I want to put my hand on her arm to comfort her, but I know she wouldn’t want that. “Manal, if you think I’m one of his wealthy friends, I’m not. I promise, I barely know those people. I really am just a friend who wants to know what happened. Jay would want me to help him. You know that.”
She exhales, and the hostility finally leaves her face. “I honestly don’t know what happened to him. Nothing makes sense. But I think ... Iknowit shouldn’t be this hard to figure it out. People don’t disappear into thin air. Only people with buckets full of privilege can make that happen.”
“You think Jay’s rich friends are responsible?” Gracie asks.
“Of course, it’s obvious they are,” Manal says, still cleaning up her table.
“I’m not one of them,” I say. “I only want to help you. Jay told me how much you meant to him—he said you were like his best friend and his sister.”
Manal finally looks at me with teary eyes. “You are not at all what I expectedAleezato be like. And somehow”—she looks me up and down again—“I’ll take you at face value. Honestly, good for Jay forliking someonerealinstead of his revolving plastic door. So I’ll tell you this. If I were trying to figure this out, I’d start with who was paying Jay’s tuition.”
“He had a scholarship,” I say.
She shakes her head. “A very strange scholarship, if you ask me. One that usually doesn’t go to people who grew up where we did. Or to people who look like us.”
Clearly, I need to find out more about the Bright-Knowles Award.
“Have you heard of a law office called Choi, Patel, and Associates?” I ask. I’m grasping at straws here, but she’s finally talking, and I don’t know how long we have with her.
“No, never heard of it,” she says. I believe her.
“Have you seen the police report about his disappearance?” Gracie asks. “We’ve been trying to figure out who saw him last.”
Manal shakes her head. “No, but remember this—some people are so powerful that they canbuywitnesses. Even buy their own justice. I have nothing else I can tell either of you.” She resumes packing up her things.
“Where’s your aunt?” I ask quickly before she can leave. “Is Salma missing, too, or did she leave on her own?”
She shakes her head. “Salma Aunty spent her whole life trying to escape her past. And her past still came and took him. I don’t blame her at all for escaping this damn city. People like us? We can’t ever, ever win here. They own it all. They will never let us forget that.”
Somehow, I know she’s including me and Gracie when she sayspeople like us. She meansus—newcomers, immigrants, and the children of immigrants.
Manal walks away. And there’s nothing I can do to stop her.
EIGHTEEN
The moment Manal is out of the café, Gracie turns to me, eyes full of betrayal. “What the hell, Aleeza? You told me when we met that you didn’t know Jay. Don’t tell me you actuallydidhook up with him.”
I sigh, looking out the window at Manal walking away. “No, I didn’t know him ... then.”
“That’s not what Manal said.”
I turn back to Gracie. She looks furious. Can I tell her the truth? It would honestly be nice to have someone out there who knows what I’m going through. And Gracie is my friend. Friends should be open with each other. I trust her. “I can explain. But ... back in my room. In private.”
Gracie stares at me for a long time before exhaling. “Okay, girl. Let’s go home.”
On the short subway ride home, Gracie is silent, which is good. I need to think. Will she even believe what I’m about to tell her? Or will she think I’m nuttier than a squirrel in the fall? And if she does believe me, will she tell anyone? I don’t want my connection with Jay to turn into a freak show. I don’t want people to think I’ve lost my mind, and I definitely don’t want strangers intruding on what we have. Especially now—we’re only days away from his disappearance. I can’t do anything that could make me lose him before we solve this.
When we get back to my room, Gracie sits on my bed and looks at me pointedly. “Okay. Talk.Didyou know Jay before you moved in here? Have you been lying to me this whole time?” Her eyes are narrowed with accusation.
I sigh. “Okay, but ... it’s not only my story to tell. I need to ask someone first.”
I sit on Jay’s bed and check the ResConnect app on my phone, and thankfully, Jay’s name is there. He’s home. I quickly message him that Gracie found out that he and I know each other, and I want to explain everything to her. I ask him if he’s okay with that. I say it might be easier for us to get to the bottom of it all if Gracie has all the cards.
“It’s Jay you’re texting, isn’t it?” Gracie asks, eyes wide. “He’s not dead and you know where he is, don’t you? Why the hell are we doing all this if you can just text him like that? You need to go to the police!”
I sigh, hoping Jay writes back soon. Thankfully he does.
Jay:Do it. Tell her. I trust Gracie.
