As Mary pulled into the driveway, so did Jim. She immediately knew what happened. She knew her husband well enough to know that he barely got home before six in the evening. She rolled her eyes as she got out of the car. She could not stand the fact that he had lost yet another job. It seemed he simply could not keep a job – whether he was just plain lazy or not hardworking enough. She tried her best to hide the fact that his inability to keep a job was starting to annoy her.
The Cooper pulled up next to her car. Jim and Alice got out.
“Another job?” Mary asked annoyed, “What happened this time?”
“Hello to you too.” Jim said.
Jim could see she was annoyed. He smiled, hoping to soften her mood. He looked at her with puppy eyes, but it had no effect on her. She stared back at him with an ice cold glare.
“Jim,” Mary persisted, “This is serious.”
“The company was experiencing some financial difficulties and could no longer support the number of staff it had.” Jim replied.
“Who else got downsized this time?” Mary asked.
“Me and Thomas.” Jim said.
“Thomas?” Mary asked confused, “Wasn’t he one of the supervisors?”
“Yes.” Jim said.
Mary felt foolish. If Jim was not the only one who was downsized then maybe it wasn’t his fault this time? Maybe it was just bad luck this time? She had jumped to conclusions without hearing the full story.
“I’m so sorry to hear that.” Mary said, “What will you do now?”
”I’ll start sifting through the classifieds tomorrow.” Jim said, “I’ll find another job. I’ll bounce back from this. You’ll see.”
Alice walked up to the front door, opened it and stepped inside the house. She knew better than to hang around when her parents talked about Jim’s latest job loss. Jim glanced over when the front door closed and then looked back at Mary. He faked a smile. Mary took a deep breath and smiled back. She ran her fingers through his hair. She loved him dearly, but these jobless periods of his drove her crazy. She knew there was no way that he would start looking for new work immediately. No, he would spend the next three days moping around the house and watch talk shows on TV. Once he got bored with the pointless shows on TV he would dust off his game consol and play shooter games. They would then eventually fight and then only would he start looking for vacancies. She was not looking forward to the next couple of days. Each time it was the same routine and each time the fight became more intense. The last one ended with her throwing a book at him – she missed, but she felt horrible for losing control so easily.
“Let’s go inside and get dinner started.” Mary said.
“What’s for dinner?” Jim asked.
“I bought chicken breasts.” Mary said, “They were on special.”
”We eat chicken almost every night.” Jim sulked. “I’m tired of chicken. When can we have some real meat for a change?”
“You’re not allowed to eat red meat with your blood levels.” Mary reminded him. “I don’t want you to die.”
“Yes, I know.” Jim said, “But one little steak won’t kill me.”
“It could.” Mary insisted. “And I’m not raising Alice on my own.”
She kept her stern stare a moment longer then smiled and kissed him. She could not stay angry at the love of her life, no matter what.
She took his hand and they walked towards the front door.
That night, when Mary was already fast asleep, Jim still lay awake in bed. He stared up at the ceiling thinking about all sorts of things. He was not really upset about losing another job. He had a good résumé and was sure he could find another job easily.
He thought of his brother. He missed him every day – some days more than others. He had previously thought about seeing a therapist, but then his pride got in the way. Men don’t talk about their feelings his father used to say, you just buck up and move on. That’s the way MEN handle stress.
Though those harsh words stayed with him throughout his life, he sometimes wondered whether his father had it right. Maybe his father was just a bitter old man?
He glanced over at the clock radio on the night stand. It was 03:15. He was dead tired, but unable to sleep. He hated insomnia. There was nothing to do while the world lay sleeping. All he could do was lie there and hope that he would somehow drift off to sleep.
Somewhere in the distance a dog was barking constantly. It was one of those monotone barks that probably meant the dog was barking at the wind or a shadow – most likely the shadow its tail casted. It was an annoying sound when you were unable to sleep. He glanced over to Mary. She was snoring lightly and was oblivious to the barking.
Jim threw back the covers and got out of bed. He slipped his feet into his slippers and got up. He left the room and went downstairs. He entered the kitchen. It was twilit from the streetlamp shining in through the window. He poured himself a glass of water.
While he sipped the water, he saw a car parked across the street. He did not recognize the car, but he knew it did not belong to the family across the street. The car stood in the shadows and seemed sinister. Why was it parked there? Nowadays one could not be careful enough. The car could contain a bomb or something.
For a moment Jim thought he saw someone sitting in the car. He left the kitchen and entered the living room. He pulled back the curtains and looked through the window to get a better look at the car. From the living room window the car seemed empty. Maybe it was? Fatigue is known to play tricks on the mind.
The sound of the barking dog still echoed through the night. He closed the curtains and as he did, the barking stopped abruptly. There was nothing but silence.
