Billy had been watching her leave St. Basil's for days. On the first day, he studied each girl, searching for a clue, a glimmer of recognition. When he found her, his heart stopped. It had been eight years.
She walked down the block, arm and arm with three other girls, all ponytailed, in their plaid skirts and knee socks, as she had every day he'd watched her. They walked for six blocks together, before she would split off and go her own way. She didn't go home, not at first; she took a detour into the wooded park near her house, where she would sit by herself and start her homework.
He watched as she waved goodbye to her friends. Today was the day he would do it. It was perfect.
He followed from a distance and watched her settle into her small routine of settling in on the grass, spreading out her schoolbook in front of her. She hummed to herself. What song it was, he couldn't make out.
She didn't hear him come up behind her.
"You're Precious," he said in a low voice.
She spun her head around, a look of confusion on her face. It quickly turned to terror.
"Get away from me," she said, shoving her book back into her bag, "You're not allowed near me."
He stepped towards her. "I just -"
"I can have you arrested right now," she said, getting to her feet and holding up a pink cell phone.
Billy sniffed. "Oh really?"
She flipped the phone open and hit a digit. He lunged at her, knocking the phone away, before grabbing her and covering her mouth.
"Don't scream," he said, "don't fucking scream."
She struggled, but she wasn't strong enough to get away.
"I just want to talk," he whispered.
She was crying now. This was a mistake. What had he been thinking? He loosened his grip, and she fell to the ground, sobbing. "Precious - "
"My name isn't Precious!" She didn't look at him.
"What?"
She looked up, tears streaming down her face. "Not anymore."
"Oh," he said, pausing to think about it. "That's good."
"I know it's good," she said, gathering up her bag. She stood up. She was still in tears, but her experession was fearless. "What are you going to do to me now?"
Billy shook his head. "Nothing." He noticed she was shaking. "You think I killed her," he said, "but I didn't."
"You hit her," she said. She wasn't crying anymore.
"I didn't kill her," he said.
She gazed sideways, wondering why she was still standing there. "Is that why you're here, to tell me that?"
He lit a cigarette. "No," he said. "You don't believe me anyway."
She shook her head slowly.
"Just that... nobody knows, right? Nobody knows we're related?"
She looked at him. "We aren't related," she said coldly. "My parents adopted me six years ago."
He nodded. "Right," he said. "That... that's good." He paused. "So I mean, nobody knows? And you... you have a new name."
"Yeah," she said. She looked over at her phone in the grass, and glanced back at him.
He went over and picked it up, closing it without looking. "So you're not going to tell anyone you saw me today." He held out the phone. She reached for it.
"I guess..."
He jerked the phone away from her. "You're not going to tell anyone you saw me. Not anyone. You're not safe if you say anything about me, ever." He pointed the phone at her. "Don't fuck this up."
She glared at him. She looked so much like Vanessa, had Vanessa had a less unfortunate life. He'd almost forgotten what she'd really looked like. His mind flickered back to the day he'd found her lifeless body on the floor in a pool of blood, the gun still in her hand. They'd taken Precious three days before. Now little Precious was someone else, with a life he didn't recognize.
"I won't," she said. He handed her the phone.
"Good." He flicked his cigarette butt. "You just... really, really can't be my kid."
"I'm really, really not," she said. "So can I go now?"
"Yeah, go ahead," he said.
She turned, and started walking away. She paused, and looked back. "You're not going to follow me home, are you?"
"No," he said. "Don't worry... this is the last time you'll ever see me."
She shrugged lightly. "Good."
He watched her walk away, speeding her pace the farther away she got. She never looked back again.
He lit another cigarette.
"Good."