My parents have a two story house that they purchased when they first got married and haven’t moved out since. My dad’s parents helped paid for it, hoping that when they got older, they could live in the mother-in-law house behind the house. We had a huge backyard, and it wouldn’t have been crowded. We would have been neighbors.
That was the plan, until them both passed away before Kevin and I were born. My parents kept the house, and used the mother-in-law house for storage. After we were born, my mom suggested that we rented out the house for extra income. My dad was stubborn at first, because he was over-protected like that, but in the end, he agreed.
The people never bothered us. We had so many people coming and going, it become normal. Some people would stay just a night or two, some would stay for a few months. We had one couple stay for a year while they were remodeling their new house.
They ended up splitting up before it was finished. I have no idea where they are now.
Most of the people that have rented from my parents have never stuck out to me. A lot of them would ignore me and rightfully so. I was just a kid.
My favorite time was when no one was renting out the house, that’s when I would sneak over and read my books. My parents weren’t that worried, they knew I was safe in that fenced in area. I was safer in that house too.
It was the best playhouse in the world.
That was until someone moved in, and I was forced to stay away. Sometimes, I would watch the people from my room upstairs. It was fun when I would lip dub everything they did. I didn’t have many friends, and my brother was always off with his. My mom would try to make me hang out with them, but it was me that refused to go.
Being a loner growing up . . . you find ways to entertain yourself.
One day after school, after I threw my backpack on the kitchen table, I ran and grabbed all the books I could in my skinny arms, and ran to the mother in law house. To my knowledge, no one was supposed to be there.
I opened the door, and went to my usual spot, the window bench where the sun wouldn’t blind you, but you could still feel it like a ghost. It was always my escape that little bench, reading away about the worlds I could only dream about going to.
“Hello?” a man asked, confused. I gasped and looked to see a big barrel chested man in the doorway. I got up quickly, grabbed my books, and started to run out of the house. I knew I was going to get in trouble. My mom was just outside the house, and caught me.
“Tavi,” she warned me. “What did I tell you about sneaking in there?”
I stopped and looked down. “Sorry mom.”
She turned to the man. “Sorry about that, that’s just my daughter, she won’t cause any trouble, I promise.”
The man stared at me, and it was off putting. He smiled, “It’s sure alright, I wouldn’t worry about it.”
They both went into the house, and I had lost my reading space for a while. A few days later, I was on the back porch, reading my book (another reading spot, except this one couldn’t be taken away.)
“Excuse me?”
I gasped as I saw the man from the renters house walk up to me. He wasn’t allowed in this area, but he walked like he was the one who made up the rules and we were the ones to follow. “Hi?”
“The little girl who was reading? You, right?” he asked awkwardly.
“My name is Tavi,” I told him.
“Tavi?” he said the word a little too slowly in his mouth. “That’s a unique name.”
I shrugged. “No one can say it right.”
“I think it’s a pretty name. What you doing there?”
“Reading.”
He gave a giant’s laugh. “You sure like to read, don’t you?”
Again, I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know. I’m really good at it. I got 638 points at school so far this year. I’m number one in the whole 5th grade.”
“Points?” he asked. “What do you mean?”
“Well . . . you read books and you take a quiz and get points.”
“Oh, and you got 638 points?”
“Yeah,” again with the shrugging. “I mostly take the quizzes because I’m bored at lunch. And I read a lot, but I don’t like reading because of the points. It’s a way to get dumb kids to read.”
“Why don’t you eat lunch with your friends?” he asked. When I looked down, he knew there was no one to sit with, so he changed the subject. “I wasn’t much one for reading as a kid.”
I wasn’t sure if I had called him stupid or not. “You know, you’re not supposed to be over here.”
He cocked his head. “Oh really? I’m sorry. I just wanted to return your book,” he said taking out one of the many books I took over the other day. “Don’t you want your book?”
I smiled, and took it from him. “Thank you.”
He held on for a few seconds, and only let go when I looked at him. “See you around, Tavi.”
He walked back to his house, but I didn’t feel so easy. I walked back into the house, and didn’t come out of my room til dinner time. Kevin was at a friend’s house, so it was just the three of us. As usual, my mom told me to stop reading at the table and talk to them.
“Tavi, you know to stay away from the mother-in-law house, right?” my dad asked me.
“He came up to me,” I mumbled.
They both looked at each other. “What are you talking about?” my mother asked.
“The new renter, that’s what you’re talking about.”
My father raised an eyebrow. “Wait, what . . . When was this?”
“Today.”
My mother shook her head. “Stay away from him. And I’m going to have a talk with him-“
“He didn’t know though. It’s okay, he’s nice.”
