The Good Neighbor Page 11

  For now, I sat on the front porch in my nightgown sipping ice water and nibbling crackers slowly, hoping I could will my stomach to digest them. I hadn’t been able to keep anything down for a couple of days. Between the lack of food and using all my energy to vomit regularly, I was starting to feel weak.

  It was peaceful at this hour. I could see what appeal it had for Owen. It allowed you time to think, to clear your mind and regain your focus without all the daytime distractions.

  That is, until the yelling shattered the silence.

  I looked to the direction of the disturbance and saw a shirtless Owen throwing Bernie out of Carla’s house.

  I immediately knew something wasn’t right. Bernie shouldn’t be inside Carla’s house ever, and certainly not at this time of night. It didn’t take a genius to tell that Owen was furious.

  I dropped my cracker and stood quickly, bringing on a bout of dizziness and nausea. I steadied myself against the patio table and waited with my eyes closed for it to pass. This was certainly beginning to annoy me.

  When I opened my eyes again, I saw Bernie lying on the sidewalk at the foot of Carla’s steps. Owen was standing over him wearing only jeans and untied shoes.

  Bernie seemed to be waking up. Or maybe he was drunk. He was always drunk, so that was probably it.

  When Bernie began struggling to stand, I saw Owen tense and assume a fighting stance. No good was going to come of this.

  I went inside to wake Andy. I hated to involve him in something like this, whatever it was. But he and Owen were best friends. Owen wouldn’t hesitate to help out Andy. I hated not knowing what I was getting my husband involved in, but I had faith that if it was bad, Owen wouldn’t allow Andy to be in danger. I also had faith that if it was too dangerous, Andy would have sense enough to walk away. If not for his own sake, then for mine.

  I shook Andy awake and told him to dress quickly. He didn’t question me. I loved him for reasons such as that.

  While he dressed, I told him about Bernie and Owen. He dressed faster. As soon as his last shoe was on, he ran out the front door with me right behind him.

  I stayed on the porch for now, and watched as he ran down the steps and across the street, toward the danger.

  39 Andy

  I ran across the street to where Bernie and Owen stood arguing. I saw a trail of blood running down the side of Bernie’s face.

  Owen was shirtless and furious. I’d never seen him look the way he did now. His face was red, his eyes larger than I would’ve thought possible. I saw veins protruding in his neck. He kept his right hand clenched in a fist, as if he may need to strike with it at any second. His breathing was quick. Spit flew from his mouth as he talked.

  I tried to catch up on what was going on.

  “It’s none of your business what I do with her,” Bernie said. He appeared drunk, but it could’ve been dizziness from the blow to the head. He staggered.

  “You son of a bitch!” Owen yelled, lunging toward Bernie.

  I jumped in front of him and put my hands on his bare chest. “Owen, calm down. Calm down.” I didn’t think it would take so much effort to hold him back. We were roughly the same size, both about six feet two and two hundred twenty or thirty pounds. But it really was taking all I had to hold him back.

  “Get off me, Andy!” Owen had never yelled at me before, but he sure was now.

  “Just calm down. What’s going on?”

  “That bastard broke in and...he done things to Carla while I was right next to her! I’ll kill him. You hear me, you bastard? I’ll kill you.”

  I gave Owen one last push and turned toward Bernie.

  “Bernie, is that true? Why? Why’d you do that?”

  Bernie waved his hand like it was nothing. “She wanted it.”

  Owen sprang for him, going around me, but before he got to Bernie, Carla did.

  She came from nowhere it seemed and swung a golf club with more strength than I would’ve guessed any woman to possess. It connected solidly with Bernie’s crotch. The howl that arose from him at that moment made my skin crawl.

  He grabbed his damaged goods and doubled over in agony. He fell to his knees in a heap and sobbed, writhing in the street. I was pretty sure he was crying.

