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I nod. “Oh, yes, ma’am.”
Elouise leans past the door frame and looks to the left and then right before narrowing her eyes on me. “Is this a joke?”
“No, ma’am, no joke,” I assure her.
“This is one of the most crime-ridden areas of the city,” she says. “Since when does anyone here give a damn about the neighborhood?”
Shit.
“It’s recent,” I blurt. “I’m new to the neighborhood and thought it would be beneficial to start the program. We might not have much, but we need to protect what wedohave.”
She stares at me for a moment, and I expect her to call me on my bullshit, but she shocks me by nodding.
“Makes sense. So, Mr…”
“Black,” I insert. “Mr. Black.”
“Well, Mr. Black, why are you here?”
“As I started to say earlier, I’ve received several complaints recently, and I wanted to address them with you.”
“Complaints?” A thud from inside the house pulls her attention from the conversation, and she sighs before looking at me again. “Sorry about that. My brother gets loud when he plays his video games,” she explains, her tone full of annoyance. “I’ve told him time and time again to keep it down, but does he listen? No. Ungrateful twit. I guess that’s what I get for taking him in when he was released from prison.”
Yeah, she’s not gonna miss him at all.
“Well, ma’am, that’s sort of why—”
“I was all set to retire when he was released,” she continues as if I hadn’t spoken. “I should be enjoying my life, traveling, but no. I’m stuck with Cam, a grown-man child with an affinity for children. But he’s kin, so what was I supposed to do? I couldn’t let him be homeless. Mama and Daddy taught me that family is family, no matter what they’ve done. So, here I am… unable to show my face in public without being called hideous names because of Cam’s past. I love my brother, don’t get me wrong, but I hate him too. I wish…” Elouise blinks several times and looks up at me. “I’m sorry. You don’t want to hear my problems.” She waves her hand dismissively. “You said something about complaints?”
Woman’s got more baggage than the lost luggage department of American Airlines.
“Yes, ma’am.” I smile politely. “I hate to even bring this up now, but I’ve received several complaints about odd noises coming from your home at all hours of the night. And some of the neighbors are also upset about the potential theft of their Wi-Fi.”
Elouise squints. “The neighborhood watch cares about Wi-Fi?”
“Well, no, not Wi-Fi specifically. But we do care about theft.”
We also care about men who use video games to prey on children.
And so the conversation goes. Elouise alternates between bitching about her brother being a burden and questioning my reasons for being here. I listen to her with one ear while the other is tuned into what’s going on inside her home. Fortunately, she continues to attribute any noise she hears to ‘Cam’s childish video games’.
When, out of the corner of my eye, I see my brothers sneaking around the corner of the porch, relief washes over me. I slide my hand into my pocket and make a show of pulling out my cell phone and staring at the screen.
“... boys will be boys, I suppose, but he’s thirty-six. Hardly a—”
“Ms. Slate, I really must go.” I flip the phone quickly… long enough for her to think there’s something important on it, but not long enough for her to actually see anything. “There’s an emergency at home I need to handle.”
“Oh, of course.” She frowns. “I’ll speak to Cam about the issues you brought to my attention. I can assure you, they won’t continue to happen.”
“I appreciate that. Thank you.”
She nods curtly and closes the door. I rush to catch up to my brothers, meeting them at the corner.
“Are we good?” Snow asks me as we walk the few blocks to our Harleys.
“Aside from never being able to get the last fifteen minutes of my life back, yeah, we’re good. Bitch hates Cam. Pretty sure she won’t give a shit that he’s dead.”
“Great,” Duck mutters. “Cause making it look like a suicide sorta went out the window.”
