Precarious

Chapter 2

"Shit," I muttered as I felt my arm being grabbed. I was practically defenseless. I couldn't tell who was behind me, but they had a strong grip. Out of all the situations running in my head, the most logical one was that they wanted something from me. Well, I wasn't receiving my paycheck until next week, my clothes weren't 'trendy', and my Phone was old. It worked perfectly fine, but no one wanted an 'outdated but functional' Phone, so I was able to buy it for a cheaper price. "Uh, what do you want? If it's money, then I don't have any."

"I don't want your money," responded the person. I got a clearer view and it was a... girl? That was a first. In most situations that I've heard of that consisted of a person being followed, it was a guy that would be following their target. But that didn't matter, I had no idea why this person was talking to me. "I'm here to ask you a question. Do you know when your mother, Nancy will be back?"

"What is your affiliation with her?" I asked. Not to be judgmental, but she didn't give me the impression of being connected with my mother. She dressed smart, looked intimidating, and seemed like the type of person who would be working for Law Enforcement. 

I had to be smart when responding... if my suspicions were correct and she was an agent, officer, or worker for the government, then Mother probably would get into a lot of trouble for having illegal drugs in our home. And then I probably would have to pay bail for her with my savings since her boyfriend, Frank doesn't have a good track record with saving money... just great. "Not to be disrespectful, but you don't give me the impression of having a connection to her. No offense, ma'am."

"It's fine, dear. I'm her sister. I heard that she and Frank were going on a trip and wouldn't be back for some time. Did she tell you any information?" she laughed. I studied her face more closely. I could see a resemblance on the face shape and the nose, but other than that, they looked different; her hair was a different color and the eyes looked more different than alike. It was difficult to believe her. Her face shape and nose could be natural, and she could be related to my mother, but she could also achieve her features through plastic surgery.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think that I can trust you. I've never met you before given that Mother never mentioned you. And while you may be her sister and technically my aunt, you could also be a police officer for all I know. Besides, I'm confident that my mother likely has a phone with her. If you're her sister, I'm sure that you could easily call her and ask when she'll be returning. Otherwise, you'll just have to bet on what day she'll arrive back."

"I suppose. Anyways, it's good that you don't trust me. At least your mother taught you not to trust strangers though I wouldn't call myself one. I'll be going now. However, here's a slip with my number. When she does arrive back, please tell her to call me using this. My name's Elena. It was nice talking to you, Sierra."

After she left, my mind was stunned. Perhaps she did know who I was. But it didn't matter if she knew me or not. Mother never mentioned her and taught me not to trust strangers. But then again, I saw her as a stranger too. As I got older, she was home less often. I don't know where she went, but I once saw a plane ticket while cleaning the house that had the country "Russia" printed on the top. She spoke Russian, so I guess it would be reasonable for her to go to the land where her 'native tongue' resided.

Walking back to my house, I watched to make sure that there was nothing out of the ordinary. I may be 15, which is the legal age to stay home by myself, but one can never be too careful. A few months ago, I made the mistake of not checking to make sure that no one was following me, and long story short, one of my mother's crazy ex-boyfriends almost got the location of our house. The only reason why he didn't know where I lived was because instead of going to my house and locking the door, I ran back to the Supermarket and stayed there until it closed. Later that night, it rained heavily, and Mother wasn't home, but at least I was able to pick up an extra shift and earn more money.