“All done,” Dr. Zero, my boss and head surgeon of the veterinary building where I work, says. “Close it up, Nikki.”
“Yes, doctor,” I say. I sew a spaded pitbull’s abdomen. Dolly, Dr. Zero’s recently hired second assistant, grabs the cutting and prying tools to wash them in the sink.
“Hey, Nikki,” Dolly says in a muffled voice because of her tight face mask.
“Hmm?” I say, hoping she’ll see I’m not too interested in small talk.
“How difficult is it being a nurse here?” I momentarily pause, threading the needle through the dog’s skin to think of one word to describe my job.
“Manageable.”
“Wow! That sounds good.” Judging by the tone of her voice being somewhat higher than her normal voice, I feel this conversation might be about jobs. “I was thinking about doing what you do.”
“I knew it,” I blurt on accidentally.
“Knew what?”
“Uh...” I look around the table to help me find something to lie about. The dog’s mole near the insition catches my attention and gives me something to talk about. “Oh, I was counting the moles on the dog’s body,” I chuckle. “I was one short.”
“How many are there?”
“Um, what were you saying?” I say immediately after to change the subject. “You want to be a nurse, correct?”
“Well, it’s more like aspiring. I want to keep this job for a while first.”
“Ah... well,” I mumble as I finish closing the wound. “It’s not for the faint of heart.” After drying off the equipment, she walks to my table to take the dog away.
“I know, right?” She says, walking off with the dog toward the kennels. “It’s hard to watch y’all operate and cut open places.”
“You got to get used to it!” Dr. Zero says from his office. “It can get worse!”
“Jesus, really?!”
“Yup, it can,” I say to myself. “Some animals need our saving.”
“So does mankind,” Asteria says, appearing a foot from me. She scares the crap out of me. Somehow I manage not to yell at the top of my lunges. Instead, I gasp loudly. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you like that.”
“What the hell are you doing here?” I say as quietly as I can to not scream in her face.
“I thought I stop by and see how you were doing.” I peek my head through the doors leading to the front door and other rooms in the building. Jenny, our receptionist, is talking on the phone. Dr. Zero is nowhere to be found. He’s probably in his office in the back, typing on his computer. When I check to see what Dolly is doing, she enters the room the second I turn around.
“Dolly!”
“Oh my gosh!” Dolly jumps. “Yes, Nikki?”
“Uh,” I stumble on my words when I find out Asteria isn’t here in the room with me. “Uh, nothing.”
“Okay... The dog is in its cage.”
“Good,” I sigh without making it too noticeable. My phone chimes Sam’s ringtone a minute before my job’s digital clock-in device, tells me it’s time to clock out. “Thank Jesus,” I say, reading Sam’s text that she’s waiting outside. “Bye!”
“See you tomorrow, Nikki.”
I calmly walk out of the building, keeping my eyes and ears out for Asteria. Once I sit inside Sam’s cold car, I sigh from the relief of not seeing Asteria anywhere. To make sure the coast is clear, I check the backseat.
“Is... everything okay?” Sam says as she puts her car in gear to reverse.
“Asteria poofed into the operating room.”
“Oh, shit,” she gasps. “What did she want?”
“She wanted to see how I was doing.”
“I still do,” Asteria says. Sam suddenly hits the brakes. The car rocks back. My head slams hard on the headrest, enough for my sunglasses to fly off my head.
“How did you get in my car?!”
“I,” she pauses to wiggle her fingers like she’s trying to pook the air. “Phased in.”
“Huh?!” Sam says. Asteria rolls her right sleeve up to show us two glowing yellow bracelets.
“This device allows me to become invisible,” she says, pointing at the top one. “This,” she stops to rotate the device, “can make me go through solid material.” She demonstrates each by blipping in and out while poking her hand through my headrest. My mind is completely boggled. Sam and I have our jaws dropped. “Have you two never seen something like this before?”
“No,” Sam and I say together. Our similar response makes me remind myself of the current issue of popping in randomly I have against Asteria.
“Hey! Don’t distract me,” I say. “Get out of the car and leave me alone.”
“Nikki,” she says quietly and slowly like she’s holding back from yelling it. She leans forward to place herself between us with her eyes squinting and locked on me. “Listen, Nikki. You too, Sam.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Sam quivers. I can see the fear on her face. Her eyes are flushed open, and she’s breathing through her mouth. It’s quiet but quick.
