Cautiously, I walked down the stairs, never letting go of my bear. When I reached the foot of the stairs, my mother reached out for me, but Tommy stepped in front of her, smiling down at me. He squat down and ruffled my hair, his immaculate skin looking almost polished and waxed at this proximity.
“Cute little fella, aren’t you? Oh, who’s that you got?” He asked, gesturing to my bear.
“H-his name is Growls,” I stammered.
Tommy grinned, “Of course he is. I’m going to help your parents for a while so I’d like the three of us to be friends. Me, you, and Growls. You think that’d be ok?”
Again I looked to my parents for help, confused and shaken. I had no idea what was going on, who this was, why my parents looked so scared. He seemed nice enough, but the way my father rubbed his throat told me otherwise.
“Boop, boop!” Tommy chuckled, knocking gently on my head, “Hey I asked you a question, Spence.”
“What did you do to my daddy?” I whispered, immediately wishing I hadn’t.
