Chapter 7

While Wayne was whipping his daughter, the spy camera in the pot plant caught everything, but no one was at the television in my bedroom to watch or tape anything. During the whipping, Sherwin was in the bathroom taking a shower.

Fortunately the spy camera in Wayne's living room still ran. Since I had nothing to do over the summer holidays, I spent much of my time spying into the neighbour's house.

The reason why I never saw Erika when I grew up was because her father always kept her inside. By watching the spy camera pictures, I started to understand how painful Erika's life was. Unlike my dad who completely ignored me, Erika's dad was obsessed with his daughter. It seemed like he wanted his little girl to grow up to be rich and successful, which meant that she was only allowed to eat, sleep, and study all day long.

I've been spying into Wayne's house for three days now. Erika constantly argued with her father. She once demanded that she be allowed to go outside and talk to other people, but Wayne told her to wait till she was older. Erika acted strange sometimes. One minute she shouted at her father and the next minute it looked like she was in love with him. Perhaps Erika was so lonely and desperate she had to seek comfort and affection in her enemy. If you only ever know one person in your life, it's hard to make a distinction between friend and enemy.

From the outside, Wayne's house looked just like any other suburban home, but many strange things happened inside. At night, Wayne always worshiped the dollar sign on the wall. He prayed to some mystical "invisible hand" and asked it to help him and his daughter.

Sherwin sometimes came into my room and told me to get a life of my own instead of spying on the neighbours all the time. I told my brother about the bomb recipes I found in Wayne's house and he started to look worried.

"Do you think maybe Wayne's a terrorist?" I asked.

"Could be," said Sherwin. "Maybe he's training his daughter to become a terrorist as well."

One morning I woke up really early and decided to spy into Wayne's house. Erika and Wayne were at the kitchen table eating breakfast. Even though the spy camera was in the living room, the kitchen was still visible. Wayne started telling his daughter inspirational stories about successful businesswomen but the conversation soon drifted to Wayne's youth. Wayne was quite a rebellious boy when he was little. Erika smiled and laughed when she listened to Wayne's childhood stories, but after her father left to go to work, she crawled up on the couch all by herself and started to cry silently. Since her father wasn't home, I decided to pay her a visit. She looked like she needed someone to talk to.

I no longer needed a trashcan to get over the fence. With all the upper-body strength I had accrued from playing cricket, I could lift myself over in a matter of seconds.

Wayne's backyard no longer looked as foreign as it did when I first saw it. With Sherwin's lock pick, I opened the back door and walked inside the laundry room. I stood near the washing machine and wondered whether it was right to walk in on a girl crying. If it were me crying I'd want some privacy. But I had already come so far. I didn't want to go back home. Both my parents worked and Sherwin was starting to annoy me. At this stage of my life, having a decent conversation with someone seemed as precious as a drop of water in the desert.

I opened the laundry room door and walked into the living room. Erika lied on the couch. Hearing and seeing me approach, she suppressed her tears and wiped her eyes furiously till they turned red. She got up from the couch and stood in front of me. Her pyjamas were still on.

I knew I wanted to talk to her, but I didn't know what to say. I was so eager to be with her just a few minutes ago, but now that I was actually here I wanted to run away and hide. It was awkward being near a sad girl.

"I'm gonna go upstairs for a moment and change clothes," said Erika. "You can go to the kitchen and get something to drink."