“Your world as we know it will come to an end if you don’t help me.”
“Here we go again,” I accidentally say out loud before folding my lips into my mouth to shut up quickly. Asteria’s eyes and brows explode into pink fire. She snarls and yells at me to take the issue seriously.
“What is the matter with you?”
“I just don’t find it necessary for me to go out there when there’re others—”
“When there’re others that can take your place?”
“Well,” I say, looking at Sam to back me up on my point. Asteria leans further between us to completely block my view of Sam. “Yes,” I say boldly, staring Asteria down. Her angry look and stern voice are beginning not to scare me anymore. I figure there is nothing to fear from her. She isn’t a threat, plus I’m a super. I can fly, lift super heavy things, shoot fire and ice out of my hands, and move shit with my mind. I’m positive I can hold my own if we get into a fight. “You don’t need me,” I continue. “You want me to fix your issues.”
“Nikki,” Asteria calmly says. The fire in her eyes goes out when she blinks hard, like someone snuffing a flame, and returns to her pink-colored iris. “Please. I need your power.”
“Why mine?”
“Because...” Her voice gets softer. “The power I’ve given you has great potential, my dear.”
“Great potential,” I scoff when I think about the crazy stuff I used it for. “The potential to fix your shit?” She nods with a smile. I slowly push her away so I can talk to Sam face-to-face. “What do you think?” A cranky woman honks their horn a bajillion times while swinging their hands like a windshield wiper. Sam scurries out of the parking as if she’s in a hurry to leave. The tires screech before gripping the concrete.
“Sorry,” Sam sighs. “I’m a bit tensed up at the moment.” I look back at Asteria with annoyance for causing Sam to feel that way. “Nikki...”
“Yeah?”
“What I wanna know is why is this happening, Y’know?” Somehow in all of my questions, that one makes the most sense. “Was there a cause?” That is another great question. I’m shocked I have not said these critical concerns to validate her end-of-the-world bullshit.
“Good questions,” I say, continuing to stare at Asteria. “You’re a Goddess, right?”
“Y- Yes,” Asteria fumbles to speak. “I am.” I’m beginning to feel like that’s not the case. A Goddess is asking a human like me for help. Deities are supposed to be all strong according to the literature I read, yet this one appears to be struggling. I think she’s lying about what she truly is. She’s probably a regular super, just like me.
“I call bullshit.”
“It’s true,” she immediately says.
“You’re bullshit.”
“No,” she chuckles. “I’m real.”
“Enough with the lies, Asteria.” I continue to stand firm on my belief the more she tries to tell me I’m wrong. She tries to prove herself by describing Rome’s history by summarizing the Aenied from front to back. I don’t say anything and let her ramble on because Sam wants me to stop being an ass. Asteria talks unhinged for fifteen freaking minutes. She still won’t shut her damn mouth even when we’re walking up the steps to Sam’s apartment. Now she’s talking about when Wonderous became her champion during some Atlantian war.
“Okay, that’s enough, Asteria,” Sam says with a polite, gentle voice. “You know your history, that’s for sure.”
“It doesn’t convince me whatsoever,” I say as I follow Sam into the apartment. Asteria thinks she’s allowed to follow us. I stop her by putting my forearm across her chest while I anchor myself to the door frame. “Go away.”
“Nikki,” Asteria says playfully, elongating my name as if she’s whining and begging at the same time.
“Get the fuck away from me,” I say, out of earshot of Sam. She gets closer to my face to whisper I should reconsider and help find Elagabalus. Then she asks me what she can do to ultimately get me to say yes. “You can kiss my ass,” I say, about to shut the door in her face.
“Okay.” She gets on her knees and puts her hair behind her eyes. “If that’s what it’ll take. I’ll do it.” I slam the door without saying a word. The moment I turn around, she walks through the door, using her techno thingy.
“Nikki.” She grabs my arm to prevent me from walking away. “I beg you. My power won’t be enough.” When I look her in the eyes, she lets go to bring her hands together over her lap. “Please. You’re my only hope.”
“For the love of God!” My annoyance and anger make me accidentally engulf myself in fire.
“Babe,” Sam says in a gentle shaky voice with her hand flat out to me. “Calm down.”
“I didn’t ask for this shit, Sam!”
