Amanda immediately went inside her house and silently locked her gate.

She could not believe who she saw. The guy was awfully familiar to her. She knew she had seen that guy somewhere.

She shivered as she stepped inside her parents' house. She could see her father comfortably watching the television with his legs on top of their ottoman. Her mother was sitting with her eyes closed beside her father.

Amanda looked at the clock and saw that it was almost nine in the evening.

She knew her father fell asleep as well. She switched off the remote and unplugged the tv.

Carefully, she tapped her parents' shoulders to gently wake them up and asked them to sleep in their bedroom.

"Nak, hain na kita ng ulam?" her mom asked yawning sleepily as she got up to the dining room.

"Ako na po, pagkabihis ko. Kayo po, kumain na?" Amanda said and removed her shoes to wear her indoor slippers.

"Oo. Nagutom na itong tatay mo. Magbihis ka na, initin ko lang ulam."  her mother insisted and retrieved the leftover nilaga from the refrigerator.

"Sige na nga. Mabilis lang po ako." Amanda nodded and went to her bedroom to change into comfortable pajamas and oversized shirt.

In only a span of ten minutes, she finished her food and washed the plates. Her parents are both in their bedroom having a sound sleep while she locked their main door and back door.

Amanda admitted she became cautious with her surroundings when she saw that awfully familiar guy living beside her house. They are practically neighbors!

She knows all their neighbors in their street since they have been living there for about ten years already. She didn't know that someone already occupied Aling Teresita's house.

Amanda breathed out and decided to check every appliance inside their house if they are already unplugged before going upstairs to her bedroom.

Amanda took a quick half bath and brushed her teeth. It's the midweek and she, again, was tempted to watch another kdrama to distract her thoughts. She decided against it.

The climate was good enough for a cozy dreamless sleep to spend another few hours watching kdrama. She chose to do it on the weekends and dive into sleep instead.

***

Amanda found her eight-year old self playing dress-up with her bestfriends, Ivy, Ayah and Toni boy when a boy around thirteen years old joined them.

At first, it was an innocent look of curiosity when the boy went closer to them to watch them play.

Suddenly, the boy started touching Ivy's chest and legs. Ayah and Amanda looked at each other and frowned.

At their young age, they know it's not normal to be touching somebody's privates, let alone, in public.

Toniboy noticed it too and eventually pushed the boy away from Ivy.

"Ano sa tingin mo ginagawa mo!" Toniboy instantly yelled at the boy.

But, the boy just smirked and shook his head. He turned around and walked away.

"Wag ka na magpapakita dito!" Toniboy yelled and turned to look at Ivy's dumbfounded face. "Okay ka lang, 'Vy? Ano ginawa nya sayo?"

Amanda and Ayah walked to where Toniboy and Ivy were standing and saw the latter's shoulders started to shake and knees started to tremble.

Ivy eventually slumped down and hugged her knees with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Hush now, 'Vy. Tahan na." Ayah said in a soft voice, wiping Ivy's tears as she sat down on her level.

Amanda couldn't say a word and watched her friends comfort Ivy.

Amanda let her eyes roam the playground. Her eyes flickered and adjusted to the sunlight and finally rested on the other side of the street.

Beneath the tree near the bus stop, she could see the boy who were with them earlier talking to a much older man with a hat and scarf. The oddity of the scene was even in the harsh daylight, Amanda could see that the man was wearing what seemed to be winter gloves.

The older man, maybe around his forties, was bent down talking to the boy. He gave the boy something and the boy put whatever it was on his back pockets and ran away.

Frowning, Amanda stepped away from her friends and silently walked to the gate of the playground, just a few steps  away from the street.

Amanda's eyes widened when the man looked up and saw her. She hid behind the wall and let only one eye see what the old man is trying to do.

The old man, in complete form, smiled naughtily at her and tipped off his hat before walking away at the opposite direction from the boy awhile ago.

"Amy!" Toni boy's voice boomed from behind her and she jumped back startled. "Oks ka lang?"

Amanda nodded and closed the gate. Her eyes fixated on the side of street across them.

"Tara, meryenda na daw sabi nila sister." Toniboy said and held her free arm.

Amanda was forced to move and join them. Ivy was being escorted by Ayah as they all went inside the orphanage.

Amanda continued to follow them but noticed a crumpled paper beneath one of the flowerpots beside the steps to the  orphanage main door.

"Sige, susunod ako." Amanda said and Toniboy nodded. He rushed to join Ivy and Ayah and tapped their backs to make funny faces. Amanda heard them giggled and bent down to pick the trash.

Amanda's forehead creased with confusion when she saw what's written on the piece of paper.

Dad. Blood.
Ground. Mama. Pipe.

It looks like an innocent game played by kids like her but she felt weird so instead of throwing it, she decided to keep it and neatly folded it before placing it in her pocket.