The Neighborhood Watch

Chapter Five - Persuasion and Precision

Leo was scared to go home, but Hannah promised to stay close by. He offered her a room in the house, but she didn't think it was a good idea to explain to his parents who she was and why there were bullet holes in the pool house.

When he did arrive home, he called me, sounding out of breath. "You know how we were shot at, and how there were a lot of dead people here a few hours ago?"

"Yeah?" I frowned.

"Well, it's like it never happened." He told me, pausing to move the receiver away from his face to say something to Hannah. "The holes are freshly patched and painted, and Hannah just did a lap around the house, there's not even signs of the graves or any blood anywhere. It's like it never happened."

I glanced over at Marrisa who was at the stove, heating up our dinner. "I suppose that explains why they didn't come looking for us again. They must have started the cleanup as soon as we left." Marrisa nodded, understanding what was happening despite very few context clues. "This is a good thing, now you don't have a massacre on your property to explain. I'm sure if no one heard the shots, then no one will know it happened. We're in the clear."

"Right," Leo agreed, calming down some. "Yeah, I guess that is better."

I nodded. "It is, but if you get worried or can't sleep, you can call me. I'm even willing to drive over if you need me to." I promised. "Marrisa is making Hamburger Helper again and you've got the good snacks, so I'm more than willing to drop by."

Marrisa rolled her eyes at me, but Leo appreciated it. "I promise if I make you come out here again, we'll raid the pantry together." He sighed and shuffled around, sounding like he was sitting down. "I could really use some of those sleeping pills right now, what are they called? Morphine or something?"

"Do you mean melatonin?" I laughed.

Leo yawned on the other end. "Sure. You know I heard that if you don't take it like with water and swallowing, it works better."

I frowned and looked over to Marrisa. "What's the alternative?"

"Up the as-" There was a bit of commotion on the other side. "Sorry, I was just informed that our new friend Hannah is a stick in the mud." He teased. "She hit me."

I laughed and shook my head. "You two need to get some sleep, and stop hitting each other." Marrisa looked up at me and made a face, but I shook my head, telling her everything was okay. "Why don't you go eat something for dinner, and then try to relax?"

Leo sighed. "Yeah, we'll try that. But if you hit me again," he seemed to be speaking to Hannah now, "I'm calling dad back."

I rolled my eyes. "Good night, Leo."

"Good night pops."

Marrisa smiled at me as I set the phone down. "He seems to be doing good. Taking things as well as he can." I nodded in agreement, coming to see how dinner was coming. "How did it go taking Sabrina home? You guys took a while."

"Yeah, her mom wasn't as asleep as Sabrina thought," I explained. "But Mrs. West didn't seem upset about her coming home so late, she's a nice lady."

My sister nodded. "Right. And what did you two talk about on the walk?"

"What do you mean?" I found myself suddenly feeling defensive.

"Well, how is she taking all of this? Can we trust her with our secret?" Her eyebrows shot up as she sensed what I wasn't telling her. "Unless you were too busy to be talking?"

"It wasn't like that," I argued.

Marrisa pointed the fork she was using to stir our food at me. "What? Did you randomly decide to take up Grace on her offer?" Before I could give her an answer, my twin crossed her arms, sending a chunk of Helper off of the fork and onto the floor. The large dog on the floor who had been laying asleep this whole time suddenly scrambled for the food, licking it off the tile. "What happened to your crush on Rachel Midway? Did she come on to you or did you come on to her? Did she consent? Did you consent? Did her mom see you two and have to come down to pry your faces apart?"