Cookie Monster

The woman had been watching.  After all, it takes a village, right?  The boy was alone too much.  She often saw him sitting by himself on the large wrap-around porch. He never had play dates. She had never heard him laugh nor had she seen him with friends and at his age, he should have been racing down the street on his bike for a pick up game of basketball or kickball or something.  She should have had to chase him from her back yard when he cut through or had to call his mother because he was saying words too grown up and sinister for his young mouth.  Sinister. Well maybe that was over the top. She decided to take action in a neighborly way.  She began to go outside when he was out.  She would wave.  He smiled and waved back almost hungry for, no, STARVING for attention.She went the next step; cookies.

"That poor boy." she clucked to herself smudging flour on her cheek as she baked. 

"Mother, stay out of it." warned her son on his weekly visit.  "You don't have any idea what goes on over there.  He may just be taking a break from a wild day of Yatzee and coloring books.  He might be exhausted from cookie-baking, sing-a-longs and home schooling. Maybe he has a "smother" ..." he allowed the last sentence to sink in and smiled when she attempted to rat-tail him with her dish towel.  She grimaced at her failure. 

"One day, I'm going to get it right and you won't sit for a week!" she chuckled and pulled out the tray of  golden, delicious disks.  Her son was immediately at her side, reaching over and around.  It quickly became a cat and mouse game as she twirled and warned against the hot tray.  He snatched his prize and juggled it.  She stopped and glared with a twinkle.

 "You.  Deserve.  That. I hope you burned your mouth and ruined your taste buds for the rest of the day.  I am taking these over to the family." she said proudly, slipping them into a little basket crammed with other baked goods and little toys.

"Stah ow uh eet." he said wiggling his hand in front of his mouth.

"I'm not getting into anything.  Just being neighborly." and she headed out the door.  Just before the screen door swished shut, she turned and stuck her tongue out, making a resoundingly wet raspberry. It was drizzling.  She was glad because then she would be invited in and she could better survey the scene.  She found him in his usual spot with some trucks and little wooden people (Fisher Price?  Weebles? It had been so long ago that she had had to trip on those toys)  scattered around.

"Hi Sweetie." she said from the base of the steps.  "Is anybody home?"

He nodded, his attention immediately drawn to the basket. 

"May I come up?" She asked from the little path at the base of the steps.  It's always best to ask and not frighten such a delicate boy. He shrugged but sat back and crossed his legs, folding his hands in his lap.

"I baked these.  Would you like one?"

"Yes, please." he said quietly.

Chock one up for manners she thought and gave him two.  He leaned forward and gently took them immediately whispering thank you and popping the entire first cookie into his little mouth.

"Whoa. Be careful Doll.  You might want some milk ..."

The heavy door swung open and a woman appeared.  She looked tired.  Moms are always tired. 

"Hi.  I don't mean to bother you but I just thought I'd bring some..."

The woman quickly glanced at the boy then to Lilly.  Silently, he gathered his things with incredible speed and rushed passed her disappearing into the house.  Lilly craned her neck to see what was behind the woman, the door was quickly shut and the woman motioned for Lilly to sit in one of the two chairs on the porch.  Lilly was crushed.

"That was sweet of you.  You'll excuse me, I was doing some work in the house and it's a bit too cluttered for company.  We can enjoy your lovely gift together.  Here."

"In the rain?"

"We won't get wet." The woman offered a small decisive smile. 

"Of course. Well, I just wanted to pop over.  I wave to your son when he's out and I thought it best not to be such a stranger.  Neighbors should get to know each other. I'm Lilly." 

The woman hesitated and then forced a tight grin.  "I'm Tabitha.  The boy you see is Levi." she tossed her head toward the house.

"Your son?  What a unique na..."

"Not my son." she rushed. Lilly waited but there was no further conversation. 

"He seems to keep to himself." Lilly blurted. Tabitha stopped chewing and contemplated.

"It's better that way." she said and began to chew again, thinking this was the end all beat all answer.

"Better?" Lilly asked.

Tabitha nodded thoughtfully.  "Better..." her voice trailed off.

"Is he a foster?"

"No."

"Oh. You've adopted him?  So lovely.  I think it's great..."

"No." Tabitha interrupted.  She took another bite.

Lilly sat back and crossed her feet under her waiting.

