The Good Neighbor (19 page)

At the end of the day, with everyone gone
except Owen, I expected him to ask if I minded if he stayed. I
wanted him to stay, but I needed to do this myself. If I could make
it through the first night, I could make it through all the nights
to come. I enjoyed being able to depend on him, but I didn’t want
to have to.

He left. I was surprised. I went to bed
alone. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Maybe it was
because what happened at Owen’s house was worse than what happened
here.

True, when I first walked into my bedroom,
the image of Bernie hunched over my bed spewing forth his filth
crossed my mind. But I quickly pushed the image away and went about
getting ready for bed. He was not going to ruin this for me. Going
to bed here or at Owen’s was not going to be a problem because of
Bernie. I wouldn’t let it.

I sat on the porch, keeping my eye on
Bernie’s house. It was a constant struggle to keep from walking
over there, busting through his front door, and making him sorry he
ever laid eyes on Carla. That’s what I wanted to do. It’s what I’d
wanted to do since the bastard ran out of my house naked. But I
didn’t. I knew Carla didn’t want me to, but I wasn’t sure why. I
would’ve thought that was exactly what she would want, but I was
wrong. I knew nothing about women. I doubted I ever would.

She hadn’t wanted me to stay with her
tonight, which was killing me. I didn’t take it personally. Her
reasoning made perfect sense. For her. Not for me. For me, I needed
to hold her and have her in my line of sight so I could know
without a doubt that she was safe from the likes of Bernie.

So to give us both what we needed, I left her
alone and kept watch over her from my porch. She had no idea I was
doing this, but it was the only way to give us both what we
needed.

In keeping watch over Carla, I was also
watching out for Jill. With Andy away, she was alone. Bernie would
surely know that he had no chance of getting at Carla again.
Knowing that, he might just turn his sights on Jill. Especially if
he’d been watching as Andy left with a suitcase. I really didn’t
think Bernie was as ignorant as I’d first thought him to be. It
appeared that he paid far more attention to things going on around
him than I’d originally thought. I would never again make a mistake
in assuming Bernie to be anything other than dangerous.

I hated to take my eyes off of Bernie’s house
for even a second. But I felt I should walk around Carla’s house,
just to be positive he hadn’t broken in through the back. If he’d
left by his back door and crossed over to Carla’s back door, I’d
never see him. To think that I may have sat on my porch while he
sneaked into her house...that thought brought me out of my chair
and led me across the street.

I walked all the way around Carla’s house,
all the while contemplating walking around Bernie’s. I decided it
wasn’t a good idea. I saw no signs of life over there, and didn’t
want to invite trouble by sneaking around his house.

On the sidewalk in front of Carla’s house, I
took one last glance at Bernie’s before crossing the street.

I noticed a light on in Hazel’s house.
Glancing at my watch, I saw it was midnight. I thought that was a
little too late for her to still be awake. A shudder went through
my body as I wondered whether Bernie would rape an eighty year old
woman.

I ran up the steps and hesitated briefly
before ringing the doorbell. I kept my hand on the knob, counting
the seconds as they passed. If I got to three, I was going in
anyway. With a rapist on the loose, I couldn’t take the chance of
not checking on her.

Just as I said ‘three’ in my head, the knob
turned in my palm.

Hazel stood before me, all four feet seven
inches of her. She was white-haired with glasses. She had a small
body, but a big heart.

Stepping aside, she said, “Come in,
Owen.”

I walked into the living room. It was a warm
room, lit by two lamps. On the backs and arms of the furniture were
doilies made by Hazel’s own hands. Next to the chair in which she
always sat, was a ball of yarn and a crochet needle.

“Have a seat. Are you hungry? I’ve got some
meat loaf and mashed potatoes and green beans I could heat up for
you.” She followed me into the room.

“No, thanks. I’m not hungry.” I watched as
she sat in her chair. It had been her husband’s, where he always
sat watching television. After he died, she took over the chair.
She never watched television, though. She sat in that chair day
after day, sewing.

“What are you doing out so late?” she asked.
I noticed her wince as she sat.

“I was checking on some stuff and I noticed a
light on in your house. I thought I better check on you. Are you
okay?”

