| Chapter 07

David didn't want to deal with her. After the police showed up at the front door, I couldn't blame him. But I knew we couldn't just leave her outside.

She had found us for a reason. And I wanted to redeem myself, let go of my guilt from the other night, and help.

"So, you brought her into my room." David leaned against his bedroom door as I pushed open his window, motioning for the Pylon girl to climb up the side of the house. "My room," he added, annoyed.

"Well, I can't take her into mine," I said as the girl made her way up the garden fence. "It's not out of the way."

"Yeah, it is." David stood behind me, grumbling when the girl reached the window's ledge. I extended my hand to her.

But David sighed. "It's back at your house. You can take her there, you know."

"My house." I looked back at him but decided there was no reason to listen to him. He was good at focusing on himself, especially when it was his ass on the line. But this girl put her life in danger. Pylons never traveled alone.

I closed the window and shut the curtain. I may have blocked out the sunlight, but her eyes brought in their own. "What's your name?" I asked her.

"Names." David shook his head before throwing his hands up above his head in defeat. "I thought y'all did the name shit last night, being friends and all."

The girl lowered her hood, freeing her curly hair. With the sleeves too long on her sweater, she looked innocent, timid. Yet, the glare she gave David once he sat on his bed was the complete opposite. Angry. Strong. Determined.

To him, she said, "We're not friends."

When she looked back at me, her expression softened. A star sparkled in the corner of her eye. "I'm Vera," she said.

I wasn't sure whether to smile at her or nod. Her voice was genuine, lovely, like music to my ears.

Even when she continued to remind us that I wasn't her friend.

I rubbed the side of my neck. "I'm—"

"I know." She held up her hand. "Gus, right? You said that yesterday. When you were following me."

"Oh?" David dropped back against his pillows. When we looked at him, he lifted his brows and placed his hands on top of his head. "You mean like how you followed us?"

"I didn't. I mean—" Vera bit her lip. Instead of finishing her sentence, she glanced around the room. Her eyes darted towards every corner, every shelf, as if she was searching for something.

For what? I couldn't tell. There wasn't much to David's space. Memories of his rocker teens days were still taped to the wall. A school silver medal was lazily placed above his dresser, hanging just above the basket of weeks old laundry he hadn't bothered to wash. I wasn't sure how the supposed potential of a 'soon to be scholar' award would help cover the smell of days old socks and jeans, but there it was. A forgotten focus.

"I need help." Vera's voice grabbed my attention and I looked back at her. I wanted to ask, "with what," but the words didn't leave me. Common sense told me it was a dumb question. I was there with her last night; I still felt the pain.

Rubbing my shoulder, I nodded. "Okay."

What else can I say?

Vera didn't look at me, her eyes still focused on everything else in the room. I could tell she was nervous, afraid. She tapped her foot. She twiddled her fingers in front of her, chipping away at the dirt and blood on her nails.

Blood. I frowned.

"Last night something happened on the ship," she said.

"We saw," David grumbled.

With a deep, long breath, Vera looked at me. Bright eyes dug into my soul. I held my breath as she said, "I don't know what happened, or how it fell apart, but I can't go back. I'm stuck down here. They've got police circling the area, blaming Pylons for what happened, like we did this on purpose."

David chuckled under his breath, but I bit the insides of my cheek. What she said wasn't funny. I had seen the same thing on the news. Humans blamed Pylons for what clearly was an accident.

I slid my hand down my cheek. "Are they arresting you guys or something?"

Vera shook her head. "I don't know. I ran." She sighed. "One of those cops pushed someone against a stall and questioned him, like he was there last night. He wasn't, but I was, and I don't know what would happen if they figured that out. Humans have this... I mean, you guys..."

My eyes widened. She's scared. That's why she followed us.

Vera took a deep breath. "Look, regardless, I wasn't sure where else to go. I don't know anyone in the city, so I thought, that maybe, well, if you could—"

"So, you came here to ask your friend if he could help you back on your ship?" David sat up on his bed, arms rested on his knees. "Do you honestly think humans have that kind of access?"

