The Hatbox

The Hatbox / Chapter 6

"Yes, she went inside."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, I watched her go inside," he confirmed, clearly aggravated.

"Did you speak to her?" she asked, concerned.

"Uh...yes," he said reluctantly.

"What does that mean Alex?"

"I may have told her that she wasn't the owner."

"Why would you do that?" she scolded.

"Uh...because she's not."

"But that doesn't mean she doesn't have permission, Alex."

"Please quit saying my name like I'm twelve."

"Well, don't act twelve."

"Touché," he said and almost laughed...and she heard it. It was the start of what sounded like a laugh. The first in months. She was imagining him smiling, that beautiful smile that he'd had since a child. The one that turned heads. His whole face used to smile. And it was contagious too. If you saw it, you'd smile...not caring why...it was a natural response to seeing him. But deep down, she was most certain that the smile wasn't what she was imagining. Even so, she liked the way it sounded and enjoyed imagining his smile non the less. She was almost glad that she wasn't with him to see his face. He would have quickly noticed her reaction to his humor. It was the little things that made her emotional nowadays. A smile from him, or the sound of one, easily brought tears to her eyes. She felt like crying and screaming and shouting from the rooftop. "He almost laughed," the thought repeated. To her, it was like a baby's first steps. She was so happy. Oddly enough, it had been while being rude to this neighbor. Their brief altercation had him feeling pretty good about himself. Like he was the protector of the neighbor's house. While his Aunt didn't condone the rudeness, she was over the moon thrilled with her nephew's small improvement.

"Baby steps," the therapist had said.

"I'll call her tomorrow to check on things. She sometimes calls me to see if I'm around before she visits but since it's someone else, she probably didn't see the need nor does she have to. Leave the neighbor alone unless I hear something different. I'll let you know."

"Okay, fine," he fussed.

To him, something seemed off. No one has been to that house in a year. Well, he couldn't swear that she hadn't been in. He'd only been living next door full-time since he was released from rehab. But, since he had been here, no one had made so much as a peep over there. But maybe it was just like his aunt said, and there he was yelling out the window. He thought for a second about apologizing but as quickly dismissed the idea as ludicrous. He couldn't get over to her house to apologize first. Second, if he sat at the window waiting for her to appear...well that's just not healthy. Stalkerish maybe. So it was final...no apology.

As the day continued, he performed his groundhog day routine. He ate, exercised, stretched, spent little time checking the news then packed his backpack with his essentials and headed to the back porch.

He slowly lowered himself to his seat and slid his backpack off. He pulled out his book and phone and sat both in his lap then sat the pack in the chair nearest to him.

The day was beautiful. The wind was a bit breezier today which just made his hold a bit tighter on his pages. But other than that, this day also felt like the others. Soft blue sky, a matching sea, a few clouds would block the sun occasionally. Then he realized that the sun was showing off today. Its warmth was reappearing. Alex had been chilled for some time now. The accident was during the Spring, while the temperatures were low, and being immobile caused his blood flow to be slower and he often used blankets to warm up. Today was different. He wasn't cold. That in itself made today feel different. That and the trespasser hanging out next door.