Having to stay off of her sprained ankle made it impossible for Mina to make it up the fire escape to her garden refuge on top of her apartment building. She waited on her window bench, staring dolefully out into the night. There wasn’t much to look at since her room faced the adjoining building and the window of Mrs. Orn, the neighborhood cat lady. Her visitors included, Mr. and Mrs. Wong, from the restaurant downstairs, who brought her dumplings, Nan, and the errant news reporter.
After the fourth knock on their door by reporters wanting to do interviews, Sara Grime was at her wits end. Mina’s mom didn’t know how she was supposed to protect her daughter from the curse when everyone in the world was somehow able to find them, despite being unlisted. The very observant Mrs. Wong, dragged out large bamboo mats and tall plants out of her restaurant to the curb. She covered the entrance to the stairwell with the tall mat and placed various plants and vases in front, making it look like a beautiful display.
She then sat outside with a tray of free samples of orange chicken and in broken English distracted the rest of the reporters by purposely giving them wrong directions to her house. Her behavior was a complete one-eighty compared to a few months ago when she had made a collage of newspaper articles about Mina and plastered them to her storefront window, bragging how a famous celebrity lived above her. Maybe because this wasn’t exciting news but more of a tragedy that brought out the protective instincts of the small Chinese woman, but whatever reasons the Grime family were grateful for their paparazzi protector.
But it wasn’t long before the news reporters forgot about the girl lost in the woods, to report on bigger stories. A local DMV worker had disappeared during the night. At first, a few people wrote it off as an unfortunate government employee being unhappy with their benefits. The next day a young female coffee barista from the local Starbucks disappeared as well.
Three people, in as many days, disappeared without a trace. People began to talk, spread gossip, rumors arose of possible kidnappings, but since no ransom notes were found, and no bodies were discovered, the media and police downplayed it, as individual runaway cases.
Mina barely kept up with the news because she still hadn’t found the Grimoire and was at her wits ends. If it wasn’t for her mother, who made sure Mina left her house to go to the doctors and school, Mina would have become a hermit, too scared to go anywhere.
Dr. Martin, gave Mina explicit instructions and she had to wear a brace and use the crutches as much as possible for a week. Much to her dismay, her school was almost impossible to navigate. Her crutches kept getting knocked accidentally by stray bags and shoes and Mina would find herself on her back looking at the putrid yellow paint of the hall ceilings.
Thankfully, Nan was there to yell insults at the boys who obliviously knocked into her. She also turned every embarrassing tumble into a comical adventure, by creating a photo tally. Mina’s fall count had risen to four and it wasn’t even lunch.
“Ooh, that fall was the best; I think you got air on that one.” Nan pulled Mina up and dusted off her bottom and back. “You ready?” she asked. Nan carefully pulled the phone in front of her, and Mina made a face and held up five fingers symbolizing the fifth fall. “Cheese!”
Mina tried to smile, but all she was able to bear was a painful grin. Nan grabbed up Mina’s books, put them in her locker, and helped her get in line for lunch.
The lunchroom was crowded, and the roar of people eating and talking mellowed to a quiet din as she entered. People stared, pointed, and whispered in their direction. When Mina pretended ignorance and didn’t do anything interesting or spectacular, they returned to eating their mediocre lunches. She was used to this pattern of silence then ignorance; it had already happened in each of her earlier classes.
Some meaningful students who wanted fame tried to offer help to Mina, but Nan scared them all away. After all, she didn’t want fair-weather friends or, as Nan called them, storm-chaser friends-people who only wanted to be her friend because of the publicity they would get by being associated with her.
Mina tried to point out her own food, but Nan was too busy talking about the finale of her favorite show to pay attention. Nan selected two deli sandwiches, cookies, milk, an apple, and bags of chips. Mina sighed when Nan switched topics to rave about Valdemar. After making their way through the hectic maze of chairs and tables, she was able to seek shelter at her favorite lunch table.
Even knowing that Brody was in the same room as her, didn’t make her feel any better. He came in, filled his tray with food, passed all of his friends, and sat at a table by himself facing Mina. His posture and furrowed brows betrayed that he was in no mood to be friendly.
Nan noticed his brooding and made a comment on it to Mina. “What is wrong with Captain Popular today?”