Review Segment 6
The way this was going you would think we were meeting for the first time. I asked, "could we come in?" She smiled and looked back into the room she was standing in. Her mother was present. She was seeking approval, which was granted. She peered back at me through the space in the door and said, "yes, of course." She opened the door wider to allow us in. We entered.
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Just beyond the doorway was, in fact, the dining room. This is where we would sit and chat. Tina's mother offered my friend and I a cold beverage. We politely replied with "yes, ma'am," as I continued to chat it up with Tina. Two minutes later, our beverages are delivered. Then something unusual occurred, her mother warned my friend and myself that upon the arrival of her husband we would have to scurry out. It was not clear as to why, but we just needed to trust her and go.
I know I assume a lot, so I figured, judging from how this man assumed me to be his daughter's "friend" after the graduation, maybe he isn't in favor of his daughter dating.
Anyway, back to the plan. We needed to leave when we heard the chime on the front door sound. That seems easy enough.
We continue to converse. I learned so much about her and her home life that evening. It was different, however, spending that time with her outside of the norm, public school. I felt like a grownup. We were seated across from one another, staring off and on into each other's eyes while we digested one another's words.
There were several moments during my relationship with Bertina that I wished would never end. Sitting there, that evening, with her, chatting away was definitely one of them.
Until it happened. Her father appeared in the doorway of the dining room. How was that possible? I thought. There were no chiming sounds. I remember watching his face morph from relieved that he was finally home from work to confused that more people were in his home after hours other than his wife and kids, to angry when he realized that one of the other faces belong to the young man whom he had met just two weeks prior.
There was a slight hesitation of course, but soon after my friend and I jumped out of our seats and ran straight to the door. My first thought was to save my friend first by pushing him out of the door. Just in case, this man turned out to be a madman. I didn't want my friend to be captured and then I have to explain to his mother why something like this happened to her son. I couldn't save myself, though. The last thing I felt was the v-spot just under the last button of the polo shirt I was wearing surround my Adam's apple then my sight grew dark.
You don't know until you know.
Continue to Segment 8
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