“Ready?” Naz asked as he looked at Meri.
She nodded.
“Remember, us ladies have to stick together,” said Richelle.
Meri nodded again as she and Naz walked toward the door.
“Be careful,” said Richelle.
Frances waved from her register as the two walked out waving goodbye.
“Wait!” said Meri as she set the bundle down on the ground and put the envelope in her sock.“You should do that all the time,” she continued, as she stood up and put the bundle on her back.
“Do what?” Naz asked.
“You know, talk up. Stick up for yourself.”
“I always stick up for myself.”
“No, you always stick up for me. There’s a difference.”
He thought about what she said and shrugged his shoulders.“Wanna run?” he asked.
“How fast?”
“That’s up to you. But remember your heart condition.”
He was trying to use reverse psychology to goad her into running, but it wasn’t necessary. They both knew the doctor said running would make her heart stronger, and she enjoyed running almost as much as he did.
“Let’s go,” she said, ignoring him.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
SPOOKED
BACK at MeeChi’s, Mr. Tesla prepared hot turkey sandwiches with gravy and mashed potatoes for Naz and Meri. Meri ate almost as much as Naz did, and he wondered where she put it all. Afterwards, Mr. Tesla let them have as much Neapolitan ice cream and chocolate cake as they could eat. Meri didn’t have any homework due until Monday so the three of them played Scrabble and listened to Meri’s favorite oldies radio station until Naz decided it was getting too late, and the sun would set on them. He wasn’t going to let that happen. Naz thought it was a perfect end to a week that started out to be the worst he ever remembered.
Naz stood up, put on his book bag, and glanced through the two-way mirror. Standing at the register was someone he recognized. It was the husky boy with the Mohawk from Tuesday morning—the same one that had stabbed Ham. He was talking to the cashier and handed her something.“Mohawk” looked up at the two-way mirror, and for a moment Naz felt the boy was actually looking directly at him. But that can’t be, Naz thought. Naz had once been so intrigued by the mirror that he looked at the mirror side over and over again, never being able to see through to the other side. It has to be my imagination, he thought.
“Naz,” Meri called.
Naz, frozen, continued to stare through the two-way mirror, oblivious to Meri’s summons. A chill ran through him as he watched Mohawk walk away from the cashier and head to the door to meet the boy with the gruff voice that had cut Naz. There was also another boy with fiery red hair and freckles, but Naz didn’t recognize him. Mohawk,“Gruff”, and“Red” began to tease Tone as the bird moved from side-to-side on his perch in a frustrated motion. This angered Naz, but he didn’t dare do anything but watch. Red kept putting his finger near Tone’s beak, but the bird just turned his head to the side. Naz noticed two symbols tattooed on Red’s forearm. From where he stood, it looked like something wrapped around a sword and an eye. Then he noticed that Mohawk and Gruff had the same symbols on their arms. There was a crackling sound of glass breaking, which brought Naz back to reality. The two-way mirror had somehow cracked leaving a thin line in the thick glass.
“Naz!” Meri called again.
“Huh?” Naz responded.
“Aren’t you gonna answer Mr. Tesla?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Tesla.”
Mr. Tesla examined the unexplained crack in the two-way mirror while Meri looked through the mirror to see what had Naz so spooked, but by then Mohawk, Gruff, and Red had left the store. Naz breathed a sigh of relief.
“I wonder how that happened,” said Mr. Tesla, examining the glass.“Tomorrow morning we’re getting a big shipment in. If you and Meri would like to come by and help organize the shelves, you’re more than welcome. We’ll be here most of the day.”
“Ooh, can we?” Meri asked Naz.
“I don’t know. Don’t you have a lot of homework?” asked Naz, trying to play the concerned parent. Truth be told, he was always looking for a good excuse to get out of Miss Tracey’s house on the weekend.
Meri, in her best Naz imitation, said,“Maybe I do, and maybe I don’t.”
Mr. Tesla let out a roar of laughter that betrayed his small stature and startled both Meri and Naz.
That was good enough for Naz.“Looks like we’ll be here,” he said, as he and Meri joined in the laughter.
Before Naz left MeeChi’s, he asked the cashier in private what Mohawk had said to her. She told him that the boy was looking for him, and then she handed him the note Mohawk had given her. It was still folded as if she hadn’t read it herself. Before he joined Meri, who was at the door with Tone, he opened it to read:
Join us or else!
CHAPTER TWENTY
THE HAVEN
ON the way home Naz didn’t talk much. When Meri asked him questions, he only offered one-word responses. Just when he had put Tuesday morning’s encounter behind him, there were those boys again, not just Mohawk and Gruff, but the third one as well. What are those symbols on their forearms? he wondered. All of a sudden it was clear to him. They were part of some gang, and they wanted him to join them. But why select him? he wondered. He remembered what Fears had said about avoiding gangs at all costs and that they were for the weak-minded follower. He remembered the promise he had made to his mother that he would never join a gang. But he didn’t need Fears or his mother’s words for that. He had no intention of ever joining a gang. He just didn’t understand why they were so hell-bent on recruiting him. Would he have to watch his back on the street now? Obviously they’ll be back, he thought, and when they come, I’ll put my foot down and let them know I’m not interested. Like Dr. Gwen said, ‘every man must go his own way.’