“I know you didn’t, but she’s picked you out of desperation, it seems.” I’m beyond speeches to the point I forget to breathe. Sam exaggerates her breathing to calm me, but it barely works. I want to throw Asteria out and tell her to piss off indefinitely. Unfortunately, I get a surprise call from Eddie.
“What?” I yell out before saying it again with a calmer voice.
“I was thinking about you,” Eddie softly says with a slightly deep voice. “How are you doing?”
“Um,” I say after a glance at Sam and Asteria. “Getting harassed by Asteria.” Asteria clicks her tongue and rolls her eyes before biting her cheek.
“Oh,” he chuckles. “Is she still asking for your help?” I walk into the bedroom to speak my mind in private. Sam distracts Asteria by asking her to try out the different brands of beers I bought for myself. The distraction is working
“God damn it, Sam. Those are mine.”
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“What are yours?”
“My beers I brought,” I pout with my face pressing into Sam’s pillow. “I haven’t gotten out of my uniform,” I continue to whine.
“Go ahead and do that.”
“Good,” I pause to use my speed to take off my clothing and wear house clothes without crashing into things before I say, “Idea, Eddie.” My scrubs fall to the ground when I sit on the bed once I get out of moving fast. “Okay, I’m done.”
“You’re quick.”
“I changed clothes before my scrubs hit the floor.”
“Wow,” he chuckles. “You’re really fast. Must be cool, hmm?” For a moment, I think about whether it is or not. Most of my abilities are mostly done through flight. I rarely round around.
“I guess,” not knowing what to say at the moment. “So, why were you thinking about me?”
“Ever since what Nemetoria did at the base, it really shook us up.”
“Oof,” I grunt.
“Yeah... That was the first time I’ve seen her do such a thing.” No one in his organization knows why she snapped. He then tells me he’s sorry for everything that happened that day and hopes it doesn’t change my view on Egnimas.
“Eddie,” I sigh to prepare myself to tell him what he probably doesn’t want to hear. He sighs a few seconds after I do. “It isn’t for me.”
“I understand.”
“I’m sorry.”
“There’s no need. It was a long shot anyway.”
“I want to see what I can do on my own.” I raise my hand over my head to switch between the firey flame and foggy frost abilities. Then I twirl the flan blades using telekinesis while gently spinning around in a circle in midair. “I’m still learning what I can do.”
“We can figure out your potential.”
“So y’all can study me?” I scoff in a quick, loud laugh. “No, thank you.”
“Then I’ll help you. I can be your workout buddy.” The phrase workout buddy almost makes me giggle. I lose focus from floating and fall on the bed.
“You’re funny, Eddie.”
“Nikki, I’m serious. I’m willing to help you.” If it’s just him, I might be okay with that. He’ll likely know where to start and where I might need to focus more. But what if he’s just saying that to learn my powers and tell his higher-ups about me?
“How can I trust you’ll keep everything we do between us?”
“Do you want me to write out an NDA?”
“Yes, please,” I say with some sass.
Eddie, with the help of Christabell, writes a draft for me while I prepare myself to deal with Asteria. I go through several gameplay scenarios to effectively get her out of the apartment with the fewest words possible. The second I open the door and place my eyes on the couch, my blood instantly boils. Sam and Asteria have my costume lying across their laps. I catch them smiling before it disappear.
“How the? What the? How the fuck?” Gibberish with incoherent mumbles of me not trying to cuss at everyone explodes from my mouth. “Sam!”
“I was trying to keep her distracted,” Sam says after she stands up. “It worked.”
“Then how did she get my suit!?”
“Relax,” Asteria says, tossing my outfit in the air. It vanishes before falling to the ground. “It’s just an illusion. The real one is still in your wardrobe.” She points at the wall where my wardrobe is.
“Great!” I say with a single loud clap. “Get out, or I’m throwing you off the balcony.”
“Nikki!” Sam gasps. “That’s rude!”
“Your choice, Asteria.” Sam twiddles her thumbs while looking at Asteria to say something. Five seconds go by without an answer. Another five seconds pass, and I’m about to do the unthinkable. The moment I lean forward to take a step, Asteria looks me in the eyes.
“I’ll leave,” Asteria says. “Sam, do you mind opening the balcony door for me?”
“Sure,” Sam says, opening the door.
“Nikki...”
