Даниэла Стил - Neighbors

Will was watching at the window when his mother left the house. She walked down the street in the direction of their home. He had noticed that she headed in that direction most of the time on her walks. He wondered if maybe she missed their house too. He missed his toys. They’d only brought a few with them and he wanted to go back for more. But his mother didn’t want to bring too much to Meredith’s and clutter up their room.

Meredith came to find Tyla a few minutes later, to ask her something, and was surprised to find that she’d gone out. She had said she was tired that morning, although she was in a cheerful mood. Meredith peeked into Will’s room to see how he was feeling, and if he was asleep. Instead he was standing at the window, looking out.

“Hi, Will, how are you feeling?” she asked with a smile.

“I’m okay,” he said as he turned to look at her, and his eyes were sad.

“Do you know where your mom is?”

“She went for a walk, that way.” He pointed toward their house.

Meredith thought about it for a minute after she’d left the room, and she got a queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Why had Tyla been almost euphoric? Was it a coincidence, or did she have a plan? Was she going to see Andrew?

Meredith went downstairs and grabbed a coat out of the closet. She didn’t know why, but she wanted to make sure Tyla was okay. It was a gray, foggy day. Meredith was in front of the Johnsons’ house a few minutes later, and she saw that the lights were on in the living room on the ground floor, and suddenly panic set in. She was sure that Tyla had gone to meet Andrew. Maybe he had wanted to see her there. She hoped that she was wrong. But why was the light on? Or had Tyla just gone to spend a little time in her home, to try and exorcise the ghosts there?

She rang the doorbell, and a second later, the door was whipped open and Andrew was standing there. He looked ragged, with dark circles under his eyes. He needed a haircut, he hadn’t shaved, and he was wearing running clothes. He looked angry and disheveled with wild eyes.

“Is Tyla here?” Meredith asked him in a cool voice, trying not to look surprised to see him there.

“Why don’t you see for yourself,” he said, and as he did, a powerful arm yanked her inside, and she could see Tyla cowering in a chair, with a trickle of blood running down her chin from her lip. His eyes looked crazy, and Meredith could see that he was going to do the same thing again. He had already hit Tyla, at least once.

“Andrew, why don’t we just let it go for today,” Meredith said calmly. “You don’t need more trouble, and neither does Tyla, or your kids. You’ve all got enough to worry about.”

“Oh listen to Little Miss Goody Two-Shoes. I wouldn’t be in trouble if you hadn’t filled her head with a lot of crap. She knew how to behave before. If she doesn’t drop the charges, my medical license will be revoked. How am I going to make a living if that happens?” His eyes probed Meredith’s. The terror of being poor again was devouring him.

“Then let’s not make it any worse than it already is,” she said quietly. She wanted to get Tyla out of the house and escape herself before he exploded and lost control.

“I didn’t come here to cause trouble,” Andrew said. “I came here to get pictures of my kids. She said she’d give them to me. I don’t even have a picture of them with me, and I’m living in a hotel that’s a dump, thanks to her.” He pointed angrily at his wife. He was a madman, and Tyla had fallen for whatever promises he had made, or her own misplaced guilt for his situation, which he accused her of every day on the phone. That this was all her fault. And like most abused women, she believed him. Meredith wondered if what Charles had said was true, that women who had been abused almost always go back to their abusers.

“I’m sure you’ve got things to do,” she said clearly, “so do we.” She beckoned to Tyla, but she was too afraid to move. Tyla was terrified of what he’d do if she tried to get past him to the door. She knew what he was capable of. They all did now.

Will had already called Charles by then, as soon as Meredith left the house. He kept Charles’s cellphone number in his wallet. He spoke as fast as he could when Charles answered.

“I think my mom went to meet my dad at our house, and Meredith went after her.” He was talking fast, and sounded breathless.

“Did they tell you that?” Charles questioned him, and sensed the urgency in Will’s voice.

“No, I’m guessing. I saw them go.” Charles didn’t hesitate for an instant. He promised Will he’d call him back and called the police. Charles called an inside number he had for law enforcement officers, for emergencies, and he didn’t hesitate to use it when he needed to. He told them the possible situation, that Andrew was dangerous, under a restraining order, and awaiting trial for a brutal attack on his wife, and he might be holding two women captive in his old home.

“Come on, Tyla,” Meredith said to her again, easing toward the door herself so she could open it, before Andrew got violent with either of them. Meredith had barely moved when Andrew grabbed her by the throat, jammed her up against the wall, and banged her head hard.

“You started all this, didn’t you, you bitch,” he said to her. “You filled her head with ideas about freedom and independence and not listening to me, and now she won’t let me come home. She’s not even living here. She’s living with you, and your fascist boyfriend who thinks he runs the world.”

Meredith didn’t say anything and was wondering how they were going to get out of the house, as she saw two police officers approach the front door with caution, and suddenly the window exploded, with broken glass flying everywhere, and the two officers broke in. One of them jumped through the ground floor window, the other one reached inside, opened the door, grabbed Andrew, and they had him on the ground within seconds, and handcuffed his hands behind his back, as Tyla came running toward Meredith, and threw her arms around her. Andrew was screaming obscenities at Tyla from the floor as they dragged him out of the house, and saying what he was going to do to her if he got his hands on her again. Meredith looked at her and rubbed her head. Andrew was out by then.

“How did you know I was here?” Tyla looked mystified, as she wiped the blood off her face. She had told no one she was coming to the house to meet him.

“Will told me you’d gone for a walk and had come this way. He was watching you. I think he knew. And when he said it, I knew too, so I came to check on you.”

“Did you call the police before you left the house?” Meredith shook her head.

“Maybe Will did. Tyla, you can’t see Andrew again. He’s going to kill you.” Everyone knew and believed it, except her.

She hung her head in shame. “I know that now. I felt sorry for him, so I agreed to meet him.”

“You can’t afford to do that. You have two children who need you, and he will kill you the next time, or one of these times.”

“I won’t see him again.” The police were outside, when Tyla turned off the lights in the house and closed the door. The lock was broken and the window. Someone would have to come and fix them. She had seen this movie too many times. They all had by now. The police said they’d come to Meredith’s later to get a statement from them both.

Tyla and Meredith walked back to her house, and Charles pulled up when they arrived. He had been at his home nearby when Will called him. “Are you both okay?” They nodded, but Tyla had a cut lip where he had slapped her, and Meredith had an egg on her head from hitting the wall.

“Did you call the police?” Meredith asked him, confused about how he knew.