22.
The man has been snooping around the neighbourhood. You’ve seen him get out of his car and walk around the block. You’ve seen him through your front window as you peer between the slats of the blinds. He is a tall man, muscular. He wears a leather jacket. The girl hasn’t seen him. She thinks you are imagining things. She tells you to come back to the TV, watch the shows, laugh with her.
Her shaking has become less noticeable but she is still biting her nails raw. She is still waking up screaming each morning. But she is laughing at the occasional TV show.
One morning you heard her say, “I didn’t do anything,” loudly and you thought she was awake; they were so clear, her words. But when you went in the room you saw she was sound asleep.
But this man. Outside your house.
You told he