“What?!” I blurt out.
Sam tells me to settle down only using her lips. When she opens her mouth to get ready to talk, my phone rings. A moment later, Sam’s phone goes off. Sam answers the phone speaking in Hindi. She only does that when she’s talking to her family in India. My ears can pick up her mother’s voice. I don’t listen for long because my attention goes to my phone. I lean into my room and use telekinesis to bring the phone into my hand, but the trajectory is a hot mess. It dips up and down, then slams into my palm.
“Hey, Eddie,” I say when close the bedroom door behind me.
“We got a situation out here in Evening Star,” he says, out of breath. “I think we need your help.”
“Uh,” I stumble on my words, figuring out why I know that name. “Isn’t that the country?”
“Yes!” Something in the background squeals like a big possessed by a demon. It screams over his voice, nearly blocking out his voice. The volume is high-pitched yet low. “Can you get here now?”
“Yeah... yeah... uh!” I rummage through my drawers to pick out a useless hoodie and sweats to wear. “Sam,” I say, jogging past her to the balcony. “I gotta go. It’s an Emergency. Eddie needs my help.”
“I have an emergency too,” Sam says, talking in and out of English. “My sister is sick. I need to fly to India.”
“Oh shit.” I step away from the balcony to be beside her. Her mother is crying with a shaky voice. Sam starts talking in English, probably to let me in on some details. She says she’ll be getting the first available flight to India.
“Nikki, go,” she whispers with her phone face down on her chest. “Go help Eddie.”
“Will you be okay?”
“Yes.” She gives me a quick kiss on the side of my cheek and resumes talking with her mother in Hindi.
I look at Asteria, point behind me to the balcony to remind her to leave, and then take off. I’m not one hundred percent positive about where Evening Star is. I know it’s west of Redemsia, but I use my phone’s navigation. Fortunately, it is quick enough not to lag behind when I reach speeds beyond three hundred.
Eddie sends me his precise location, but I spot the thing he’s dealing with far the distance. Whatever it is, it’s fucking massive. It almost looks like a spikey mountain that’s moving.
“Shit,” I say, zipping my phone into my right pocket and then flying to it. The closer I get, the bigger and clearer it gets. “I see why you needed me.”
It’s another one of Rayan’s hideous monsters. It has all the hallmarks of what I keep seeing. Vicious tentacle vines with thorns anchor themselves into the ground and hit people with them. The one thing that makes this one different is it has a mouth that spits wet like fire.
Half of the farming land is burning. There are firefighter trucks and other emergency vehicles on standby. Some spectators behind the police look straight at me. I hide half of my face with a mask before any of them undoubtedly begin recording me.
“Hey!” A woman shouts from the crowd. I don’t recognize her voice. When she flies up to me, I realize who it is.
“Magnetite,” I say.
“You know me?”
“I’m Eddie’s secret helper, remember?”
“Oh,” she gasps and points. “What can you do?”
“Lot of things,” I say with not much confidence. The monster’s size makes me doubt that my abilities can help solve the issue. Where do I begin? I don’t see Eddie anywhere, nor the other heroes I’m aware of. “Shit,” I say through my teeth. “I guess I’ll fight the monster.”
“Eddie, can you hear me?” She says with her finger pressing the device in her ear. “Your friend is here.”
Out of nowhere, I hear the sound of thunder. The skies are clear, yet I continue hearing it. A flash of lightning followed by Eddie comes straight down on the monster. He hits it from every angle while his lightning burns it. I jump into the fray, punching the thing with my iced hands. I’m strong enough to take out chunks of its flesh, but it feels like I’m hitting a brick wall. It almost hurts.
Christ! This is going to be a problem if Rayan keeps making more of these.
“Yo, Eddie!” I say, then slap my hand over my mouth. “I mean, Man O War!”
“Look out!” Eddie says, zipping past me at speed so fast his voice goes in and out. I catch a glimpse of him stopping a tentacle from slamming into me. He struggles to keep it away from me. I get blindsided by a different tentacle the second I try to come to help him. My body bounces, skids across the grass, then slams into an apple tree before stopping. Some apples fall from the branches, two landing on my face. My entire body is paralyzed with so much pain that I nearly cry.
“Oh my God,” I say with a raspy voice, slowly getting into a sitting position. My hands are shaking. I check every part of me to see if anything is broken or missing. Nothing is wrong except for my ripped clothing.
