Page 26 of The Man Next Door
“I’m sorry to interrupt…” Simon Cook stood by the doorway. “The door was open.”
The door was always open on hot summer days to let a breeze in, the screen door closed to keep out the pesky flies. Everyone walked in to everyone’s homes without batting a lash. There was no knocking, and there certainly were no doorbells.
Simon stood awkwardly, glancing at the door, wishing he had not entered at that particular moment. I was completely mortified.
“You better not tell anyone,” I scoffed.
“Don’t worry. I don’t even know what menstration means,” he lied, deliberately mispronouncing the word. He would, of course, tell everyone.
Simon had been a regular at the Reeds. He had a pretty serious crush on Izzie. What boy didn’t. Izzie’s dad also encouraged him to help out fixing whatever broken piece of machinery he had in the yard at the time. Although he worked as a truck driver, he’d take odd jobs on the side, fixing anything from snowmobiles, dirt bikes, RVs, trucks, and plain old cars. The Reed yard was always littered with a varied selection of these at any time; one of which was a beautiful red Corvette. The guys at the park would always linger over to check out the new patient. That Corvette attracted so many people, Izzie’s dad could hardly get any work done.
Simon was always the dutiful assistant, standing next to him, handing over the tools, all the while checking out Izzie. When some of the park guys would drop by, Simon dutifully went into the house to fetch some beers or some smokes. That day, he wasn’t fetching smokes. Izzie’s dad was at the back of the trailer, passed out. He was taking the day off.
“So Bobby’s not working in the yard today. Is he on the road?” Simon ask Adele. His long golden hair dangled over his eyes. His lashes, peaking out from behind the strands of dirty hair, framed the largest saddest blue eyes I had ever seen. I kinda liked Simon but there would be no way anyone would ever know. He looked disheveled as he usually did, like he hadn’t taken a bath in a week, which he most likely hadn’t. He wore a black t-shirt, and his hands dangled from the pockets of his old faded jeans, worn at the knees. Big red lips with a tongue sticking out stretched across his chest:The Rolling Stones.For some reason, this t-shirt always made me a little uncomfortable.
Adele suddenly did not look herself, a furrow etched deep between her eyes and sloping eyebrows. She reached for a cigarette on the kitchen counter. “I’m sorry, Simon, but Bobby’s not feeling well today. He’ll let you know when he needs your help again, okay.”
“Does he have a cold? You think he’ll be alright tomorrow?” Simon was concerned. He had learned so much from Bobby, and there was so much more to learn. Bobby was the one person he could talk to.
Adele quickly became irritated. “I’m not sure. Like I said, he’ll let you know as soon as he starts working on something again.” She was clearly annoyed, but it wasn’t in her nature to be anything but polite to everyone. Simon was no idiot and stepped back to the door, leaving with his head down.
“Why is he always hanging around here?” Izzie complained. “Doesn’t he have his own place?” She was stretched out on the sofa, one leg over the arm, her white panties visible, peeking out from her ultra short red Lycra sports shorts.
“He likes to help out Dad with fixing the bikes and cars. Dad’s teaching him a lot,” Adele said through a cloud of smoke. “You should try being nicer to him. He likes you.” The cigarette had succeeded in soothing her.
Izzie reached for theGlamourmagazine on the end table. “Everybody likes me.”
“Besides it’s good for Simon to have a hobby....something to distract him...” Adele looked out the window. “You know.. since the accident.”
Everyone at the park had heard about the accident. Simon and his little sister were riding with their mom, coming back from Bingo night. They didn’t even see it coming. They got hit by a 4x4, smack right on the side. The guy in the truck was drunk. Apparently, Simon’s little sister shot straight out of the car. She landed a good one hundred feet away, and apparently died instantly. This is the version of events I’d heard. I wanted to ask Simon about it, but never dared to.
“It’s too bad about his little sister,” Izzie managed to articulate between mouthfuls of cheese and crackers. She had wasted no time in sampling the goodies. All eyes turned towards her, surprised at her comment, very uncharacteristic of her. But true, this was something so terrible, even cold hearts could feel for.
“Uh… Izzie. Can I borrow your orange sweater?” I asked.
“Sure… why?”
I jumped to my feet and bolted toward her room. “You’ll see.”
I came back with the arms of the bright orange cardigan wrapped around my waist, hiding not only my hips but the bulge between my legs. A smiled stretched across Adele’s face as she walked to the sofa. She grabbed Izzie’s legs and pushed them out of the way. “Move over.” She sat down next to her daughter unapologetically.
I sat next to them, still thinking about Simon. I’d been very preoccupied with him since the accident. Had someone been there to help him? He had no other siblings. It was just him and his parents now. At least they had each other. I wanted to go to his trailer and offer my help, but unfortunately, I was way too shy for such a bold move.
