Retribution by T.K. Walls

Author:T.K. Walls
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Indigo River Publishing
Published: 2020-10-20T00:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-TWO

IN THE SUMMER OF 1984, THE HOUSE NEXT TO HIS FAMILY’S HAD FINALLY SOLD, AND THE NEW FAMILY WAS MOVING IN. He stood in the library window watching the movers unload the furniture. The house next door was a small bungalow. The driveways of the two homes were next to each other, with a narrow hedge separating them. He couldn’t wait to see who was moving next door. He had hoped there would be kids and that they wouldn’t be too young. He was ten, and most of the neighborhood kids were little and couldn’t even ride a bike.

A blue Oldsmobile slowly pulled into the driveway. Holding his breath, he waited to see who would open the door. Please, God, don’t let it be another old couple, he thought.

A man and a woman got out of the front seat. They looked to be about as old as his parents. That’s good, he thought. It’s a start. He could see movement in the back seat. He didn’t care if they had a boy or a girl, just as long as the kid was his age and not in diapers!

Finally the rear driver’s-side door opened. “Come on, get out!” he shouted softly to no one. He pressed his face against the window pane and saw red sneakers with white ankle socks. Humph, must be a girl, he thought. He was disappointed, but maybe she would be OK.

“Rachel!” called her father. “Get out of the car!”

“OK, I am!” she shouted back. “Just hang on.”

Finally he saw her crawl out of the car. Not too bad, he thought. She looked to be his age. She had light-brown hair, pulled up into a ponytail. As she got out of the car, she glanced at the monstrous house sitting next to her small house and saw him peering down at her. He quickly sank back from the window, but he knew it was too late. She had seen him.

He waited a few minutes, gathered up his courage, and made his way out of his house and to her driveway. As he walked around the hedgerow that separated their two yards, onto her driveway, he practiced how he would introduce himself. But by the time he rounded the hedge, Rachel and her father were no longer next to the car. Gathering his courage he walked up the sidewalk toward the front door. He raised his fist to knock on the door just as it opened and Rachel ran out, almost running him over.

“Uh, hello,” she said.

“Yeah, hi, I live there, next door,” he said, pointing to his house.

“Yeah, I know, I saw you. I’m Rachel. Your house is huge and kinda creepy. But I like it.”

“It’s just big; nothing creepy about it. I can show you around if my parents say it’s OK,” he said.

They spent the rest of the afternoon talking and laughing as he helped her unpack her room. They finished just as it was getting dark. Afterward they sat on the front porch steps; her mom brought sandwiches and sweet tea for them.

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