How odd Jim thought to himself. That dog barked every night until dawn. He put down the glass on the coffee table and walked over to the front door. He unlocked the door, opened it and stepped out onto the porch. His eyes searched the night for anything unusual. He had no idea where the house was that owned the barking dog. Maybe the owners got fed up with its barking and called it inside the house? Maybe a neighbor wrung its neck? There were no signs of anything out of the ordinary. The only thing unusual was the car parked across the street. From the porch he could swear he saw someone in the car again.
He stared at the shadows inside the car and then saw someone light a cigarette in the car. Who was in the car? Why were they parked there and more importantly, what were they doing there at 03h00 in the morning?
He knew the most sound of mind thing to do would be to call the police, but with the car not committing any crime it would be pointless. He crossed the street and approached the car. The car was a 1985 Datsun, blue in color with a bit of rust along the edges of the doors. When he got to the car, it seemed empty. He cupped his hands against the driver side window and peered inside. The car seemed empty. Maybe it was just his imagination. He stepped back and investigated the car. He felt like he knew the car from somewhere.
A loud crack sound made him look to his left with a jerk. A big crack ran across the windshield. He knew when he first approached the car; there was no crack on the front windshield. He stepped closer to the hood of the car and inspected the crack. He cautiously reached out to touch the crack. As his fingers touched the crack, the windshield made near inaudible crack noises; the crack repaired itself and disappeared. Jim pulled back his hand and watched flabbergasted as the last of the crack disappeared. The window was whole again. He took a few steps back. He was confused as to what he saw.
Jim walked back to the house, keeping a watchful eye on the car behind him. Maybe he needed help. What he saw was definitely not real. He stepped back onto the porch and entered the house. He stood in the doorway a moment longer and glanced at the portentous car in the shadows. There was something peculiar about it - something sinister. Jim then shut the door.
2
When Jim woke up, Mary had already gone to work. He glanced at the clock radio. It was just after 09h00. He yawned and then slowly stumbled out o
f bed. He felt like he didn’t get a moment of sleep. His body was tired and his brain exhausted. He went downstairs to make himself some coffee.
As he entered the kitchen he saw the morning paper on the kitchen table. It was opened at the classifieds. Mary clearly left it there as a motivation for him to start looking for work. He stared down at the paper and grunted. He decided to start looking for work in a few days. He first needed a couple of days to himself. Losing a job is more stressful than Mary could understand. He needed to ease into his new life. He’d take it easy for a couple of days – perhaps catch up with some of his TV programs.
As he poured water into the kettle, he glanced out of the window. The Datsun that stood across the street the previous night was gone. Maybe it was just a dream.
While he waited for the kettle he decided to read the cartoons in the paper. He pulled out a chair, sat down and paged through the paper. When he found the cartoons, he folded the paper in half. There was something comforting about reading cartoons in the morning. If you could start off your day in an easy going way the day would be tolerable.
Garfield was his favorite cartoon. He used to read it as a child and twenty years later he still found it amusing. The cat sometimes reminded him of his last boss; lazy and full of wise crack jokes. He hated to admit it, but he already missed his job.
The sound of the doorbell made him look up from the paper. He got up and walked over to the front door. He opened the door and found a very brightly dressed woman standing on the porch. She had one of those I-had-one-too-many-espressos smiles on her face and seemed a bit jittery. If she burst out in dance or singing, he was going to shut the door in her face. The woman was half expecting to find a housewife at the door, but kept her smile.
“Good morning!” She greeted enthusiastically.
“Hello.” Jim said confused.
“Can I borrow a bit of your time to tell you a bit more about our latest Avon products?” The woman insisted with her gigantic smile.
“Not really.” Jim said bluntly.
“Oh come on sir,” The woman said enthusiastically, “As a stay at home dad, you should pamper your wife when she comes home and Avon is the best way to pamper a woman.”
The woman opened her little briefcase to show him her products.
“Now,” She continued, “Since its spring, we have a whole new line of bright colors to brighten up any woman’s day.”
Jim gestured with his hand for her to stop. She paused, but kept her eager smile.
“Please.” Jim said, “I am really not interested in any Avon products.”
“Are you sure?” The woman asked with a big smile, “We have a new line of men’s products that you might find interesting? We have a new cologne called Mystic Man. You should try it. It smells divine. You have to try it.”
“No thank you.” Jim replied politely.
“Okay then.” She said with her ever persistent smile, “Have a great day.”
She turned and walked away. Jim stood for a moment to ensure that she was really gone. He watched as she continued down the block to menace the next house. Door-to-door sales people were annoying and over eager to sell you crap you never really want. He closed the door and just as he turned around, there was a knock on the door.
Perplexed as to who it could be, Jim turned around and opened the door again. A tall, thin and kind of creepy looking guy stood on the porch. The man wore an overcoat though the temperature was already scorching outside. Jim stared at the man. How did he get onto the porch so fast? There was nobody else in the street when the Avon menace left.
The man just stood on the porch and stared at Jim with blunt vacant eyes.
“Can I help you?” Jim asked.
“Do you know Cindy Johnson?” The man asked.
“Who are you?” Jim asked