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B (21:03)

I, nor any of the other drivers even knew existed. When the order came in, I went straight to the map to find the address, but it wasn't there. Not even the GPS on my phone showed it. We didn't have any no delivery areas at that time, so I had to take it despite my misgivings. Theoretically, the place would have existed if the road continued for 10 more blocks. So I turned on to said road a block before its ending and followed it south. Sure enough, a newly paved road began where the old one should have ended. For what seemed like miles, I continued on this new section of road. Nothing stood on either side of it, and I didn't pass another car the whole time. How the state managed to build it without a single report of its creation leaked to the media had me bewildered. The five years I had been driving all over this city, I had not known this part existed. In one way, I was very excited seeing all of it, like a Victorian explorer tracing the source of the Nile, but at the same time, a deserted road popping up out of nowhere gave me a chill down my spine. It must have been a good 10 minutes before the house in question appeared in the distance. I couldn't understand why someone would build a house out here in the middle of nowhere with no way to reach it. When I got closer, I could see that the house had to be at least 15 years old or more and probably had not been repaired since then. No cars were around, and for a moment I thought the house was abandoned. But I could see that the front door was wide open behind the rickety old screen. Everything looked to be above board, so I grabbed the pizza and headed for the door. I knocked on the screen door but got no answer. I could see what appeared to be a young female walking around the kitchen. When I knocked a second time, I heard a female voice say to come in. Despite my reservations, I stepped just inside the house and waited in a small foyer. I had learned from other drivers early on not to enter an unfamiliar house, but I had yet to see anything to concern me. I assumed the woman would be coming out soon to pay me. Instead, I overheard an unseen man whisper call him into the kitchen. When I heard that, I fled from the place as fast as I could. I was so freaked out. I got back to the restaurant and half the time it took me to get to the house. After I told my boss what had just occurred. He called the police. All the excitement had me rattled, so my boss sent me home for the day. My phone rang a few hours later. It was the police. They had called to let me know what they had found. Whoever had been there was gone. Even though the place had more than likely been abandoned for a while, they did find evidence that people had just recently been inside. This was stuff my boss had already told them. However, they did shed light on where the road came from and why the house was the only building on an otherwise deserted area. The state had been trying to purchase the land on which the new section of road and house were for 20 years, but the landowner would not sell. They even tried to use eminent domain to get it, but a judge blocked it around two years before, the owner passed and his children finally sold the land to the state. They were so happy to get the land after all that time, the construction on the road was started immediately. It technically had yet to be formally opened, but locals had already began using it anyway. This was good to know, but I still wondered how the two people knew about the empty house sitting in the middle of nowhere. This was something the officer didn't know, of course. We could only assume they drove past it and decided it would be as good a place as any to ambush a delivery driver. Even $20 is a good score if you're desperate enough, he said. From personal experience, people had killed for much less. The officer left me with one good piece of news, though. The county had slated the old house to be demolished in the coming week so no other poor delivery driver would be led out there to be robbed or worse. Two days later I was driving down the brand new road, which I was now using as a shortcut across town, and witnessed the house's destruction. A load was being lifted from my shoulders right before my eyes. Never again would I enter a customer's home or even deliver to an area in which I was not well versed. Because my parents had separated before I was born, I spent my time growing up between each of their houses. Each summer Until I turned 19, I stayed with my dad in rural Missouri. He had grown up in the area himself and most of his family still lived there. Without much to do, like going to the movies and stuff, I would fill my days hanging out with my older cousin and getting into mischief. Many of our long summer days were taken in wandering the surrounding woods. On one of these journeys we came across a big lake setting quietly by itself out in the middle of nowhere. The water was crystal clear and filled with tons of monstrous fish. We asked the adults if they were aware of its existence, but none had heard of it. That was probably the reason for it having so many large fish. No one living in the area had fished it and any who had in the past allowed its location to be lost. We would fish the pond three or four times, coming away with a stringer full of lunkers on each occasion. On the fifth occasion, we hoped to accumulate enough for a big family fish fry. The summer holiday was starting to wind down and we figured a fish fry would be a great way to cap it off. It was a warm Saturday morning when we headed out. We started about an hour before sunup because the walk in took over an hour. Besides, the