I froze. My father had never asked me for anything like that. After my mother died, we lived alone together, but he had always been very careful about personal boundaries. Even when I had nightmares as a child, he would sleep in an armchair or take me to my grandmother’s room. That’s why his request immediately frightened me.
Raising children
What terrified me even more was the expression on his face. He was trying to smile at the guests, but his fingers were trembling. When I turned to him, I noticed his eyes were red, as if he’d been crying all day.
“What happened?” I whispered.
He looked at the people gathered in the room and said only one thing:
—I’ll explain later. For now, just pretend everything’s fine.
After that, I couldn’t hear the birthday song anymore. Everyone was clapping while I stared at the kitchen door . Strange things had been happening in our house for the past week. Dad would wake up at the slightest noise, keep the curtains closed, and repeatedly check the front door. Two days earlier, he had come home from work unusually early and spent a long time talking to someone on the phone. When I walked into the kitchen, he quickly ended the call.
“Who was it?” I asked.
“Wrong number,” he replied.
But I had heard his last sentence:
—Don’t go near my daughter.
The guests left around ten o’clock at night. Grandma offered to stay with us, but Dad stubbornly refused. He wouldn’t even let me open the door when the last guests left. He stood by the entrance himself, waited until their cars were gone, and then locked the door and put the top bolt on it. By then, I was convinced someone was watching us.
Astronomy
—Now tell me what’s going on—I demanded.
PART 2
Dad remained silent for several seconds. Then he picked up his phone, sent a message to someone, and told me to go up to his bedroom. He had already placed an armchair with a pillow and a blanket next to his bed.
