Wonder Woman: Warbringer (DC Icons #1)(34)

Part of her still wanted to believe it was all a vivid dream, that she would wake up in her bedroom on Central Park West having never left for Istanbul at all. But that part of her was growing less and less convincing. Being back in Manhattan should have made Diana’s island seem more like a fantasy, but there was something about seeing this girl walk and talk in such an ordinary place that made everything that had come before feel even realer. It was like looking out a familiar window and seeing an entirely new view.

Alia pulled a small red nylon backpack from the larger duffel. She could sort through what had happened on the island later. Right now, she was too tired and hungry to form a rational thought.

“Could you…” She gestured to the duffel. As Diana hefted the bag into the trunk and crushed the metal back together, Alia opened the red backpack and stuffed everything she needed inside. The car’s rear end was a lumpy mess, but at least no one walking by would know it had been pried open.

They took the stairs back down to the ground floor and then strolled casually past the attendant at the entrance. He stared, but it wasn’t as if they were leaving with a car.

“What now?” said Diana.

“First stop, shoes,” replied Alia, though she was dreading walking into a store with her grubby bare feet. After that, she really didn’t know what to do. And there was something else bothering her. They’d seen soldiers on all the major street corners and at the entrance and exit to the subway. It reminded her of the images she’d seen of New York after 9/11 when the National Guard had been stationed in the city. Had there been some kind of attack while she was away? Her fingers itched for her phone. Once they were settled, she needed to get online or at least find a newspaper.

There was a Duane Reade on the corner, and as they entered the drugstore, Diana heaved a great sigh, holding her arms out to her sides. “The air is so much cooler in here.”

The clerk behind the counter raised her brows.

“Um, yeah, the wonders of technology. Fantastic.” Alia cleared her throat, grabbed a shopping basket, and pulled Diana down the nearest aisle.

“Look at this place,” Diana marveled. “The lights, the profusion of plastic. Everything is so glossy.”

Alia tried to restrain a grin. “Stop fondling the deodorants.”

“But they look like jewels!”

“Now I’m picturing you wearing those as earrings. Let’s keep moving.” In her peripheral vision, she could see a security guard tracking them through the store.

She wasn’t really surprised. Diana looked like she’d gotten lost on her way to work at the barbarian strip club, and Alia was a black girl in dirty clothes with no shoes. She was a perfect magnet for a shop cop. She could almost hear her mother’s voice warning her and Jason to be careful, not to draw attention. Don’t get into a situation where you have to explain yourself.

Lina, their father would say, you’re teaching them to imagine snubs where there are none. You’re making them afraid. It was the one thing their parents had never managed to see eye to eye on.

At least she had a pocket full of cash. Alia found her way to a sign that said SUMMER FUN and plucked the most comfortable-looking pair of flip-flops she could find off the shelf, then herded Diana down the hair care aisle.

“How can there be so many kinds?” Diana asked, running her fingers over the bottles of shampoo.

“What do you use to wash your hair at home?”

Diana shrugged. “We make our own soaps.”

“Of course you do,” said Alia.

Alia scanned the rows for a deep conditioner that she hoped would get her braids back in shape and a leave-in to go with it. As a kid, she’d insisted on using strawberry oil every single day until her mother had refused to buy her more.

“I thought we were just here for shoes,” Diana said as Alia tossed the bottles into her basket.

“And other necessities.”

“But—”

“Trust me, these are necessities.” At least the shop cop seemed to be keeping his distance, but she could see him in the mirror, tracking back and forth down the neighboring aisle like a circling shark, just waiting for her to make trouble or step to the register without enough money.

As they made their way to the checkout, Alia filled their basket with candy, chips, and soda, making it clear they were here to spend.

“You don’t want anything?” she asked. “It’s on me.”

Diana’s even white teeth worried her lower lip. “I wouldn’t know where to begin.”

“If Jason were here, he’d try to get you to eat protein bars and squirrel food. Do you know one Halloween he gave away raisins to all the kids in the building? He said they were nature’s candy. I was getting dirty looks from the kids downstairs for months.”

“Nature’s candy?” said Diana. “Dates maybe, but not raisins. Perhaps beets. They have a very high sugar content.”

“It was even worse the next year. He gave away toothbrushes.” Alia shook her head. Sometimes it was hard to believe they came from the same parents. “Lucky for you, I’m a junk-food aficionado. We shall have only the finest of gummy bears and the fieriest of Doritos. Once you’ve truly experienced the sodium and high-fructose corn syrup America has to offer, you’ll never want to go home.” This time Alia couldn’t ignore the worried expression on Diana’s face. “What is it?”