"What is your name, little girl? And how old are you?" Rudy asked calmly.
"Why should I tell my name to a stranger who broke into my house?!"
"Uhh… I am not a stranger, actually."
"Then who are you?"
"I asked first, so you have to answer first." Rudy was using a kid's logic while talking with a kid.
"My name is Jessica!"
'So she is…' Rudy smiled at her bitterly and clenched his teeth to control his emotions.
"I am… R… Robert. Nice to meet you. Now, answer my next question. How old are you?"
"I am 15!"
"You are not fooling anyone with that height," Rudy chuckled wryly.
Jessica squinted her eyes and responded, "I am seven!"
"I am… well, 23 years old."
"You cheater!" Jessica hissed.
"Hmm?"
"You didn't answer my question!"
"But I did. You asked me who I am, and I introduced myself, didn't I?" Rudy said calmly.
"I didn't ask your name!"
"Well, when someone asks 'who are you?', then it's usually the name. But I get what you are trying to say." After a brief pause, he said, "I am a friend."
"Friend of who?" she asked with a judging look on his face.
"Your…"
"My?"
"Rebecca. I am Rebecca's friend."
Jessica squinted her eyes and asked, "Why would sis have an old man as her friend."
"I am not an old man."
"You said you are twenty-three, and anyone over twenty is considered an old man."
"No, they are not. People over twenty are called adults, and you should respect them."
"No way. Sis says that adults are the most evil people in the world."
"Well, she is right, but I am a good adult," he said while stepping forward.
Jessica stepped back a little and said, "A good adult does not enter someone's house when no one is in there. How did you even get here? The door was locked."
"You sure talk like an adult even though you are seven years old. I was expecting you to talk in broken words, but you colored me surprised."
"Praising me won't change my mind," she said with a little flushed face. "But I will allow you to wait for sis here."
'So gullible…'
"Where is she, by the way?" Rudy asked curiously. "And… umm… what date is it today, again? I forgot to check my calendar before leaving."
"It's the 21st."
"Of?"
"September."
"Of…?"
"...1989…"
"...!"
'I am nineteen years back in time? What the fuck! How did this happen? What triggered it… no, it's the wallet that triggered this, but why nineteen years? Did something happen nineteen years ago?
I won't be born for like a year and a few months, so this is not where I find out about my real biological mother. Keep all that aside, how did I come back in time?
Is it one of my powers? No, time travel sounds simple, but it's impossible. I know I am the last person who should say this since I have already time traveled once, and this is my second time.
But it's not under my control. The first time travel clearly wasn't, but this one… did my powers trigger it with the help of the wallet? And is that the reason why I had lost my powers for a minute or so in the graveyard?
And how the hell am I supposed to go back? I don't know how to time travel, so it's out of my control. Don't tell me I will be stuck here? Technically, I was also stuck in 2008, but I never thought of anything, as that's what I wanted.
It was the best time where I could change mine and the girl's future. But this… timeline… why? I cannot be stuck here for decades. I will have to find a way to go back, but how?'
Rudy had so many questions he wanted the answers to. But worrying about something that wasn't in his control would not help him in any way, and Rudy was aware of it. So he stopped thinking about it and focused on something else that was in his control.
"Why would you ask me about year and month?" Jessica asked with a judging look on her face. "Who are you, mister?"
"I am Rebecca's friend. And the reason I didn't know about the month and a year is that where I am from, we follow a different calendar," he said calmly.
Jessica didn't completely believe what Rudy said, but her suspicion of him decreased slightly.
"Anyway, where is Rebecca?"
"School."
"Oh… right. But… umm…" Rudy looked at the sky through the window and said, "Isn't it too late to be at school?" he asked with a curious yet calm look on his face.
He didn't want to sound desperate or suspicious, so he had to talk to her calmly.
"She is on a school trip."
"When will she be back?"
"Today. In a few hours. The school trip was a one day to the neighboring towns."
"Oh. I see."
'Now she is talking like a kid. Was she putting up a tough act because she thought I was an intruder?' Rudy wondered.
Rudy glanced around the house to see if he could find something useful that could help him get his answers.
"Can I get something to drink?" he asked.
"Water," Jesicca nodded.
Rudy sat on the couch and waited for Jessica to return with a glass of water.
'If mom was truly 29 years old in 2008, so she should be 10 years old in 1989. I don't know what. She was like that at that time, but I think I won't get any answers from her. So I will have to ask Jesicca since she already trusts me.
Mom always told me that my supposed-father died when I was three years old, and she even has his pictures. And even Anthony and Elenor seemed to know him. So if mom is not my biological mother, is he my actual father? If not, then who is he?'
Rudy had even more questions than before. And he was going to get all the answers.
