Wrong Words

Chapter 7. We should keep our distance.

Running downstairs, we scare my mom, who was lying on the couch watching TV. She stands up as I ran into her arms. Chloe hugs herself while Alex stays by her side.

"What happened to you girls?" my mom asks and grabs my face tenderly.

"There is someone outside," I whisper and sit down on the couch.

"He took a picture of me through the window. I was only wearing my bra," Chloe says, upset that someone has a picture of her.

Mom approaches Chloe and hugs her.

"Calm down, Chloe. What happened exactly?" my mother asks.

"Joanna saw someone through the window in your driveway looking at the house. When Chloe approached to close the curtains, the figure took a picture of her. Then Joanna said ..." Alex stops. She's not sure if she should say what I told them. That the figure I saw maybe is my father.

"We should call the police," my mon says quickly.

"I think it was Dad," I say suddenly, making my mom turn to look at me.

"What are you talking about?" my mother asks and lets Chloe hugs Alex.

I don't answer her and approach the door of the house.

"You're not going out. Forget it," my mom says and forcefully puts her hand on the door, so I won't open it.

"Come with me then," I tell her, and she nods her head.

Alex and Chloe approach us as my mom opens the door. She comes in front of me protectively. Raising my toes, I see a figure bent over something I can't see.

The girls and I stay at the door as my mom quietly approaches the figure. When she rests her hand on his shoulder, the figure turns, and a man with long tousled hair and torn clothes appear.

I look next to him and see our garbage outside of the bin. The man seems frightened and raises his hands.

"I'm so sorry, I was looking for some food," he says as I approach him and see his dirty yellow teeth.

"Mom, look if he has a hood," I say, and my mom checks his jacket.

"No," she replies. He is not the one who was watching us. With curiosity, I start looking around.

"Alex, bring what's left of the dinner to give it to the man," I hear my mom say, and then I hear the homeless man thank her many times.

And where is the other figure? The one with the hood? I look at Chloe and see her looking around upset. A creepy psycho is out there, and the only thing that comes to mind is. Fuck.

***

I didn't sleep well last night. My mom didn't let the girls leave, and so they stayed at our house. We sat until late and talked until we fell asleep, at some point for a few hours, but I kept waking up.

In the morning, my mom sent me to the mini-market to get some cereal. Going there, I find myself looking behind me if anyone was following me.

Now I have two things to worry about. Isaac's threats and that figure from last night.

Arriving, I see Isaac, Diego, and Seth, who are also approaching the mini-market. Fortunately, they are the first to enter, which means that they didn't see me.