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I scanned hundreds of words as quickly as I could when Daniel appeared back at my side "Table’s ready," he said "Cohed and went off to sit with Sophie But as pro?" Noah’s voice was velvet and warht my eye

kumi

They peeked out from under the corner of another flier I folded the top one over, feeling a rush of hope--

The full as Lukumi, but as I squinted to try and read the s the sentence Either the context was off, orfro with me "Church of Lukumi"

I bit my lip "Well, he’s a priestmaybe it’s his church?"

Noah withdrew his iPhone and typed soned

"What?"

He showed me the screen There were hundreds of thousands of hits-- to the Church of Luku its name

"It’s another naion Whatever that man’s name was, it wasn’t Abel Lukumi"

He had used a fake name

I tried not to let my disappointment show as I ate, but it was hard Sophie didn’t appear to notice, though, and Daniel pretended not to When we finished dinner, we left the building loaded with Styrofoam boxes full of plantains and beans to spare

"That was incredible," Sophie said, her voice dreamy "I can’t believe I’ve lived twenty minutes away and never knew about it"

"Good choice," Daniel agreed, chucking Noah on the shoulder We all climbed back into the car, and Sophie put her iPod into the dock and played some tense, obscure piece she wanted Daniel and Noah to hear But just as thesmall hit our windshield and slid down

Sophie screahtly on the wet paveht The streetlalass and the windshield wipers swooped, spreading the stain

We hadn’t even turned off of Calle Ocho, but it was late and rainy and there was no one behind us, so ht behind him

The car was silent but my heartbeat roared in my ears They were outside for less than a ain

"It was a bird," Noah said, slipping into the backseat beside an to calm down

"A crow," uilty

Sophie reached over and put her hand on his arm "I’ in the lane He shook his head "I’ve never hit anything in my whole--"

His sentence was cut off by another soft thu

"What the--" Daniel started

But before he could finish his sentence, the thump was followed by dozens more And not just on our car but also on the road, on the parked cars that lined the street

We were shocked into silence as a murder of crows fell from the sky

23

AFTER WE DROPPED SOPHIE OFF, DANIEL AND Noah exchanged theories on the way home The storm Disease There were a bunch of scientific possibilities, but a feeling gnawed atelse

Seconds seemed like lifetiht I stared at the clock on htstand, but the hours passed and he didn’t show He didn’t tell