Dad gave a long sigh. “Tavi . . . just, don’t talk to him, okay?”
I wanted to end the conversion, so I nodded and agreed.
The next day, my parents had to work and piano practice was canceled. My mom gave me a key to the house, and told me she would be home around 5. Walking to my house, I saw the man in the driveway of his rent house. He was working on his truck. I walked faster, trying to obey my parents and not talk to him.
“Hey, Tavi!” he waved.
I gave a little wave, and kept walking. He didn’t get the hint, and ran over to me. We weren’t hidden away from the world; we were right on the sidewalk. Other people could see me. “Um, hi,” I said, stopping, gripping hard on my backpack.
“Is your mom home? I need to talk to her.”
“Um, she’ll be home soon,” I told him.
“Oh, what about your dad?” he asked.
“Um . . .”
“Wait a second,” he said. “You’re not a key kid, are you?”
“A what?”
“One of those kids that have a key to their house because their parents aren’t ever home, you know,” he laughed.
“I never heard of that,” I told him.
“Well, it sounds like you are one,” he teased. “You don’t have to wait by yourself, you can come hang out with me.”
“No thank you,” he said, ready to run.
“I’m just working on my truck, and I got some snacks. Want some coffee?” he asked.
“I’m only ten.”
“So, that’s a no?” he laughed.
“Um,” I felt awkward. “I have to get a lot of homework done.”
He just shrugged. “Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me,” he told me as he walked back. I watched him, step by step. In the end, I went into the house, and watch some TV. I could see him through the living room window, seeing him working on that truck. Not once did he look at me, but it felt like he was watching me in a weird way.
My mom called and said she was going to be late. No more than 5 minutes later, my dad called saying he was going to be late too and that Kevin was sleeping at a friend’s house.
“Make yourself something to eat if you’re hungry, okay?”
“Okay, dad,” I said hanging up.
I made microwave mac and cheese and drank the soda I wasn’t supposed to. As I was finishing up some homework, there was a knock on the door. The dog barked, and wouldn’t shut up. “Mrs. Smith? Vicky?” the man asked.
I opened the door and it was the man from before. He looked surprised, “Oh, Tavi? Is your mom home yet?”
I closed the door behind me so the dog didn’t get out. “No, not yet.”
He looked worried. “Are you all alone?”
“No, my brother is home,” I lied.
“Oh, really?” he challenged me, but sighed. “Kid, are you alone?”
I shrugged. “My parents will be home soon.”
“I don’t want to see anything bad happen to you.”
I laughed. “It’s a safe area. I’ll be fine, now I have to go finish my homework.”
“Okay, but you’ll come to me if anything bad happens, right?”
Pausing with my hand on the door handle, I stared at him and just shrugged, “Sure.”
He laughed, “Sorry to sound so overprotected, I just lost my wife not so long ago . . . and you look just like her when we were kids.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Time is healing some parts, but it takes forever.”
I stared to feel bad for him. “When you were kids? Did you guys know each other?”
“Yeah, known each other for 16 years, but . . . she died in a house fire.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I repeated.
“It’s okay. I’ll see you around, Tavi.”
“What are you doing?” I asked him.
He smiled at my interest. “Just working on my truck, you want to come and help?”
“I don’t know anything about trucks, but Rango needs to get out,” I said opening the door and letting out the dog. The man let us sit on a bench and watched him work on his truck. He gave me some hot chocolate and was really nice to me. I actually enjoyed talking to him.
Around six, my mom pulled up into the driveway. She didn’t hesitate and walked over to us. “Tavi, what are you doing?”
“Hi mom,” I smiled, but she didn’t look happy.
“Get in the house.”
I didn’t argue and left the drink on the bench, bringing in Rango. I don’t know what happened next, but I went to the living room and sat on the couch. It was a good twenty minutes before I saw my mom again. She was really tense. I thought she was going to yell at me, maybe ground me, but she just hugged me.
“Did you eat?” she asked me, pulling away from the hug and playing with my hair. I nodded. “Good. I love you Tavi, but do not talk to the renters, okay?”
“Okay, mom,” I said, and we hugged again.
I don’t know what she said or did, but I know the next week, the man was gone. Without a trace, without a goodbye, no word, he just left. Over the years I forgot about him, what he had looked like.
I didn’t even give a thought about him, til those blue eyes stared into mine.
Laying on the floor in that room in the cabin, remembering everything, I gasped as I realized why he had looked so familiar. It was William all those years ago. He didn’t leave without a trace, he just hid in the shadows til he had the chance to jump out and grab me once again.
“It’s him, isn’t it?” I asked the doe.
She looked to the ground, not wanting to face the truth either.
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