Chapter 17 #2
“I may be a babushka, boy,” she scolded with mirth in her eyes, “but I’m not that old. I’ve always been a night owl.”
She offered to make me a warm drink, and I agreed with thanks. Her night remedies always seemed to work as a kid.
“Is anyone else awake?” I asked as I watched her grab a mug from the cabinet.
“Papa and Ded are in the garage looking for the wrapping paper for Ruthie’s present.”
“I’ll be back.” I stepped into the garage, my toes tingling from the cold cement against my bare feet.
“Hey, bud, I thought you were in bed,” my dad spoke as he dusted off his hands on his pajama pants.
“Couldn’t sleep,” I shrugged, taking in the state of our previously clean garage. “Baba said you were looking for gift wrap. It looks more like a tornado went through here.”
My dad sighed with his brows raised, looking pointedly at Ded. Ded rolled his eyes and tossed an empty cardboard box to a pile of random items in the middle of the garage.
“I don’t know how your dad could find anything in this mess the way it was organized,” Ded chastised, causing me to chuckle under my breath.
“You seem rather awake, let me guess, you were on your phone?” My dad changed the subject, replacing a lid on a storage tote and shoving it into the corner.
“No,” I rolled my eyes, “I just couldn’t turn my brain off.”
“What are you thinking about?” Ded asked, seemingly giving up on reorganizing as he walked to the step that led into the house and sat down. “Ah, that’s cold!”
“Serves you right for creating this mess and leaving me to clean it up,” my dad muttered behind me.
“I was just thinking about Shiloh,” I mumbled, scratching the back of my neck.
“Ah, of course. Your girlfriend,” Ded smiled at me knowingly.
“She’s not my girlfriend,” I objected quickly, eyes wide.
My dad let out a hearty laugh and clapped my shoulder. “Just a crush, right?”
I groaned and nodded.
“Ah, I see. Daydreaming about her then.” Ded said with a wink.
“Okay, look, just because I’m a teenage boy doesn’t mean I was thinking about her in that way. I was actually thinking about something serious.”
Ded put his hands up in surrender with a smirk and I shook my head in amusement.
“So, what’s going on?” My dad asked with a serious tone.
I cleared my throat, unsure if I should be airing out her life’s secrets. “I’m just feeling pretty bad about how I misjudged Shiloh.”
“How so?” my dad asked.
“Her brother…he recently committed suicide, and I wish I could go back and be a better friend to her from the beginning,” I said with a deep sigh.
My dad’s brows rose in shock, and I heard Ded suck in a breath.
“What?” My dad demanded. “Wait, last night?”
I stumbled my words out, now completely confused as well.
“What do you mean last night? She said it happened two weeks ago.”
“Oh, okay. Sorry. We got a domestic call last night when I was on my shift, and it was to Shiloh’s house.”
“What?” I almost shouted. “What do you mean ‘a domestic call’? What happened?”
Shit. Was she lying all along? Something happened last night, didn’t it? Dammit. I knew I should have trusted my gut instinct.
“Nothing. I mean, we showed up, and the house was empty except for her dad. I only knew it was her house because I had to ask the guy if there was anyone else living there. He said he had a daughter named Shiloh, but she wasn’t home.
I honestly didn’t put the pieces together until just now.
I didn’t realize that was her house…Jesus Christ. What a shit show. ”
“I’m confused. What was the problem?”
“Well, the call was from a neighbor saying he heard a girl screaming for help,” my dad explained, giving me a grave look.
My stomach dropped to the floor, and I had to put my hand out to brace myself on a stack of boxes.
“Oh shit. So, wait. She wasn’t there though, right?”
“No, no. The house was empty except for her dad. We searched it. No signs of a struggle or anything. We put in a note to follow up on the house, make sure the daughter, Shiloh, was okay. Then last night I came home, and she was here so I figured everything was fine and it was a false alarm. Minus her being sick in the middle of the night, of course.”
We fell into silence and my mind raced with images of what could have happened at her house to have her screaming for help. Assuming it was her that was there.
“What time was the call at?”
My dad blew out a breath, looking up to the ceiling in thought. “Uh, gosh, maybe 4:30. Why?”
She didn’t show up until almost ten o’clock last night. What had happened in those nearly six hours since the call?
“Well, she was upset when she got here, like, she’d been crying so she’d had an allergic reaction.
And she asked to take a shower. Which was weird, but I didn’t really think anything of it until…
” I trailed off, my stomach filling with nerves.
“It was strange, right? So, I asked her what was going on, like, if she got into a fight with her boyfriend or…worse. You know?” My dad nodded and I continued.
“But she said that it was a migraine. That it had caused her to be in so much pain that she was crying and that showering helped her eyes and head feel better.”
“Do you think that her boyfriend could have hurt her?”
I thought for a moment before shrugging. “I honestly don’t really know anything about him except that he looks older. Like several years older than us. Maybe in college,” I speculated.