fish stopped biting by the hottest part of the day and we hoped to get back to my dad's house by early afternoon. The beautiful side of the pond came into view around dawn. It didn't take long for us to get our first bites and for the next three hours the fish came quickly, one after another. Our limit was caught by 10:45 and I was rearing to get going. We had a 90 minute walk back with two 5 gallon buckets packed to the top with fish, so I imagined another 30 could be added to that. To my displeasure, my cousin thought it would be refreshing to take a dip in the lake before we left. He tried to pressure me into joining him, but I didn't know how to swim at the time. I just wanted to get back, but he was older than me so he was in charge. I plopped my tail onto a rock and waited while he did his thing. There was an old rope to tied to a tree, probably from a hundred years ago and he wanted to swing from. Looked unsafe to me. However, my concerns were laughed off and he stripped down to his boxers. Setting his clothes on the ground next to me, he climbed the tree a little way and grabbed the rope. Pushing off, he swung out just a short distance before the rope snapped right above him. He had made it out far enough to hit the deep water, but probably not as far as he intended. When he hit the water, his body made a dull thud sound. It certainly didn't sound normal and likely hurt. I was planning on laughing at him and saying I told you so, but as the seconds passed, he never resurfaced. The situation was quickly becoming scary. I looked around to see if he came up somewhere farther away, perhaps floating unconscious because of the hard contact with the water, but still nothing. I was beginning to panic and waded out as far as I dare looking into the water for him. Unfortunately, the water became so cloudy with every step I took and made it impossible to see. Soon it was clear to me that he had drowned. How? I had no idea. Perhaps if I could have swam back then, I may have been able to help him. But it was too late now. I was helpless to do anything more than pick up and head home. On the entire walk back, a small nugget of hope lingered in the back of my mind that maybe he had tricked me and he would pop out at some point. This did not happen, however, and the dread I carried of telling my family grew with each step. I tried several times to find the words, but with each attempt I would break down and choke on my tears. Ultimately, I could only manage Mark drowned. They got the point, and after. Once I was able to pull myself together, I led my dad and my uncle back to the pond. Mark's body was still nowhere to be found. With no other options, we went into the sheriff's office to report the drowning. When I realized where we were headed, I started freaking out. In my young mind, I thought I was going to get in trouble or be blamed for my cousin's death. It took a few minutes, but they were able to convince me that I was not in trouble. Even after they had. I couldn't help but feel guilty every time I looked at my uncle. Regardless of what he claimed, I couldn't believe that he did not blame me, even if it was just a small amount. I explained what happened to the sheriff, and the search began the next morning. Just by chance, that was the day I was going back to my mom's. That Monday night, my mom sat me down to tell me that a team of divers had found Mark's body Earlier that day. When they discovered him, one of his feet were hung up on a sunken log, so they assumed that was why he never surfaced. I wish I could say this made me feel better, but it didn't. It did, however, serve as a catalyst to learn how to swim. The guilt of not being able to help my cousin stayed with me for most of my life, and I never wanted to be in the position of not being able to help another person ever again. So in a twisted kind of way, his death had a positive impact on my life. However, if I had the choice, I'd prefer that he still be with us. This is the story of the day I learned to really trust my instincts. What I refer to is nothing metaphysical, but rather an educated gut feeling based on our life lessons and general alertness. I say that because my family made sure to teach me about bad people. But I think it was my own instincts that potentially saved me from a terrible trauma. When I was around six or seven, my grandparents lived in a big city on an apartment apartment building that had three apartments per floor. My grandma was good friends with the next door neighbor which was a middle aged woman named Marley. She lived with her also middle aged husband who I'll call Theo. When I say next door, I mean their door was glued to my grandma's. The corridor was small and cramped with a security metal door separating my grandma's and Marley's door from the rest. Since the town was very dangerous, this metal door served as extra protection for both apartments. Theo was a big quiet man with a round belly. He had a classic mustache and never really visited my grandma's apartment when Marley did. Therefore, I don't think my parents nor grandparents were that familiar with him. I used to visit my family every weekend and sometimes my 5 year old cousin would be over as well. We were both generally quiet girls and we often played together around the apartment. Being the eldest, I was always given the responsibility to take care of my cousin. She could be very difficult to control sometimes. But I tried my best and thank God I did. One afternoon we were playing when my grandma announced that she was going out with Marley. I don't remember where my parents and grandad were, but they were not home. It was okay for me to stay a few hours by myself since my grandma