Truth Untold

03. A Sleepless Night and One Annoying Junior

   Delilah went home as soon as she could, jumping into Frankie's truck quickly and just about slamming the door.

   "Whoa, what's gotten into you?" He spoke, moving towards the exit. There was a line already and there might've been a stream of quiet cursing in his voice.

   "Just a boy. Don't worry, I got it covered." She assured him before he could go on a tangent on being careful around boys, like she knew he would.

   He only muttered something that she couldn't pick up, before they finally were on their way home. She didn't mind the silence, other than the obvious music coming from her right earbud.

   "How was your first day, other than a boy in your way?" Frankie spoke as they were halfway home. Delilah had to think about it, most of her day was trying to comprehend the work that she missed and now had to catch up on. And the rest was trying to figure out a way to shake Christian off her radar.

   "Overall, exhausting."

   Frankie didn't push for answer, and he gave Ruby a look when they entered the yellow house. A look that said not to push either.

   So this night's dinner was a chill, calm night that consisted of quiet clinking of fork against plate and cup meeting the table carefully.

   Delilah thanks Frankie in her way of washing the dishes, despite Ruby's insisting that she should go work on her own stuff. She resists till Ruby is led to her shared bedroom by Frankie, him saying she worked so hard all day and deserved to turn in early.

   After drying the last dish, she took in the quiet house. Since Ruby was such an extroverted person, she did a lot of the talking for the more reserved cousins. And that usually meant she talked almost every minute, finding ways to get new information to fill the air.

   The house made no sounds except the minor creaks under her feet as she approached the living room, the window behind the couches was covered by the dark curtains. She frowned. It should be around seven, and despite the clouds, it should be a little pretty on the night sky.

   She slides open the curtains, and almost chokes on air. She could've swore that there wasn't any stunning realistic statues in her yard. But there it stood. Not moving at all and the clothes moving with the wind!

   She sucked in air so quick and her heart races as she locks every lock that's lockable. She races back to the window and spots no statue. Oh fuck.

   She's quaking as she thinks of other ways an intruder could possibly get in from. She goes into the kitchen and grabs the biggest knife in there before returning to her bedroom. She stayed up all night, frozen in the cold air with fear.

✰

   In the morning, she was the first one 'up'. She wanted to tell Frankie and Ruby about the statue, get the intell she needed to keep her from looking over her shoulder.

   On the other hand, there was no reason to. The statue could have been a figment of her imagination. And besides, it hadn't shown up all night.

   But on the other fucking hand, she couldn't just come up with the beauty that the statue possessed. And what if it showed up the next night? And the next?

   Okay she really needed to know.

   So at the dining table, where Ruby had placed three plates of sausage, runny eggs, hash browns, and tiny pancakes for them to devour, Delilah glanced at the clock. She had almost two hours to spare. She had time to calm down. She had time.