There was silence.  "Cookies are great.  Levi will certainly eat them all before supper." she said flatly.
"I don't mean to cut you off or seem rude but I must get back to things inside.  A boy like Levi can stir things up pretty quick." and she stood, brushing crumbs from her shirt.  "Thank you for stopping by Lilly and for being so... thoughtful." She met Lilly's eyes with such intensity that Lilly pulled her sweater around her as a chill swept under her skin.  With that, she slipped back inside leaving Lilly alone.  Levi peeked through the drapes and waved with a cookie in his hand.  She could do nothing but go home.

She and her son ate dinner.  She pushed her food around on her plate and sighed a lot.  He quietly waited until she was ready.

"It just doesn't make sense."

"To you.  Stay out of it. He's a healthy little boy.  He's clean. He's smart-"

"Polite..." she added with a cock of her head and a poke of her meatloaf.

"Polite." he smiled. "So please stop trying to find something wrong.  Let them be. Families are different now then when you were so lucky." he chided.

"Lucky..." She rolled her eyes and smiled but her gaze drifted back to the porch across the street.

It was her son's turn to sigh.  He cleaned up.  Kissed his mother and told her to stay out of it.  She puffed him with her dishtowel.  He caught it and pulled it close, giving her a long "hard" look. 

"I mean it."

She watched him go and leaned across the doorway with her coffee.  She scowled at it.  "Too late for you, my little buzz factor ..." and she left the door open allowing the autumnal breeze to swirl gently behind her to the kitchen, where she finished up for the night. 

"He's right." she smiled to herself.  Bedtime.

Her dreams were sour.  She woke once drenched in sweat.  "Haven't had a personal summer in years." she grumped kicking off the blankets.  "I'm too old for hot flashes.  Hot nights... hot ANYTHINGS. " she giggled to herself and settled back.  Sleep quickly pounced but pushed her into a nightmare.  There was fog, a damp wind and a panic.

 She knew the place where she was but could see nothing which caused her to walk cautiously and sweep with her hands to find something to ground her; touch something to give her an image of where she was.  Her house?  It had to be. Then why was she afraid?  She heard the scurry of the leaves across the road.  They were in a rush to get away.  She just knew it.  And she felt she should be hustling along herself.  Her mind was pushing her. "Move on Lilly.  Let's get going now Girl.  Don't dawdle."

And a voice quietly cooed "Do you want to know? Do you want to see? Come a little closer Lilly.  I'll show you..."

She jarred awake; a gasp exploding from her lips. Her eyes darted through the dark, screaming for focus.  The silence seemed too thick.  She rubbed her face and brushed back her hair, tugging on her earlobes as if that would somehow clear her head. Slowly she began to recognize....

The porch of her neighbor's house.

The lights were out.

"Of course you old fart.  It's the middle of the damn night."

She looked around to make sure.  Yep.  She had walked across the street in her nightie to stand at the door of her neighbor.  She rolled her eyes and shook her head.  "Idiot."  She turned to go.  A gentle movement stopped her. 

"Don't you dare look!" her mind shouted.  "Just go home. Lilia.  Don't look. That's when the monsters get you." and she began to creep back along the porch toward her own home.

"You crazy old bat. " she scolded under her breath. But she thought she heard little Levi whisper her name so she began to turn; if only to give him a tiny wave of reassurance then a tightness pinched in her chest; warning her.  A soft tapping began at the window.  She wanted to look but took another step away from the door. She was at the edge of the porch.  The tap was louder, sharper.  "Look at me" it demanded.  Lilly went down, one, two, three and stopped at the base of the walkway.  The tap was now a scratch or a streak, like wet fingers.  Her brain screamed that she should run ~ like a child with a Halloween prank gone wrong.  But the old woman would not be bullied.  She kept her pace.  She walked slowly and smartly home.  She went up the stairs and purposefully smoothed out blankets and got back into bed having locked each door behind her.  A tiny fortress.  She approved and plumped her pillows, opened her Agatha Christie and read until the sun turned on the sky with flashes of red....

and blue

and white

The police cars and the barking of walkie-talkies told her she actually had gone back to sleep.  She stood and pulled the drapes away from the glass.

