Chapter 5

This afternoon James went to the place where Eli lives with her family. James' eyes widened when he arrived at the place, rows of houses that were messy and poorly maintained, rubbish bins left to fall and very dirty.

James saw a middle-aged woman throwing rubbish in the corner of the hallway. James immediately approached the woman and hoped to get information about Eli's parents.

"Excuse me, Ma'am? May I ask for a moment of your time? Is there anything I want to ask?”

"Are you a police officer?" The woman asked with a cynical look.

“No, I'm not a cop!”

"Is it true? If you're a police officer, I hope you catch those thugs immediately, I can't stand the noise they make every day, I think I'll die if they stay like that!"

“Delinquent?”

“Yeah, almost everyone in this place works as a gambler and drug dealer. You look at that house, the house that is painted yellow, the house to the right that is painted red and also the two houses at the end of the hall, they are all disgusting criminals. I'm thankful that one family like them has moved in, at least one criminal family is gone, but of course that doesn't make me happy, at least I don't have to hear the horrible screams coming from that house anymore.” The middle-aged woman talked non-stop, it made James a little confused, but from the way this woman spoke, it seemed like she knew who Eli's family was and which house they lived in.

"Then, may I ask something?"

"What's that?"

“Do you know a teenage girl named Eli? I heard she lives around here? Did you know?”

“Eli?”

"Yes Eli, have you ever heard that name?"

"There's only one Eli I know around here, actually I rarely see that girl because she almost never leaves her house." The woman said trying to remember what she knew.

"I don't know whether the Eli I mean is the same as the Eli you know, but if I may ask, how is that girl? For example, her appearance or physical characteristics?”

"I think she's a teenager, the last time I saw her, when I passed her, she was also wanting to throw out the trash. The girl didn't talk much and she always kept her face down, her body was thin and her hands were covered in bruises and wounds, her hair was long and very unkempt. People here say that the girl has been mentally disturbed since childhood. Yes, but I'm not sure about that," said the woman, she said everything she knew without feeling suspicious of the person who asked it.

"So where is her family and home?"

“The house at the very end over there is painted brown. But I don't think you'll meet the girl's family here."

"It means?"

“They moved in about two weeks ago."

"Move? Do you know where they moved?”

“No one knows where they went, the family was too troubled so none of the neighbors liked them. Their eldest son was arrested by the police for drugs and robbery and the last thing I knew he was dying as a result of being hit on the head with a beer bottle by the girl we were talking about earlier, the girl was involved in an argument with her father and he was determined to hit her father on the head. The girl went somewhere and until now she never came back."

James was silent, he didn't expect the girl's life to be much more terrifying than he expected. Maybe that was the reason behind the feeling of trauma her showed during her treatment at the hospital.

"Oh yes, may I know who you are? Why ask about that family? Are you really a police officer?” The woman asked, her suspicions aroused after she accidentally told everything to a stranger.

“No, I'm not a police officer. I only ever met that girl, so I came here to meet her family!”

"It's a shame, none of us know where the girl went and what her current condition is."

“It's okay, thank you so much for the information. Excuse me!” James said as he walked away from the woman. James didn't know what he should do now, all he knew was that it wouldn't be a good thing if he returned Eli to her family, even though their current whereabouts were still unclear.

"What do you mean not to return Eli to her family?" Miyuki was shocked to hear James' statement. James tried to act calm while enjoying a cup of coffee that a waiter served him.

"I went to where the girl lived and I didn't find her family there, one of her neighbors said that the family had left the day the accident happened."

"What? Is it true?"

“Do you know why that girl wandered around in the middle of the street during the heavy rain that night? She ran away from the grip of her father who continued to beat her mercilessly, the girl was determined to hit her father on the head with a beer bottle."

"Oh my God, we have to report it to the police immediately, this can't be allowed, James!" Miyuki was too worried, she didn't want to wait too long, she wanted this case to be finished as quickly as possible.

"We can't!"

"What do you mean we can't?"

“We can't report it to the police.”

"Why? What is the problem? This is their job!”

“I know, but reuniting Eli and her family is not a good thing for the child's psychological development. She's been through so much trauma, we don't know the full extent of what she's going through." James said.

"You're right, but we're still looking for her family's whereabouts. Not to return it, if they are proven to have committed abuse they must receive appropriate punishment. We cannot let these criminals get away with it after what they did to their own family members.”

***