The Saint & The Sinner.

Chapter 9: No Being Buddy-Buddy on My Watch.

|Corey|

I don't know what it was, but I did not like how close Tali and Sid have gotten in the last hour. She didn't warm up to me this quickly, and yet she's already got an inside joke with Sid. Was I jealous or was I being overprotective? I have no idea, either way I didn't like the closeness between them. And it's only gotten worse over the past couple of days since Tali's been coming to rehearsals with us. They go for these walks when we're at the house; they're gone for hours at a time. It's unsettling to have her gone for that amount of time with a male. Granted, she's with Sid and I know he'll protect her when I'm not there but he's still a male and I don't like it. Sid's thirty and she's only going on eighteen in December. She's just a baby still and I need to protect her. You could imagine the panic I felt when I got out of the shower and found she had gone out. She's only been here for five days, how can she possibly know her way around already? I knew Sid would be in town at some point this morning, and even though I don't like the idea of them being alone together, I asked him to pick her up so she didn't get lost. Why was I even lying to myself? I know Tali texted or called Sid while I was in the shower to see if he could come and pick her up. She wouldn't have walked. She's been complaining that her back and hips have been sore the last three days. She could barely walk yesterday when she and Sid came back from their "adventure" that lasted almost three hours. It makes me wonder if Sid wants to go to prison for statutory rape, or sexual misconduct with a minor. That, my friends, is a Class C felony. And I really don't want to see Sid behind bars, but if he doesn't back off of Tali then I won't hesitate.

"You can't possibly be upset that she's found an attachment to Sid." Steph told me over the phone. I could hear her friends in the background getting ready for their day. I frowned and paced around the living room, occasionally looking out the window to see if they're back yet. I texted Sid almost an hour ago and they're still not back yet. I've texted Tali and so far, I've received nothing back.

"How can I not be? She's not even eighteen yet and she's befriended someone who's thirty. They spent all day yesterday being all buddy-buddy with each other." I was both worried and annoyed with both Sid and Tali. They were getting a little too close for my comfort. There was no getting all buddy-buddy on my watch.

"Corey, she's over a thousand miles away from home and she literally just got out of a toxic relationship, she needs a friend who isn't her dad. Sid just so happened to have been the person she bonded to." Steph explained the obvious to me. I already knew all of these things. Just because I knew it doesn't mean I had to like it, I didn't like it. I didn't like Tali being alone with Sid because for one: I know what girls her age are like and two: I know what Sid's like. Tali is young and wild, and right now she's vulnerable and emotional. I don't want her getting into anything she'll regret later on.

"Okay, however it's one thing to bond with someone but I think they're sneaking around together. Yesterday they both disappeared for almost three hours and their excuse for being gone for so long was very generic and they never did say what they were doing. And then today she sneaks out while I'm in the shower and leaves a note saying she went for a walk when I know for a fact she asked Sid to come and get her." Paranoid doesn't even cut it in this case. I was conspiracy theory crazy at this point. Can you blame me though? My best friend and my seventeen year old daughter were probably off God knows where doing God knows what together. That thought itself is cringe worthy. How can I even think about Tali like that? How can I even think about my best friend of many years doing . . . –Those things to a daughter I just found out I have, I'm already head over heels in love with her.

"You need to chill out. If you think they're sneaking around then ask them. But you need to start trusting them. The less you trust Tali the more she's gonna rebel against you. Trust me; you don't want her doing that." Steph seemed to be the teenage girl expert, and she gave me some pretty good advice. Was I gonna follow it? Probably not. Although, I really should since I don't want Tali to feel like she can't come to me about anything. She can come to me and tell me about certain things. She felt comfortable enough to tell me about what happened in Miami and I don't want to lose that trust.