“What’s going on?” I asked him.
“Just keep up.”
He cut down between two houses and I followed. We moved down their lawns and came out on another street on the other side. He turned left, heading away from my house, walking, but at a fast clip. I had to walk fast to keep up.
“I’m from Indiana too,” he said suddenly as we turned onto another street.
“Really?” I asked.
“Sure. Small town, just like this one. I’m a Hoosier, born and bred.”
“What is a Hoosier anyway?”
“Nobody knows.” He turned down another street. I felt like I was going to get out of breath soon, but he seemed like this was nothing.
“Did you go to school around here?”
“High school,” he said. “I went to the Naval Academy for some college but dropped out to enlist in my second year.”
“Really? Why?”
“School wasn’t for me,” he said. “I was more interested in the action. I had top marks in school too, but I just couldn’t stand all that sitting around shit.”
“That’s amazing,” I said. “You don’t meet a lot of people who really go for what they want.”
“That’s the kind of man I am.” We made another strange turn, heading away from my house again and down an alleyway. When we got to the end, he turned right, and I realized that with each new turn, we were getting closer and closer to my house, even though we were taking the strangest route possible.
“I grew up with my mom mostly,” he said. “My dad left us when I was just a baby.”
“What happened to her?”
“Cancer,” he said. “Died when I was fifteen. I lived with my aunt until I left for the Academy.”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“So I understand what you’re going through to some extent. I respect single mothers.”
I nodded but had no clue why he was suddenly telling me all of this. Not that I minded; actually, it made me like him much, much more knowing that we had similar backgrounds. But I didn’t get why he was just talking, on and on.
And then it hit me as we made another weird turn. He was trying to keep me calm by talking to me. What we were doing was bizarre, totally strange, and he was basically a complete stranger to me. I was following him along and he could be taking me anywhere.
My heart started hammering in my chest when I realized that. He was keeping me calm and could be leading me anywhere.
I stopped walking.
He turned back to me. “What are you doing?”
“I don’t know you,” I said. “Where are you taking me?”
“Back to your house.” He walked closer to me. “We have to move, Tara. We can’t stand here.”
“What’s going on?”
“You have to trust me. Come on, we have to move.”
“No,” I said. “Tell me what’s going on or I’m not moving.”
He took a deep breathe and slowly released it. “Listen to me, Tara. If we don’t start moving right now, we both might be in danger, and I can’t put you in that position.”
I stared at him, and that same look crossed his face, sincere and intense. As strange as this was, I still believed him and trusted him. I didn’t know why, but I did.
“Fine,” I said, “But promise you’ll tell me what’s happening when we get back.”
“I promise.”
He turned and started walking, and I followed.
He wasn’t talking to me anymore. He wasn’t trying to keep me calm. I just kept pace with him down the streets, cutting through yards where we could, moving in the strangest pattern back toward my house.
Finally, after maybe a half hour of walking, we made it. I spotted my house up ahead.
“Wait,” he said, stopping me. “Stay here.”
“What?”
“Stay here.” He walked off without another word.
I stood there and watched as he slowly walked around my house, checking in the windows. He paced across the street, his eyes constantly sweeping the space, before coming back to me.
“Okay. Come on.”
I followed him again, my heart racing, completely confused.
We went up to my front door. I unlocked it and pushed it open. “Hello, Mom? I’m home.”
“Hi, sweetie.” My Mom appeared in the kitchen, holding Mason. “Who’s this?”
I looked back at Emory and watched him relax. “Mom, this is Emory.”
“Emory Rush. It’s nice to meet you, ma’am.” He walked inside and smiled a charming smile. My mom shook his hand.
“Oh, hello. Are you friends from school?”
“Not exactly, ma’am. I know Tara from India.”