It looked like my scavenger hunt was over.
Twenty-One
After I left Javi, I circled the block, trying to figure out what to do next. My first thought was Zarah, so I blew her up any way I could think of. iMessage. Voice mail. Even WhatsApp. No dice. Probably still under doctor’s orders.
On my second trip past an Equinox, it hit me that my only other connection to Erin was her ex Billy. I could take the subway up to Gravity Fitness to see if he knew any other hotels she’d stay at. It was a long shot, but I was still cocked and ready to shoot.
The 14th Street station was a block west. The humidity had followed me to the subway platform like a stalker, clinging in ways my favorite black T-shirt never did. The platform wasn’t crowded. At least not yet. I’d beaten the work crowd by a good hour. A group of Black teenagers with a boom box stood on the uptown side. Their demeanor and outfits were a dead giveaway they had big plans to entertain the masses on the ride up. Kids like that were the sole reason I carried cash.
I dialed Zarah again. She finally picked up. “Terri?”
I paused. She clearly hadn’t checked the ID. “It’s Lena.”
“Oh. Hey. Sorry, I thought you were the assistant at my doctor’s office. I’m in desperate need of more meds.”
I checked the digital display hanging from the ceiling. Two minutes until the next E uptown. My time with service was limited. “Sorry to hear that,” I said, then jumped right in. “Desiree and Erin fought the night she died?”
There was a pause long enough for the countdown to change from two minutes to one. We weren’t on FaceTime so I could only imagine her expression. “Yes…”
I waited for her to say more, then prodded her along when she didn’t. “About?”
She said nothing, so I spoke again. “Maybe Desiree found something out about Erin?”
“I honestly don’t know. Neither said anything. I was running late as usual so I was mostly in the bathroom getting my face together. I don’t think either of them trusted me yet, and since Desiree and I still weren’t back where we used to be, I sure as hell wasn’t going to ask why they were being weird. I did see Erin snatch her phone out of Desiree’s hand.”
Understandable but no less frustrating. “How did they seem the rest of the night?”
“Erin seemed more put out than Desiree. But then Desiree had pregamed hard so there was nothing that’d keep her in a bad mood.”
I glanced at the subway display. “Did Erin ever mention where she was from?”
She thought it over. “Now that I think about it, no. But she definitely name-dropped everything else like she was new money. What’s up with all the questions?”
There wasn’t enough time to explain. “Nothing. It’s just she offered to take me on a trip to LA. Figured I should know who I’d be traveling with.”
The display flashed zero and the uptown train pulled in. One of the Black kids picked up the boom box as the doors opened and the crowd spilled out.
“Don’t do it,” Zarah said. “Naut’s still waiting for her to pay him back for putting a Costa Rica trip on his card. She booked the hotel. Said she’d pay for everything. Of course, her card was declined. A mistake, she said. Told him her accountant would take care of it as soon as we got back…”
“Did Desiree know?”
“Yep. She got defensive when I brought it up, like I was talking about her. Said Erin was good for it. That Erin’d paid her back for a trip they took a few months ago. You know, your sister even had that girl spend the night at my apartment. Something about needing to check out of her hotel. You know she stayed four days? Thought I got rid of her, but she’d left her credit card at my place. Came back and stayed two more nights.”
And just like that I finally knew where to find Erin.
Home. Not alone either.
Shitnuts.
I thanked Zarah and hung up with a choice to make. Stay on the platform with guaranteed cell service to call Aunt E or get on the train. I checked the display again. Eight minutes until the next train. Too long to be idle, especially with a fifty-minute subway ride, double that time for an Uber.
The last of the commuters boarded just as the train beeped. The signal the doors were about to close.
Stay and warn Aunt E or get there as soon as I could.
I decided to do both. Calling Aunt E while jumping on the car. I wasn’t the only straggler. Just as the doors half closed, an East Asian dude reached his hand out, causing the automatic doors to fly back open.
For once I was happy for the interruption. It gave me a few precious seconds to let the phone ring. And that it did. Over and over and over, until finally the mechanical voice from the old-school answering machine picked up. I was just about to leave a message when my phone cut off. Too many calls and not enough charging meant my battery had drained down to nothing. I’d never yell “Keep your phone charged, jackass” at a movie screen again. Now there was nothing I could do but pray we made good time and play out every possible scenario in my head, from Aunt E safe at Zumba to Erin, now knowing I knew, holding her hostage.
The train wasn’t crowded, but I was too wired to sit. I stood by the doors, leaning back against the sign asking me not to.
“Yeah, I got caught up, but I’m on the E train uptown now. Be there in a bit.”
The latecomer stood next to me, ending his leisurely conversation. He must’ve had Verizon. I was switching as soon as I confirmed Aunt E was okay.
He saw me looking and smiled. I gave him one too, all Perky Black Girl. “Hey,” I said. “Can I use your phone real quick?”
He smiled wider, raising the large mole on his right cheek. “Why?”
Of course, he’d think I was flirting.
“I need to make sure my grandmother’s okay and I don’t have service.”
“How do I know you aren’t gonna run away with it?” But his voice was teasing.
“I think you’d be able to catch me…If you don’t trust me, how about you call her?”
He thought it over. “What’s the number?”
I recited it and he punched it in, smiling as he held it up to his ear. Like this was some big joke and the person on the line would tell him he’d won a million dollars. I could barely remember to breathe.
After what felt like an eternity, he spoke. “Want me to leave a message?”
Shitnuts. “I’m good, thanks.”
I was tempted to ask him to place another call, this one to Detective Green. Or even 911. But I didn’t. Partly because the last thing I needed was the cops busting down Aunt E’s door. Those stories never ended well. Not for us. And partly because I had no concrete proof Erin knew I’d found out her secret. Her texts had been frequent, but they’d also been friendly. I had to believe Aunt E was safe for the time being.
I finally took a seat, zoning out until it was time to transfer to the shuttle and then the 6. By the time I got to my stop, I’d done a halfway decent job convincing myself Erin wasn’t even there, that she was checking into some fancy hotel with an expired credit card. But as soon as the subway doors opened at 167th Street, I ran the entire way home.
“Aunt E!”
I stormed into her apartment. Erin was across the room, standing right next to Aunt E. I stopped abruptly. They were baking. Erin smiled over at me as she poured the mashed orange mixture into a pie shell. “My first sweet potato pie.”