  I saw Carla raise the club high above her head, and I barely had time to react. I leaped toward her, grabbing the club before she brought it down. She was easier to hold than Owen, but she was still a force to be reckoned with. The anger and hatred she felt for Bernie at that moment for whatever he’d done to her gave her strength that she surely didn’t possess on any ordinary day.

  “Don’t,” I said quietly to her. “He’s not worth doing time over.”

  She allowed me to take the golf club from her. The hollow look in her eyes made my heart ache. I didn’t know what Bernie had done to her. I probably couldn’t even begin to imagine the things he’d done. I didn’t want to try. I’d never liked Bernie. I’d always thought he was creepy. The look on his face had always suggested to me that he was in the middle of some seriously perverted and twisted fantasy. Even though I didn’t really know Carla, I felt for her at the moment in a way I never thought I would. Looking into her empty eyes gave me a small taste of her pain.

  Fortunately, Jill arrived at her side just in time for Carla to bury her face in Jill’s shoulder and weep uncontrollably. I watched as Jill led Carla into her house, where she would no doubt succeed in calming her down. That was Jill. I loved her for reasons such as that.

  I turned back to Bernie. He lay in the street, moaning and groaning.

  “Maybe you’ll think about the next time you want to mess with somebody,” Owen hissed.

  I felt sorry for Bernie briefly. He was in the street bleeding, in ripped jeans and a torn shirt, scuffed cowboy boots, and he was crying like a baby. His life was crap. He was crap. He would never again be anything other than that. He was trash. He was pathetic.

  “I better never see you over here again. If I even think I see you look toward this house, I’ll kill you. You hear me?” Owen said, with one finger pointing down at Bernie like a dagger. “Never.”

  Bernie ignored Owen and continued writhing in the street. Owen walked up the steps and into Carla’s house. I turned to give Bernie one last look before I followed suit. He was slowly crawling toward his house.

  I stood over him, leaning down so he could hear me better.

  “If you ever make my friend this angry again, or if you ever mess with Carla again, I’ll kill you. Got it?” I thought about kicking him, but figured he was suffering plenty already.

  I’d never liked Bernie. I didn’t know anyone who did. Maybe Hazel, the little old lady next door to me, but I don’t even think she liked him. She just always tried to find something good in everyone. I couldn’t imagine that there was any good at all in Bernie. I thought about it for a second, but I couldn’t think of a single thing.

  I thought about Owen threatening to kill him. I wondered if he really would if he caught Bernie here again. I remembered the look on Owen’s face and decided that he would. Hell, if Bernie had the balls to break in and defile Carla while Owen was next to her, he deserved to die.

  Then, I wondered something I wish had never crossed my mind. If Bernie had enough guts to come in and do whatever he’d done with Owen laying next to Carla, what would he do without Owen there?

  40 Bernie

  I made my way into the kitchen, where I grabbed two cold beers from the fridge. I sat down carefully in a kitchen chair and popped the top on one of beers. I guzzled it while I placed the other one on my love nub. Who knew the broad could swing like that?

  I hoped there was no permanent damage. It felt like it now, but maybe when the swelling went down, it would be fine.

  I finished the beer and threw the bottle across the room. I reached up and gently touched the side of my head where blood ran freely from the gash. That damn Owen. A knot the size of a golf ball had risen up from my skull. It stung and throbbed liked a bitch. I hadn’t
even seen it coming. I hadn’t had time to duck or throw my arm up or anything. That was fighting dirty.

  I hated that damn Owen more now than I ever had before. I wouldn’t have bothered him at all. He could’ve rolled over and let me have at her, and things would’ve been just fine. But no. He had to step in and screw everything up.

  I couldn’t help but smile when I thought of it, even though I was in misery. I’d gotten off – finally. And while I was touching her! Even better. It’s not what I’d planned, but it would do.

  For now.

  But it wouldn’t do forever. I was going to go back over there, no matter what that damn Owen said. He didn’t scare me. And now that I knew he was keeping watch over the broad, I’d be better prepared next time.

