After watching that girl walking on the street for a few seconds, Doğan involuntarily slowed down her steps. The girl's walk was calm but cautious; as if she was weighing the surroundings with every step. He was too careful for a newcomer to the neighborhood.
Born to himself,
"Who is this?" He muttered.
The girl stopped at the end of the road. He searched the door in front of an old apartment building, dealing with the key. Then he raised his head and realized that Doğan was still looking at him.
They came face to face.
One second... two seconds...
She seemed to say something, but the girl quickly turned her head, opened the door and walked in.
Doğan smiled slightly.
"So he's ashamed..." he thought.
Then he noticed that two people coming out of the black vehicle were looking towards the building the girl entered.
Doğan's face became serious.
These were the men of the Cobra Crew. Definitely.
The men were talking among themselves:
"Is it here?"
"Exactly, he still hasn't paid off the debt. This week is the last chance."
Doğan's heart is frozen.
"Is the debt... the girl's father?" He thought.
He turned his head to the side, slowly walking away from there without attracting the men's attention. But his mind was there. A foreign girl, a troubled family, on top of that, the Cobra Crew...
The street was never empty.
⸻
In the evening, Doğan returned home. He had an old, narrow room. He looked at an old photo hanging on the wall: himself, his brother and his mother. His brother's shoulder was wrapped around him, they were both laughing.
"Brother... I wish you were here," he whispered.
At that time, a voice came from outside. When he approached the edge of the window, he saw that girl again on the street. He had grocery bags in his hand and looked a little hectic. Doğan went down unintentionally.
When she went out to the street, the girl was trying to carry the bags at the entrance of the apartment. Doğan approached silently.
"Let me help," he said.
The girl flinched and looked up.
"Well... no need, I'll handle it."
Doğan shook his head slightly.
"No one can handle anything on this street alone."
The girl stopped for a moment. There was a slight surprise in his eyes.
"I'm Mira," he said quietly.
"Born."
There was a short silence. Mira smiled slightly for the first time.
Just then, that black car passed by the street corner again. Slowly... watching... with eyes that evaluate.
Doğan turned his gaze to the car, his jaw clenched.
Mira noticed.
"Is it a bad thing?" He asked in a timid voice.
Doğan replied without taking his eyes off the car:
"Not yet. But it could be."
Mira's face turned pale.
Doğan made a decision at that moment.
Nothing would happen to this girl.
Such things would happen in the neighborhood, but he wouldn't be with her.
"Don't worry," he said, his voice determined.
"Nothing happens to you when you're in this neighborhood."
Mira looked.
"Why do you say that?" He asked.
Doğan left a small smile:
"Because I've seen you now."
⸻
But Doğan didn't know...
That night, when the Cobra Crew was making plans about the girl's father, a man would say:
"A boy named Doğan started to get involved. Be careful."
And the storm in the neighborhood was slowly rising.