Follow Me Home

It was September 19th in Washington. The skies were blue with clouds that looked as if someone ran a brush with off-white paint lightly across the sky. Everything was normal, at least that's what I thought until Iyla and I decided to meet up and go for a walk, since she only lived next door. It was hella convenient. Until we left our cul de sac and we saw strange figures following us in a car. Next thing you know, we looked back and caught them exiting their car and staring right at us, so we ran. Running fast, trying to catch my breath with every stride. “Who the f**k are those people after us?” I said to my friend Iyla running next to me. “I don't know but we need to get rid of them, fast!” Iyla said with tears in her eyes and her voice cracking from exhaustion. We were being chased in the middle of the day in a suburban neighborhood. None of this made any sense, because why would these random men be chasing two 22-year-old girls? And where the f**k is everyone at in this neighborhood?! We jumped the fence into someone's backyard, and knocked on the backdoor praying someone would let us in. *BANG* *BANG *BANG* “What the f**k Iyla were those gunshots?!”. Gasping for air, trying to catch our breath before we figure out where to go next. Iyla said “Richie, what the f**k do we do now? Those people aren’t answering. It seems like everyone is just gone”. Pause, yes my name is Richie and no, I don’t know what my parents were smoking when they named their daughter Richie. Back to my life crisis, “f**k okay, let's hope this fence into the other yard that looks like their window is cracked, so that's our best bet at the moment”. We jumped over the fence into the backyard of the house in front of us. Climbing the siding of the wall, I finally caught the ledge and used all the upper body strength in me to pull myself up. I grabbed Iyla's hands as she climbed up after me. “Okay Iyla, let's go”. We climbed into the 2nd story window. Nobody was in the room but we could hear the noise of chatter downstairs. The room looked as if it were a 10-year-old mess of a room. Clothes scattered, creating their own mini mountains on the floor. And socks that looked like they could be used as weapons, stale weapons. I look around and I see the nightstand next to the bed has a chrome alarm clock. I grabbed it and tilted the clock above the window seal slightly, using the reflection of the chrome to see if the men were still outside following us. “No worries Iyla, it looks like we are in the clear”, I said with confidence, as my heart was pounding so violently, you can physically see my heart beating. “Okay so what the hell do we do now?”. Well, considering we broke into a stranger's house and can’t leave quite yet because of the freaks after us, I am at an impasse. *door opening* Iyla and I stare at each other freaking the f**k out inside. “Iyla cmon lets hide in the closet!!” We cover our mouths trying not to breathe heavily or make any sudden movement. The door opens, through the closet blinds. I saw a guy walk in and he was coming near the closet. He grabs his wallet from the nightstand and sees his chrome alarm clock is unplugged on the floor. He sighs and says, “I really need to clean up”. Still in the closet trembling with fear, we stay as quiet as we can so we will be fine. We just need to wait for him to leave, so we can get out of here. *AHHHH CHOOOOO* Did this b***h really sneeze? I give her a look of discernment. The closet opens, “WHO THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS!?”. My lips moved before I could think “2 men were following us and we…we had to jump the fence and we just happened to see your window was cracked, so we jumped in until we could get out of here safely. We weren't going to rob you or anything.. I mean look at this room..sorry!!”. Good job Richie, I have just judged the dude whose house we broke into..great. He chuckles and as his face relaxes he says, “Ha what can I say, I'm a mess. Anyways, are you both alright? What's your name? Do you live nearby?” Iyla responds “ Mentally no..not okay. We live about a 20 minute walk from here in Eries Creek Neighborhood, neighborhood..And my kind friend over here is Richie”. He bursts out laughing in tears, “RICHIE?! HAHA! That’s such….a fitting name HA!” He wipes the tears of insulting laughter and his arms come dangling down. I shrug and my lip naturally curls and my nose squinches, “Soo funny. I’ve heard it all. Look thanks for not calling the police or anything..But we should probably head out of here”. He stops being a d**k and says “s**t! Sorry.. My name is Seth. Can I drive you guys home? I don’t know if you should walk home after going through that. I couldn't let you do that in good conscience”. Wow, I am flabbergasted. Does this man have a soul? I shrug ”Uh yeah..thank you..”. Iyla and I got in the car and as he entered our cul de sac he stopped and looked at me with eyes that looked like a storm at sea, deep blue with a hint of silver that looked like lightning striking. Seth said “Let me know if you ever need anything. I know I was kinda a jackass so I'm sorry, but take down my number if you ever need anything”. My face started to make a smile, I wasn't even sure I was capable of that. “To be fair, I did basically say nobody would ever rob you, because your room looked like a scene of how to get away with murder. Thanks a lot for making sure we got home in one piece”. Iyla and I hopped out of the car and went back home. I threw myself on the couch, absolutely exhausted and thought to myself “Why would anyone be following us, who were those guys?”.