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THREE DAYS LATER, EDRICE CALLED. IMARA never expected to hear from Edrice before she heard from Abe, but that didn’t stop her from answering. She tapped Edrice’s picture and tried to clear all emotion off her face.
“Do I still have a job?” she asked.
Edrice sighed, and a genuine look of guilt swept over her face. “Yes,” she said. “I thought Abe told you already.” She glanced down, looking ready to apologize, but then seemed to think better of it. Instead she took a deep breath. “We just got an anonymous tip with two things about Sef. One, he’s actively trying to get onto the Egyptian Council so he can take control of the city. And two, he’s receiving a huge shipment of dangerous items. Don’t ask what the dangerous items are because we don’t know. Abe and Husani are going to try to intercept the shipment, remove anything dangerous, and then let the rest of the items go to Sef as planned.”
She cleared her throat slightly. “I know Abe hasn’t asked you to help because he insists you’re still recovering. But I know those nano bots work fast, and I thought you’d be eager to get back to work. Do you want to come?”
“Yes!” she said, nearly jumping out of her bed. She had done enough recovering to last the rest of her life. And she needed to see Abe. Her only contact with him in the last few days had been through Naki. Which was weird. She still had so much to tell him about Takara and Sef. And the virus.
“Oh,” Imara said, leaning back against her pillow. “I asked Keiko to make a virus.”
Edrice’s eyes lit up with a smile. “Yes, she told me about it. We might actually get the list; it’s amazing!” But then her face fell, and they both seemed to remember the last time they had seen each other.
Silence stretched between them while Imara scratched her nose. “I didn’t know,” she said after awhile. “About you and Abe. I would have told you we were dating, but...”
Edrice’s lips pinched into a thin line. Her eyebrows twitched, but she steadied her face a moment later. “Here’s the thing. Abe has commitment issues. I’m sure you’ve noticed. He always does stupid stuff, like he says ‘I love that you’re so smart,’ or ‘I love it when you arrange meetings’ but he never ever says ‘I love you.’ He can’t bring himself to do it.”
The truth of those words jarred through Imara until her toes curled. She’d only just noticed the same thing. In the bubble car, before she got kidnapped. He said he loved her curls. It seemed like a fluke at the time, but then she had way too much time to think during her three days of recovery. It had finally occurred to her that Abe never actually told her he loved her. Was it worse he also never told Edrice? She didn’t know.
Edrice stared for several seconds with her lips parting, and then closing again. Finally, she let out a big sigh. “I’m sorry you got involved in this. I really am.” She frowned, but then she gave a little nod to herself. “What I’m about to say... it’s going to sound like I’m trying to hurt you, but I’m not. I’m only telling you this because I like you, and I think you deserve to know the truth.”
She sighed again and grabbed the corner of her teal blue hair ribbon. It would have been great if Edrice showed any body language signs of lying or scheming. But she didn’t. The only thing her face exhibited was deepest sincerity.
With one last clench of the jaw, Edrice spoke again. Quickly, as if trying to get a bad taste out of her mouth. “The truth is, Imara, you’re nothing but a rebound. Abe is a really great guy, and in other circumstances I might even be rooting for you two. But he and I were together for two years straight. We broke up because of this stupid deal I made with Sef. Abe was really angry about it. Honestly, I think he started dating you to get back at me.”
Edrice dropped her face into her hands and covered her eyes. “He’s going to get back together with me, and everyone knows it. I’m sorry you got in the middle of this. If I hated you, I wouldn’t say anything, and I’d be glad you got hurt. But you’re my friend. I’m furious with Abe for hurting you like this, and I’m even angrier that he’s oblivious to it. You deserve better than that.”
Imara ran her thumb across the short hairs on her neck. They bristled against her thumb like a feather. It only made her worried. And angry. And hurt. Abe was the first one to believe in her. She tried to see the best in people because of him. She was trying to be better. Yes, she could probably do it without him, but she didn’t want to.
“I’m sorry,” Edrice said again. “We’re meeting at headquarters in a few hours. I’ll message you the details. If you change your mind and don’t want to come, that’s fine. Just let me know.”
Mercifully, Edrice ended the phone call a moment later. Imara had braved a smile at the end, but that was a mistake. The smile only hurt. Everything hurt. Everything inside and all over.
But maybe Edrice was wrong.
No. Not maybe. Definitely. Edrice had to be wrong.
Imara had something special with Abe. She couldn’t give up on him yet.
“Who was that?” Naki asked as she came into the room with a box of tissues.
“Edrice.”
Naki’s nose wrinkled. “She’s lucky I wasn’t in here because I would have told her all the reasons she needs to keep her grimy hands off Abe. And if she tries to fire you, I’ll—”
“She didn’t fire me,” Imara said, cutting her sister off. “She called to invite me to a job today.”
“Oh,” Naki said as her arms went limp at her side. “So soon?”
Imara pushed herself out of bed and headed for her closet. “It’s been three days since I left the hospital. My body is fine, but I’m dying of boredom.”
Staring down at her hands, Naki said, “Just promise you’ll come with me to the concert tomorrow night. They’re supposed to play a new song, and there might be a special guest.”
“Of course,” Imara said, bobbing her head up and down. “I wouldn’t miss it for anything. I promise.”
Naki flicked an empty tissue box off Imara’s desk and replaced it with the one in her hand. Flopping herself onto the bed, she said, “Oh, I almost forgot. Abe messaged me a few minutes ago. He says ‘Keiko told them about the virus. And also he hopes you’re feeling better, and he can’t wait to see you once you recover.’”
Imara pulled a coral pink shirt from the closet as she shook her head. “Did you tell him I need to talk to him?”
“No. I’m not doing your dirty work for you.”
Smashing the coral pink shirt into a ball, Imara said, “He won’t answer my messages or my calls. I have important things I need to tell him. I don’t know why he keeps messaging you and acting like everything is fine.”
“It’s because he’s an idiot,” Naki said as she laced her fingers behind her head. “I’ve told you this a thousand times. Just get rid of him while you have the chance.”
Imara dropped the coral shirt onto her shoulder and dug through the closet to find a pair of black leggings. “I don’t want to get rid of him.” Her chin dropped to her chest. “I love him.”
Naki let out a snort. “And I thought I had relationship problems. You can do what you want, I guess, but if he doesn’t come to Kenya soon, I might have to sabotage your relationship. Oh, and by the way, Mom and Dad already hate him.”
Imara tore her head from the closet, smacking it against the door frame in the process. “Why?” she asked, rubbing her brand new goose egg.
“You’ve been together for months, and he hasn’t been here once. Not once!”
Still rubbing around the bruise on her head, Imara ducked back into the closet. “It’s just busy right now.”
“Puh-lease,” Naki said, heading for the door. “Enough with that lame excuse. If you really mattered to him, he’d make you a priority no matter how busy he was. He’s in love with his business. The sooner you realize that, the better.”
Naki huffed as she left the room. Maybe she was complaining about Imara’s priorities too, not just Abe’s.
But what was she supposed to do? Give up on him? Give up on her job? Give up on Egypt? Sef was still there. The taggers were still there. She couldn’t walk away now with so much at stake.