Asteria, how resilient am I?
“Hey!” Magnetite screams as she approaches me at high speeds from my right. She hits the brakes a bit late, and I have to press my hand into her stomach so she won’t fall on me. “Holy fuck! Are you okay?”
“I want to die.”
“Oh?” She nervously chuckles. “Please don’t. Eddie needs you.”
“Why me? Where the fuck is Nemetoria?”
“I don’t know,” she says, shrugging her shoulders. “We need her too.” I watch Eddie struggle to make a dent in that damn thing. The creature tries to burn him with fire like lava but misses. I have to fly to safety with Magnetite in my arms to avoid getting hit.
“Thank you,” Magnetite says, holding me for dear life. I keep her tight against my body. For the first after getting my powers and facing these creatures, I don’t feel like a superhero. I’m afraid to continue fighting. My confidence is fading the more I see Eddie try his best.
“Hey,” I say, placing Magnetite on her feet. “You should get out of here.”
“I gotta watch out for the people.”
“You could get killed if you’re not careful.”
“I know. But, I got to keep these people safe.” Her bravery amazes me. I doubt she has any powers like Eddie’s or mine, yet it doesn’t seem to bother her from being brave. “Get back up there.” She zooms away before I can tell her how scared I’m getting.
“Fuck!” I slowly float towards the wild monster, taking slow breaths to slow my heart rate. “You got this. You got this!” The moment I take off, a blonde woman in a yellow and white full-body suit emerges from around an apple tree to my left. She’s standing about one hundred yards away from getting burned. I fly to her, screaming for her to run the opposite way. She doesn’t move nor not take her eyes off the monster. “What are you doing?” I say in her face. “You’re going to die here! You need to get out!”
“Settle down, kid,” she says, rolling her eyes at me. “I am in no danger.” She continues to watch the monster with a grin on her face. I can’t tell if she’s enjoying it or batshit crazy. “Run along now,” she chuckles, shooing me away like a nagging child. I want to curse her out, but the bracelet around her right wrist catches my attention. It is similar to the tec Asteria has on her arms, but this one isn’t glowing yellow.
“Those things on your arms. I’ve seen them before. Do you know Asteria?”
“Asteria?” Her smile immediately drops after her eyes lock on me. “Did I hear that correctly?”
“Uh... Yes.” I point at my wrist and say, “Cloaking, right?” She suddenly becomes defensive, asking me how I know Asteria’s technology and if I’m a spy working for her. I try to tell her I’m not with Asteria, but she continues to accuse me of lying.
“Where is she?” She says after lifting me in the air by my shirt collar. I’m shocked, speechless, and shitting my pants to see her effortlessly hold me like I’m nothing. Not even her arm is flexing. “Where is Shar’I?” Her eyes flame up like when Asteria got angry at me. They’re green and not pink. “Tell me now, or I’ll beat it out of you!”
My heart sinks into my stomach. The fight and flight response in me goes into overdrive. I decide to lay my first directly into her nose without thinking of how hard I should do it. Her body folds back. A sonic boom ripples from the impact. She nearly rips my shirt in half. I fall on my ass in a panic to get away from her.
“Holy shit,” I say in a cracked voice. She’s out cold with a bloody nose.
The monster suddenly collapses. Its body violently shakes the ground. Tons of apple trees lose their apples because of it. Eddie zips above the thing, sees me, then flashes next to me. His sweating profusely and breathing heavily.
“Uh,” Eddie says, coughing and lazily pointing his finger at my chest. “Your...” He circles his chest to tell me to look down at mine.
“What? They’re covered,” I say to show Eddie it’s unimportant.
“Okay, okay. So, who’s that, and why did the monster fall over?”
“I don’t know,” I say, getting on my feet and then saying the phrase again. The creature’s body starts to spontaneously combust as if it is being melted by something extremely hot.
“Did you do that, or was it me?”
“I don’t know.” I explain everything that went down the best I can without freaking myself out.
“Wait. She called Asteria, Shar’i?”
“Yes.”
“What the hell is going on here?”
“I don’t fucking know, man,” I say, pulling on my hair as I walk away from Eddie. “Can this day get any worse?”
When I turn around, my day hits rock bottom. The woman is gone without a trace. I look to the skies, fly around the crowd behind the police line where Maganite is, and check the entire farmland. Nothing.