“Oh, I’m fine.” Just like Hazel to say
everything was fine.

“Now Hazel, don’t fib to me. I saw you wince
a second ago.”

She laughed. “Well, my shoulder has been
hurting all day. For days, really. I can’t sleep when it hurts this
bad. You sure you’re not hungry?”

I laughed now. I’d always liked Hazel. She
was the sweetest person I’d ever met.

I stayed with her for quite a while. I ended
up having to tell her about Bernie raping Carla. She wanted to know
what I’d been checking on at this hour, and I didn’t like keeping
things from her, so I told her everything.

Amazingly, she wasn’t surprised.

“This doesn’t surprise you what Bernie
did?”

“No. I knew something would happen with him.
It’s been a long time coming.”

I couldn’t help but ask, “What do you
mean?”

“Bernie hasn’t always been like he is now. He
had a great job. He was some sort of executive at a big company or
something. He used to wear a suit and tie, if you can believe
that.” She laughed and picked up her crochet needle and yarn. She
sewed five times faster than she talked. “He worked all the time.
He’d leave first thing in the morning and wouldn’t come home until
late in the day, and sometimes it was well after dark before I’d
see him pull in. I think that’s why his wife took their daughter
and left him.”

“Bernie was married?” I couldn’t believe
it.

“Oh, yeah. She was a nice woman. Marie was
her name. She was pretty, too pretty for Bernie, I thought. She
used to come over and visit with me while Bernie was at work.”

“So she didn’t work?”

“No, no. She didn’t have to. Bernie made a
lot of money. It was the only good thing to come from him working
so much. Marie hated that he was always gone. Used to sit right
there where you’re sitting now and cry about it. I’d tell her there
wasn’t any sense in crying. That wouldn’t change anything.”

I was still reeling from the fact that
someone – someone normal – had been in love with and married to
Bernie. I couldn’t imagine him any way other than the way he was
now. Nasty. Drunk.

“And they had a daughter?”

“Yes. She looked just like her mother. And
she was a well-mannered child. Those are hard to come by these
days. She would come over here with Marie. She sat at the table and
colored or brought her dolls and played in the floor over there
while we talked. I even started teaching her to crochet, but they
left before I could teach her much.”

“They left? Where’d they go?”

Still crocheting, Hazel started to shrug her
shoulders, but stopped quickly with a wince. “I sure don’t know. I
saw her load some luggage into her car and drive away, but I had no
idea that she’d never be back. I thought maybe she was going to
visit somebody but I never saw her or the little girl again.”

“What was the little girl’s name?” I don’t
know why I even cared, but I wanted to know.

“Cassie.”

Still fumbling over the fact that Bernie had
a family, I asked, “What did Bernie do then?”

“Oh, he went downhill from there. And it
might’ve not all been because Marie left him. There were a lot of
things going on in his life at that time. His father died. He had
to put his mother into a home, and then had to fight with the home
because they were mistreating her. There was a cancer scare with
Marie at one point. She didn’t have it, but the doctors thought she
did. And then, he came home one night to find his wife and daughter
gone. I think she left a note, but I never got to read it.”

I watched Hazel’s little fingers work their
magic on the yarn. Hard to believe her slightly crooked fingers
with the large knuckles could be so fast and agile.

“You sure you’re not hungry?”

I smiled. “Would you quit trying to feed me?
I’m fine. I worry about you, though. I wish you didn’t hurt.”

“Oh, don’t worry about me. It’s part of it.
I’m eighty years old. I think I’d worry if I didn’t hurt.” She
laughed.

“I better get back home. I shouldn’t have
stayed this long.” I was suddenly terrified that Bernie had crept
into Carla’s while I was here.

“Owen, don’t worry,” Hazel said, reading the
look on my face. “We would’ve heard the alarm.”

She was right. I’d forgotten about the alarm
for a second. Or I didn’t trust it on a subconscious level. That
was the most likely explanation.

“I know, but I’d feel better if I could see
what was happening.”

She put down her yarn and stood with me,
though it took her far more effort than it did me. She walked with
me to the door.

