowl on one end of the kitchen table, produced a water bottle from the satchel, and mixed things in the bowl. She sang softly in Kerlinqua while she worked, timing the strokes of the glass rod with the beat of her song. Maya didn’t recognize any words except
girana
, which meant
make or do
, and three other verbs that just confused her.

Columba ran water in the kitchen sink. When it was steaming, she filled a white and blue porcelain teapot and set it beside the sink to warm.

“Maya, have a seat.” Columba gestured toward the kitchen table. “You can do your homework here.”

“Thanks,” Maya said. She dropped into the chair farthest from Dr. Porta’s mixing station and settled her pack next to her, then got the sketchpad and pencils out. Maybe she should try drawing a picture of Sibyl. If she drew Sibyl, she might understand her better.

But wait a minute, she could also draw what was right in front of her. She flipped the sketchpad open, grabbed a couple of pencils, and drew Dr. Porta mixing. Dr. Porta had wild, wavy black hair, and her black eyes looked slightly mad as she worked with the ingredients she took out of her bag. Maya emphasized the mad scientist look in the drawing.

“Maya, Benjamin tells me there’s a mysterious store nearby,” Columba said. “How long have you known about it?”

“Since we moved here. I didn’t realize it was mysterious, though, except the owner kind of creeps me out. I haven’t gone inside since before Rimi.”

“I’ve sent some of my minions to investigate. It seems to be warded against us, though. If you do go in, could you bring me back your impressions?”

“Sure,” said Maya.

“Excellent. Could you draw me a picture of the owner?”

“I guess.” Maya turned to a fresh page. She had just seen him through the window the day before, but there was something about him that made her turn and look other directions. Frowning, she thought about that. That was when she should pay more attention, she decided, when things were pushing her eyes somewhere else. She drew the heavy dark brows overshadowing the deep-set eyes, the long hair pulled back into a braid, the stark bones of his cheeks and jawline, then tore the sketch from her pad and handed it to Columba. Dr. Porta finished stirring and looked over Columba’s shoulder.

“Hmm,” said Columba. “Thanks, Maya.” She filed the sketch in a drawer.

Maya turned the page and did a sketch of Sibyl and her scarf, then flipped another page and drew a picture of Stephanie.

Who am I going to be for Halloween this year, Steph?
she thought.
Who can I be?