A Song Below Water

Still sad, Effie wonders about her mother Minerva. Minerva didn’t share much of her past, as her parents died before Effie was born and didn’t have pictures of their daughter. Paw Paw and Mama Theo (assumed to be Minerva’s grandparents and Effie’s great-grandparents) raised Minerva afterward. Effie never knew about her father, though she asked her mother and Mama Theo about him often. Minerva always apologized and said her father wasn’t coming back. Mama Theo told Effie to value the loving family she had and stop “chasing after make-believe” pursuing her father (54). 

In history class, students discuss civil liberties. Unlike Tavia, who takes IB advanced placement classes, Effie is in the regular class. Students name the right to bear arms and the right to remain silent among others. Effie zones out, practicing holding her breath and pretending she’s Euphemia the mermaid. The class discussion moves from freedom of speech to sirens: “We all know what pow­er si­rens can wield with their voices. If you think about it, their words are ac­tu­al weap­ons. Right?” (58). Isabella, a caring eloko, asks questions about when sirens have ever hurt anyone. Effie is proud that Isabella is brave enough to challenge teachers and prejudiced assumptions. She wishes she could educate people about how sirens aren’t “manipulating people all the time” or how “this really biased conversation was erasing Black people,” but she’s too timid and wishes Tavia were there to be eloquent and bold (59). 

For their history project, Effie and Isabella are partnered together. Without fully realizing it, they head to Triton Park to look at the assumed sprite-stoned statues. Isabella is respectful and empathetic, and checks on Effie. Though suffering PTSD symptoms, Effie confronts her friends’ statues. The girls climb into a giant, hollow tree trunk, and soon hear whispers and giggles of “Red Rover, Red Rover, send Effie on over” and “There were five, not four” and “Do the trick!” (71-72). Effie and Isabella are frightened by the sprite’s language and hair-tugging. Following Effie’s directive, Isabella plays her eloko charm melody, but the invisible sprite doesn’t relent; they don’t figure out the trick the creature wants. Eventually, the sprite leaves, and the girls run to the car.

During a choir competition, Naema, the mean eloko girl, cheats by lacing her voice with the eloko trill—a captivating melody she moved to her voice box instead of her bell necklace. Tavia is glad their choir places with distinction.

At home, Effie is on Tavia’s bed. However, Effie never naps and is self-conscious about getting dry skin everywhere. The gargoyle is also on the balcony. Tavia talks to the gargoyle for the first time. He doesn’t answer if Effie is alright, or if they’re in danger. 

While Effie sleeps, Tavia notices silky, white skin on her fingertips. She peels off the skin layer, up to Effie’s elbow, feeling alarmed and confused. Effie wakes up as Tavia hides her skin pile under the bed. After Effie admits she can’t remember getting home and that she visited her mother’s grave, Tavia considers getting her parents, since Effie is disoriented. She decides to get Effie’s car, still parked at the cemetery.

Effie is shaken and almost nonresponsive as they drive. At the cemetery, when Tavia tries to visit Minerva’s gravestone, Effie shouts at her to leave and that she’s “not broken” just because she’s “not happy at the moment” (79). Tavia feels horrible, since she’s never lost a parent. Tavia drives behind a frantic Effie. 

The police pull Tavia over, though she wasn’t speeding. One of the officers is her ex-boyfriend Priam’s father, but he doesn’t recognize her. Priam’s father moves to the squad car, and the other officer asks if she’s nervous about something. Tavia feels anxious and afraid, her siren voice flaring. The officer asks her to get out of the car. Humiliated, Tavia thinks of the injustice of being pulled over for no reason other than her race. She uses her siren song Compel to convince the officer to let her go. He obeys, but she can tell Priam’s father, who stares at her from his car, knows she’s a siren now.

Effie awakens from her daze when she reaches home. Her movements feel as if she is underwater—not in the regular “euphoric, welcoming, safe embrace” that soothes her skin, but one that weighs her down (84). She feels nauseous, regaining her memory in flashes: She was sobbing at her mother’s grave, and her scalp started itching. A kind man holding an umbrella tapped her shoulder, asking if she needed help, and she yelled at him, her hair rising and flipping around her. The man’s expression turned to horror, Effie’s stare intense and angry. However, Effie can’t remember what happened next.

Tavia pulls in with a tear-streaked face. Effie races to the car to comfort her, supporting Tavia as she uses ASL to communicate her interaction with the cops. She doesn’t tell Effie that she used her siren song. Since Effie herself hasn’t told Tavia many things, she doesn’t press her. They agree Tavia’s incident was an act of racial profiling and injustice, as Tavia says she did nothing wrong except “driving while Black” but got off with a warning (90). 

Effie has been swimming twice daily leading up to the Renaissance Faire. Today, lifeguard Wallace flirts with her at the pool and asks if she wants to race. They swim together, with her beating him. Mean girl Naema and her friends appear, though Effie has never seen them there before. Naema cruelly teases her that Wallace must be her imaginary boyfriend Prince Something, referring to Elric. When one of Naema’s white friends, Jamie, asks if Effie’s hair is her own, Naema scolds her. Effie appreciates that Naema stands up for Black issues, but Jamie tries to touch Effie’s hair again, and it moves on its own. Wallace tries to diffuse the situation and Effie yells at Jamie to stop touching her hair, but she isn’t. Naema shouts that she knew something was wrong with Effie and lists all the reasons she must be a mermaid.

Effie hurries out of the pool with Wallace trailing. He tries to calm her down, touching her arm, but she pulls away and snaps at him. She apologizes, stating they don’t know each other that well, then storms off.