  And next time, I wasn’t going to settle for a stupid diddling. I wanted it all. I would have her, completely. Tonight might’ve eased the need to have her, but it didn’t erase it. It was still there. The desire to be inside her, to squeeze and bite her flesh...It was almost too much to bear.

  I fished her panties out of my pocket. I gave them a good looking-at and them brought them up and buried my face in them. I breathed deeply through my nose, inhaling her scent. I could feel the tingling in my crotch through the pain. I had no doubt there would be a raging hard-on waiting to greet me in the morning.

  41 Owen

  After things calmed down and everyone left, Carla and I laid on the couch together. She wasn’t ready to go back to the bed yet, and I didn’t blame her. Plus, I wasn’t tired.

  I was still seething at Bernie. I didn’t want her to see it, though. I wanted to help her calm down and I couldn’t do that if she saw the fury in my eyes. I pulled it together and lay with her on the couch, talking until she fell asleep. I remained awake, mulling everything over in my mind.

  I would never be able to forget the sound of Carla’s voice when she shrieked, as she realized what was happening or the look on Bernie’s face as he spilled his vile seed on her bed.

  I would also never forget the way Carla looked when she bashed his groin with the golf club. She was angry and she was standing up for herself. I was proud of her. Had she not had the presence of mind earlier to stash weapons around the house, who knows what would’ve happened? We wouldn’t have had a golf club in the bedroom. I would’ve had to fight Bernie with my fists, which I had no doubt I could easily do. But what if I hadn’t been here tonight? If I hadn’t been here, and she hadn’t thought ahead and put the club in the room, what would’ve happened?

  I shuddered at the thought. No doubt, Bernie would’ve raped her. The thought of his filthy body pressed against hers made me want to go next door and finish him. I already hated that he’d touched her. To know what would’ve happened had I not been here made me sick.

  I had no doubt that Bernie would want to come back. He’d want to finish what he started. He wanted Carla and this wasn’t enough to satisfy him. But surely what I’d said to him and the beating he’d received was enough to keep him away. I knew that he’d heard in my voice, if not seen on my face, that I was dead serious. But would it be enough? Would it keep him away from Carla?

  I doubted it.

  I dozed off sometime just before dawn. I awoke when Carla did. She kissed me and got up to start the day, leaving me wondering why I didn’t stay over every night. It felt right waking up with her.

  I got up and used the restroom, freshening up before the kids came down. I washed my face and combed my hair, trying to look presentable. I thought briefly about going home and showering and coming back, but the thought of leaving Carla alone scared the hell out of me.

  So I asked Carla if she’d come to my house while I did what I had to do.

  “Sure,” she agreed. I watched her pour the kids each a bowl of cereal. She did her best to act as if nothing had happened. She didn’t want to scare the kids. I guessed she probably didn’t even want me to know how bad this upset her. But I had some idea.

  After breakfast, we all walked down to my house. I noticed Carla intentionally avoid looking at Bernie’s house. She brought her head up and stiffened her shoulders, but she never even glanced in his direction. It made me smile to see her pride prevail over her fear. She was stronger than I’d given her credit for. I wondered if maybe she wasn’t putting on a brave front. Maybe she was really okay.

  The three of them stayed downstairs while I showered and dressed upstairs. It was good to hear laughter in the house. It had been so long.

  We ended up staying the day at my house. We played board games with the kids, we watched cartoons, we had lunch on the back patio, and at the end of the day, we ordered pizza for dinner and watched a movie.

  The kids each fell asleep in the chairs they were sitting in. I retrieved blankets from the linen closet and covered them.

  Carla and I sat for a while on the couch, looking at the television but not really watching it.

  “How am I going to get them home now?” Carla asked, referring to the sleeping children.

  I laughed. “Who said you’re going home?”

  She looked at me and smiled. “You want me to stay?”

