The Good Neighbor

by Beverly Ligon

  “Hello?”

  “What’s up gal?” It was Dee.

  “Nothing.” She felt a sense of relief to hear her sister’s voice. “What’s up with you?”

  “That depends.” Dee answered. “What are you doing today?”

  “I have a little straightening up to do, then I’m just going to relax until time to pick up the boys from camp. Why...you wanna get out and do something?”

  “I sure do! It’s a slow day for me at the salon, so I’m leaving to go do a little shopping. You wanna go?”

  “Yeah, I’ll go.” Nyla answered. “What time?”

  “I’ll be there to pick you up at 10:30 sharp, so be ready.”

  “You are telling me to be ready?” Nyla laughed out loud. “Ok, I can’t wait to see what time you really get here.”

  They both laughed as they hung up.

  At 11:00, Dee arrived, honking her horn. Nyla walked outside and noticed her neighbor, Jack, working in his yard. It didn’t matter that he was an old man, Nyla immediately grew suspicious of him and thought that maybe he was the one that raped her. She hurried towards Dee’s car, hoping to get in before he could turn around and see her. She didn’t move fast enough. As soon as she reached the door, she heard him say good morning. She reluctantly looked in his direction and with a forced smile, said it back.

  As she got in the car, Dee asked, “What’s wrong with you? You look like you saw a ghost over there!”

  “What are you talking about?” Nyla tried to relax or at least look it.

  “Since when did you two become so neighborly?”

  “Yesterday was our first time ever speaking.” Nyla answered. “He came over to tell me that our water had been left running.”

  “Well, that was nice of him.” Dee commented.

  “Yeah, it was.” Nyla agreed. “After I turned it off, we held a nice little conversation. Then, he went home.”

  “Hmmm,” Dee added sarcastically.

  They both laughed.

  “Now, can we go already?” Nyla insisted.

  As they backed out of the driveway, Nyla asked Dee if she’d mind taking her to pick up lunch for Chance first and drop it off to him. Chance religiously ate his lunch at noon, not a minute early or second late. Dee agreed and their conversation continued.

  “Anyway,” Nyla said, “I was looking like I saw a ghost because I had a rough night last night.”

  “Why?”

  “Well, I want to start school in the fall and Chance is still against it. So, of course I couldn’t sleep with him being mad at me. I don’t know what to do with him.”

  “Why is he tripping? He’s living his dream and practically forced you to turn your back on yours.” Dee commented. “I think he has control issues, if you ask me.”

  “No, he doesn’t!” Nyla laughed.

  “Yes, he does. He has you right where he wants you...at home. Chance think he’s clever, but he can’t fool me.”

  “He’s not trying to fool anybody. He’s a great husband and provider.”

  “I agree, but I think he gives you everything, so you don’t have a reason to complain or leave him.” Dee said. “You’re the perfect wife...beautiful inside and out, and you’re easy to live with. Now, if he was married to me, then he’d have something to worry about.”

  They both laughed.

  “Seriously, I think he wants you to need him for everything.” Dee added.

  “Why would he want to do that?” Nyla asked. “I mean...I do more for him than he does for me. I feel like he needs me for everything.”

  “That’s called being a wife, Nyla. This is bigger than cooking, cleaning and taking care of the kids. The more you’re able to do for yourself, the less you will need and depend on him. He doesn’t want you to have that independence and wouldn’t know what to do with himself if you had it.”

  “I don’t think that’s the case. I make my own money tutoring throughout the school year.” Nyla tried to fool herself with that comment. She knew her income was chicken change compared to Chance’s.

  “Yeah, that’s true, but when you want something that costs a little more than your little paycheck can handle, you need his money. Now, am I right or wrong?”

  Nyla thought about it for a second and answered. “Partly right, but I never forgot what Momma told me when she retired. She’d be home while Daddy worked and I remember him asking her for money more than she asked him. One day, I asked her how did she manage to always have money while being on a fixed income. She said that she wouldn’t ever be broke because she wouldn’t ever spend her last dollar. She said that she’d claim to be broke before she’d give her last away. She always has money...and so will I.”

