Page 34 of The Neighbor
But, of course, it isn’t.
“Do you run fast?” he asks, surprising me with a not-so-odd question right out of the gate.
I shrug, happy to admit I barely run at all. “Not really. I’m more of a jogger.”
“What about your partner? She’s a more experienced runner, isn’t she?”
Struck by how he could know who I’ve been running with since the guy rarely leaves his home, I shake my head in confusion. “Did you see us this morning? We didn’t see you.”
For the first time, Aaron smiles. “I see everything. The position of my house at the end of the cul-de-sac gives me the perfect view of not only this street but the others around it.”
“Interesting. Well, she may be more experienced, but right now, she’s laid up on her couch with a pretty bad sprain after tripping over a tree branch someone left in the road over at Meadow.”
Happy this conversation hasn’t turned out to be like our last one the other night, I flash Aaron a smile and say, “Well, I better get in there and get to work.”
As I make a move to turn the doorknob and walk inside, he says, “Good idea. It’s going to be hot out today. Beware the dog days of summer. They say heat like this can drive someone mad and make them do heinous things. Be careful.”
And just like that, my conversation with Aaron goes from benign nothingness to something that sounds almost like a threat. I study his expression for a long moment and see that crazy look in his eyes again, so I nod and hurry inside, needing to get away from him before he starts in with that God sees everything nonsense again.
I slam my front door shut and press my back against it, relieved to be away from him. Why doesn’t someone in his family come get him and take him away? The guy is clearly going insane. You’d think those in-laws would do something. They obviously know he’s not okay since they took their grandchildren away from him.
Well, he’s not my problem. Whatever happens to him is his concern, not mine.
As I shower off from my run, I can’t help but wonder if he bothers anyone else in the neighborhood, or if I’m the only one blessed by his visits. If anyone could use his lectures on God seeing all our misdeeds, it’s Jared, that cheating bastard. Two side chicks? That man could use some Jesus.
By the time I sit down at my desk to get some work in before tonight’s big plans, I’m convinced someone from Aaron’s family needs to come get him before he heads down to the hardware store and buys some rope like Sara said Caroline did the other day. The guy is not right. That’s for sure.
And what’s with Caroline and that rope?
Perhaps Sara didn’t see things correctly. That could be true. The only problem with that is she described the rope as if she saw exactly the kind Caroline bought, along with those eye hooks.
I search for them, curious to know what they’re used for, and find exactly what Sara mentioned. Used for hanging heavy items from ceilings, large eye hooks can handle up to two hundred pounds.
That’s a pretty big person. I’m just under one eighty, and I’m sure Caroline’s no more than one thirty. What on earth did she need eye hooks for?
She becomes curiouser and curiouser the more I learn about her. I think after tonight, I’m going to go back to focusing on her. I need to figure that woman out.
I spendthe day diligently attending to my work, needing to make sure my companies know they can depend on me after that minor slip up. I can’t let that happen again. The last thing I want to have to do is go out and find another job that will forceme to work in an office building. Those places are stifling on the best days, and whenever I have to visit one of the companies I do work for, I always want to run from the building screaming before long.
No, I definitely need to stay as a consultant working right here from the cozy confines of my own home on Park Circle.
By eight o’clock, the sun is all but gone from the sky. When I peek out from behind my living room curtains, I see no one out on the street tonight. Glancing at my phone, I see the likely reason why. Still eighty-five degrees, it’s far too hot to be outside.
I have plans tonight, though, so I have no choice but to head out into the heat. I walk through my house to the back door in the kitchen and look out at the yard that butts up against nothing but undeveloped land. The realtor swore no one would be building back there for a long time, but I suspect that was a lie.
Tonight, though, it’s simply flat land with trees that will provide me cover as I sneak over to Sara’s street. I’ve walked this route a few times since I moved in, and I’m surprised at how hidden it actually is. Maybe if that idiot Jared had used this way to get to his girlfriend’s house, nobody would have known.
Then again, inviting her to the block party didn’t help either. Jesus, he’s stupid. You’d swear he doesn’t know people are watching at all times in this neighborhood. It’s suburbia, for Christ’s sake. What else is there to do than spy on your neighbors?
I quietly walk out my back door and make my way through the darkness of the path over to Sara’s neighborhood. This shortcut comes out on the side of the only house on her street that’s vacant. No one has lived in it for as long as I’ve been around, so the yard is a perfect place to hide out until I know I can sneak into her house without being seen.
After today’s heat, tonight doesn’t bring much relief. The humidity hasn’t broken, so haze hangs in the air, giving everything a spooky feeling. I stay pressed against the side of the empty house staring across the street at Sara’s front window.
Much like Park Circle, her road is quiet at night. I watch her front window for nearly twenty minutes and don’t see a single car ride up or down the street. The sound of a dog barking in the distance breaks the silence every so often, but the entire time I see no sign of anyone, human or animal, while I wait.
Right after eight-thirty, I step out from the shadows of the vacant home and casually walk out onto the sidewalk. I quickly scan the area for anyone nearby, but there’s nobody.
I’m all alone.