18. Weirdo

"The boss lost all his family." Esther said in a sad tone.

Rory blinked her widened eyes several times. Her jaw dropped. After some few seconds she opened her mouth to say something but closed it again. She was lost for words. He lost all his family? How..? And then all the "W" questions followed.

What? Why? Where? Who? When? Which...

"Please don't mention it. Like ever?" Esther warned although she knew she would tell no one, but just in case, she needed to be on the safer side. Better late than sorry, she thought. She could already see how shaken Rory was after the news, and see could also see the platora of questions swirling in her big bright and now wide eyes.

"When?" was the first question that came out after she recovered from her shock.

"They were attacked and killed by some armed robbers." Esther breathed in a barely audible tone, and Rory was again shocked by the news.

"What?? Oh my God!!!" Her eyes burned with hot tears but she blinked them back. Oh no, this was so awful. His whole family? "When?"

"When he was a little boy."

"No..." Rory shook her head and darted her eyes around. The tears in her eyes were fast filling and soon they fell hot on her cheeks. She wiped them quickly and looked up at Esther. "Oh my goodness!!"

"Yes. Very very tragic and..." Esther didn't know the right words to use. She was aslo trying hard not to cry. It was the worst news she had heard, all her life. To have lost every member of your family before your very eyes must be very catastrophic and calamitous. He would have to live with the haunt for the rest of his life. The worst part of the case.

When she was denied permission to visit her family, she was very sad, but when she was told the reason she had to stay a bit longer, she forgot about her problem. She gave up on visiting her family, almost, and decided to help Derek instead. She tried to put herself in his shoes, and she couldn't have the thought of losing her mother and siblings. She had cried too, like Rory, when she heard it the first time. Who wouldn't? This was very heart-wreching.

"This is terrible..." Rory cried.

"Yes."

They fell silent for a while.

"So what happened to him after that?" Rory asked after she calmed down.

"He became severely depressed and... suffered some panic attacks and compulsions."

"Compulsions?"

"Yes." Esther sighed, "He had sleepless nights full of nightmares."

Of course he would.

"He... he would cut himself with a knife, try to burn his hands..."

Rory gasped and her hand flew to cover her lips tightly. Tears rushed back to her eyes again... Good Lord!!!

Esther pursed her lips and tightly shut her eyes.

"He's been through a lot, and he doesn't deserve that." Esther said, her voice now hoarse from keeping her emotions at bay.

"He doesn't. No one does..." Rory croaked. She couldn't even imagine all that.

"That is why he formed this group. To help him look for those that killed his family and deal with them. I didn't even think twice before agreeing to join. Even if I can't do anything at all, I'll just be there to help, and I'm glad I could be of help at some point."

"I don't know what to say." Rory said. She was indeed speechless. It would have still been hard even if he was grown but he was a little boy, according to Esther. And she didn't know how young he was but she still felt he had gone through the worst to have witnessed that.

"So... is he better now? I mean the compulsions?"

"He's much better now. All the triggering factors have been removed."

Triggering factors?

"Was this place their home?" Esther wondered.

"Yes. This was their home." Esther replied. "His father was one of the high ranked officials in the military. He was a no-nonsense man, punished those who deserved it, and ensured order. He hunted all those criminals down and during his time, there was stability. But he was hated because of that. Of course, nobody likes a snitch and someone who was honest and fought for the truth all the time."

Rory nodded and after some seconds she stiffened at a thought. Wait, was her father part of the military or one of the gangs? She dreaded the answer but she wanted to know.

"My... my father.. Was he part of the military?"

Esther looked up at her and Rory unconsciously held her breath waiting for her reply.

"No."

Rory's heart skipped a thousand beats. Then what was he?

"He was a security guard at one company. That was what I was told." Esther said and Rory finally breathed. That was what she knew too. For once she feared her dad was part of a gang.

"So how did he end up working with you guys?"

"He was found by the boaa and he... Wait, are you not supposed to go to school?" She gasped and her eyes widened.

"Oh, I almost forgot. What says the time now?"

"It's 15 minutes to 7. Are you late already?" Esther grimaced as she asked. She would feel bad if Rory was later because of her.

"Thankfully, today's lectures start at 9am. But I always like to be there on time so I'm not late." She smiled.

"Okay then you should prepare. I made early breakfast because the boss left earlier. So quickly freshen up and come down for breakfast."

"But, what about..."

"Rory..." Esther giggled. "We can continue when you come back, alright?"

Rory pouted her lips curtly which made Esther chuckle. She was just too cute and funny.

"Right, but you'll tell me everything once I come back."

"i will. Now hurry, you shouldn't be late because of me." Esther said and left the room.

Rory quickly took a half bath and prepared herself. She wore her dress and tied her hair in a high pony tail, applied her lip balm and went downstairs.

Esther was already waiting for her at the table so they started eating right away.

"I thought you already had breakfast." Rory said.

"I wanted to eat with you. It's fun." She chirped and Rory giggled. She was glad someone found her company fun.

"I was lost in our conversation. I don't even know if the bul... Hayford will be mad at me or not."

"The what?" Esther asked.

"The what?" Rory asked with a frown.

"You were about to say something before you mentioned his name. The bully?"

Rory's frown deepened as she tried to remember...

"Oh, I used to call him the bulkiest guy. I mean, he's bulky. Very. None of the guys is like that so I... What?" She paused and asked when Esther threw her head back, laughing hard.

The bulkiest guy? She should add 'very' to it now. This girl was very funny. Rory joined and they both had a good laugh.

They finished their meal after some rounds of conversations and Rory left for school. Hayford drove her, as usual, in silence.

"When are you closing today?" He asked when they arrived.

"5pm, just like yesterday." She replied and Hayford nodded.

"Alright. I'll be here. Just like yesterday. He echoed Rory's words, and Rory smiled. He was becoming soft by the day and she was a bit relieved.

The day went smoothly. Rory and Mabel went about their lectures and chatted along the way. They had lunch and studied at the library till the time was up for them to depart. And that was around 4pm, again, just like yesterday. But this time it wasn't because she forgot the closing time. The last lecturer gave them some project work and they all dispersed to do it at the library.

"We have no lectures tomorrow so see you on Thursday." Mabel said and hugged Rory.

"Sure, Mabel. I miss you already." Rory pouted and Mabel chuckled.

"Silly girl."

Rory suddenly broke free from the hug and looked around with a frown. That feeling again. Like someone was looking at her.

"Is something wrong?" Mabel asked and looked around as well. Rory wasn't sure if it was just a mere feeling or she should be bothered.

"Nothing, I just... You know what, it's fine." She flashed Mabel a cute smile.

"Weirdo." She mock-glared at her. "Aren't you going to go now?" Mabel asked. Yesterday Rory had told her to take the lead and that she would be taking a walk around for some time. Rory didn't tell her someone was going to pick her up. It would raise a lot of questions.

"Yes, um... I'll be waiting for a while." She replied and Mabel squinted at her with a questioning look.

"Is there something I should know?" Mabel asked and wiggled her brows. Rory chuckled and playfully slapped her shoulder.

"Don't be silly, May, Just go. There's nothing to know." She said knowing where her thoughts were running to.

"I can meet him if you don't mind."

"Shut up and leave. You won't meet anyone."

Mabel gasped dramatically and placed her hand on her chest, acting surprised. "So there's someone?"

"Mabel Jones!!!" She snapped and Mabel laughed.

"Okay okay. I'll leave now." She raised both hands up to surrender. "We'll see each other on Thursday." She run off to her uber that just arrived.