When Naz and Meri got home they went straight to his room. He had promised her all week he would play a game of chess with her when they got home on Friday. Meri was convinced that, with what she had learned the first week of school in the chess club at Higginbotham, she could finally beat him.
“Don’t take this personal,” said Naz.
“Look!” said an agitated Meri, as she pointed to his door.
There was the lock that Miss Tracey had promised, but not on the inside of his door as Naz had anticipated. It was a large padlock on the outside of his door. Apparently he was to be locked in his room at night to prevent him from sleepwalking around the rest of the house.
“That does it!” Meri said, as she turned to walk down the hall.
Naz grabbed her by the arm before she could move.“What are you gonna do?” he asked.
Without a word she snatched away from him, stormed down the hallway to Miss Tracey’s bedroom, and forced her way through the closed door. Miss Tracey, who was in bed while watching television and talking on the phone, jumped up. She was wearing a nightgown and a scarf on her head. Meri stood inside the doorway with her hand on her hip.
“Can I call you back?” asked Miss Tracey of the person on the other end of the phone and then hung up.“Oh, no, you didn’t. I thought I told you never to come in my room without knocking, little Miss …”
“I may be only nine years old, but even I know it’s illegal to lock a kid in a room.” Meri pulled her phone out and began to dial.
“Woosah,” said Miss Tracey in a calm manner, then asked,“and just who do you think you’re calling?”
“The Haven will want to know about this,” said Meri to herself, as she finished dialing and put the phone to her ear.
“Hang up that phone, you little brat!”
“My name is Meridian, and I’m not!” Meri put her free hand over her other ear and turned to the side.
“GIVE ME THAT PHONE!” yelled Miss Tracey at top of her lungs.
“I won’t!” said Meri in an insolent tone.
Miss Tracey lunged at Meri, who
had now turned completely away from her. Miss Tracey grabbed her by the shoulders.“GIVE ME THAT PHONE!”
“No!” Meri was now holding the phone with her arm stretched out to keep it out of Miss Tracey’s reach.
The two began to tussle.
“LET ME GO!” yelled Meri.
“GIVE ME THAT PHONE!”
“Let … her … GO!” said Naz in a stern voice.
The two stopped and turned to see Naz standing in the doorway. Miss Tracey let go of Meri. Meri put the phone back to her ear.
“Hello, I’d like to report an incident of child abuse,” said Meri to someone on the other end of the phone.
“OK,” said Miss Tracey in a forced whisper.
“An address?” asked Meri into the phone.
“I said OK!”
“Can you hold on for a second?” asked Meri, again to the person on the other end of the phone. She covered up her phone’s mouthpiece.“What?”
“I’ll take off thelock.”
Meri hung up the phone.
“But it goes back up tomorrow on the inside of the door,” Miss Tracey added.
“We can live with that,” said Meri, calming down immediately.
“Now get out of my room before I change my mind.” Miss Tracey was visibly rattled.
Naz and Meri hurried back down the hallway with smirks on their faces as they were barely able to contain themselves. They waited until they heard Miss Tracey’s door slam, then broke into laughter.
“Looks like we win,” said Meri laughing.
“I told you, you’re gonna get us put out of here,” Naz said through his laughter.“But thanks for sticking up for me.”
“Somebody has to. Thanks for coming to my rescue in there … my silent soldier,” she said imitating a damsel in distress.
They both laughed again.
“Did you see the look on her face when you said, ‘Let … her … go’?” Meri asked, lowering her voice to imitate Naz’s voice.
“And The Haven? What was that?”
“Heck if I know.I just made it up.”
“I’m still gonna kick your butt,” said Naz playfully, as he pulled the chess set from underneath his bed.
“In your dreams.”
“Please, don’t mention dreams.” The two continued to laugh.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
SILENT SOLDIER
NAZ turned on the lights. He needed a distraction, a change of pace, something to keep his mind off the nightmare. It was a recurring dream that hadn’t shown itself for months, but somehow crept back into his slumber this night with a vengeance. He had already woken from it once before only to return to the same scene, as if someone had pressed pause and then play when he fell asleep again. Now, in an effort to stay awake and force himself into a different state of mind, he decided to walk the hallways of Miss Tracey’s and check on Meri.
He wasn’t as good as Meri at keeping up with things so he used a paper clip to attach the key right to the padlock itself on his door. That way he could easily find it when he needed to get out.
As he took the lock off his door and opened it, he looked back at the room that not so long ago had been empty. Now with the lock on his door and much desired privacy, the empty nightstand was now home to not just a Bible, but a high-tech lamp given to him by Mr. Tesla—a lamp to read by if the spirit were ever to move him, though it rarely did. He could now come home every day and improve his accuracy or just let off some steam by going for the bulls-eye on his dartboard, which hung on the wall opposite his bed. And there was the dusty, badly out-of-tune guitar that hadn’t been played in over a year. But he kept it out, leaning against the wall, just the same. It just felt so good to have things lying around, even if he didn’t use them anymore. It felt like a bedroom again, his bedroom.