  “Of course I want you to stay.” It was true. I did want her to stay, even though it would be difficult. After all, we’d be sleeping in the same bed Holly and I had slept in. In the off chance that Carla was up to it, we’d even be making love there. It would be odd and slightly uncomfortable perhaps, but it was certainly what I wanted.

  Carla kissed me passionately, which led to us calling it a night. We turned off the TV and all the lights except for a lamp before heading upstairs.

  Carla took her clothes off, all of them. I wasn’t sure she would, but she did. I did the same. We got in bed and lay there in each other’s arms for a long time, not speaking. I wasn’t sure what to say, but it didn’t matter. I was content with no words being exchanged. With her, silence was just as good and fulfilling as intent conversation.

  “You don’t mind if we skip doing anything tonight, do you?” In her voice, I heard a type of reluctance, as if she were afraid I’d be mad at her for not wanting to have sex.

  “No, I don’t mind. Don’t be silly. We don’t have to do that all the time, you know. And after last night, I wouldn’t blame you if it was a while before you wanted to do it again.”

  I felt her relax against me once she realized that I wouldn’t be mad at her. It bothered me a little that she had thought that at all, but I could understand. I felt better knowing that now she knew she was what was important to me, not the lovemaking.

  I lay there in the dark holding Carla. I could tell by her shallow breathing she’d fallen asleep.

  Now all I had to do was slip out without waking her or the kids.

  42 Owen

  I grabbed my clothes quietly and took them downstairs where I dressed in silence, determined to not wake Carla or the kids. Without a sound, I slipped out of the house and into the night.

  I was exhausted. I had dozed off at Carla’s before Bernie’s crap, and I had just barely fallen asleep on the couch before day broke. A total of about two or three hours sleep at best. I needed sleep. I wanted sleep. It would get my sleeping schedule back on track finally.

  But first, I had things to do.

  I yawned as I walked down the street to Carla’s house. I wanted desperately to get back to my cozy bed and snuggle up with a naked Carla.

  No lights were on in any of the houses at this end of the street. I wasn’t surprised. It was late, just after midnight. In a town of twelve thousand people, there wasn’t much to do after midnight.

  I went around to the back door, the same door Bernie had broken into. I saw the damage he’d caused. It didn’t prevent the door from closing or locking, but a light push opened it right up.

  I shut the door behind me and went through the house, turning on a light to examine the room, and then turning the light off before going to the next room. I couldn’t see any other damage he’d caused. I didn’t really figure I would find anything broke
n or missing. I had a clear impression that he’d only broken in for one reason. And had I not been here with her, he’d have gotten exactly what he wanted. And if that had happened...I didn’t want to think about that.

  I yawned as I walked upstairs, led only by the light of the streetlamps that came through the windows.

  I shuddered when I saw Carla’s bed. The memory of Bernie’s face as he ruined her bed covers was burned into my mind. Before, looking at her bed brought wonderful images to mind, but not now. Bernie had ruined it. It was no wonder Carla didn’t want to sleep in this bed. I wondered if she ever would. I also wondered if she had nightmares of Bernie touching her. Maybe she was having a nightmare right now.

  I hurried to finish what I had to do so I could get back to her.

  I clicked the light on in Carla’s bedroom and saw she had already stripped the bed of the linens ruined by the monster next door. They were at the foot of the bed in a heap. I knew she wanted them burned, but I would put them in trash bags and set them at the curb. I didn’t think it mattered whether they were burned, as long as they were gone. I was as eager to be rid of them as she was.

  I found some fresh blankets and sheets and put them on the bed. I knew it wouldn’t erase the memory of what happened, but it was a start.

  I flicked off the light and picked up the heap of ruined linens. I yawned again as I walked out of the bedroom.

  I was halfway down the stairs when I heard it.

  43 Bernie

  I didn’t need the screwdriver I’d brought me with me to open the door so I tucked it in my back pocket.

  My excitement grew as I crept through the house. I made a little noise in the kitchen when I opened a drawer and removed the largest knife I could find. The clink of the silverware was deafening in the still house, but surely only to me.