“If you need anything, you let me know. Don’t
hesitate,” I told her as she hugged me. I meant it. I hoped she
knew I meant it, and wasn’t just being polite.

“Oh, I will, but I don’t see that there’s
anything I’ll need. Same goes for you. And don’t worry yourself
sick over all this. Everything happens for a reason. You can’t save
everybody. And don’t do anything crazy. Let nature take its
course.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to that. What was
nature’s course? Who could say? What if it was nature’s course for
me to go over there and slit his throat in the night? What if it
was nature’s course for him to do the same to me? Or to Carla?

I returned to my porch where I kept watch
over the residents of Hewitt Street.

I ate nothing more than a granola bar and a
small glass of milk for breakfast. Still keeping it light, taking
no chances.

I was dressed and ready for work. Well,
that’s not entirely true. I was dressed for work, but hardly ready.
I didn’t feel like going. I was tired. More precisely, I was
exhausted. But it would be nice to keep my mind off missing
Andy.

I locked the door behind me and headed
outside where it smelled like rain.

I was already in the car when I noticed Owen.
He was on his porch, asleep in his chair. It looked radically
uncomfortable. His neck was back and to the right at an angle that
would be sure to leave him with a crick.

I got back out of my car and walked over to
him. I hated to wake him. I knew he hadn’t been sleeping well, but
I couldn’t leave him out here like this.

I touched his arm. “Owen. Owen. Wake up.”
After gently shaking him a little, his eyes opened slowly. I waited
for him to focus and realize what was happening. “You need to go
inside and go to bed.”

He sat up and rubbed his neck. I stood up and
waited for him to go inside.

“I’ll be okay out here.” He yawned.

“Owen, go inside and go to bed. You can’t
stay out here like that. It’s not comfortable. But you know what
is? Your bed.” I sang the last part to make it sound more appealing
to him. All it did was make him laugh.

“I’m okay.”

“Look, I’m not leaving until you’re in bed.
Now do you want to make me late for work or what?”

“You know I can just wait until you’re gone
and come right back out here.”

“Yeah. Since you know that, why are you still
sitting here arguing with me? Get up and get in there.”

He laughed harder at me now, but he got up.
He looked at Bernie’s, then at Carla’s, and then he went in the
house. I followed him all the way upstairs.

“Really?” he asked, referring to my following
him.

“Yes. Now take off the shoes and whatever
else and get in the bed.”

“What if I need to pee?” he asked with a
smile.

“Then we’ll go to the bathroom,” I said
without one.

He chuckled. “You drive a hard bargain.”

“Yeah. You should see me buy a car.” I
watched as he took off his shoes and shirt, but I looked away as he
unfastened his jeans and slithered out of them.

When I sensed he was in bed, I looked back.
“Now isn’t that better than a chair on the porch?”

He nodded. “Thanks.” He yawned and folded his
arms behind his head. “But I’ve got to get to Carla’s.”

“No, you don’t. She’ll be fine for the day.
You don’t think he’d do anything in the middle of the day, do you?
Besides, she has an alarm. She’s locked in a virtual fort over
there.”

He didn’t look totally convinced.

I thought for a moment. Assessing the
situation, I knew what I was going to do. I think I’d known when
I’d gotten out of my car and walked onto Owen’s porch.

“I’ll tell you what. I’ll stay with her today
while you sleep.”

“You can’t do that. You have to get to
work.”

“I won’t go today.”

“What?” he asked, not believing me. He had
reason to be suspicious. I very rarely missed work. “You won’t miss
work.”

“Oh, yeah? Well, just for that, I’m not going
tomorrow, either.”

“Whatever!” he exclaimed.

“See, now I’m taking off the rest of the
week.”

He threw his head up and laughed loudly.
“You’re killing me.”

“Alright. That’s it. I’ll never work again.
Satisfied?”

He stopped laughing. He stared at me with
sleepy eyes, a worried expression on his face. “Are you
serious?”

I shrugged. “Yeah. You just kept pushing me.”
I smiled at him and changed my tone to one more serious. “I didn’t
feel like going in today anyway. This just gave me a reason not to.
Then I realized I may not go back.”