Page 54 of The Dragon 1

Zo widened his eyes.

“Look. I don’t think anything will happen, but if something does, climb out your window and get help.”

“Climb out my window?” Zo frantically shook his head. “Are you mad? We’re on the second floor.”

“You can leap or something.”

“Leap?”

“Just go hide,” I stepped around Zo, picked up my mace from my bag, and headed to the front door.

Poor Zo. How can somebody so huge be so scared all the time?

Anytime he stayed at my place in Brooklyn, he jumped and shrieked when he heard a popping noise or the police sirens blaring by as if I lived in a crack den in the center of the hood.

“Nyomi, maybe I should stay.” Still, he edged away from me.

Yeah, right.

I turned to him. “Just go. I’ll be fine.”

I wasn’t fearless. I was just good at lying to my own heart. But my hands. . .they always told the truth. And they were shaking.

“Okay,” Zo rushed to the bedroom and slid the door closed.

I shook my head.

What a hero. . .

Chapter nine

Clitoria

Nyomi

With my mace now in my hand, I headed over.

The person knocked again. “Please, open the door, Ms. Palmer.”

“I’m coming, sorry.” I could have sworn I heard a sigh of relief from the person on the other side.

What are you up to now, Kenji?

Kicking away the boots that I left by the entrance, I opened the door.

A teenaged boy with light blue hair down to his shoulders gazed back at me and held a big box that looked about three feet long and a foot wide.

Silver rings pierced his right nostril.

Baggy jeans hung on his slim waist yet he had the nerve to look me up and down as if I were the different one.

“Are you Ms. Palmer?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.” A huge smile expanded over his face. Curiosity lingered in his eyes.

That seemed to be the expression I got from people here. As I explored the city, many did double takes, kids pointed like I was a peculiar creature, and some even snapped a picture.