  “And, so will I.” Dee nodded in agreement. “She taught us both well!”

  “So, don’t think that when I get paid, I just blow it. I always put away money for a rainy day.” Nyla continued. “Either way, I deserve and expect to get whatever I want from Chance. It’s a full-time job being his perfect little housewife and mother of his kids. I do what he wants and he does what I want. You know what I mean?”

  “Well, if that’s the case, then you should do what he wants now and not go back to school.”

  Nyla shook her head in uncertainty.

  Dee continued. “Do you honestly believe that when you start to do the opposite of what he wants, he’s going to continue doing what he’s been doing for you? I don’t think so...because he’s a control freak. So, when you start school, there’s gonna be trouble…watch.”

  Nyla thought about what Dee was saying and had a feeling that she could be right. She knew Chance had control issues, but she wasn’t quite ready to discuss that part of her relationship with Dee. “Well, we’ll see.”

  They stopped by a restaurant and picked up lunch for Chance, then went to make a surprise visit at his office. Nyla went inside while Dee waited in the car. She walked over to Chance’s secretary and said, “Hey Naomi, I want to surprise him with lunch. Is he in his office?”

  Naomi answered, “I’m sorry Mrs. Brown, but he went for lunch about an hour ago. He should be returning any minute now.”

  “Oh! Okay, well...that’s a first.” Clearly, Nyla was disappointed. “His lunch has been at twelve noon for the past five years.” She sighed. “Anyway, thanks, Naomi. Would you tell him I stopped by to surprise him with lunch?”

  “Of course, I will.” She answered. “It was great seeing you!”

  “You too! Enjoy the rest of your day.” Nyla smiled.

  “Thanks, and you too.”

  Nyla walked out of the office building and got back in the car with Dee.

  “What happened…he didn’t want that for lunch?”

  “No,” answered Nyla, “he’s not here. His secretary said that he took his lunch an hour early. He never does that.”

  “That you know of.” Dee commented. “You can’t trust these men these days, even the ones you least suspect aren’t trustworthy.” Dee started driving. As she approached the exit to leave, she spotted Chance walking from the neighboring building with a female police officer. “Hey...there’s Chance right there! Do you wanna give him his lunch before we leave?”

  Nyla looked over at Chance and said, “It’s no use...his lunch is over. I’ll just see him when he gets home.”

  Nyla and Dee continued to the mall. They enjoyed themselves or at least that’s how they wanted it to appear to each other. Nyla felt terrible because the happy life she’d been living for so long, had been aggressively invaded by a stranger. Not having the slightest clue as to who it was, made her suspect every man that she laid her eyes on. As far as she was concerned, her life would never be the same. Dee, on the other hand, was trying to do anything that would take her mind off her relationship problems. She was merely smiling to keep from crying.

  After about three hours of shopping and hanging out, they headed back to Nyla’s house, with enough time to get in her own car and go pick up the boys from camp. She felt good to have made it through m
ost of the day with Dee’s company. She helped keep Nyla’s mind off what had happened to her less than 24 hours earlier.

  Later that night after the boys where sound asleep, Chance returned home. When he came into the bedroom, Nyla was still awake, not because she was waiting on him, but because she couldn’t sleep. He looked disappointed that she wasn’t sleep as he barely acknowledged her and went straight to the shower.

  When he came out Nyla asked, “Did Naomi tell you that I came by to bring you lunch today?”

  “Yeah.” He answered bluntly.

  “Yeah? That’s it?”

  “Yeah, that’s it.” He answered again. “What else do you want me to say?”

  “I don’t know…maybe, I’m sorry I missed you, or maybe some kind of explanation as to why you weren’t there.”

  “I was at lunch. That’s nothing to apologize for.”

  Nyla was surprised at the way Chance was being with her. He’d never been so cold and blunt. “Oh okay...goodnight then.”