Ambulances, police, paramedics... the whole county of first responders seemed to be in the road.  It looked like a disco ant hill with all the flashing and people crawling in and out.  She saw her other neighbors craning their necks from the perimeter set by yellow tape.  She had that pinchy feeling again.

She saw the ME and the coroner pull up.  She watched gurneys going out. 

She saw Levi sitting on the porch. Alone.

She didn't realize her hands were clenched and cold.  She willed them open and rubbed them together.
"java." she muttered to herself and went to the kitchen.  Most of the day was busy across the street.  But Levi seemed invisible.  He just sat on the porch.  He played with toys and wandered around.  Once she thought he even started across to her house.  But he hesitated and slowly waved instead.  Lilly did not.  She pulled away from the window as if scalded and went to polish something or make a bed or wash some vegetables; anything.  As much of a busy body as she could be, she did not pull up a chair to watch the show unfold.  She busied herself.  She vacuumed three times and washed the floor register covers.  She drank coffee and paced a lot.

The sun chickened out and dipped below the trees to hide.  She became nervous and "prickly" inside as the shadows grew longer.  She told herself she wasn't looking out the window for the boy.  She muttered to herself she was one crazy old bitch and needed to talk to her doctor about upping her dose.  She locked the door three times.  Not even Zane Grey and his sassy western novel could keep her occupied.

It was a surprise when she was startled awake.

By tapping at her window. Lilly rolled over and pulled the blankets up.  Everyone knew that was the best defense against monsters; but not tapping.  She stuck her finger in her ear to block the noise.

"Don't look" she said to herself.

"C'mon out Lilly.  You just had to know.  You wanted to help?  You wanted to see what was going on?  C'mon out.  I'll show you.  And bring cookies...."  The voice was cold and mocking.  It sounded watery and thick.

Dead.

"No.  Go away." she whispered and squinched her eyes shut.  She dug her finger in a little deeper to her ear.  "Leave me be.  Take the cookies but leave me alone.  I'll never look.  I'll never ask.  I'll... I'll

 "Never tell" finished the voice and there was one final tap.  Loud and crisp.  Lilly thought for sure the window was going to break.  Then the smearing sound like someone one writing something.

Lilia stayed locked in her room, safe with her blankie and curled in a ball.  The deal had been made.
Dreams did not visit her.

When she woke, she was oddly refreshed. She pulled back the curtain and saw the smear, little finger marks spelling out a word. She studied it, then cleaned it with Windex.  She never asked.  She had promised.  Then she headed down to her kitchen where she made coffee and eggs and bacon, baked a banana bread and started a stew since she was a bit chilled with the weather.  "Autumnal weather means a hearty stew." she told herself, tugging at her sweater. 

On the counter sat the cookie jar.  She replaced the lid and never thought twice.  She swept the crumbs and refused to dwell on the trail they made down the hall, across the parlor to the door. She thought of the word on her window and began baking oatmeal cookies.

Fall came, died and turned to winter.  Snow fell, melted and morphed into a muddy spring. Lilly continued to putter, read and be nosy about most of the neighborhood.  She baked cookies and sprayed Windex. Not once did she join in the gossip about the horrible crime that took place.  The young couple who had been killed.  No one was ever arrested.  "At least they didn't have children..." was the usual comment.  Lilly shuddered but never said a word.

When the moving truck pulled up and a family appeared, she whipped up a double batch of snicker doodles without hesitation.  She put them in the jar on her counter and looked across the road.  A little girl was swinging on a new swing on the porch.  Her mom and dad worked in the yard.  She sighed heavily and with wobbly old knees, Lilly made her way over.  She stood at the curb curb and called to them, introducing herself.  They came and returned the favor.  A conversation struck up.  Lilly felt an instant connection and warmth.  She liked them and their little girl.  She laughed and enjoyed the new life.  They invited her several times to come up and sit on the porch, she politely declined.  She held out her gift and told them to keep the jar.  In fact, she asked them to keep it on the porch.  When asked why, she laughed softly and waved her hand. 

"It's a good neighbor thing.  Leave it there and always have cookies in it.  You'll be blessed and safe."

The old woman hurried back home leaving the new couple a little confused.  But Lilly didn't want to tell them what she knew.  She scurried off after the drapes moved and a small hand waved with a cookie in it. Levi stood watching.  Grinning. The little girl smiled and waved back at her new friend.