04

I didn't understand what he meant by that, but it scared me. I was scared of his expression and the way he said it. I'm sorry I accepted your invitation to take me home.

"Wh-what?" I asked with clear nervousness trying to get away from him, but it was no longer possible because he was already bumping into the door.

He laughed at my reaction. Surely my face was full of terror and confusion at this moment.

"I can make you feel the pleasure..." He paused. Something that made my fear increase significantly. How you feel when you help someone in need” He ended his prayer with a smile. I breathed a sigh of relief.

This man is going to kill me with a heart attack any minute now.

“Ahm..., Eh...” I stammered at not being able to articulate the words.

"What's up, little girl?" I felt an electricity running through my body at the nickname, it was something strange that I hadn't felt before, but I like the feeling.

I started babbling once more. What the hell is wrong with me?

I just avoided seeing him, if I did, I was more likely to get more nervous than I already was. I turned my face forward as my hands moved desperately and nervously over my lap.

"Is something wrong?" he insisted.

“Ahm..., the...” I exhaled heavily.

"What?" he asked, not understanding my words. I lined up to point forward as I did not trust the words to come out of my mouth correctly, indicating that the light was green. "Oh, I see," he said before moving on.

Hell, I'm really nervous. I've never experienced this before. This feeling doesn't compare to the nervousness I felt the first time I performed in public in my first school play, or the fear I felt on the first day of school. This is worse.

"You haven't answered my question, Marylise," he spoke, causing me to get out of my ponderings. “Do you accept or not?” He inquired. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out of it.

I couldn't even talk.

I pointed to the right waiting for him to notice, as I could not pronounce a word.

"Do you want me to turn right?" he asked what I was trying to said. He nodded before he did.

"Why don't you speak?" he questioned breaking the previous silence. “Did the mouse eat your tongue?” He joked giving me a light look.

I don't understand half the things he says, and yet he's provoking me all this.

“H-here on the left-left, it's the sixth house” I told him with some difficulty because of my condition.

"Okay," he said nodding. “I see your tongue is complete” he kept joking about the same thing.

“Yes, my tongue is fine, thank you” I was surprised because this time the words came out well, but somewhat abrupt in my opinion.

“I was only joking” He apologized by raising both hands in surrender.

‘Stop, here I get off” I asked him, when I arrived at my neighbor's house next door.

He stopped the car on the sidewalk and I hurried to open the door to get out.

“Wait” He stopped me grabbing my arm preventing me from coming out. I swallowed hard as I faced it. “You didn't answer me, do you accept or not?” He insisted.

I avoided looking him in the eye because if I did, I'd act like an idiot one more time.

"No," I said sharply pulling his hand off my wrist and breathing as he stepped out of his car.

I just wanted to get home. I just wanted to run home.

“Marylise, wait” he called me so I increased my speed while walking, but my strides were very short and the speed slowed down because I limped on my injured knee.

“I'm going to pay you” I stopped to hear it.

We've had financial problems lately, my mom doesn't earn enough from her job and my dad doesn't deposit money very often. An extra income might help us a little, at least with my expenses, so I wouldn't ask my mom every day.

But... I don't know, this scares me a little. I don't really know him enough to trust him, his "jokes" I don't understand them, I feel that everything he tells me is in another sense and confuses me terribly, I don't inspire enough confidence even to accept his proposal to be alone with him for several hours in a row, not knowing me, not knowing my mom; if he finds out he's going to kill me or make a scandal, no, no... I can't take it.

Well... maybe yes, it depends on a lot of things, I could just try for a day or two and test the ground, I just have to hide it well from my mother and everything will be fine. It'll only be a few days, at the slightest provocation I leave and I never see him again. Yes, that's fine with me.

I turned to face him before saying—: How much are we talking about?”

I noticed him smiling without showing his teeth when he listened to me. Even if it's a little scared, I can't deny that his smile is beautiful.

By this time, he was already out of his car; he stepped away from it and walked towards me.

“I don't know, you put a number”

“Ten an hour” I hastened to propose.

“Wow, for this if you speak fast, ah?” He smiled jovially. "How about four an hour?" he suggested.

"What do you think of twelve?" I said eloquently in the form of a joke to what he laughed.

“I see you're a business girl” I smiled shyly. He comes a little closer “But the joke is to lower the figure, do you accept all five?” He said inquirer. I didn’t even answer his question, I just turned on my axis heading home.

I don't want to take advantage of him, I just want to try him and see how much he's willing to pay

“Wait, wait” I stop and face him. “Okay, okay…” He exhaled. Not you, not me, eight an hour..., and this is my final offer” he spoke with determination.

If it's eight pounds an hour, that would be about three hours of schooling, five days a week, then I'd make 24 a day, which would be 120 a week, that would help me a lot.

I don't know if I should accept, I don't really know him, I don't know who he is or what his intentions are, I just know his name, some things he told me about him and that he's a Dalila's neighbor. But I need that money.

I'll just teach him a little maths, what could possibly go wrong?

"Okay," I said with a half-smile.

"Do you accept?" I nodded. “Well, I knew you'd agree... I'll see you tomorrow then”

"Tomorrow?" I inquired confusedly. Why so soon?

"Yes, we'll start tomorrow, can't you?"

“Yes, yes, I can” I felt like hitting myself for sounding so nervous.

"Well, what time do you leave school?"

"At two o'clock in the afternoon," I replied with a slight hesitation in my voice.

“I’ll see you there then,” he raised his hand in farewell and turned him back to walk toward his car.

“Wait, wait” I stopped him. He confronted me. “Will you come for me? At school?” I inquired with bewilderment.

“Yes, or is someone else coming out for you?” I stammered a little before denying. “Then I’ll go for you” he said, more like a warning than a question.

“Don't bother, I can go alone”

“It’s no trouble,” he smiled. “I’m passing through and I won’t let you walk so much with your injured knee,” he said looking at it. I noticed how he looked up and down at me slowly, as if he wanted to find something lost in me.

All that made me feel an electric current running through my spine.

"O-okay" I nodded hesitantly.

"See you tomorrow" He says goodbye, walking on his back, waving his hand as a gesture. I smiled at him shyly in response and that's when he put his hands into his jeans pockets and turned his back on me to get into his car.

I let out a big sigh before I went home.

I wonder why he asked me. I don't understand why he didn't ask someone in his class, who's at his level of study, why me? It's kind of absurd that someone who's taken me a little over seven years would ask a 17-year-old to teach him math. It's something that doesn't make sense, I can't understand why he chose me, if he really want to learn, just needs to hire an advisor, someone professional who can help him, not a student with some basic knowledge.

I just hope what he said is true and he's not an abuser or a murderer, even though he doesn't look like he is, I'm a little scared that he is.

I don't want to judge him at all, but I can't help but think things through. Thousands of questions that have to do with my physical and mental integrity invade my head every time I remember everything that just happened in a matter of just over half an hour. It's too much to process, I can't even understand half of everything that happened. I don't understand anything, and that scares me too much.