  “Goodnight.” He turned his back to her and went to sleep.

  AARON MEETS JACK

  The next morning, Nyla was awakened by her youngest son, Anthony. “Mommy, wake up! We’re gonna be late!”

  Nyla rolled over to see that Chance was already gone again. She got up and quickly got dressed to go. She drove a bit faster than the speed limit, trying to get the boys to camp so they wouldn’t miss the best activities of the day. Whenever kids were late, they couldn’t participate in the activity of their choice. Latecomers were often placed in activities to fill each group evenly and most times it wasn’t where they wanted to be. Only a block away from camp, a cop appeared from nowhere and pulled Nyla over.

  Before the officer could say anything, Nyla said, “I’m sorry officer! I didn’t realize I was speeding until you pulled me over. I was trying to get my kids to camp on time. How fast was I going?” Nyla went on and on until the officer interrupted her.

  “Miss, I didn’t stop you for speeding. I stopped you because you failed to come to a complete stop back there. I need to see your license and proof of insurance, please?”

  While Nyla was getting the information, the officer spoke to the boys. Anthony, who has always been fascinated with police and firemen, took over the conversation. “I never saw a police lady before. Do you shoot people?”

  Nyla handed the officer the requested items, but after holding such an enjoyable conversation with the boys, she didn’t bother to look at them. “Look Miss, just make sure that when you reach a stop sign, you come to a complete stop before proceeding on.”

  “I sure will Ma’am!” Nyla responded. “Thank you so much! I promise it won’t happen again!”

  “Not a problem,” she replied, “and please slow down. You have three nice looking boys here that are depending on you to keep them safe.” The officer looked at them with a serious look on her face. “And boys...you take good care of your mom, okay?”

  They all nodded their heads and said okay.

  As Nyla drove off, she thought about the comment the officer had just made to her about keeping her boys safe. Her thoughts went all over the place after that, as she remembered being raped and her choice to keep quiet about it. It was to protect her family.

  She reached camp, and Anthony quickly jumped out and said goodbye as he ran inside. CJ gave her a kiss on her cheek and he followed Anthony in.

  Ronald was the most observant one this time. He asked, “Mom, are you okay? You look spaced out.”

  “I’m alright baby.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  “But you’re shaking.” He commented.

  Trying to relax her mind, she smiled and said, “I guess I’m still nervous.”

  “Why?”

  “I just knew I was going to get a ticket back there!”

  She laughed and in doing so, forced him to laugh along with her.

  “She was nice!” He said.

  “Thank God!” Nyla agreed. “Either way, don’t worry yourself young man. I have quite a few things on my agenda for today and I’m eager to get them all done. I’m especially excited about finally finishing up my college classes. That’s something I’ve always wanted to do.”

  Ronald smiled, “Then, you should do it!”

  “Thanks...I will! Now, go on inside and have fun. I’ll be back at pick-up time.”

  “Okay...I love you!”

  Nyla wasn’t expecting that from him. “Aww, I love you more!”

  Ronald and Nyla smiled at each other as he got out of the car and went inside.

  Throughout the course of the day, Nyla registered for school despite Chance’s feelings. From there, she went to the bike trail for a run and then to the grocery store. She tried to stay as busy as she could so she’d have less time to think about what had happened to her. Sadly, nothing worked as everything reminded her of that horrific night.

  While running along the bike trail, Nyla was paranoid of every man she saw. She felt like whoever he was, could very well be one of the men that were out jogging along with her, or hiding somewhere behind a tree or bush, watching her every step.

  At the grocery store, she was suspicious of the few men she saw there too, including the bagboy. When he asked if she’d like help to her car, she said no and practically ran out of the store. She loaded up her groceries, then sat in the car and started crying.

