Before Nami and Cairo showed up…
[Eli she was singing a song]
It was renji and that pregnant lady, Eli.
They were walking and laughing down the old park road the kind that still had rusty swings and cracked slides.
Little kids all over the place, yelling, "Kick it! Kick the ball! Go Gojo!"
Ball smacking dirt, kids screaming, parents watching from the side like nothing bad ever happens in this town.
Then one of the kids kicked the ball too hard straight into the bushes.
"Yo, Gojo! You kicked it, you go get it!"
The other kids were teasing.
Parents looked at each other half-smiling, half-nervous.
One mom said, "He'll be fine, it's just bushes."
But you could feel that silence underneath.
Gojo puffed his chest out.
"I'm a big boy," he said to himself.
"Big boys don't get scared of no dark cave."
He followed the ball.
Through the brush, through the leaves.
Ball was sitting there, just by this small cave mouth looked like something out of an old horror movie.
He stepped forward, toe touched the ball ball rolled deeper in.
Gojo frowned. "Man… come on."
He walked inside.
Then he saw it the ball, and right next to it… a shiny old coin.
He bent down, forgot about the ball, and picked the coin up.
That's when he heard her.
A voice — soft, sweet, creepy.
Like a lullaby underwater.
"Hush little baby, don't you cry…"
Gojo froze.
Eyes wide.
He grabbed the ball and bolted.
Screaming.
The whole playground heard him his voice echoing from the woods.
Then silence.
A moment later, the ball rolled back out of the cave.
Just the ball.
The parents ran in nothing but his slippers, a trail of blood… and that coin.
The mom screamed till her voice broke.
Now back to me and Eli the pregnant lady.
Me and her walking through town.
Nami and Cairo saw us from a corner, hiding behind some fence. The cat was behind them, tail up, like it already knew some spooky mess was about to go down.
Cairo squinted. "Yo, is that Renji with a pregnant lady? Bro, who's that?"
Nami folded her arms. "You seen her before? She don't look like she from this town."
Cairo shook his head. "Nah, I'd know. Everybody knows everybody in this boring-ass place. Ain't no new people without gossip flying."
Eli laughed while we walked. She was chill, her hand resting on her belly.
"Renji," she said softly, "you're the only person who ever talks to me. Everyone else avoids me like I'm cursed or something."
I smiled. "Don't worry. I'll still come by. You're cool."
We reached her house.
She waved me off.
"Thanks for helping, Renji. I'll be fine today."
Didn't even notice the eyes following us.
Nami whispered, "I don't like this. That house wasn't here last week."
Cairo nodded. "Yeah… it's giving haunted Airbnb vibes."
They came out from the corner.
"Yo Renji!" Cairo called.
I turned. "What's up?"
Nami stepped forward. "You sure she's new? You didn't see nothing weird?"
I laughed. "You two need hobbies. She just moved in. That's it."
Cairo shook his head. "Nah bro, something off. I feel it."
I just waved them off and walked home. They followed, still arguing till we got to my door.
Nami said, "Don't forget midterm break starts tomorrow. We're crashing here!"
Cairo grinned. "Yeah bro, you live alone. Perfect hangout spot."
I laughed. "Aight fine but you bringing food. I ain't cooking for y'all freeloaders."
We laughed.
They left.
I walked in.
The black cat was already sitting by the door staring like it owned the place.
Next Day Midterm Break
Rain started falling again.
Nami and Cairo showed up, drenched, carrying bags.
"I told my folks I'm staying here," Nami said.
Cairo added, "Same, man. Hope you cool with that."
I smiled. "Man, come on in. Finally, some company."
We each took a room three rooms, three people.
We hung out, played games, laughed about the samurai and that ghost mess.
Outside, the rain hit harder.
Cairo leaned forward. "Yo, let's play truth or dare."
Nami glared. "Boy, no. You just trying to get weird."
I chuckled. "Then we playing PlayStation instead."
Thunder cracked.
Rain dripping like a heartbeat on the roof.
The cat sat by the window eyes glowing, tail twitching.
Something about tonight didn't feel right.