Daisy flew down the stairs screaming with joy, already knowing what the energy was about. “AHHHHHHH! NICK, YES!” Her joy matched my energy and caused Uncle Beet to plug his ears and wince. “Cake!” Daisy screamed, running to snatch up the phone. “We’ll need to order a cake!”
So commenced a celebration in the kitchen for me. Everyone was happy that I’d finally got up and was going to do something. The walls of my new home felt like a refuge, full of care and support. My family took me in when my world shattered, and now they surrounded me, making sure my future would not fall through the cracks!
Thank you, Mr. Wallace, for pointing me here! Thank you!
After the party, I stayed up in my room, rereading my acceptance letter. I wanted to fully feel my joy, but some part of my brainturned toward the dark side of things. Like, the fact I’d never get to tell Pa about this positive turn in my life.
These thoughts kept me up well into the night. And when it was so late that the house had gone silent, I heard someone sneak past my room and quietly leave the house. I looked out through the crack in my door to find Daisy’s silhouette slipping out of the front door and closing it gently behind her.
I rushed to my window facing the front of the house and peeked through the blinds. Daisy carried a bag down the stairs out front—a bag nearly as big as she was. She tossed it into the trunk of a car—not a cab—that was waiting for her to get inside.
What was Daisy up to?I had to know.
I opened the window as the car pulled off and crunched my body to step out onto the sill. Precariously perched on the little bricks between the pane and empty air, I swung my leg over the ledge and closed the window, leaving it cracked enough so I could push it open later.
Uncle Beet’s bicycle sat by the side of the garage collecting dust. I mounted it and pedaled into the streets, just in time to see the car turning up ahead. I’d be hidden from its rearview as long as I kept my distance, but I’d have to move fast to catch up.
I raced under telephone cables and over sewer tunnels, fear cinching my breath. I watched the ground carefully as I traveled to be sure I didn’t hurt myself. What untold horrors might this city carry at night? I kept hearing my pa’s voice, telling me to stay in after dark. Harlem’s tiny mazes were a great place to fall down a grate or get kidnapped, and how would I come back from that?
Finally, the car took Daisy through an alleyway. There were two dumpsters and two doors into seedy businesses. The alley opened to a freight yard, bordered by a calm river. I hid behind a wall, crouching beside a lost fruit vendor’s wagon to watch Daisy load duffel bags into a separate car.
This was a business deal that could only be done at night—that much had become clear. There were big freight cars here, so it had to be a trade hub. But those cars were also great cover for criminals to do shady deals.
“Excuse me,” said a voice. “Are you working the show?”
I spun around and found standing behind me a boy whose picture I had just seen weeks ago in the West Egg pamphlet—Jay Gatsby Jr.
I was starstruck and embarrassed by the current of nerves running through my chest. I hadn’t heard of him until recently and yet I felt I was meeting a celebrity.
What reason did he have to behereat this hour of night?
Jay’s question had gone unanswered long enough for him to turn and point to an electric sign on the alleyway wall that readThe Green Light. The establishment was right next to where I was standing, and I’d only just noticed the muffled jazz coming from behind the door.
“Oh, I don’t work here,” I said. “I was just spying on my cousin.”
“What?”
I wanted to shove the words back into my mouth because only after seeing his twisted expression did I realize how odd they were. “I mean, she’s been going somewhere late at night, and Iwanted to know where. I shouldn’t be sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong though.”
“Interesting.” Jay looked at me sideways.
I couldn’t look away from his bold eyebrows, which framed a pair of soulful brown eyes. His strong nose gave him an air of confidence, while his hair—curling in velvety waves—caught the light like polished walnut. His lips were full and plum-colored. He held an allure that photographs of him could not capture.
A car door slammed behind me, reminding me of my original purpose. I turned back to see Daisy getting in the car, and then it spun around to come back toward the alleyway—Daisy and her driver were moments away from catching me if I lingered.
“Excuse me!” I slipped around Jay and banged on the establishment door, hoping with everything that someone would let me in, lest I be caught spying.
“You can just open it,” Jay said, twisting the knob and pushing it ajar.
The moment it opened, I sighed with relief and slipped inside, drenching myself in the cool atmosphere of the joint, where music and distant voices vibrated from deeper inside.
The wheels of the car whooshed by outside. A chill crept into my bones as I wondered where my cousin might be going next, if it would get her into trouble.
Jay was standing across from me in the narrow entrance, his mindset somewhere else entirely. “You’re breathing rather heavily,” he said. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, just fine,” I replied.
He closed the door behind us and tilted his head for me to follow him inside, down the brick entryway. “Any interest?” he said.
