Shadowshaper

As Juan, Sierra, and her friends wait for the train to take them to Coney Island, Sierra lets Robbie and Nydia know where they’re going. Once on the train, Bennie persuades Sierra to tell the others the truth about shadowshaping: “They coming all the way out here with you and they don’t even really know why. It ain’t right” (195). Sierra worries they’ll think she’s crazy, but she tells her friends everything that has happened. Izzy tries to rationalize everything: “I mean, you don’t know that’s what’s happening” (197). Sierra tells Izzy if she doesn’t believe her to go home. A hurt Izzy agrees to leave, asking Tee to come with her, but Tee sticks with Sierra: “I said I’d have her back and I do” (198). Big Jerome goes with Izzy, too freaked out by the whole thing, but Bennie stays with Sierra, Tee, and Juan. As the train continues, Tee realizes that part of the poem might suggest they’re heading for a trap.