Chapter 2: The Girl Next Door

              “Bear sleeps in my room!” Tyson exclaimed as he hopped out of the moving van and ran up to the last house I’d ever move my things into. Bear was my loyal companion. He was my sixteenth birthday present, an Alaskan malamute, just like I had wanted. I remembered waking in the middle of the night to the yapping of a puppy as my mother was trying to shush him. They are truly beautiful animals, built to be a sled dog he was strong and capable, loving and loyal. Of course, my father had to spoil the occasion by throwing a tantrum about another mouth to feed. He had always hated animals, even though Bear was the most laid back and well-behaved canine I’ve ever met.

                “No way, he’s my dog!” I protested as I parked mom’s old pick-up next to the moving truck. I opened the driver’s side door and held it for Bear. He hopped out onto the ground, still damp from morning dew, and stretched his legs. This was quite the adventure for Bear, Chicago was hours away and he had never been in a car for more than a few minutes.

Well, there we were, Dreary Oaks. It was chilly, at eleven o’clock in the morning it was still only about forty-five degrees. Surrounded by tall forest, not much sunlight got through so naturally days looked like evenings and nights were pitch black. My mother said we would actually be able to see the stars in the night sky without all the city lights. I liked the sound of that; one was lucky to spot one star in the city, let alone a sky full.

“Well, whatcha think?” I heard Mom ask as I knelt down to pet Bear.

“It’s nice.” I replied, trying to act excited, but she saw right through my act.

“I know it needs a lot of work, sweetie, but we finally have a real house, not just a cramped apartment. Before you know it, this house will be our home.”

“I know, Mom.” I responded. I could tell by her face that she was still haunted by my father, I often forgot that I wasn’t the only one who had to put up with him; she was married to the man. I gave her a big hug and opened the back of the moving truck. My mother let out a hearty laugh as we realized how few things we actually owned.

“Such a huge house is going to look like a ghost town with so little to fill it up.” She joked, with her usual warm smile. The first thing we did was, as a family, staked our new mailbox in the ground.

“’The Palmers.’ Now it’s official.” I announced with a purposefully overdramatic tone. We all shared a good laugh and started carrying in our things. Tyson was a little bit on the shrimpy side for his age, but we let him carry in the smaller things so he felt like he was helping. He was right at that crisp annoying age, but despite the loud talking, constant interruptions, and childish humor, Tyson was a really good kid, just spunky, I suppose. My mother and I carried in the couches and beds, we just left it all in the front foyer for the moment; after that drive, neither one of us was willing to carry anything up any stairs. My mother was a remarkable woman. No matter what hell my father had been putting her through for the last couple decades, she never let it show. She was small, barely over five feet tall, but didn’t even wince helping me carry in the heavy furniture. She always had a smile on her face to go along with her positive, optimistic attitude. She worked day and night, but never even seemed tired, or at least she never let it show. She’d do anything for us kids, I couldn’t have asked for a better mother.

After I locked up the moving truck, Bear and I felt like exploring our new home. As we walked through the gravel driveway and around the side towards the backyard, I was really starting to warm up to the place. Apart from all the chipped paint and overgrown weeds, this huge house wasn’t half bad.

“Go on, Boy.” I said as I saw the desire in Bear’s eyes as they laid sight on the massive backyard. The poor dog had never had a yard, just a leash and a city sidewalk. I remembered mom saying that the backyard was about an acre, and Bear was enjoying every inch of it. I sat on the deck with a smile as I watched him have the time of his life. He sprinted from side to side as fast as he could, scratched his back by rolling in the warm grass as the sun began to dry the morning dew. He even chased a squirrel or two, though he would never hurt them, it was just his playful nature at work.

We were at the end of the street, up against the thick tree line. Along the right edge of the yard, if I were facing the house from the front, I saw trees, but as I paced straight towards the end of the yard, I noticed a dense fog rolling in and covering the ground. We may have had an acre, but suddenly I couldn’t see more than fifty feet in front of me. It was odd, I’ll admit, but I had never left the city; I blamed the fog on the cool mountain air.

