“Wait, what?” Rahim asked.

  “Later,” Kasia said. She ended the call. Rahim shook his head and walked over to the bench where Omar was now sitting.

  “Hey, you wanna hit the library?” Omar asked. Rahim put the phone back in his pocket.

  “I thought we were gonna watch Shaka play?” Rahim asked.

  “He did. While you were on the phone. Now he’s gone to hang out with his girlfriend, Tisha.”

  Rahim scanned the basketball court. There were only a few people milling around. A couple of guys were playing H-O-R-S-E.

  “Wait, how long was I on the phone?” Rahim asked.

  “Shaka played three games to twenty-one. I guess an hour. I didn’t want to bother you. I thought it might be important,” Omar said. Rahim leaned against the fence. What was happening? He could have sworn he’d only talked to Kasia for five minutes at the most. It seemed as usual she was right. Him being in the past was changing the way time passed.

  It’s like a record skipping. You’re skipping in and out of this time stream.

  Rahim blinked his eyes. That thought wasn’t his. It was like it had been whispered into his ear. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. When he was done, he saw the figure in the metallic-green coat and face mask standing on the basketball court. The figure nodded at him. Rahim closed his eyes tight. When he opened them again, the figure was gone.

  “That is bad. It’s real bad,” Rahim murmured.

  “Huh?” Omar asked.

  “Nothing. Yeah, let’s get out of here,” Rahim said.

  They left the court and headed up the street. They skirted around a few slow-moving adults. The breeze kept catching Omar’s tie, so he tucked it in his shirt pocket.

  “Why does your dad make you wear a tie but not Shaka?”

  “He doesn’t make me wear neckties. I like them. They make me look unique,” Omar said.

  Rahim stifled a laugh. That sounded like something his dad would say.

  * * *

  They were just about to reach the corner in front of the library when they heard a voice that froze them in their tracks.

  “Reynolds, I think I’m going to take your ugly shoes until you get me my Jordans,” Tyrone yelled.

  Rahim and Omar turned to face him.

  “What?” they said in unison.

  Tyrone grinned. He looked like a shark smiling.

  “You heard me. Take off your shoes.”

  His two sidekicks, who were present and accounted for, tittered like hyenas.

  “His shoes are not gonna fit your feet,” Rahim said. He didn’t mean for it to sound like an insult. He was actually making an honest observation. As soon as the words left his mouth, though, he realized his mistake.

  Tyrone’s face twisted into a ferocious scowl. “What you say?” he asked.

  “I—I was just saying . . . um, I believe in you. You can do it. You can wear his shoes,” Rahim said.

  The two sidekicks stopped laughing, and Tyrone’s scowl morphed from a look of confusion to a mask of rage.

  “Run!” Omar shouted. Rahim didn’t need to be told twice. He took off. Omar sailed past him as they flew down the sidewalk dodging startled pedestrians. Rahim could hear Tyrone and his boys pounding the pavement behind them. Rahim followed Omar as he took a right turn into an alley between two crumbling buildings. His tie flapped like a flag in a windstorm.

  “Oh man,” Omar said.

  The alley was a dead end. Rahim turned just in time to see Tyrone and his cronies closing the distance between them. He twisted his head and saw Omar trying to climb the tall wooden fence that closed off the alley. Rahim turned back around, and Tyrone grabbed him by his shirt collar.

  “You think you’re funny?” Tyrone said.

  “No, I really wasn’t trying to be funny,” Rahim said. “And I’m sure you have wonderful feet.”

  “I’m gonna knock your head off!” Tyrone yelled. He reared back with his right hand and balled it into a fist. Rahim shut his eyes and braced for the blow. Just then a voice echoed in the alley.

  “Hey, what’s going on here!?”

  A policeman was standing at the mouth of the alley. He had one hand resting on the butt of his pistol. All of the boys froze. “You let him go and come down here. All of you line up against the wall.”

  Tyrone let Rahim go, and Omar climbed down off the fence. They lined up along the wall facing the policeman.