My dad nodded in thought, and I waited for him to say something. When he didn’t, I pressed him for more details.
“Was there anything about the house that made you think something might be going on there.”
My dad clicked his tongue, shaking his head. “I mean, it’s not somewhere I would ever want my kid to be living.”
“Why not?”
“Her bedroom window was boarded shut like it had been broken…Jesus, I shouldn’t tell you this stuff, Enoch. This is a complete breach of her privacy and my duty of confidentiality.”
I shook my head. “No, you know I won’t say anything.
I just…I’m worried. Dad, she’s got scars, like cigarette burns on her body.
And, with you mentioning this whole incident, it really makes me concerned that she’s not safe.
Even Sebastian seemed concerned when he found out she was still living at home. ”
“Daniil, what can you do about this?” I forgot Ded was in here for a moment and startled at his emphatic question.
“There were no signs of anything happening in the house when I walked through it. It was mostly just the state of the house. But these scars, are they fresh?”
I shook my head, “No. They look to be pretty old actually.”
My dad dragged his hand down his face, scratching the stubble on his cheek. He sucked his teeth, looking torn.
“Unfortunately, unless there is something obvious that is currently happening, there’s nothing I can do.
If I report suspected abuse right now, there’s not much for me to put on the report.
Living in poverty isn’t means for a neglect case, nor is having some old scars.
Those could have happened to her anywhere, by anyone.
Unless she explicitly told you how she got them? ”
My shoulders sank and I shook my head. “But what about the domestic call?”
“There was nothing there. The neighbor could have been lying, it could have been the TV, or it could have come from another house. I’m sorry, Enoch.”
“Hell, that poor girl.” Ded commented, breaking the momentary silence.
“I just don’t think she’ll tell me on her own, especially if she needs help.
I really only found this out because she got caught in a lie about her brother being alive.
I just…” I took a deep breath looking up at the ceiling.
“I just want her to be happy, and I don’t think she is happy. Not at home at least.”
“I can try and talk to her if you like,” my dad offered. “But in my experience, kids don’t usually want to open up to a police officer.”
I chuckled half-heartedly. “Yeah. She’d definitely tell you to piss off with some very colorful language. And I think that’ll just make her pull away from me. At least she’s okay right now. Thanks for letting her stay this weekend.”
“You come to me if you think for any reason she might actually be in trouble, yeah?”
“Of course.”
My dad pulled me into a hug, and I welcomed the comfort of his familiar smell and arms around me.
“You did good, kid,” my dad sighed, patting my back as he held me. “I love you.”
I jumped suddenly at the sound of the door opening behind me and turned my head to see Baba looking at us apologetically.
“Don’t mean to interrupt. Enushka, just letting you know your tea is on the counter. I’m heading to bed. You coming old man?”
Ded rolled his eyes and held out his hand for her to help him up. I let out a sigh before releasing my dad.
“Well, I guess I should go before my drink gets cold,” I shrugged.
“Alright, bud. I’m just going to tidy up the mess in here. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“You want me to—” My dad cut me off with the shake of his head and shooed me out of the garage.
I chuckled at the disaster Ded had helped make and left behind, before following his orders and heading inside. I let my mind wander over the possibilities of what else Shiloh hadn’t disclosed as I sipped my tea.
The warmth eventually began to make me sleepy, and I dragged myself upstairs, turning off the remaining lights as I went. I was so lost in my thoughts that I almost ran right into Shiloh as I reached the bathroom.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, grabbing her arm to steady us both. “Were you looking for me?”
I could barely make out her features in the dark hallway, but there was a tension in the air like she was nervous.
“Uh, yeah. Are you going to bed now?” she asked. Her eyes danced around the hall, never meeting mine.
“Yeah, but I can stay up if you need me.”
She cleared her throat before meeting my gaze.
“Goodnight,” she muttered before spinning on her heel. I grabbed her arm to stop her, and she turned around to face me.
“Shy,” I whispered, our bodies only inches apart now. I could smell my shampoo in her hair. “Don’t lie to me. I want to be here for you. Let me…please.”
I scanned her blank expression, uncertain if she was going to let her guard down enough to let me in. She suddenly released a shaky breath, and I felt the tension release in her arm.
“Is it okay if we share a room again?” She asked steadily, although her eyes looked like she was scared. Of my answer or of asking in the first place, I wasn’t sure, but a small smile immediately found its way across my lips.
“Of course.” I slid my hand into hers and tugged her along back to my room that she was sleeping in.
Shiloh was an enigma. The more time we spent together the more questions I had. It was like opening one of Baba’s matryoshka dolls, although there never seemed to be an ending.
As I laid beside her, listening to the sound of her breathing grow deeper, I silently promised to be as relentless as she was. I would wait. I would wait for her to let down her guard, to let me in, to let me know her like I want her to know me too.
I think I might be going insane. I think I might be falling for Shiloh.
I smiled to myself before finally drifting off to a much-awaited sleep.