Sierra Santiago and the Invisible City

Chapter 10 - The Search

"Sierra!" her mom yelled from downstairs. "Your father is trying to sleep! What are you doing up there?"

"Nothing, Mom!" Sierra called back as she dove across her room to where Tinibu lay upside down in a pile of socks and t-shirts. "Whatsa matter with you, kid?" she yellwhispered at him. "You outta your mind?" Tinibu righted himself and shook his head back and forth a few times. He gave a little indignant shrug and hopped off curtly. Sierra sighed. "Okay, okay, I know," she said, following him in a squat. "Biaque said you were still learning to control your powers. I'm sorry." He looked up at her. "But you can't be calling all kinds of attention to yourself like that, T. It's already kind of a weird situation. If my mom figures out I have a—a hunterfly in the house, well..." Tinibu gave a slight shiver and then disappeared completely. Sierra looked at the empty air where he had just been standing. "Uh..." And as suddenly as he vanished, he reappeared, looking at her expectantly. "Okay," she said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I understand. You can be invisible. I got you. That's good. But no more flying, okay? Not in the house. Not till you got it down a little better." Tinibu shrugged slightly and loped over to the courier bag. Sierra held the flap open and he crawled inside.

The strong Puerto Rican coffee was charging through her veins now, and she jogged briskly up the two flights up to her grand-tío's floor, knocked twice and let herself in. The midday sunlight poured through his open windows. The open sky and rolling brick and brownstone building tops of Brooklyn wrapped around the outside of his apartment like ever-changing wallpaper. As usual, the room was immaculate and the air thick with Malagueñas. Lázaro sat up pleasantly in his bed, but his gaze was distant. Sierra sat in the chair beside him, still panting heavily from running up the stairs. She took her great-uncle's hand in her own and held it for a few seconds silently.

"I'm gonna do right by you, Tío," she whispered. "We gonna find Lucera and make this alright. You hear me?" Lázaro didn't move but his eyes glistened slightly and she knew he was listening.

"Nice of you to check up on me," Bennie's voice said from the cellphone. "Why yes, everything's fine, thank you."

Sierra walked down Gates. The heavy June city sun beat down on her furiously, bouncing at her from off the hot pavement, smiling cruelly out of every passing car and store window. "I only just got up an hour ago," Sierra said. "And I don't see no missed calls from you on my phone."

"Whatever, girl. What happened to you last night?"

"I jumped over a wall when everything went nuts and just skated home and went to bed. What 'bout you?"

"Me and Emani and Big Malik booked at first sign of trouble and regrouped at the pool hall. It was better than that stupid party anyway."

"You guys went and played pool after a police raid? Gangsta. What about Ysenia and Little Malik?"

"They made it out okay. Malik tried to start some trouble, you know, but Ysenia dragged him off I guess and they met up with us at the pool hall."

Treme Lowery's sullen school picture stared out from Xeroxed missing posters on streetlamps up and down Gates. Sierra had seen these sad, homemade signs since she was young and they always got her furious. Why did folks in Bed-Stuy always have to be the ones doing the detective work when their children went missing? Where were the police? Messing up Big and Little Malik, she supposed, letting out a long, irritated sigh.

"Whatsa matter, Sierra?" her friend asked. "You mad you missed out on pool night? Shoulda called me, I woulda invited you."

"Bennie, you know this Treme kid that went missing?"

"Yeah, he's your boyfriend's homeboy. You seen him before! They always hanging out at lunch being creepy together. He plays piano or something."

Of course! Robbie's friend; Robbie's only friend to speak of. The two of them spent almost every lunch period holed up at a corner table in the cafeteria, talking quietly and drawing pictures. She'd been so hung up on Robbie she'd barely even noticed the company he kept.