Goddess of Gotham (20 page)

‘Sonny!’ she snarled. ‘This is Sonny’s doing.’

‘You saw that?’ asked Chico.

‘Nope. I didn’t need to. That picture says it all. Sonny said he was away the day Kumari disappeared. Some cock-and-bull story about fishing upstate with a friend. That picture was
taken the day Sonny’s uncle took him fishing when he was eight. The kid hated it and has done ever since. How could I have been so blind?’

‘How can you be absolutely sure he was involved?’

‘He’s got these brand new sneakers. Lots of bling. Which means he got money from somewhere. And when Sonny gets money it’s never legit. Now I think about it, it all makes
sense. Sonny is involved somehow. Someone might even have paid him to take her. After all, she was kidnapped once. Could be the same people behind this. Find Sonny, you find Kumari. It stands to
reason.’

‘Where’s Sonny now?’ demanded Chico.

‘I don’t know. But I’ll track him down.’

‘Let me,’ begged Chico. ‘He might tell me stuff he’d never tell you.’

What he said made sense.

‘OK but you be careful,’ said Ma. ‘He hangs out round Fordham Road. Got a friend down there sells sunglasses. Sonny sometimes helps him out. They work a stand outside the kebab
shop. If they ain’t there it’s ’cause the cops showed up. Those boys, they don’t have no street licence. If he ain’t there, I don’t know where he is. Boy is a
law unto himself.’

‘Thank you, thank you,’ said Chico, flinging his arms around Ma.

‘Aw shutterbugs,’ said Ma. ‘I can see why Kumari’s sweet on you.’

‘She is?’ said Chico. ‘Well, thanks for that, too.’

Chico strolled down Fordham Road, scoping it out from behind his shades. Over there was the kebab shop. He could see a stand out front, two guys hawking stuff. Ambling over, he
pretended to take a look. Fake designer sunglasses, logoed wallets.

‘You got anything else?’ he asked, dangling a pair. Neither of these guys looked like Sonny’s photo. Then again, neither of these guys were eight years old. He tried to make
out some resemblance to Ma but that too was tough. She had one unique look. Chico squinted at the pair again. Maybe the one on the left.

‘Anythin’ else?’ said one with heavy emphasis.

‘Yeah, like, you know, other stuff. I mean the real deal, man. The solid gold. You know what I’m saying?’

The pair behind the stand looked at one another. The one on the left moved to Chico’s side.

‘I can get you anythin’ you want. You pay up front. No questions asked.’

‘It’s for an
acquaintance,’
said Chico. ‘An associate of mine. Said I could rely on you to come up with the goods. Told me you’d do it for a
price.’

The guy’s eyes sharpened, narrowing at the scent of cash.
Bingo!
Thought Chico.

‘Who told you this, man?’

‘A mutual friend. He told me to come here, find Sonny.’

There it was again, that gleam. Looked like his gamble had paid off. It was obvious someone had hired Sonny to do whatever he did. Guys like Sonny were never the boss.

Taking another wild guess, Chico plunged on.

‘My friend, he says you did good last time. With the girl. He’d be willing to pay the same for a similar job. Know what I’m talking about, brother?’

‘Razzle said that? He thinks I did good? Well, you tell
Simon
the price, it just went up. It ain’t so easy snatchin’ someone just like that. Who’s he got in mind
this time?’

‘Oh just some chick, you know,’ said Chico, heart beating fast.

‘Yeah,’ Sonny sniggered. ‘Simon, he likes the chicks. Says he “appreciates their aesthetic”.’

‘Weird, huh?’ said Chico. ‘Wonder why he said that.’

‘Well, he’s some kind of cosmetic surgeon, ain’t he?’

‘Oh yeah, yeah, I know,’ said Chico. ‘What I mean is, “aesthetic”, that’s kind of a long word don’t you think?’

‘That’s what you get when you hang out on Park Avenue.’

‘Guess so,’ said Chico. ‘Look, I gotta split. Meeting Simon. You know, to talk business.’

‘Sure,’ said Sonny. ‘You give him my regards.’

‘Oh, I will,’ said Chico. ‘Big time.’
Sucker.

Heading for the subway as fast as he could, Chico called Assistance for Razzle’s number. His receptionist answered on the third ring, in a deeply shallow sing song tone.

