The car waited for the traffic light, and Tim took a glimpse of the group of people behind Summer in the photo. He found nothing unusual at first glance.
“Those are passersby,” Tim said matter-of-factly.
“I have not seen those people there before.” Leonardo looked up, his voice serious.
Tim looked puzzled. Leonardo did not go to Sydney for the past months; he was only seeing Summer through the photos. Had he been memorizing the faces of those people in the background of each photo every time he looked at Summer’s photos? While he was still in bewilderment, Leonardo spoke.
“Find out who those people are and keep an eye on them.”
“Aye.”
Tim drove to an apartment and stopped the car downstairs. He waited until Leonardo went in, only then he drove off.
Leonardo opened the door; inside was pitch-dark. He reached to flick the light switch, then walked into the bedroom where the walls were full of Summer’s photographs.
Those were the photographs his men in Sydney took over the past few months. Some photographs were clear while some blurry. But no matter how blurry a photograph was, Leonardo had never discarded it. Instead, he would still print it out.
He took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves. Taking a USB cable, he hooked up his mobile phone to a printer and printed the photographs he had received today.
…
Summer was jolted out of her sleep by the loud thump of music at midnight. Opening her eyes and lying groggily in bed for a few minutes, she finally made out that the noise was coming from her next-door neighbor.
Those youngsters must have too much energy that they would make no apology at waking people up with loud music as they partied through the night.
Summer got out of bed, went to the window and peeked from behind the curtain. The house where she stayed and her neighbor’s house were only separated by a wall. She looked out from her room and could see a group of people sitting in a circle around a bonfire in the front yard of her neighbor’s house. The bonfire was burning brightly.
From where she stood, she could make out a few faces. They were the teenagers she saw next door when she went out during the day. She recognized their appearances. They were still wearing the same clothes they wore during the day.
This residential area was far from the city. Most residents were retirees. The presence of those teenagers stuck out; it was not hard to remember them. Also among them were some boys and girls she had never seen before during the day. By the look of the boys and girls cuddling together, it was not hard to know what they were up to.
The noises affected not only Summer. But no one seemed to come out to stop them. This group looked like people whom she should not trifle with. What was more, she was pregnant. So she felt she could do nothing about them.
She went back into bed and pulled the duvet over her head, trying to block off those noises. But it did not work. It was not until first light that things died down.
After having a rough night, Summer looked like death warmed up. She wanted to make two slices of toast and boil two eggs for breakfast, but she moved like a robot. Just when she was boiling the eggs, someone knocked on the door outside.
Summer glanced back at the door and frowned. But she still went to the door. She opened the door ajar and saw a girl outside. So she opened the door.
The girl first said hi.
“Hi, may I help you?” Summer let the door half open as she stood at the gap. She had no intention of inviting the girl inside.
The girl wore a pink hoodie and shorts that were so short that her buttock almost fell out of it. They were studying each other. The girl’s eyes landed on Summer’s belly, then drifted back up her face and spoke to her in English.
“May I use your toilet for a while? My friend’s house is too crowded. I need to wait in line to use the toilet there but I can’t almost hold it now.”
Summer hesitated for two seconds, then said, “I’m sorry. My husband is using the toilet now. He has constipation. You may wait if you don’t mind. But it is going to take an hour or so…”
“Oh my God…” The girl made a surprised face. “I pity you.”
The girl left. Summer closed the door back. She did not return to the kitchen but stayed behind the door and peeked out from the gap in the door. She saw the girl walk back to the house and was face-to-face with a young boy. The girl said something to the boy, who then looked toward Summer’s house.
Summer knew that they could not see her, but she still felt scared. Those teenagers looked hairy at the heel. She reckoned that the girl did not come to borrow the toilet. Most likely the girl had come to sound her out if she was staying alone.
Kids at that age could be crazy and trouble makers. Not that she was judging. These teenagers had been behaving suspiciously.
Back in the kitchen, Summer had lost her morning appetite. She was contemplating moving out for a few days. The more she thought, the more uneasy she felt. The kids had stayed up the whole night, and now, they should be asleep. Most likely she would not bump into them if she went out now.
With that thought in mind, she packed a set of clothes, carried a bag on her back, and left home. She knew she could not afford to provoke these kids, so she kept away.
Locking and door and looking around at her surroundings, when she was sure that there was no one else did she go.
However, when she walked out of the front yard, she saw a boy standing near the wall. Judging by his blonde hair and blue eyes, he had to be a local. He was wearing a red shirt, his face young but his figure tall. He had likely just hit puberty, that was why his body looked proportionately unbalanced.
“Hi, pretty.” The boy had one hand on the wall, his lips curling into an evil smile.
Summer instinctively took two steps back, nodding to acknowledge him before turning around and walking in the other direction. Seeing that she was going away, the boy followed and spoke to her from behind.
“What’s the hurry? Don’t you remember we met yesterday? Have you forgotten me?”
Summer sped up and pretended not to hear him, but the boy was taller than her. He caught up to her in just a few paces and grabbed her arms.
“I’m talking to you. Can’t you hear me? Do you speak English? Where are you from?”