“That’s it,” I say, ripping my mask off my face. “That bitch has some explaining to do.”
“Who?”
“Asteria!” I say before taking off.
My shirt rips off my left shoulder from the force. The flight back to Sam’s apartment doesn’t last long. Thank goodness her balcony door is open. She’s on the couch, sleeping with a packed suitcase lying on the floor. Asteria is gone, but I wait a few minutes in the bedroom to ensure she doesn’t pop in.
After waiting, I shower and make myself presentable for Sam before waking her up. I tug on her hair in intervals of three. She tells me to do that only when she’s sleeping because it doesn’t frighten her awake.
“Hey, babe,” Sam says with her eyes closed. “I need to talk to you.”
“I need to talk to you, too.”
“You first.” I refuse to go first because I feel her talk is more important than what I have to say. “My sis got into a car accident, and my mother wants me back in India.” The horrible news from a knot in my stomach.
“That’s terrible. Is your sis going to be okay?”
“She’s in the ICU.” Her voice whimpers. Tears fill my eyes as I hold onto her hands for emotional support. “What time is it?” Her alarm goes off before I look at the clock on the wall. “Can you take me to the airport?” To uplift her mood, I offer her keys or myself as a means of travel. “Nikki,” she blushes. “My fat ass would be too much for you.” She chooses the keys, but I showcase my strength by floating around the room with her in my arms.
“You weigh like one of your thick pillows,” I say as I place her on the ground.
“You’re getting frighteningly strong, babe.” That statement makes me worried. I still have yet to test where my limits are. The worst thing I want to avoid is hurting someone or her on accident.
While I’m drowning myself with worry about concerns about my power, Sam pokes my right cheek. I look at her, waiting for her to say something, but she doesn’t.
“Oh?” I say. “Are you ready to leave?”
“Mhmm,” she nods. “So, what were you doing to say to me?”
I tell Sam everything that went down while I drive her to the airport. I explain what type of monster Eddie and I fought, my ass getting ragdolled, the strange blonde hair woman, Asteria being called by a different name, and my uneasiness with the situation. I ask her for any advice on what to do now.
“I don’t like this, babe,” Sam says with her fingers clawing her lips while she sways her head. “No more doing work for Eddie, okay? I don’t want to see you hurt.” Then she says, “After what we saw at their headquarters, this is getting out of hand.”
“It is,” I chuckle out of feeling scared.
“Asteria needs to explain some shit.” I look at my rearview mirror to see if Asteria will pop up. Sam checks over her shoulder too. We stay silent for a short moment before she continues talking. “I thought you being a super was cool, fun, and exciting.”
“It was a waste.”
“Nikki,” she gasps and lightly clicks her tongue as if what I said is wrong. “You enjoyed it before this Asteria and monster mess.” I take a deep breath in my nose and blow it quickly through my nose the moment I realize the truth in words.
“What should I do with the suit?”
“I’d keep it,” she says while massaging my forearm. The idea of keeping something I haven’t used at all seems pointless. The honeymoon phase of trying to be a superheroine came and went. I don’t see myself keeping the suit, and I think she knows, judging by her smile and head nodding. “Nikki...”
“I won’t do anything with it,” I scoff.
After dropping Sam off and returning to the apartment, I find myself sitting in silence on the couch with the TV off, texting her until she has to cut communication during the flight. I scroll through pictures of us together on my phone to keep my mind off today’s events.
“What a mess,” I say and laugh at myself. I shove my phone into my pocket and head to the kitchen to grab a cold beer. I hear someone walking down the hallway from outside. They stop right at my door and then go quiet. I wait for a few seconds before calling out who’s there.
“It’s me,” Asteria says. “I need to talk to you.” I hover over the door to open it. She’s looking down at her hands that are clasped together. “May I come in?” Her eyes stay fixated on her hands. The lack of eye contact is pissing me off. I’m a second from slamming the door in her face when she finally looks me in the eyes. “I saw what happened today.”
“Then you must know I have a lot of questions.” She nods rapidly yet gently. “Before I let you in,” I say carefully to keep my voice down. “Who’s Shar’i?” Her lips hesitate to open. I ask again who’s Shar’i, and she does the same thing but gives me an answer under her breath.
“It’s my real name.”