After an hour or so, Bear had worn me out and I called for him to follow me as I entered the house through the screened-in portion of the deck. I immediately groaned as the screen door let out a loud shriek and I heard how loudly the floors creaked as I walked across the half-rotten wood.

The first floor of our house was huge and open. It housed the front foyer, the living room, the kitchen, the dining room, several closets, the door to the basement, and at the moment, all of our stuff. I walked into the kitchen, filled a pan with water, and sat it onto the floor for Bear, who drank like he had never seen water before. It was then that I noticed that every cabinet and drawer was wide open.

“Mom put all the stuff away quick, huh, Bear?” I questioned. Bear simply looked at me and yawned. I knew he was “just a dog”, but Bear always responded in some way, whether it be a smile or, in this case, a yawn. “I’ll blame that one on the trip…this time.” I playfully threatened. I closed all of the drawers and cabinets and began to walk towards the basement, I figured the pilot light needed lit because it was even colder indoors than outside, but apparently Bear had something else in mind. He began barking furiously and flew up the main stairs in front of the front door and down the hallway. I started up the stairs after her him, sliding my hand across the seemingly smooth banister.

“Ouch!” I exclaimed as a splinter sunk itself deep in between my right index and middle fingers. I muttered curses under my breath as I continued up the rest of the stairs to the second floor. Immediately at the top of the staircase was a bathroom, to the right was the long hallway Bear had taken off down which also housed the bedrooms. I entered the bathroom and searched behind the mirror as I pulled the splinter out with my teeth. I had never been so happy to find Tyson’s Pokémon bandages. As I closed the mirror, I noticed a shadow zoom passed the bathroom door.

“Hello?” I cautiously called out. My voice echoed through the empty house but received no reply. “Ty…son?” I began to ask as I stepped out of the bathroom but my voice trailed off as I realized how long the hallway was. My back was against the wall; I looked down the hallway and realized I could barely even see the steps to the third floor all the way down at the other end. As I stood slack-jawed in awe of the massive hallway, I came to as Bear came bolting down the steps that led to the third floor and ran towards me, still barking. He collided with me so hard that I nearly toppled over.

“What’s wrong, Boy?” I asked as I attempted to calm him down. I’d never seen him so upset; he hid behind me and snarled towards the stairs. Having turned my back to the hallway, I turned and realized what he was freaking out about. I caught a glimpse of a man standing at the foot of the stairs, he glared at us for a moment, then turned and disappeared back up the steps. “S-settle down, Bear. Mom probably let a neighbor in to use the bathroom and since I was in this one they went in search for another one.” I reassured him, and also myself a little bit. I hugged him and scratched behind his ears and with a whimper, he settled down. We both trotted down the stairs toward the front door. As we passed the entrance to the kitchen on my right, I noticed all of the cabinets and drawers were flung wide open again. Blaming it on Tyson hunting for his superhero cup, I took it in stride. I opened the massive wooden door and hopped off of the porch. My mother and Tyson were at the end of the walkway talking with a few neighbors. I walked up and began to ask,

“Hey, Mom, did you let anyone into the-“

“Oh, and this is my oldest son, Isaac.” She stated to and elderly woman she’d been conversing with.

“Oh, he’s so handsome.” The woman returned in a thick French accent. I smiled and waved but as I began to ask my question again, I was interrupted by my mother once more,

“Isaac, this is Mrs. Jenkins, she and her husband are the town’s tailors.” An older gentleman with “Leeroy” stitched into his shirt put forth his hand as my mother finished her sentence. I shook his hand and said,

“Nice to meet you, Sir.”

“Nice to meet you as well.” He replied. His voice was about a thousand times deeper than I had expected from an average height plump man such as him. “It’s good to see that there are still some parents out there that raise their children with manners. You seem like a fine young man. You take care of your mother.” He added with a big smile. I smiled back and nodded.

I never understood why so many teenagers my age complained about elderly people. I had always respected my elders, and the recognition of character they give has always brought a smile to my face. After a few minutes, this boring old tailor turned out to be quite a fascinating man. He and his wife had met during World War II, while he was stationed in France. She was an opera singer, though you’d never guess it from how small and frail she was now. He said he bumped into her on the street outside the opera house and it was love at first sight. After the war, she moved back to the states with him and they got married. Dreary Oaks was his hometown, so they settled down here and have been happily married ever since.

