“You were thinking what?” Mom said. “I can’t hear you over that awful noise.”
“Uh—hang on, Mom, I’ll call you back. Sorry.”
“Oh, you see, this is what I mean,” Mom said, but I wasn’t listening. I hung up on her, and I had a sick feeling in my stomach as I picked up the phone. So that Estelle could give me the yelling-at that I deserved, I guess. Helena had been too nice to me, and I knew I needed a dressing-down, and I was here to collect. That was really the only explanation for why I picked up.
“Hello?” I said, and Estelle launched right into speaking.
“Where are you?”
“Um… in a hell of my own making, primarily.”
“Very clever, Julie Branch. Tell me you haven’t run away yet.”
Oh, god, she was going to kill me. Couldn’t she at least have gotten Helena to kill me? I wouldn’t have minded so much if it was her. “So I guess Helena told you everything.”
“Oh, my god, answer the question.”
“I’m still here. In a hotel in northern Queens.”
“Northern Queens is a big place. You’re going to have to be more specific.”
“Are you trying to track me down?”
“Oh, well, aren’t you a smart one, Julie Branch!”
I guess I could see now why Stephen Shale felt weird when I did that with him. “I don’t remember owing you money.”
“Tell me where you are or I will find it by other means.”
“Other means? That’s ominous.”
“How do you think Helena found you at that courthouse?”
Shit, I hadn’t even thought about that. I gave her the address, and she told me not to move one inch or I’d pay for it, and then she hung up. I wondered what you were supposed to do with the last few minutes of precious life.If this were your last day, what would you want to do with it?
What I wouldwantto do with it was kiss Helena again. But I doubted she was interested in that.
All this time sitting here in New York, all this work trying to get to glittering cityscapes and fancy offices, and after experiencing it all, all I really cared about was Helena.
I probably should have called Mom back, but I guess I didn’t see the point if Estelle was going to drown me in the river soon, so I just waited until she sent a text that she was in the lobby, and I trudged down the stairs to find her there in a tank top and shorts, a slapdash outfit and enough concealer I felt like she was covering up for sleep deprivation. She put her hands on her hips.
“Miss Julie Branch,” she said. “What exactly do you have to say for yourself?”
I wasn’t really expecting what came out of my mouth, but I guess I wasn’t surprised it was about her. “Is Helena okay? She’s not pulling out of everything with Jewel, is she?”
She nodded back towards the doors. “Let’s grab lunch. That’s what I wanted to talk about.”
“Oh. I thought you were coming to tie me up and throw me in the river.”
She grinned. “Nah. Watch out for Linyue, though, she absolutely wants to.”
“Linyue does? God, she probably has a project plan for it, too.”
“This is your neighborhood. What’s good to eat around here?”
I cleared my throat. “Do you like pizza?”
It was a strange crossing of worlds as Estelle followed me into Tasty Slice, and Tubman was at the counter, dropping an earthshakingwhoooaaaat the sight of us coming in the building.