He looked at the calendar hanging next to the door, and thought, thank God it’s Friday … well, Saturday now. It had been five weeks since school started, and after a shaky start things were normal again. There was a big X that marked the calendar for today, this special Saturday. Today was the day Meri would take the entrance exam at International Academy. She had been interviewed at Dr. Gwen’s office by a representative of International Academy the week before and felt good about it. But there was no way to prepare for the test, no study guide and no cheat sheet, only a list of words Dr. Gwen had given him—words like classify, construct, and identify. She also gave Meri a word search puzzle and two crossword puzzles containing the words. She told Naz the words would be useful, and that they would apply to any test. Naz didn’t even know anyone who had ever taken the test before. But Dr. Gwen assured him that Meri would do well, and there was no reason to doubt that.
He turned off the light in his room and then in the darkness made out all of the objects he had just seen in the light. He reasoned that by doing this, he would allow his eyes to adjust to the darkness outside his door. As he walked down the hallway in his bare feet, he imagined he was invisible. During the three months he had lived in the house he had made a mental note of where every squeaky or creaky floorboard was. He didn’t remember when, why, or how, he just did, and his movements were stealthy because of it. He wondered, is this what I look like when I’m sleepwalking, catlike in my movements? I am the silent soldier with two S’s on my chest, he smiled as he stopped in front of Miss Tracey’s door.
One thought led to another, and it suddenly came to him. It wasn’t the lock on his door that gave him his newfound privacy in his bedroom, but him standing up for himself, well, standing up for Meri, he thought. He would reflect back on that day four weeks ago when Miss Tracey tried to take Meri’s phone by force during Meri’s mythical call to the nonexistent Haven. He recalled those three words he used to make Miss Tracey stand down. Let … her … go, he thought, as the whole scene almost made him laugh out loud.
As he walked into the bathroom and closed the door, he was careful not to disturb the silence. All the windows were closed in the house on this cool October morning, effectively muting the familiar sounds outside to which he’d grown accustomed. He resisted turning on the light and relied instead on the sparse light that shone in through the bathroom window and on his own night vision.
As he gazed in the mirror, he could just make out the main features of his face. The hairs on his chin seemed not to have grown a lick and were nonexistent in the scant light. He could see that the hair on his head had grown a little more, and it occurred to him that Miss Tracey had not mentioned a haircut. A wonderful thing, this standing up for yourself, he thought. He wondered how else his life could be changed just by the simple act of speaking up when the situation called for it. Life was good. Everything was fine, but something was missing. He wondered if he put himself out there and spoke up more often, could life be better? He wasn’t having any fun, and he was getting restless. The last time he could remember anything exciting happening was that first day of school with Ham.
The images then flashed through his mind: how Gruff held the knife against Naz’s throat and pierced the skin, and how well Ham fought but ultimately went down with a knife wound to the stomach. But he was relieved he hadn’t seen those boys since they came into MeeChi’s the end of that first week, and he was fairly confident they wouldn’t recognize him now, even if they did see him again. Imagine me, in a gang, he thought. Why in the world would they want me anyway? They must’ve thought I was the biggest coward … the way I just stood there … and did nothing. But even after that, they still came for me at MeeChi’s. I’m just glad it’s over. He thought about splashing water on his face, but again, he didn’t want to disturb the perfect silence.
One thought connected to another, and when he had finished in the bathroom, he continued down the hallway thinking about Ham. Naz was glad Ham was OK, but he hadn’t been looking forward to his return to school for some reason, and his return more than justified Naz’s apprehension. Since Ham’s return to school the week before, he and Naz hadn’t talked. Naz only had one class with Ham, and
that happened to be Coach Fears’ last hour health class. He overheard someone at lunch one time say that Fears always made sure his ball players ended up in his last hour class. That way he could make sure they were keeping their grades up and staying out of trouble. Naz wondered how he ended up landing in Fears’ class. Then came the stares that coincided with the return of Ham—stares that signaled something had been said about what Naz had or hadn’t done in the knife fight in the Exclave. What kids said about Naz didn’t bother him, or at least it hadn’t in the past. But something was changing inside of him. He didn’t quite understand it and wasn’t sure he liked it.
In his mind he was accomplishing his goal as he continued on to Meri’s room. He was changing his mindset, and now as he arrived at Meri’s room, he placed his fingertips on the door, closed his eyes, and turned his head to listen. He wasn’t sure if he could actually hear it, or if it was just in his imagination, but it was almost clear to him. Her phone was on, tuned to her favorite station, the oldies but goodies, just like momma, he thought. He shook his head to clear the thoughts that triggered the nightmare. He didn’t know how she did it, but she could sleep with music playing all night. She had slept that way for over two years now, ever since …. Listening more closely, Naz realized it wasn’t her phone he could hear, but Meri humming or maybe actually singing, barely audible:
“You may not understand me,
But I know these words you’ll hear.
You’ll never have to worry.
You’ll never have to fear.
No way
I want to tell you this
Just before you fall off to sleep.”
It was a song, a lullaby their mother used to sing to Meri, but it was even more familiar to him than that. Not again, he thought, his mind returning to the nightmare.
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