‘Simon Razzle, Surgeon to the Stars, Mindy speaking
mayihelpyou
?’

‘Yeah. Got a delivery for Mr Razzle. Just checking I got the address right.’

‘431 Park Avenue.’ Slam. The phone went down. Chico smiled despite her rudeness.

‘Hang on, Kumari,’ he muttered. ‘I’m on my way’

He could only hope he was not too late.

Someone was banging and crashing around. Or maybe she was dreaming. Painfully, she tried to open her eyes. The white light scorched her pupils. There it was again, another
bang. Then a shout, sounding very far away. Suddenly the sound exploded into the room. There was one almighty slam.

‘Kumari!’

She knew that voice.
Now, where on earth had she heard it?

‘Kumari, it’s me Chico,’ it said.

Chico? Who was Chico?

‘Kumari, look at me. What have they done to you, sweetheart?’

Sweetheart. Now that was nice.
Woozily, she tried to smile in his direction.

‘Come on, Kumari, we have to go.’

He was pulling her away from her pillow.

‘No, no,’ she protested. ‘Got to sleep.’

She tried to snuggle back down. Suddenly her cheek was stinging, the blood racing to her skin. What a nerve. He had slapped her!

‘Ow,’ she cried, trying to hit him back.

‘That’s my girl,’ said Chico.

Somewhere in the background she heard a groan.

‘Ignore that. Come on, Kumari, we’re outta here.’

He could not have said anything nicer. She tried to stand, swayed and fell. Instantly, he had caught her, sweeping her up in his arms. As they exited the ante-room, Chico stepped over something
on the surgery floor. Through the mist that fogged her mind, Kumari saw it was the crazy guy with the needle.

‘Don’t worry about him,’ said Chico. ‘He’s out for the count.’

As he carried her out the door, the world spun faster and faster.

‘My hero,’ she murmured.

And then she threw up, all over Chico’s shirt.

It was the last thing she remembered.

And the first when she woke up.

KUMARI’S JOURNAL

(TOP SECRET. FOR MY EYES ONLY.

EVERYONE ELSE KEEP OUT!

THIS MEANS YOU!)

The World Beyond

June 20th – 163 days to go (got to drop this counting thing)

Ever since he rescued me Chico has been super nice. It’s like he’s forgotten all about me being weird and actually wants to be my friend. I just have to try to
forget that I threw up all over him. I mean, how embarrassing is that?! But he’s been really nice about it. Said that it was no wonder I was sick considering the stuff Razzle was pumping into
me. Told me he’d have done the same (although I’m sure he wouldn’t). Anyway, he saved my life. Simple as that. I will never, ever forget that and I told him so (urk!).

Even better, Hannah and Charley came round to see me and we ordered in pizza from Giovanni’s. Giovanni’s is just
the best and Ma even let us eat it in my room. It was kind
of tight – Hannah sat on my bed and Charley on the chest of drawers – but Ma said I wasn’t to get up even to sit on the sofa. The doctor told her I had to rest and she’s
taking that
very
seriously.

Thing is, I feel fine. I mean, it’s not like I’ve broken anything. I had this really big headache for a day or two that the doc said was from all the drugs. OK – I cry
sometimes. Ma says that’s to be expected. She says anyone who’s gone through what I’ve gone through would feel all mixed up for a bit. But Hannah and Charley don’t think
I’m mixed up – at least, no more than normal. They even said they don’t care about the freaky goddess stuff – they’re just happy I’m OK. I did try to tell them
about being mortal but they started to get those looks on their faces again so I dropped it. I guess it is confusing, one minute me saying I’m a goddess then I’m not. I’m
confused, for heaven’s sake, never mind Hannah and Charley!

Chico’s been to see me a couple of times. He gets on really well with Ma. In fact, I saw her wink at him the other day. I wonder what
that
was all about. In fact, so much for
resting – my room’s more like Grand Central Station. Just after Hannah and Charley left, Ms Martin appeared. Ms Martin actually came to my house! It was weird seeing her out of school
and she sat on my bed and everything. Actually, once we’d been talking for a bit I kind of forgot she’s my teacher. She even brought me some candy and told me not to worry about it
being unhealthy. And then she told me about this cool trick you can do where you drop mints into Coke and it
shoots up really high. She said it was OK to tell me as it was of scientific
interest. Somehow I don’t think that will wash with Ma if I try it out in the kitchen.

