Treacherous.

14

Whether or not Marcus' mom thought I was a stalker, I had to find out if she knew where he was, or had heard from him.

I left work early on Wednesday, finally working up the nerve to actually see Marcus and his mom.

I waited across the street from the school and I could see plenty of mom's lined up to pick their kids up. I didn't know which one was Marcus' mom, but I would recognize Marcus from Rio's pictures. Once kids started pouring out of the brick building I sat up, straining to see the boy.

My eyes washed over all of the little faces until I found the one that had Rio's eyes.

He climbed into a mini van and I let out a groan. I started my car and followed where the van pulled out.

She was definitely going to be freaked out by me.

I followed her into a neighborhood close to the school and parked a few houses down.

What the hell am I doing?

At this point my conscience was screaming at me to just leave. That Rio would be back soon.

But my gut was telling me something was wrong. Why was there blood on his floor?

I waited a few minutes before getting out and crossing the street.

I knocked my knuckles against the door a few times then stepped back. My heart was racing. Maybe this was a mistake.

When the door swung opened, my stomach sunk at the woman's curious eyes.

"Hi." She offered.

"Um, hi. My name is Isabel." I cleared my throat. "I'm a... I'm a friend of Rio's- Chris!" I corrected myself. "I'm a friend of Chris's."

She furrowed her eyebrows and tilted her head at me. "What do you want?" She asked, glancing behind her.

"Well..." I dropped my gaze. "I haven't heard from him in a few days and-"

"How do you know where I live?" She shook her head, getting me to wince.

"I..." I swallowed hard. "I followed you from the school-"

"Okay." She grabbed the door, moving to shut it.

"No wait, please!" I planted my hand on the door. "Please I'm really worried?"

She peeked around the door, scrutinizing my face then my attire.

"You don't look like one of Chris's friends." She decided.

I let out a chuckle and shook my head. "I'm not one of those kinds of friends. Look I haven't heard from him for like a week. And when I went to his apartment I..." I paused.

All I could think of is the face of the cop that told us about my brother. I still remembered everything about his face.

"I think something bad happened." I spoke evenly. "There was blood at his apartment."

This took her back for a moment, but she shook her head.

"He does this." She said. "He disappears for a while, but he always comes back- you'll learn if you're around long enough."

Her words stung, but I could tell she didn't mean it in an offensive manner.

I nodded, and sucked in a breath.

"How do you deal with that?" I huffed.

I guess it wasn't too far fetched. I mean he already avoided me, the first month after we really spent any time together.

"I don't have high expectations." She shrugged. "You shouldn't either."

I nodded.

"And please don't come here again." Her voice was firm with me, getting me to nod.