Chapter 20

"Do you mean you don't know where your house is or you don't have a place to live?" asked the policeman not understanding, he just looked at his colleagues to help him ask a more appropriate question.

“I…I don't know…” Eli answered quietly, his voice caught in his throat.

“You don't know? So where have you been living all this time?" 

"Near the intersection, there are a lot of houses and there are lots of rubbish bins scattered around." Eli answered, he only answered what he knew about the environment where he lived.

"So you mean you don't know your home address? Oh my God, it's true!" The police who questioned Eli were very shocked to hear that Eli didn't even know the home address for a girl his age who could be said to be no longer a child.

Eli looked down, he didn't know what to say to this policeman. Eli felt bad, he seemed to be able to feel that soon his mother would wake up and would be very angry if Eli was not there.

"I...I have to go home...ex...excuse me..." said Eli who looked panicked, he tried to just leave.

"Hey wait where are you going? You can't just leave, we have to meet your family.” The police immediately grabbed Eli's hand and forced him to stay where he was while waiting for them to decide what they should do.

"But...but...i...my mother will wake up soon, if...if she doesn't see me at home she will be angry, I...I have to go home...!" Eli struggled to be let go, he was scared every time he imagined his mother's angry face and would beat him severely.

The police in the room were surprised to see Eli's behavior, his attitude was not like that of a teenager his age. His behavior was not much different from a 7 year old boy. One of the policemen tried to calm Eli down and persuade him to tell him where he lived.

Eli agreed to let the police take him home because in fact he didn't know the way home, this place was out of his reach even though a few days ago he felt he had come to this place with a man, but now he couldn't remember the way home.

Eli's heart was beating wildly, he had a very bad feeling. When he got home he could feel that his parents would beat him mercilessly for suddenly leaving the house and returning with the police.

Eli's bad feeling was correct, when he heard the sirens of police cars, the people who lived around the small housing complex where he lived immediately got busy and hid in their respective homes, including his family. They think that if the police come to this place it must be because someone has reported their bad deeds to the police.

Eli shuffled in the corner of the car, covering his ears, he imagined his mother's loud screams and his father's rough hands raining down on him without mercy. Eli was covered in great trauma, he was really afraid and didn't want to be hit again.

"You are okay ?" asked one of the police who saw the strange behavior that Eli was showing. This child didn't seem normal.

Eli nodded roughly and wrung his hands like crazy, the police in the car looked at each other and the only thing they thought about Eli was that there was something wrong with this kid.

Eli opened the car door and immediately ran out, he was really scared. The image of his father and mother's faces made his soul truly shaken.

“Braak… !” Eli's body flew backwards, he crashed into a large man.

The police who saw him immediately got out of the car and tried to help Eli to get up. Eli was in pain, his body was really very fragile, so a collision like that made him fall straight away.

"Are you here? Where were you last night?" Eli's mother saw from a distance and immediately ran over, but her steps slowed when she saw several policemen coming with Eli.

The woman swallowed hard, she didn't know why the police came to their place with Eli. What did Eli do last night? the woman chuckled in annoyance, she thought maybe Eli would report them to the police, report everything they had done to him.

Eli shuffled around the corner, he didn't want anyone to touch him. The police didn't know how to handle it, seeing Eli's condition and the police's reaction, Eli's father and mother tried to trick them.

"Eli, are you here? what happened ? Where were you last night?" The woman approached Eli, wearing a worried face.

Eli didn't dare to lift his face, he remained squatting and hiding his face with his hands. Mother glanced at her husband who was still standing frozen where he had hit Eli a few minutes ago. The man glared sharply, trying to control his emotions, he didn't want the police to suspect him.

"Sorry sir, what actually happened? Why can our daughter be with the policemen?" Dad asked in an artificially calm voice, he was really having a hard time controlling his emotions not to hit Eli at the moment.

"That's what we should be asking, why is your daughter roaming the streets in the middle of the night? Apart from that, he also admitted to seeing a suspicious man carrying a large package containing a corpse." said one of the police.

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