Chapter 36 Warnings
Naomi
He was going to take care of it. How was he planning on doing that? He couldn't go against the police when they decided to strike. He was a "system one" person. Still, I chose to trust and believe his words, despite not knowing if he was capable of following through.
The lights in the house were on, shining through the glass windows. Ma’a came home early today.
I climbed the stairs, and just as I was about to pass the window, I saw something. I walked back to look. My eyes widened. On the table was money—a lot of money. Ma’a was counting it.
Where did she get all of that? And don't even get me started on the idea that it was from her workplace. They didn't pay that kind of money, and I knew that for a fact. I watched as she counted the money and kept the bills in stacks, secured by rubber bands.
I stayed rooted where I was standing. Then, her phone began to ring. A wide smile spread across her face as she leaned toward the phone and checked who it was. She pressed the phone against her ear as they spoke. She stopped and frowned, then continued to talk into the phone.
With a final nod, she set the phone down and continued to count her money. I didn't waste any time and walked inside. Her eyes lifted from the money to the door as I entered. She made no attempt to hide it.
"Welcome back home. How was work?"
"What is all this?" I ignored her question and asked about what was on the table.
"It’s just money, Naomi. Your mother is rich. Don't worry; soon enough, we will be out of this place and you will not have to worry about staying here any longer."
I looked at her; her eyes glittered with lies. Something was up, but she didn't want to tell me. She had something going on and I didn't know what it was. What exactly was going on with her? Why wouldn't she just tell me?
I accepted what she said without any argument. She had already made food when she came back home; all I had to do was take a bath, come back down, and serve myself. I did all that without asking her any more questions, focusing only on my food. When I was done eating, I made my way to my room. I went through some of my books and did my homework.
I decided to scroll through media for some information, but nothing there was interesting to me at all. I decided to go to sleep, waiting to see what the next day held for me. While I slept, I kept having the same dreams I have been having all over again: the naked man in the forest, his back turned to me. Each time I tried to ask who he was, he would eventually disappear and leave me in the dark—and the moon would disappear with him as well.
That was concerning, but I didn't know how to go about it. Who was this person, and why did he keep appearing in my dreams? His words would always be, "We will meet again, Naomi." Who was he, and why would we meet again?
I shook those thoughts out of my head and decided to let them be. I had more important things to focus on than replaying a dream that didn't mean anything at all. The weekend came and went like the wind.
The following Monday, I was back in school. Sometimes I wished I could just stay home and never set foot in this place again, but I had no choice. It was the only thing I had right now that would get me out of this place—graduating and leaving the school behind.
When I walked into class, the first person I laid my eyes on was Calix. Heaven knows I had no idea why she was at school this early. It was unlike her. Ignoring her, I went to my seat. Because I did not want to interact with anyone, I took out my mathematics book and acted like I was trying to solve exercises, even though that was not what was on my mind. I just wanted to distract myself from everything going on around me.
Suddenly, I felt a presence in front of me. I did not want to look up, but something prompted me to, and I eventually did. There she was, her hands on top of my desk, staring right into my face.
"Know that you have an explanation to give as to what happened to the werewolf that was taken to the lab. You were the one who shot it, and I asked you to tie it up. Maybe you did not do your job very well because you wanted to let it go. You will have to answer for that."
I did not answer her because this was absolutely ridiculous. How could she say something like that? What business did I have with those things that would make me let one go? If there was anyone who hated those things more than anything, I would be the first person to step forward. I couldn't just let one go like that after I had it in my hands.
"If you like to act like you are not getting what I am saying, be rest assured that you have answers to give when the time is right. So, prepare yourself; I will not ask this again."
With that, she stepped away from my desk and left. I wished I had an answer to give her. However, there would be a time when all of that would happen.