  “Now, what’s going on here?” the cop asked. He was a thin man with a narrow face and a prominent Adam’s apple that bobbed up and down as he spoke.

  No one spoke a word.

  “All right, don’t everyone talk at once. I’m gonna ask again. What’s going on here?”

  No one said a thing.

  “Okay, that’s fine. Let’s see if you talk downtown.” The policeman grabbed the radio speaker attached to his shoulder and mumbled into it.

  “We wasn’t doing anything,” Tyrone said.

  The cop wheeled around and pointed at him. “No, don’t talk now. You had your chance.”

  Rahim had never gone “downtown.” He’d never been in trouble with the police. He was scared, but not just for himself. Getting arrested seemed like something that would definitely throw his dad’s timeline out of whack.

  Think! Think! Rahim thought. He raised his hand.

  “Oh, you gonna tell me what happened?” the policeman asked.

  “I have a cell phone. I’d like to call my parents,” Rahim said.

  “How’d a kid like you get a cell phone?”

  “My friend got it for me.”

  “Oh yeah? Let me see it,” the policeman said.

  Dang it, Rahim thought. He fished the cell phone out of his pocket. As he was about to hand it to the policeman, one of Tyrone’s sidekicks made a break for it.

  “Hey, stop!” The policeman took off after the sidekick, but a patrol car skidded to a stop in front of the alley, cutting off the fleeing boy.

  “What’s your address?” Rahim said to Omar.

  “What?”

  “Your address!” Rahim said. Kasia would be ticked if she knew he was doing exactly what she’d asked him not to do, but he had to get his dad out of here.

  “Nine-four-four Sullivan Street,” Omar whispered.

  Rahim typed in the address and pressed send. But not before grabbing Omar’s arm.

  “What—” Omar started to say.

  “—are you doing?” Omar finished.

  Rahim put his phone back in his pocket.

  Omar turned around in slow circle, his jaw dropped. He stared at Rahim, his eyes as big as dinner plates. They were back in his room. “H-how . . . how did we get back here?” Omar asked.

  “My phone gets a lot better reception than you’d think,” Rahim offered.

  KASIA SAT ON THE counter as her mom and dad helped their customers pick their cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers. They were at the co-op her parents had designed and built in an old warehouse four blocks from their house. Outside it was still ice-cube cold, but in the warehouse the high-power reflective lamps and the powerful geothermal heat pump system kept the temperature a balmy ninety degrees. Kasia was actually sweating. She yawned. She had stayed up late trying to get Rahim home. After getting her equipment back yesterday, she had worked nearly all night. When her mom had woken her up this morning, it felt like she had just gone to bed.

  The chime on the front door rang.

  Agent Brown and Agent Green walked through the door, still wearing their identical gray suits and sunglasses. They stood by the cash register as her mom rang up Mr. Khan’s huge bag of peppers.

  Kasia’s dad walked over to the counter. “Can I help you, gentlemen?”

  The two agents both folded their arms across their chests. “We’d like to ask your daughter how she stole back her computer equipment,” Agent Green said.

  “What are you talking about?” her dad asked.

  “Your daughter’s equipment disappeared from our vehicle. We’d like to ask her how she did it and where it is,” Agent Brown said.

  Her dad crossed his arms. “So, what you’re telling me is, you lost her property?” he said.

  Agent Brown and Agent Green didn’t respond.

  “You lost her stuff and now you come in here accusing her of stealing it? What kind of people do that to a little girl?” Mrs. Collins said.

  “You guys are picking on a little girl? For shame!” Mr. Khan said.

  “I can’t believe this! You’re blaming this little girl for your incompetence!” Mrs. Testaverde said. She shook a cucumber at the two agents. Soon a crowd of customers were surrounding the agents, who were beginning to back up toward the door.

  “You know what? I don’t think you should come back here. From now on, if you want to contact us, you can do it through our lawyer. He will be back from Australia the day after tomorrow,” Dad said.