Vera's head dropped a bit. And so did my heart.

David huffed. "We're not allowed near your ship without permission. And since the fair's closed—" He reached over on his nightstand and grabbed one of the wristbands we'd worn yesterday. "—these passes don't mean shit."

He had a point. I couldn't argue that.

"But what if you told someone? Explain how all of it was an accident." Vera looked back at David before glancing at me, silently pleading with the light in her eyes.

"Do we know that?" David pursed his lips.

"Yes!" Vera frowned. "Things happen! Someone needs to know that. And if you guys admitted you were there, maybe they'd ease up and I can get back inside."

The way she explained it made me think the news report from earlier was out of order. According to the footage, the police were giving the Pylons a chance to investigate. Yet, with what Vera said, the city had already made its decision.

If they were blocking the ship, she couldn't get inside. And if she couldn't get home, she was stuck here in the city. Like me.

Vera's eyes reddened. Desperation fell over her face. I watched as she slowly lifted her hands, pressed them together, pleading, "If you can just explain to them the issue, then they'll leave, right? Isn't there some section of the city you go to when things happen? People you can call?"

"Yeah, the police." David threw his wristband on his bed. "And we ain't calling them."

"Oh." Vera fell silent. Her eyes darted around the room once again. She looked at the walls, the floor, her shoes, and hands. Her need for a distraction was obvious. And relatable.

I feel you, Vera.

Knowing I couldn't just let the girl wander around, lost and in danger within the city, I leaned against the window and said the first thing that came to mind. "What if we went downtown? The city center takes complaints, don't they? What if we went there and found someone to talk to?"

Vera looked up at me, hopeful. The smile lifting her lips made me warm, relieved. I had to return the look, smiling just the same.

But David stared at me as though I'd said the most ridiculous shit ever. "You want to go downtown and tell them what?" He leaned forward, pulling at his pajama pants. "You want to tell them how you were there last night, and you have a Pylon girl at your uncle's house? Gon' pull my dad into this?"

The optimism on Vera's face faded as David spoke. I hadn't thought that far into it, but he was right. What would I go there and say? Telling the truth wouldn't do us any good.

"Not like that, no," I muttered and glanced out of David's window.

My uncle was out in the yard, getting his bag ready for work. Seeing him with his orange vest and tablet bag, he reminded me of my dad. The memory was fuzzy, but there. They had worked together here in Chicago. There were three buildings downtown they'd helped construct and design. My dad was gone, but my uncle continued their legacy.

No construction team was better than Mendez and Ramirez.

My uncle glanced at the window. He saw me and waved.

With a weak smile, I waved back.

"Then, what?" David slid off his bed and stood next to Vera. "What are you going to do?"

As my uncle walked into the garage and shut the door behind him, I thought about my dad. He was a good man, a strong man. He was the one who put everyone before him, regardless of the situation. I never understood why he just couldn't come back home to us; how he went missing after just one simple job. As a kid, it bothered me, destroyed me.

But if I had anything of him left in me, anything at all, it was the ability to care and see beyond myself.

I looked back at Vera. That's why I saved you last night...

Then I glanced at David. And that's why I defended you downstairs...

"Well, the fuck?" David scratched the back of his head, waiting. "Are we kicking her out or what?"

Vera shot David wide, frightened eyes. But I shook my head.

Putting my hand on her shoulder, I motioned her to look at me. When I locked onto the stars in her eyes, I smiled. "Would you be cool wearing guy clothes for a bit?"

"Guy clothes?" Both she and David asked the question in unison.

I nodded, looking at them both. "David, you got an extra hoodie? Sunglasses?"

"I, what?" David stepped back, shaking his head. "What are you going to do?"

"Well, she needs help, right? And I hate doing shit alone, so—" Without David's help, I found a pair of sunglasses; old, small too, like classic detectives would wear.

I looked them over once before I handed them to her. "Put these on. Over there, around the corner, is the bathroom. You can clean up a bit. When you're ready, we'll go downtown. I can think of what to say on the way there."