  Nyla was a nervous wreck and felt like her head was about to explode as flashbacks and sounds of that night shot through her mind. She started praying out loud, “Lord, help me! I don’t know why this happened to me, but I can’t go on like this Lord! I feel like everyone around me is the one and it’s driving me crazy! Please Lord give me strength to go on for my family’s sake! Keep us all safe, Lord...from anymore hurt, harm, or danger that may be lurking around us! And Lord, I pray that whoever did this to me, reap what he sows because vengeance is not mine, it’s yours!” Before Nyla could say amen, she was startled by a knock at her window. It was her neighbor, Aaron.

  “Hey, Nyla.” He motioned for her to let down her window, then noticed that she was in tears. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m sorry, but I gotta go!” She drove off and left him standing there.

  Nyla reached home and tried to clear her mind by keeping busy, but soon realized that she didn’t feel any safer there. Before the rape, she never realized how noisy silence was. She heard water drip, so she went and checked to see if everything looked normal. She heard a tap on a bedroom window, so she checked on it to make sure the sound didn’t come from anything other than an overgrown branch. She heard cracking sounds that sent her looking for an intruder, but there was no one. She was even afraid to take a shower because she feared that she wouldn’t be able to hear if someone came in. So, her usual fifteen-minute-long shower was reduced to five.

  By four o’clock, Nyla had cleaned up and prepared dinner. She sat around thinking about her day until she heard a knock at the door. She looked through the peephole and saw that it was Aaron. Although she cherished their friendship, she decided not to answer. She knew that if she did, he’d ask her questions that she couldn’t answer. On top of that, she felt like the rapist was always watching and could possibly hurt Aaron, thinking she’d mentioned the rape to him.

  “Nyla, come on…open the door!” Aaron said loud enough for her to hear him. “I thought we were close enough that we could talk about anything!”

  Nyla still wouldn’t open the door. Then, she heard a second voice. “Is everything alright?”

  Nyla walked away from the door to the kitchen window and peeped out to see who else was there. It was Jack, her other neighbor. She couldn’t help but to grow a bit more suspicious of him since he seemed more neighborly than Aaron, who she’d known and talked to for years.

  Jack walked a little closer to Aaron and asked, “Is there a problem?”

  Aaron turned around and said, “I don’t know. I saw her earlier today and it was obvious that somethi
ng was wrong. She was crying and drove off like she was in some kind of trouble. I’m concerned and want to make sure she’s okay, but she won’t open up.”

  “Then that’s a clear sign that she doesn’t want to talk to you about it.” Jack said.

  “Or a clear sign that she needs help!” Aaron responded, feeling somewhat offended by Jack’s presence. “I’m sorry...who are you and why are you here?”

  Jack overlooked the sarcasm and answered, “I’m her neighbor.”

  “So am I!”

  “I know who you are, Aaron Watson.”

  “How do you know my name?”

  “That doesn’t matter. She has a husband. If she has a problem or needs help, then that’s who she needs to talk to.”

  “Unless he is the problem.” Aaron commented. “Listen, sir…I’ve known Nyla for many years now, and I’ve never seen her without a smile on her face. Something is wrong!”

  “Neither have I, but she clearly doesn’t want to talk to you about it right now. Just let her be.”

  Aaron shook his head and said, “No, I can’t do that!”

  “Okay, but if you continue to knock and yell through the door, I’m going to call the police. It’s your choice.” Jack turned to walk away.

  “I don’t care! Go ahead and call! Maybe then we can find out what’s wrong with her!”

  Nyla heard everything that was said and feared that the police would complicate things even more. She already felt like she was being watched, and thought that if the rapist saw police at her house, he’d automatically assume that she reported the rape. Not willing to risk her or anyone else’s safety, she opened the door before Jack could leave.

  “I need for you both to leave my house...please!” She looked at Aaron. “Aaron, I’m fine. Chance and I had a disagreement this morning and I was still upset about it when you saw me earlier. We have talked since then and everything is okay.”

  Aaron tried to look into her eyes, but she wouldn’t allow it. Therefore, he knew she wasn’t being truthful.

  “Please...I’m fine. Don’t worry yourself.” She tried to reassure him. “Thanks for your concern though, but you two can go home now.”