wouldn't take long and my mom had taught me from an early age to be very independent. The apartment wouldn't be locked though because the outer metal door would. My grandma used to say that if I ever needed any help I could call Marley or Theo. I never wanted to actually need them because that would mean an emergency or something scary like that. But I felt a sense of safety knowing there were adults nearby. That sense of safety could not be more wrong. Everyone left and me and my cousin stayed by ourselves. It was really hot that day and we were wearing light summer clothes. I don't recall the exact reason, but sometime later my cousin decided she would go over to Marley's apartment and play over there. I guess she was bored or something like that and decided to venture over to the unknown, as she put it. Instantly I knew this was a bad idea. I had never been over to their place. But something hit my gut the wrong way when my cousin suggested that. I can't explain that feeling of dread, but I do remember how unwilling I was to go and How I tried to convince her otherwise. My cousin, however, didn't listen to me and just ran over, knocking on their door. I heard Theo's deep voice inviting us in, and we did. The apartment itself was very standard for the 90s. Wooden furniture, bad art on the walls, dinner table with some ugly centerpiece, etc. Nothing creepy about it. What was creepy, though, was how Theo stared at us from the start. He was sitting on a lounge chair, wearing a white buttoned shirt with the top buttons opened. He was sweaty and it showed on his clothes and hair. I remember this in detail because I felt immediately grossed out. Without taking his eyes off of me, Theo greeted us, inquiring about our visit and whatnot, trying to appear friendly. I held my cousin's hand as we stayed in the middle of the living room, kind of testing the ambiance. I wanted to bolt out of there, but my cousin was very curious and started to walk around, exploring the cabinets, tables, and decor. All the while, Theo was rambling on about things I don't really recall. My cousin was still exploring and answering things sporadically. Suddenly, Theo said something that made my chest explode with a sudden release of tension. He called me pretty, cute and polite. He asked if I wanted to sit on his lap and smiled. I hate to recall this moment because it felt like some kind of violence was imminent. My instincts were screaming that this was a dangerous place to be. Finally, I managed to say no thanks, and turned around. My cousin was nowhere to be seen. Anger and fear boiled inside of me. What if this huge, sweaty man decided to grab us? What if he did something bad or locked us up forever? These were possibilities in my head. While I looked for my cousin and called her name, I finally found her looking at something in the kitchen. She asked why I was crying, and that's when I realized it myself. This was how nervous I felt around Theo. I think he might have been calling for us, trying to lure us back closer to him, but I don't remember. I guess he had a bad leg or knee because he didn't move much or get up. All I know is that I didn't run, but firmly grabbed my cousin by her arm and dragged her back to our grandma's apartment. I couldn't lock the door, so in my childish desperation, I created a barrier with a bunch of chairs and waited until my family came home. My cousin was upset set, but she quickly forgot about it. When my mom arrived, I was very nervous, but managed to tell her. For some weird reason, I felt really ashamed. However, she wasn't mad at me, but was incredibly concerned and told me I did the right thing because any adult who did something like that was not to be trusted. Of course, we were consequently prohibited to go over to Marley and Theo's apartment or even talk to them. I didn't mind one bit. I actually welcomed this decision. So far, the encounter would have been creepy enough to any child or teenager, but it got worse a few years later after my mom had a chance encounter with Marley when she was on vacation. My mom was traveling with my aunt and they were having breakfast at the hotel when they spotted Marley from a distance. Mom tells me that she didn't say hello, just pointed Marley out to my aunt and nothing more. But then my aunt casually mentioned that Marley was alone because her husband Theo had been arrested a few years back. He had been given a long sentence, so the case was pretty serious. He was arrested for being a predator. My mom was shocked because she had no idea he was in jail. She called me right away and told me I was already a teenager but still felt a knot in my stomach remembering that afternoon with my cousin. Marley even tried to say hello to my mom, but my mom just ignored her and stepped away. It serves Marley right because the story is that she knew what Theo did and kept quiet. To this day, whenever I think of that tense, dreadful encounter with Theo, I am drenched with disgust, but thankfully, also with relief. It's.

A (47:58)

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E (48:41)

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It's. It's.

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Hunters, Haja Boys Breakfast Meal and Hunt Tricks Meal have just dropped at McDonald's. They're calling this a battle for the fans. What do you say to that, Rumi?

D (61:45)

It's not a battle. So glad the Saja Boys could take breakfast and give our meal the rest of the day.

B (61:50)

It is an honor to share.

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No, it's our honor.

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D (62:05)

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It's.