Ben said everything would be fine. But he shouldn't have said that when Luke had broken Patricia's arm. Talking about the Patricia case, again and again, Luke is really more worried about two things; that is if Ulfa found out—and Luke was sure he would find out sooner or later—and if Patricia's family went to the police then this would only get worse. Really, Luke had a strong feeling about the second point.
ULFA. Or her real name is Ulfaric Bright, but Ben just calls Ulfa. Something like that. He met her about seventy years old or thereabouts. Luke never knew the exact number, for sure Ben had said that Ulfa was slightly older than Ben.
Since childhood, Luke has lived with them because his mother died and his father went somewhere. In short Luke is an orphan. Yeah, no need to be sad or anything, it's normal. There are approximately more than forty million children in this country who live without parents. The lucky few have been able to live with kind relatives like them or have understanding foster parents like Rei or Gerald. Some who have bad luck, must be satisfied with living in an orphanage until they are kicked out one day. Or, yeah… huddle under bridges, basking in vats of fire and smoking cheap marijuana. It's common things .
Back to Ulfa. As Luke recalls, he was very patient and gentle. Luke rarely gets yelled at by him. Maybe almost never. So Luke has a reason why Luke loves him and doesn't mind things that can bother him. Likewise at this time. What happened this morning, where Luke managed to break Patricia Bowleans' arm in one squeeze, Luke and Ben agreed to remain silent until time opened its own veil on Ulfa. The reason? Because Ulfa has a disease.
Well, once again, it's a common thing.
Ulfa is very easy to get sick. When the seasons change, he will get sick. When he hears the bad news on television, he will think about it and fall sick. When she saw her friend's granddaughter die from an overdose, Ulfa also became ill. Anyway, it's easy to get sick. Luke was surprised. Therefore, Ben always takes him for health check-ups every few months. Luke seemed to have said this already, but usually they would have left him at home with a guard for a few days. In the past, Ulfa could have more frequent check-ups like once a month or once every three months. But, the last few years, he has felt better.
Once, Ben forgot Ulfa's scheduled check-up because Ben was late coming home after drinking with his fellow veterans. Luke was only five or six when he heard a noise coming from inside Ulfa's room. She groaned for a few moments, calling for him to fetch a pitcher of drinking water and shutting her bedroom door from the outside.
“Luke… is Ben… home yet?”
"Not yet," he replied at the time.
Anxiety and fear crept into Luke's body when he saw the sweat pouring all over Ulfa's body, his breath going up and down abnormally quickly, saliva started to come out of his mouth non-stop, and a sound that was as heavy as a heavy vehicle.
“Luke… please get some water… then… then lock the door from the outside… and what… and whatever you… hear… whatever… happens in here… don't you ever open the door… until Ben comes home… do you… understand?”
Luke didn't answer but just nodded, ran to the kitchen to get a teapot, and locked the door as he ordered. He managed to call out to Luke to immediately go into the room and also lock the door. Then, indeed, Luke heard a loud noise from downstairs, from Ulfa's room. Recently, Luke thought that it was possible that Ulfa had a severe seizure at that time. Because after two hours later Ben returned home, the noise was getting louder. Ben called out something but Ulfa was getting louder too, scaring him as he covered his ears in Luke's closet. Afraid to go down. I don't know what time, he finally fell asleep and woke up in the morning because he heard Ulfa's soft voice saying;
“Luke, my dear . Why are you in the closet?”
It took him about thirty seconds to realize who was in front of his wardrobe at that moment. So, Luke immediately remembered the commotion last night and asked, "Ulfa has recovered?"
As Luke recalls, Ulfa didn't shake or nod, only smiled then asked if Luke was scared. Luke replied casually that he was afraid of the noise last night. So Ulfa apologized. Well, he felt that since then, Ben always tried to be by Ulfa's side and as much as possible it was never too late to take him for Ulfa's health check-up.
Alright, he thought enough of the story about Ulfa and the reasons why Luke couldn't worry him. Now let's get back to the issue that Ben's statement about ' everything will be alright' isn't quite right.
On the first day, the caretaker named by Ben, Julia Chastain, came too late and left too early. He was only at home from two in the afternoon to five in the evening. However, the contract is much longer than that. The alibi he gave went like this;
“I have to attend my best friend Luke's birthday party and I need to get ready before seven o'clock. May I take a shower here? Yeah, you know, to save time so I don't have to go back and forth to the house. Ha ha... I also brought my own dress and make-up tools, really. If you don't mind ,” said Julia while showing off her make-up pouch and two types of dresses from her backpack.
Luke let her shower and get dressed and leave because she talked too much. She was five years older and really, really chatty and the topics were always boys, boys and guys. As if he had no other knowledge to discuss the riddles of the existence of black holes or the shooting that occurred in Brussels. So because Luke's ears were tired of hearing his chatter, he let Julio go and promised not to complain to Ben so that the payment would not be reduced. For this all Luke gets is thanks.
Unfortunately, by the time the sun had started to set and the sky was in the transition from red to dark, Luke didn't feel too well. The heat in the body, the extraordinary cold on the skin, the heavy footsteps, the unpleasant smell in the mouth, and the rolling eyes every time Luke tried to open them. It feels really uncomfortable. Even to get cereal Luke broke his bowl. While drinking, Luke also drops the bottle. Ah, that damn Julia. She should be here to take care of him, because it looks like Luke has a bad fever .
***