If only I could talk to Naira. If she were here, she would help me solve the mystery. She’d always been my partner in crime, my fellow schemer, coming up with practical jokes on Sekou and adventures on the Isle that made our island feel a little bigger than it was.
I had scrolled through Naira’s texts too many times to count, searching for any clue that would tell me something. There was nothing but some fuzzy, dark picture her phone probably snapped by accident.
A thought struck me. What about Naira’s journal? Did she takeit with her? Or leave it behind figuring she’d have no time to write in it? If she left it, then I knew exactly where she hid it in her room. I’d never read it, but hopefully Naira would understand that I was invading her privacy for a good reason. For her.
Besides, if my grandmother wasn’t going to give me answers or help me find my friend, I was going to have to do it myself.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
It was easier to move on foot, taking the lesser-known routes to get from my house and the most northern point of the island to Naira’s house in the more populated area of the Landing. I didn’t want to be seen. It was the middle of the day and the Russell house looked empty from what I could see from my hideout among the trees.
It didn’t matter much because I knew how to get in without being seen. I’d been doing it for as long as I could remember. When we were young, Naira and I snuck into each other’s rooms to get away from our lives for just a little bit. For that reason, we didn’t leave our windows locked. I hoped Naira still kept up with that. I hoped more that her parents hadn’t been to her room to clean and found the window latch undone, locking it.
The room still smelled like her as soon as I opened the window and climbed in. I looked around as if it were my first time inside, lingering on all the Broadway show posters likeHamilton,Rent, andWest Side Story. Shows she’d wanted to see in real lifebut happily watched when they came on TV. Had she been able to take in at least one when she’d gone to Charleston? I hoped so.
Naira wanted to see the world. And let the world see her.
Naira’s dresser was littered with junk. I never understood how she functioned with all the stuff on top of it. Tubes of lipstick of all shades scattered on their sides. Mascara. Cotton balls. Her favorite bottle of Dusty Rose polish. I touched the top of it, thinking of how she begged me to put some on the last time we were here, even though my preference was clear. She needed to come back so I could be her nail polish guinea pig again. Whatever would make her happy.
Stuck to the inside edge of the mirror to Naira’s vanity were various snapshots of us. Those hurt to see. My heart thumped hard as I stared down at the photos of Naira—cheek to cheek next to me, at the General Store, at a Harvest Festival, striking a pose with the other dancers. There was a much older photo of three kids in matching white with magnolia-and-leaf-woven crowns on their heads. Two girls on either side of the boy. Beaming. The boy had his arms around their shoulders, already standing many inches above them. Best friends for life. Brother and sisters, closer than blood. Naira. Sekou. And me.
My heart panged hard in my chest. What I really wanted to do was stay in the comfort of Naira’s room where the world couldn’t get to me and get lost in the memories of us. All we had and things I could do hadn’t been enough to keep my friend safe.
I wiped away the tears, reminding myself I came here for a reason and crying over memories wasn’t it. If I was going to make new ones, it meant I needed to force myself to hunt clues. Thatthin little thread that I was missing something trembled ever so lightly, plucked like the line on a spider’s web.
I checked under her mattress for the journal. Nothing. Rifled through the drawer of her nightstand with the pink lamp on top. Nothing there either. Perhaps she’d moved it to keep it away from her siblings.
I went to her closet and felt around on the shelf above the rack. I finally caught a break, pulling Naira’s journal from under the pile of folded sweaters. I almost let out a laugh, shocked that she’d left one of her most sacred things. I flipped to the last few pages, to the last notes Naira wrote about Luke Hall and her weekend plans with him.
A Word—
When I go, I’ll put highlights of the trip on my phone because I don’t want to overpack and there’s barely enough room for everything I want to wear let alone this big ole thing.It was a big-ass, hardbound notebook.Plus, with Davis, Maris, and them I don’t know who might come sniffing around and find it. Last thing I need is anyone reading you and knowing. Luke’s got it all planned. I’ll ditch Ms. Cabel and the group before dinner and tell them I’m sick or have cramps. Luke will come get me and has planned to take me on a private tour of the Endowment and meet his uncle Simon—the big boss. Maybe I’ll get to see the amulet in person. Maybe even hold it. Imagine!Amulet…Then a romantic dinner on his boat for just us and a big surprise he says he has. Boats are nothing, but it hits a little different when it’s with your guy. OMG. My guy!!! I have one for real! Eeeeek! Tbc…
Tbc?Someone’s initials? But another second and no more entries made me realize she meantto be continued.
I sat there for a moment, rereading her last entry through blurring eyes. Naira had been so happy, so excited, and I squashed it all, and for what? Because I’d been jealous that she knew what she wanted and was going for it while I stayed in the same exact spot. Not moving forward, or back, just unbelievably the same.
My eyes landed onamulet. There was a connection I hadn’t made yet. I slid to the floor and pulled up my messages for another look. I skimmed through Naira’s last messages and the pictures. I’d sent a billion since her last one, hoping this time there’d finally be an answer. There wasn’t. I checked again, thinking there might be a clue in her messages that I could use.
This time, opening her messages again felt like opening up Pandora’s box.
I took a deep breath and began to scroll again.
I landed on that picture I’d blown off earlier, thinking it was an accident. But after reading the journal, what if it wasn’t taken or sent accidentally? I looked closer. Real hazy and dark. Rain and the rim of what I made out to be the helm of a boat just like Naira had mentioned. I sucked in a breath. Luke’s boat maybe. This was her final message beforeithappened. I looked away, gripping the phone so I wouldn’t toss it. I had to keep going.
I forced myself to look again, harder this time. I sat up straighter, something catching my eye. I leaned closer to the screen, squinting.
With the murky background, it was hard to make out what I was seeing. The light could have been playing tricks on me. The picture wasn’t clear, and where I was sitting wasn’t brightly lit. I stared harder. No, it was definitely an outline of something—of someone? But couldn’t be. It was hard to tell and I was gettingmore and more frustrated with each passing second. What could possibly be looming over the water like that? Like UFOs that Sekou swore were real and this would be his proof. The shape in the dark was an unidentified flying object.
Only it wasn’t a UFO.
Those tiny yellowish flecks.
A glint of gold and flash of blue that were way too familiar.
I scrolled up the stream of unanswered texts, swallowing the guilt like a bad pill until I came to another picture she’d taken while on the campus tour when they’d visited the Endowment Research Lab.
I thought back to Naira’s story of the uncovered artifacts in Virginia. The invitation from Luke to look at them up close and personal since she liked old stuff.
