Darlings of the South.

t w o

By the time I had turned my head to take the shake from the waitress, he was gone. 

I think I was stuck in a daydream, as a tap on my shoulder brings me out of it. "Hey kiddo," I shake the daze of and greet my dad. He looked drained and I felt a pang in my heart. He worked so hard for us. I had never seen someone overcome such a difficult situation so smoothly, he is definitely my idol. 

"Hey dad," I push the shake to him, offering him some and he shakes his head.

"I gotta stop with the bad foods, putting too much weight on." He says as he pats his stomach. I have no idea what he's on about, he looks just fine to me, but then I suppose being a cop would mean you have to keep relatively fit. I laugh and take it back. 

"I'll just finish this, then shall we go?" He nods and stares out to where I saw the boy. 

When we pull into the driveway he points out the neighbors mailbox that has been smashed in. Crime never happened on our street, so dad instantly became tense. "Chill, dad. It's probably just some little kids thinking their cool."

"You're probably right. But I should go over there to check in, as a good neighbor." I sigh at his kind heart and get out of the cop car. He locked the doors then walked over to their house and I went into ours.  I put my bag on it's hook then went into the kitchen to grab an apple to tie me over until dinner. I peel of the sticker as I walk to my room, and I wondered what was taking dad so long. I threw myself down onto my bed and took a bite of the apple. I go on my phone to pass some time but eventually I get worried and head back outside and walk over to the neighbors.

I knock on the stained wooden door and wait, it opens to an elderly man with tattoos done his arms. This was the first I had seen of these neighbors, they never really seemed to leave the house. "Can I help you?" He grumbles.

"Uh yeah, is my dad over here? He came to tell you about your letter box." I point over to the trashed letter box.

"In the lounge." He opens the door a little wider and I step inside. I have no idea where I'm going so I wait for him to lead the way, instead he walks up the stairs and leaves me to myself. I catch my reflection in the mirror and I realise that I have looked like this all day. Great. I walk slowly down the hall, looking at the odd pictures on the wall. They were a mixture of modern and old fashioned, even some portraits. "Ello there, 'ave you come to break in? Am afraid you won't get very far." A female with a thick accent, no idea what, interrupts my picture watching and taps me on the shoulder. 

"Sorry! I am looking for my dad. The old man that answered the door said he was in the lounge." I turn to look at the female. She was very pretty. She too, covered in tattoos, some matched the mans. 

"Sorry about him, 'e forgets things, ya know?" She takes my hand and leads me to what I pray is the lounge. So far, these neighbors were very weird. I do get a better look at her tattoos, and the most prominent one looked to be a snake. To give an example it looked like the death eater tattoos from Harry Potter, just without the skull. What an odd matching tattoo to get with someone. "'Ere he is." She lets go of my hand and kind of pushes me forward a little into a very modern living room. 

"I like this." I say, turning to her, but she was gone. Instead I was greeted by dad. 

"It's nice, isn't it?" He picks up his coat and walks out and motions for me to come. "Let's say goodbye, let's have some dinner." He walks to the kitchen and calls out the girls name. "Suzie!! We are going now!"

"Oh! Alright loves, lovely to meet you. Come soon!" She waves from behind the open fridge door and we leave the house.

"Okay so that was weird." I state. "Why were you there for so long?"

"Well, Maia. Turns out the neighbors are who some of the guys back at work have been looking for."

"Why? What have they done?"

"There's a lot you do not know. But if you see anyone with those snake tattoos, you stay clear."