  “I bet your mothers don’t like the way you treat little kids!” Mrs. Testaverde said. The agents were sweating, but Kasia was pretty sure it wasn’t just from the heat. As they backed out of the front door, she waved to them and smiled.

  When the agents had left, her mom hugged her. “You okay?” she asked.

  “Yeah, Mom, I’m fine. It’s no big.”

  Her mom looked over her shoulder at her dad, who was talking to Mr. Khan.

  “Okay, then. I guess we can tell your uncle not to worry about getting your equipment back, since you already got it,” her mom said.

  Kasia felt her mouth open wide. “How did you know?”

  “I didn’t. But now I do. My little princess. You’re a brilliant girl, but mothers know their children. I saw that sassy wave you gave those agents.”

  “You’re not mad?”

  “Mad? Nah. I’m just a tiny bit sad you felt like you couldn’t tell us. But mad? No, those agents tried to bully you, and they got just what they deserve. We’ll wait a little while and tell your dad. Sometimes he likes to be riled up. We’ll let him get it out of his system.”

  “I’m sorry, Mom. I should’ve told you.”

  “It’s okay as long as there’s nothing else you’re holding back. Like, how exactly did you get your equipment back?” her mom asked with an arch of her eyebrows.

  Kasia almost said it. She almost let it all out in one long breath. I built Rahim a phone and hacked some government stuff and accidentally sent him back in time and now I’m trying to bring him home before he does damage to the timeline.

  But . . .

  She didn’t. She had to do this herself. Even if her parents believed her, they wouldn’t be able to help. They’d just tell Ra’s parents and then they would all just get in her way.

  “No, Mom, nothing you need to worry about. And, well . . . I used Iago to get my stuff back,” Kasia said finally. Her mom smiled.

  “My brilliant little girl. Come on, help me stock the cucumbers before you change the world,” her mom said as she gave her a hug.

  They spent the rest of the day working on the growing beds, helping customers and members of the co-op, and picking their own vegetables for dinner. All the while, Kasia kept thinking about Rahim. Was he keeping to himself like she told him? How would she know if he wasn’t? If he was changing things in the past, she wouldn’t know it until she got home and checked the homework she had saved on the computer. And that homework had just been a few assignments about history. What if he did something that changed a scientific discovery? Or worse yet, what if he did something that prevented the satellite grid from being built so that she couldn’t make the phone in the first place?

  Paradoxes. They were enough to make your head hurt.

  Kasia helped her mom dump some of the tomatoes that had gone bad or overripened into the compost bin in the back alley of the warehouse. As they were heading inside, someone standing at the end of the alley in front of the wooden fence caught her attention. The person was tall and slim, and wearing a long purple leather coat over a black one-piece outfit. Their face was hidden by a black helmet. The person in the helmet waved at her. Before she knew what she was doing, Kasia was waving back.

  “Kasia, come on. It’s freezing out here!” Her mom held open the back door.

  Kasia turned her head. “I’m coming, Mom.” When she looked back toward the person in the helmet, they were gone. Kasia didn’t think they could have climbed the fence that fast, and they hadn’t passed her to walk out of the alley.

  “Okay, that’s weird,” she said. Normally, she liked weird. Weird was interesting. But given the current situation with her best friend, weird was now scary.

  “OKAY, TELL ME AGAIN. Slow this time.”

  Omar was sitting on his bed. Rahim was sitting in his desk chair. Omar was staring at him like he’d grown a second head.

  “I can’t tell you too much,” Rahim said. “Just know I’m not from around here and this phone can do some crazy stuff.”

  “No duh. How does it work?” Omar asked.

  Rahim scratched his head. “I’m not really sure. I just know I can’t talk about it too much.”

  “It’s like that thing on Star Trek. Wait, are you from outer space? Like an alien?” Omar asked.

  “No. I’m from Philly. Just not your Philly.”

  Omar lay back on the bed.

  “You know what this means?” Omar asked.

  “That we have to keep it a secret while I figure out how to get home?”

  Omar sat up straight. “No. It means we can get into the Four the Hard Way concert tonight!”

