u/Accurate_Cherry8078

About a year ago, the son of a longtime family friend (who has been a drug addict for over a decade and has been on the streets), started regularly attending the (really) small church I go to. My mom knew him and his family personally through his mom, because she’s lived in our apartment complex for years like us. Anyways after her son (we’ll call him J) started coming to church hed be there every Sunday (like me and my family), and even started coming to the Bible study (which my mom and I go to). My mom and dad would encourage him and church and stuff so I’m sure he felt personally supported by them but anyways. He brought me chocolate candy once, and he kept doing it. Not every Sunday but pretty frequently hed bring me chocolate and of course I’d say thank you and smile.

Now about the gifts. Then he started bringing us pizza, to our door, usually after Bible study when we all went back home (he’s living with his mom so he knows where we live). He brought us elotes sometimes too. On the Sunday after my birthday, he brought me a bouquet of flowers and chocolate and when I got back home from church, there was a bag with shirts (I’m assuming he took from his mom) and a card with just my name written alllll over it. Then on valentines Sunday, he brought me flowers (looked like he picked them out of the grass) and chocolate. Now before this point I thought he was just being nice and I reminded him of his kids or something. This made me a little skeptical but I chose not to think the worst. Then, I was doing laundry that same week, and obviously because I live in an apartment complex I have to go to the laundry Matt within the complex, and I guess he saw me doing laundry and while I was sitting in there he brought me an ice cream and chocolates. And then he brought me old Valentine’s Day balloons he found. That’s when I was like, “okay, why is he bringing me Valentines gifts, that’s kind of weird”. And whenever he brings me things, he doesn’t say much at all, he’s a pretty quiet guy. He looks nervous, he’ll hand it to me and rush off. At one of the Bible studies, I left early once and it was nighttime. And my house is a ten minute walk from the church, but anyways I was walking home, and I feel like someone was following me. So I glance behind me and it’s him. I started walking faster (I figured he was probably trying to see that I made it home safely but I could help being a little creeped out still).

Shortly after all that, he got arrested (he had a couple small charges, mainly driving without a license) and my church was all praying for him. My mom is one of the leaders, the most notable one for him. So after about a month and a half or so (like April) my mom got all these letters hed been writing. All the letters said “To : (my mom and I’s name)”. The first one was pretty normal, he was talking to my mom in the letter, and he was talking about how grateful he was for all her help, and that he was seriously becoming more spiritual and reflecting more on his life and his addiction. He went on about how he was praying for the church, and to tell everyone he was thinking about them. There were like 6 letters after that. This is when it gets weird. He started addressing the letters to ME. He started writing to me specifically. And in the first one to me, he started talking about how he has feelings for me, and that he can’t stop thinking about me. He says he knows what he feels isn’t normal, “nuestras edades no encajan” (our ages don’t match), he said “I know I’m probably a dinosaur for you”. He talked about how all the times he had gotten food for the “family” were really for me. He was trying to get me food but didn’t want it to look suspicious so he would get some for my mom too for example sometimes. He started referring to my parents as his “suegros” (in laws), he started saying that he can’t stop thinking about my presence and smile. He described me with “rayos de sol”, he would write “jovencita” with hearts around it, said he wanted to ask my parents to take me out to eat with him alone. Said I’m his whole foundation of faith and the only reason he’s strong in god. He said I make him feel 15 again, ends his letters with xoxoxoxo, insists he has pure thoughts about me and that he loves me and I’m in his heart. Oh yeah, and his window is in front of where our car is parked, and he had a giant Scorpion painted on it. And for months, we would be like “why does he have a giant scorpion painted on his window?”. In the letters he said that was for ME because I was born in November so I’m a Scorpio. In the letters he would write our initials together on a tree. Which was like crazy. After reading these letters my mom was laughing and saying “está loco, ya sabes, es muy inmaduro emocionalmente” (Hes crazy, you know that he’s really emotionally immature). Basically my family just brushed it off as “it’s innocent, he’s not saying anything sexual so he’s harmless”.

He got out today, he’s been in jail since late February, and I don’t want to see him Sunday. I guess it’s not that big of a deal, but it’s kind of weird to me that I’m taking it more seriously than my family is. Maybe he is harmless and I don’t have to worry. I guess I’m just venting because this attention and intensity in the way he writes about me is confusing, because we haven’t had a conversation besides me shaking bis hand and greeting him at church. Literally just “hi how are you”.