Black-Eyed Kids

Chapter Two

Britney turned down Tyler's street. Most of the homes on the maple tree lined sidewalks had Halloween decorations adorning the homes. Ghosts hung from trees, carved pumpkins sat on doorsteps, and strings of orange lights outlined windows and lay over bushes.

She pulled into the Pecks empty driveway; they had already left for work at the hospital emergency room. Since Britney had babysat for them so many times, they had given her a key to the house.

"Let's get inside, Little Guy," Britney said, releasing him from the seat.

"I'm not a little guy, Brit," Tyler protested.

"I know you're not," Britney said as they walked up to the front door. She unlocked it and they walked inside. "I'm just being funny."

Tyler dropped his little camouflaged patterned backpack on the floor by the door and ran into the kitchen. Tina always stocked the refrigerator with good food on Fridays. Britney followed him into the kitchen where he was standing in front of the open refrigerator door.

"Anything good in there?" Britney asked, taking a chocolate chip cookie out of a glass cookie jar sitting on the counter.

Tyler looked back at her when he heard the clink of glass as Britney replaced the lid.

Britney noticed Tyler watching her eat the cookie. "Okay, how about milk and cookies? I'll order us pizza, later."

Tyler cheered and climbed onto the stool next to the kitchen counter while Britney placed the snack in front of him. She sat across from him at the L-shaped counter and looked out the window while Tyler ate and told her about his day in school.

Her attention strayed from his talk of playing kickball, to three kids standing on the sidewalk in front of the Porters house. She wondered if the elderly couple knew the two boys and one girl were standing outside their home, looking at them.

"Tyler, do you know those kids over there?" Britney asked, pointing out the window.

Tyler turned to look. "Where?"

"Down the street, in front of the Porters."

Tyler concentrated, and then said, "Nope."

Then it struck her, the younger boy looked like the one that was in the backseat of her car earlier. No way, she thought. The gas station was three miles away, and the person who gave him a ride was going the opposite direction.

Britney brushed the thought out of her mind as she and Tyler played tag in the backyard, fed Hammy the hamster, and read an old Goosebumps story until their stomachs began to growl.

"I'm ordering the pizza," Britney said, walking to the phone on the kitchen wall. "What do you want on the pizza, your usual?"

"Yep, pepperoni" Tyler said, walking to his bedroom.

"How about some mushrooms, green peppers, or black olives," Britney asked, ready to dial the pizzeria. He always wanted the same pizza.

"Yuck," Tyler said from his doorway.

Britney could hear him starting a video game as she called and ordered the food. Then she walked out to her car to get her overnight bag, the Pecks would not be back home from their work shift until morning. The low drumbeat of the school band reverberated in the distance as she closed and locked the car door. When she looked down the street, she noticed the kids still standing in front of the Porters. The older boy and girl, in their early teens, stood perfectly still while their heads made simultaneous movements as if they were searching for something around the house and yard. The boy, that looked like the one Tyler had allowed in her car, was looking in Britney's direction.

A chill ran down her spine as she stood there looking at him. His hair was dark, the skin was pale, and he had the same black long-sleeved shirt as the boy in her car. It sure looked like the same kid, she thought. Then the boy smiled at her before turning back to look back at the Porters, his head movements matching the other two. Weird, so weird, she said to herself.

She took a deep breath and walked back into the house, making sure she locked the front door. Then she locked the kitchen door and the back door. She walked to the front room and was going to close the drapes, but decided she would wait until it got dark, no sense closing out the outside light, yet. Britney sat on the couch and turned on the television. She flipped through channels until stopping on the TV guide, looking for a program her and Tyler could watch while they ate pizza.

Half an hour passed and she still had not decided on a program. Then the doorbell rang. That must be the pizza, she thought, as she got up and looked through the window adjacent the door. She wanted to make sure it was the pizza delivery person before she opened the door.

"Strange neighborhood you have here," the pizza guy said as he took the dollar bills from Britney.

The comment took Britney by surprise. "What do you mean?"

"I've made other deliveries in this area and it seems people don't answer their door after they've placed an order." Then the young pimply faced man added, "The kids around here are strange."

The comment made her look over his shoulder, toward the three strange kids. Now they were standing on the doorstep of the house next to the Porters; they were one house closer to the Pecks. She chose to ignore his comments, but she knew just what he meant.

She took the pizza and watched the young man dashed back to his dented car and the awkward looking pizza sign strapped to his roof. It surprised her when he backed his car out of the driveway in haste and sped down the road as if he was running from something. When she looked back toward the kids, she noticed that the person who opened the door was letting the kids inside. Bad decision, she thought.

"Pizza's here," Britney shouted, so that Tyler could hear her over his game.

He came running out of his bedroom, jumping with joy, as he ran into the living room. Britney sat the pizza on the coffee table in front of the couch and then went into the kitchen to get plates, napkins, and forks.

"Help yourself," she said, handing Tyler a plate. Then she walked to the windows and closed the curtains, making sure there were no open slits for anyone outside to peek through. Unfortunately, Mrs. Peck only had a sheer curtain on the window beside the front door. What was Tina thinking with that décor? Sure, the white lace looked nice from the outside, but people could see inside the house if they wanted to.

Britney and Tyler spent the next hour stuffing themselves with greasy pizza and watching a family-friendly program with talking toys. Britney was not sure if a show with living dolls was comforting, especially since she slept in the spare room where Tina kept shelves of dolls she had collected over the years.

"Okay, Tyler, time for bed," Britney said, thankful the show was finally over.

"Do I have to?" Tyler whined. "It's Friday night."

"Let's go," Britney said, standing up. She walked to his bedroom to get his pajamas before walking with him to the bathroom.

While he washed up, she put away the leftover pizza and threw away the sticky paper plates. She fought the temptation to look out the window, afraid she would see the kids again, but it was no use. She turned off the kitchen light and peered behind the kitchen window curtain. The streetlights cast a muted yellow glow onto the sidewalks and the couple that was walking a dog. She saw them stop and look toward the house where she had seen the three kids go inside. It was as if they heard something or saw something; then the lights went out inside the house they were looking at. The couple spoke to each other for a couple minutes and then continued walking the dog. Yes, the pizza guy was right, this is a strange neighborhood.