They Look Just Like Everyone Else

As Allen took another drag from his Newport 100, he heard that noise again. He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. Shielding his eyes from the summer sun, he looked around in earnest. There it was again. Was it coming from above him? It was some type of crying. He’d been walking for almost ten minutes down the left side of Willow road enjoying the warmness of the air and the occasional slight breeze that reminded him fall was on the way. He looked around the cookie cutter neighborhood where the houses were small but not that old yet. He remembered when this area was all woods, years ago when he used to play back here with the boys. Got into a couple fights back here too.

He rubbed his jaw where the scar was while reminiscing about the fight that gave it to him. Sam was being a real dick to that kid. Allen took it upon himself to teach that bully a lesson, bloodied him up good and earned the scar on his jaw but Sam never bothered another soul, at least not when Allen was around.

All the houses here looked similar- aluminum siding with brick fronts and all the doors had those ugly half moon windows at the top. There were two houses he and his friends used to call brother and sister because one was baby pink and one baby blue, right next to each other. Of course, the people didn’t know each- there it was again! He jerked his head up swiping his dirty blonde bangs out of his eyes. He absently wiped the sweat from his forehead on his khakis as he took another drag of his cigarette. There it was, the source of his confusion, a kitten.

The tiny black and white baby had climbed an awful long way up. How cliche he thought, a kitten stuck in a tree. This tree was an older one saved from the bulldozing so its trunk stuck out oddly from under the concrete around it. Thankfully, it was quite knobbly at the base. Allen was a pretty tall guy at 6’2 but he wasn’t tall enough to just grab the kitten like he would’ve preferred. Sighing, he set his cigarette carefully down on the curb knowing full well that by the time his heroic act was done it would be a long column of nothing but ash. Hiking up his pants he steadied his foot on the largest knob and pushed up grasping the first branch he could reach. He steadied his other foot on another knob near to him but not as big as the first and pulled himself up further. After a little while of playing monkey he reached the kitten who was a bit dirty and very tired. Luckily, it was a kitten and not a fully grown feral cat so it was much easier to just grab it with one hand while balancing precariously. When he had the kitten cradled safely against his hard chest confident that it wouldn’t budge, he turned ever so slowly, gauged the distance, and jumped onto the pavement. It was only about a five or six foot jump. Nothing to him.

As soon as he straightened up he felt something hit his ankle. He turned so fast he almost lost grip of the mewling kitten. Down at his feet was obviously the mama. Her tail puffed out, ears flat against her head, and hissing. Pupils as big as saucers, she had one paw in the air ready to strike. Allen didn’t want any trouble so he calmly backed up and set the kitten down a few feet from mama.

She darted straight for her baby causing Allen to jump back, “The thanks I get...jeez.”

As she left, kitten in tow, he glanced to the curb. Nothing but ash. He pawed at his many pockets fishing out his pack of cigarettes. Only one left? Damn it. Good thing he was on his way to the convenience store anyway. A few more streets and a right.

Allen ran across the street.

“Hey, why you always run across that street? Ain’t nobody ever come down this way since they put the highway in,” Kevin guffawed.

“I dunno man, habit I guess.” Allen laughed too. When he was a kid that was the most dangerous thing to do in town, crossing this road.

“What brings you up here today, besides this fine weather?” Kevin asked as he hefted a couple wooden crates into the dumpster.

“My god damned bumper fell off my truck a couple days ago. Cheap fuckin’ Ford. Ran outta duct tape, didn’t even know.”

Kevin looked at him incredulously, “You gonna fix your bumper....with duct tape?”

Allen smiled sheepishly, “Well, until I find the money for a proper fix, yeah.”

“You somethin’ else! ‘Aight, I’ll be in in a minute.”

Allen left Kevin to talk to himself under his breath. The familiar tinkle of the bell sounded as he walked into the small cool store. God, that air conditioning felt great. He walked to the back of the store where Kevin kept his tiny hardware section. The shelves were usually stocked well because most folks around here preferred to take their problems elsewhere to be fixed instead of taking the initiative to fix them themselves. Allen thought if he could do it himself why waste the money? His keen eyes scanned the beat up shelves. He spotted some thin white rope...why not? His fingers carelessly stroked the rope as he hunted for what he really came for. Plain silver duct tape, none of that fancy designer tape. There.

After he paid Kevin with crumpled sweaty bills he headed home. As he walked he opened his new pack of smokes, shoved the object of his vice between his lips and lit up. He took a long satisfying drag as he eyed the young woman approaching opposite him on the sidewalk. She looked like she came from the new stock that had moved into the housing development a couple streets over. Black leggings accentuated her shapely legs and her crop top hung off her shoulder just the right amount to show a tease of her milky white skin. Her highlighted hair swung to and fro in a tight ponytail as she jogged closer and closer. She was killing two birds with one stone by exercising with her dog. It was some type of medium sized cutie, likely adopted.

He smiled as she neared and with his cigarette in between his fingers he pointed at the pooch, “What kind of dog is this cutie?”

She took her earbuds out, “I’m sorry?”

“Oh, I’m sorry! Didn’t realize you had those in. I asked what kind of dog is this handsome guy?” he resumed smoking while letting his eyes feast.

She smiled warmly, “It’s actually a she. Her name is Penny and she’s a bull terrier. You can pet her if you like, she’s super friendly.”

This girl was one of those smiley oblivious types. She clearly couldn’t tell what her outfit did to men. He squatted down to pet Penny who seemed to be exactly like her owner- all tail-wagging and too friendly. He bid them both 'g’bye' as she squinted from his smoke exhalation, clearly too polite to complain about it.

What a pretty girl.

Almost home. Without all the traffic now trips to the shop don't take as long so he felt okay about leaving his own cutie at home. He could see his blue Ford sticking out from the bushes ahead. As he passed it, he looked down at the perfect bumper and smirked.

Allen all but ran down the stairs to his cellar, keys jangling in his hand, where he kept the deer meat from his hunting expeditions in the big freezer. As he put the key in the large padlock chills went up his spine.

*

Something woke her up. A latch clicking? She sat up immediately, though stiffly from the concrete floor, as her head jerked in the direction the sound came from. Her eyes still hadn’t adjusted to the dark yet but she had no idea how long she'd been down here, at least three days. She waited with bated breath. Watching with dread as the door slowly creaked open. She couldn't tell if her shivers were from fear or because she was so close to that huge freezer. At first the light was minimal but as the beam grew, tears welled up in her eyes. Her heart beat faster while jumping into her throat, she could see his shadow. He had something in his hand.

"Hey, cutie." he drawled.

She heard a tear. Was that...tape?