I was slightly irritated as more neighbors walked up, I was really enjoying Mr. and Mrs. Jenkin’s company and I wanted to hear more of Mr. Jenkin’s war stories. I was especially curious after we waved goodbye and I spotted his artificial right leg from under the leg of his pants as he limped away. Nevertheless, it was refreshing to see how friendly all of the townspeople were. I met Florence Baker, the elementary school teacher, and her identical twin, Floretta, the junior high school teacher. There was Charles Wilson, an elderly skeleton of a man who owned the diner my mother would be working at, and Jesse Raditz, the sheriff. The sheriff fit the typical stereotype: dark sunglasses, handlebar mustache, and a give-‘em-hell attitude. Apart from flirting with my mother, however, the sheriff didn’t seem so bad. After about a half-an-hour, nearly every inhabitant of Dreary Oaks had come to visit and it was way too many names to remember all at once. As all of our new acquaintances left, mom and I stood by the mailbox chatting about everyone we had just met. We started to walk towards the house, but we heard one last voice,

“Oh! Hang on a second, Ms. Palmer!” We turned to see who it was calling after us and what I saw may have been the most shocking thing to ever meet my eyes. I scoffed when Mr. Jenkins had talked about love at first sight, but my knees nearly buckled as our last visitor came running up to us.

“Oh, hello.” My mom replied, “And who might you be?”

“Oh yes, how rude of me. I’m Ashley Miller, from next door.” She answered as she turned slightly and pointed towards the maroon house closest to ours. “Sorry to keep you, Ms. Palm-“

“Call me ‘Mary’, sweet heart.” My mom interrupted.

“Oh, sorry sorry. Sorry to keep you, Mary, I wanted to come and say hello earlier but I had to help my father with something.” Ashley apologized as she knelt down and and pet Bear who had begun nuzzling her leg.

“Don’t be sorry,” my mom said with a chuckle, “We’re just glad to meet you, aren’t we, Isaac?”

It took me a solid five seconds before I realized she had been talking to me, I was too busy standing there drooling over my new neighbor. I snapped to and replied,

“Oh, um, yeah, hi, I’m Isaac.” I prayed that I sounded a little less pathetic than what I felt. She smiled and turned back to my mother.

“The other reason that I came over is that I go to Isaac’s new school. I figured since we’re neighbors I could show him around town.” She stated. I heard my name again and snapped to attention. I wanted to refuse, I didn’t want her thinking I’m a freak; I’m so shy I knew I’d be silent the entire time. I went to say ‘no thank you’, but no words came out.

“Oh, how nice! Isaac’d love that!” my mom replied. My mother and I were usually on the same mental wave length, but she clearly didn’t know me as well as I thought, that or she was doing this on purpose. My heart practically leapt out of my chest as Ashley took my hand and said,

“Well, c’mon, silly!” It’s not that I’d never had a girlfriend or any friends that were girls before, I had just always been shy.

“Oh, before you go,” my mom started, “are your folks home?”

“Well, it’s just me and my dad…” Ashley replied. This was the first time she didn’t have a smile on her face since we had met her, “That’s him there.” She turned towards her house yet again. Ashley had a tall two-story house. All of the blinds and curtains were pulled closed, except for one. At the very top, in what I assumed was the attic, was a window facing us, and pulling back the curtain watching us was a man. My mom waved to him, but instead of waving back, he closed the curtain and sunk back into the house.

“Not much of a people person, is he?” mom joked.

“No, well, not anymore anyway. My dad used to be the sweetest man I’d ever met, but ever since mom…” her voice trailed off and we could tell she was becoming upset.

“Oh, I’m sorry, sweetie. I didn’t mean nothing by it.” My mother said as she gave her a hug.

“No, it’s okay.” Ashley replied with a renewed smile. “I’ll have Isaac back before dinner! Nice meeting you, Ma’am”

“Have him back any time, sweetie.” Mom replied and we were off.