Penelope smiled and gently flipped through the pages. She still remembered how serious and sincere she had been when she wrote these things down.
If she were not pregnant now, she would be preparing for a college exam.
She wasn’t clear whether she had a college dream, but she had always envied her peers who walked on campus with books.
That was the beauty of that age. Unfortunately, she couldn’t experience it at all.
She fell asleep with the notebook in her arms. She was very calm as if knowing that one day she would realize this dream.
Dream… a very common word. But for her, it seemed that there was no other word to describe this feeling of desire.
Warren had called her during his break, but Penelope had transferred the phone to flight mode because she wanted to take a good nap.
“What time does the afternoon meeting end?”
“At six o’clock.”
Warren frowned. “Go arrange it. We’ll start one hour in advance and try to end at five o’clock.”
“Okay,” his assistant nodded and left.
Warren rubbed the phone unconsciously. He stared at the cup as if concentrating on a problem.
At six o’clock in the evening, he changed clothes at the hotel and walked down the street while calling Penelope.
“I just got up. Please wait for a moment,” Penelope quickly dressed up and explained to Warren on the other end of the phone.
“Slow down. I’ll pick you up.” He could almost imagine how busy she was at the moment, and he couldn’t help smiling. The tiredness of the day had disappeared.
“You don’t have to. You can go first. I’ll walk the path. It will take just 20 minutes.”
“It’s getting dark now. Is the path safe?”
“It’s okay. I can come back with my eyes closed. You can rest assured.” Penelope took her bag and locked the door to leave.
Warren heard her hurriedly hang up. He couldn’t help but shake his head and sigh. Penelope had an impatient disposition, so she was strong in action. However, sometimes, she was so reckless that she would easily make mistakes.
Penelope hadn’t told lies. She was familiar with every path in that area. She even knew where the manholes were. She could be considered “indigenous” there.
However, sometimes people can’t be too confident, otherwise they will always make mistakes.
****
When she walked through a slightly darker corner, three or four people suddenly appeared on both sides.
“Oh, this is our little Penelope. You looked prettier then,” a low voice sounded.
Penelope stepped back, bumping into another man.
“Slowly, watch out for your feet,” the man before her smiled terribly.
He was very strong, standing in front of Penelope. When he walked a little closer, Penelope felt that the air was squeezed by him and became thinner.
“Wilbur?” Penelope blinked her eyes and finally saw his face.
“Yeah, it’s me,” Wilbur snorted and said, “I hadn’t seen you for a long time. You had changed a lot.”
Penelope turned around and leaned against the wall, taking out the phone from behind, unlocking it, and dialing.
The man she bumped into had sharp eyes, and he immediately discovered her little trick. He reached out to grab the phone and threw it to the ground.
“You dare to call the police!” He scolded her.
Penelope laughed. “I can’t move here. If I don’t call the police, should I wait for you to beat me?”
“You’re still glib,” Wilbur took a deep breath, reached out, and patted her cheek. He said, “I would never hit a woman. Our grudges can be solved.”
Was it possible?
That year, she was eighteen years old. She was chased by a mental patient with a knife into the street. When she had almost been caught up with, she had been fortunate enough to be saved by her friend. He had shot the mental patient with a gun and let him completely say goodbye to the world.
The reason why she had been in deep enmity with Wilbur was because the mental patient had been Wilbur’s brother.
Could it be solved? She hadn’t believed it.
“As long as you kneel down and admit your guilt right now, I’ll let you go. Otherwise…” Wilbur looked around and said, “I don’t think there are many people here. Even if I kill you here, the police probably won’t find me.”
Penelope chuckled, “Do you think I trust you?”
The most likely result would have been that she knelt for mercy, he would have been satisfied, and then he would have killed her with a knife.
“You seem very clever. Why not go to college, no money?” Wilbur sneered. He took out the knife from his waistband and spat on it arrogantly.
“It was not me who killed your brother. Why do you take revenge on me? If he hadn’t chased me to kill me, would he have lost his life?” Penelope groaned and wasn’t scared.
“In any case, it was because of you. Without you, would my brother have run out of the mental hospital?”
“Come on, I just had my own lunch. Who knew he would go out like a crazy man?” Penelope rolled her eyes.
Wilbur held the knife. He inserted it into a crack in the stone next to her ear. He leaned closer to her and fiercely said, “To kneel down or not, you can choose.”
Penelope sighed, “I’ll kneel down. A wise man knows when to retreat…”
Wilbur just watched her slowly squat down as if she really intended to kneel.
At that moment, he and his companions relaxed their vigilance. Penelope seized the opportunity and rushed through the gaps in their formation, moving five meters away.
Wilbur caught up and reached out to pull her back. A big hand emerged from nowhere, gripping Wilbur’s hand. With a crisp sound, his wrist was dislocated.
Penelope hid behind Warren, still explaining at such an urgent moment. “This is an old debt. Do not blame me for choosing the wrong way!”
“Shut up,” Warren said, holding her hand and protecting her behind him. He kicked the man who was rushing towards them.
He could actually fight against four men, but now he had to take care of Penelope, so he inevitably took a few punches.
The sounds of fighting echoed in the alley, but none of the passersby ventured in as if it were another world.
Wilbur got up from the ground and reached towards his waist.
“He wants to take out a gun!” Penelope whispered to Warren.
Warren’s speed was almost as fast as lightning compared to a person whose wrist was dislocated. He picked Wilbur up by the collar, and Penelope quickly grabbed his gun from his waist.