At midnight, Sophia was still pondering this new information and its emotional byproducts, combing YouTube for some mood-appropriate music. Possibly as a result of her having run through Lazarus' old playlist, the algorithm showed her more Allies. The title "Voice of the Spirit" caught her eye. She started playing it and was not disappointed. It sounded like a perfect musical springboard for the kind of prayer she needed to make in order to seek further instruction. As she neared the end of it, she heard two words: Post it.
Esperanza couldn't sleep. The house was quiet, Damon asleep beside her. All was dark, save for the glow of her phone and the moonlight from the window, which combined to faintly illuminate the fearsome egwugwu mask on the wall: Damon's favorite decoration and the symbol of their joint dedication to militant, distilled African pride.
The grim expression on its face, once a source of savage glee, had begun to gnaw at her and the vaguely sinister half-light wasn't helping. She burrowed like a rabbit into her social media, searching for a pleasant distraction. Sophia, who had been internet-silent for months, had just posted a song on her personal, low-traffic account. Voice of the Spirit, huh? You sleepless too, baby? Curious, she played it.
It happens every day / I come so close, then I run away / I pray in frames of time / Then I shake my head when there's no reply / I live in a world where I've been told / To hear with my ears and not my soul
But the voice of the Spirit is calling me / To learn how to touch what I cannot see / The voice of the Spirit is calling me / To help me to hear when You whisper to my soul
How can I decide / In a place where there's no black or white / The answer should be clear / But the truth is sometimes hard to hear / I live in a world where I've been told / To hear with my ears and not my soul
...
I can't run anymore / I can't hide from Your eyes / I am waiting to hear what You're saying....
She cocked her head. There was something familiar about that song, but the associations were so old that she wouldn't have expected Sophia to play it. How did she learn about it? From Iris? Esperanza supposed with a shrug that that was possible. She plugged her phone back in, settled back into the covers, and went back to sleep.