Then, just before Ms Martin left, she gave me a notepad and a pen. She said I might like to start thinking about the essay competition – maybe make a few notes. When she said that,
these big tears just fell out of my eyes. I mean, how embarrassing (again!). But Ms Martin was really cool and just said it was good to cry. In fact, she said she cries whenever she watches
It’s a Wonderful Life
but not to tell anyone as it might blow her cover. I promised I wouldn’t breathe a word although I’m not absolutely sure what she meant.

Anyway, here I am. I have the notepad beside me. But all I can think about is that crazy man’s shiny face and the way he looked at me. It was like I was this
specimen
, like all I
was to him was an experiment. And he went on and on about finding the secret of eternal youth. I wanted to shout out that he was wasting his time but my mouth felt like it was full of cotton wool.
I can still see the bruises on my arm where he kept sticking in his needles. Boy did they hurt. Most of all, I remember that woman’s voice. The woman who wanted to buy my face.

Sometimes I think it must have been a dream and then I look at the bruises and see it wasn’t. The police also seem to think it was a dream – at least, they’re not taking me
seriously. OK, so they questioned Razzle, but that was three days after the event. No wonder they didn’t find any evidence. Like Ma said, he got rid of it. As for Sonny – he’s
disappeared. Even Ma said ‘good riddance.’ And when I tried to tell them about the
woman who wanted to buy my face they really started to look at me like I was a lunatic. That
was when Ma got me out of there in case they tried to lock me up in some other institution.

Park Avenue’s a world away from the Bronx, that’s what Ma told me. Apparently it’s a whole different ball game when you’ve got a fancy address and a medical
certificate. So it looks like Razzle will get away with it and I’ll just have to forget it ever happened. Except I can’t forget. I see it every night when I close my eyes. That horrible
little room with the white light and nothing else. The hard bed he kept me strapped to. The tubes sticking out of my arm. I’m not even sleeping and I’m having nightmares. This is far
worse than when I dream of Mamma. At least then I wake up. One thing I do know, if I can survive that I can survive anything.

Ma says I should try to think of something else – keep my mind busy. I think that’s why Ms Martin brought me the notepad and talked about the essay contest. I bet Ma called her
up. Maybe it’s not such a bad idea. I mean, I really wanted to enter it before. Before everything happened. ‘No Place Like Home.’ Good title. I like it. I was thinking about it
after Ms Martin left. About home, I mean. I could really see it in my mind – like I was standing up on the mountain. I could see the palace down below and Papa’s chimney and my window.
Thinking about it now, I can almost smell the wood smoke on the wind. Almost but not quite.

CHAPTER 19

‘A
nd finally, Kumari.’

Ms Martin smiled encouragement. Kumari stood up and cleared her throat. The audience had sat through all the other entries until her turn. This was going to be tough.

‘No Place Like Home,’
she squeaked, then stopped.
Come on, take a deep breath, get going.
She caught sight of Chico in the audience, Ms LaMotta sitting up front. The
entire school was crammed into the auditorium. She did not dare look for Charley and Hannah. They would only make her explode into nervous giggles. In fact, summer seemed to have been one long
giggle, Charley and Hannah determined to keep her cheerful.

Along with Chico, they’d filled her days with so much fun that Razzle felt like a distant memory. But now summer was over. They had all fallen back into the rhythm of school. Most
insistent of all, the approaching deadline of the essay competition. And at last the day was here. Kumari breathed in long and slow, just the way Ma had shown her. When she spoke again it was with
more authority although her knees still shook.

‘My home is a place far away, although I am not sure of the exact distance. You will not see it on any map and it does not have a name. We know it as our Kingdom and my father is its
ruler. I was in training to be his successor but instead I ended up here, in the World Beyond. Although I wish for it more than anything, I do not know if I will ever return.’

Her voice broke over this last sentence.
Steady,
thought Kumari.
Keep reading nice and clear. You want this so much. You know this is important.

‘In my homeland, the most important thing of all is Maximum National Happiness. It is my father’s job to stoke its fires and to send its sacred smoke over the entire kingdom. That
smoke spreads the magic which keeps the kingdom content. Everything we think and do is judged in terms of Happiness. If something will not make the people Happy, then we consider it
bakwas,
which is not to be confused with
Badmash
which means “naughty”, in our language
.
’