  Rahim squinted at Omar. “Have you heard anything I’ve been saying?”

  “Yeah, I heard you. You got a super phone that can teleport us anywhere. Where else would you rather be tonight than at the Four the Hard Way concert?” Omar asked.

  “Home. I want to go home. Which might not happen if we keep using this thing,” Rahim said.

  “But you used it today so we could get away from the cop?”

  “Yeah, because I didn’t want to go to jail. That was an emergency.”

  “You think I’ll ever get a chance to see them again? My dad is talking about sending me to Reading next year to go to a private school. He keeps saying all I should be thinking about is hitting the books. And I do like books. But I like other stuff too. School is important, I know that. But it ain’t everything. It can’t be.”

  Rahim studied the ceiling, then the floor. He thought Omar might be crying. He probably didn’t want Rahim to see that, and Rahim absolutely didn’t want to see that.

  It sounded like he and his dad had more in common than he would have thought.

  “Okay, we can go. But we have to be super careful. Don’t talk to anyone. We only stay for two songs, then we get the heck out of there,” Rahim said.

  Omar wiped his nose and raised his head.

  “For real?”

  “Yeah, for real. I’m sure I’ll regret it, but yeah, for reals,” Rahim said.

  “Okay, the show isn’t till six. You know how to play chess?” Omar asked.

  “Yeah. My dad taught me.”

  “All right, then prepare for a butt whupping.” Omar started to set up the board. Rahim rolled the desk chair over to the bed.

  “Is your dad nice, or is he like my dad?” Omar asked.

  Rahim frowned.

  “I mean, my dad is kinda on it about school like yours, but he’s crazy smart. My mom is too. My sister might be, but she doesn’t talk to me that much, so I’m not sure,” Rahim said.

  Omar laughed. “Your sister sounds like Shaka. But you didn’t say if your dad was nice.” Omar moved his first pawn.

  Rahim moved his own pawn.

  “I mean, he can be. One time we went to New York to visit some guy he’d gone to college with and he took us to Central Park and we all went rollerblading. My dad was, like, a genius at blading. He was doing tricks and stuff. But when we got home, he went back to being the same old dad. I don’t know. It’s like he forgot he was a professor when we were up there,” Rahim said. That he was saying all this to the boy who would one day become his dad made him feel awkward. Would his dad remember this conversation? Would he remember talking to a kid who told him about rollerblading in New York? Was his dad good at rollerblading because he’d talked to Rahim in the past?

  Rahim shook his head. If he kept thinking about things like that, he’d have to take a nap.

  “Knight takes pawn,” Omar said.

  Rahim looked at the board. Omar was trying to set him up for a Fool’s Mate. Rahim moved his rook. “Rook takes knight. Check,” he said.

  Omar looked at the board, then at Rahim, and then back at the board. “Your dad must be a good chess player,” Omar said dejectedly.

  “He wasn’t always,” Rahim said. A slight smile played across his face.

  KASIA SAT AT HER computer and let her fingers fly over the keyboard like bees buzzing around a rosebush. The screen seemed to melt into a never-ending series of flashing lights. As she worked, an alert from Iago blinked on the screen embedded in the right lens of her glasses.

  “Hmm . . . they’re knocking at his door again? Let’s see if this gets their attention.” Kasia stopped working on her desktop computer and grabbed the tablet that was connected to Iago. She moved her finger over the screen and the sound of a ringing phone filled her room.

  “Hello?” Dr. Reynolds said.

  “Hi, Dad. I’m spending the night at . . . Tariq’s house,” Rahim’s voice said.

  “Now, just hold on a minute. Your mom and I haven’t seen you for a whole day. And who is Tariq? You need to come home, and I mean with extreme expeditiousness,” Dr. Reynolds said.

  “Tariq is my . . . friend. I’ll be home . . . tomorrow,” the simulation said.

  “Boy, if you don’t get your—”

  Kasia ended the call. “I hope when I get you home your dad doesn’t ground you for the rest of the year.” And she went back to working on her computer.