Preston Greens

24. The Man Returns

It was a very good day at school today. I got an A on my math homework and Vicky didn't dare bother me. I really think today was too good to be true, and believe me, it was. Shannon picked me and Charlie up right after school and took us home. We set our books on the kitchen table and we did our homework in silence while Shannon was preparing a snack for us. Classical music was playing in the background, and it was very soothing and nice. My homework turned out to be a breeze. Shannon served us some tangerines and crackers with some water. It was around 5 o'clock when we went to Charlie's room to play some board games. We played candyland and clue then went out in the front yard, waiting for my parents to come home. My backpack and all my things were on the bench in his yard so we sat on the grass. I loved the grass here, it was super soft, just like fluffy pillows. 

We started talking and talking until I spotted the man. I clutched Charlie's arm, and to his response, he looks into the direction I'm looking. The man was standing across the street in front of my house. I immediately stopped talking and stared at him. He was probably holding a letter to my parents from Josie. I walked across the street leaving Charlie in the grass. 

"Hello sir. What are you doing here?" I asked politely. 

The man didn't say anything, instead he just vanished, right before my eyes. This could not mean anything good. I walked over to Charlie's yard and sat in the grass, thinking about that man. Seconds later mom's Honda pulled into my driveway. I got up from where I was sitting and said goodbye to Shannon and hugged Charlie. I got my things and walked across the street. I pulled mom off to the side while dad was taking the karate equipment inside.

 "I saw that stalker man again, but he just vanished. He didn't even say anything." I informed her. 

"Oh well, at least he didn't harm you or anyone else." Mom said, taking a deep breath.

 We walked into the house and I set my backpack onto the floor and mom started cooking. We ate a nice healthy meal and a yummy dessert- going out to get some frozen yogurt. I FaceTimed Lisa and we talked for a long time. I was very happy that we could finally spend some time together, and we had so much to catch up on. We were talking for about 45 minutes and we finally hung up when our throats were dry. 

Mom and dad were in the living room, eating chocolate. I stole a piece and shoved it into my mouth. I walked around the house, looking for something to clean up when I came across the painting in the hallway. I secretly put my finger to my lips, pretending to be a spy agent. I lifted the painting up and found my secret note. It was a scribble on the wall from when John and Josie were living here. I had never asked them about it but I know none of their kids did it. It had a dollar sign, and it was carved in the wall. 

I put the painting back in its place and made the connections. Maybe the construction workers wrote it, and nobody noticed it when they moved in. It was crazy because we painted that hallway at least twice and it never went away. Maybe every house had a scribble like this, except in different places, that said what their house was. I pondered that for a moment and went into my room. I looked at the clock. It was almost 9 o'clock, so I quit my mission for tonight and brushed my teeth, along with putting on my pajamas. I crawled into bed and set my alarm, then reading the rest of that book. It was really boring, but I read it anyway. Mom and dad came in to tell me to put the book away, and that they were working on a project and they couldn't tuck me in tonight. I nodded and snuggled in the covers. I felt nice and warm, happy I had these nice sheets to keep me warm and my old creaky ceiling fan to keep me cool. I counted some sheep and got up to about 60 before I fell asleep.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Can I ask you something?" I asked Charlie. We were riding our bikes in the cool winter air. 

"Sure." He replied shortly. We turned the corner onto Millwood Street and kept on pedaling. 

"Have you noticed a marking in your house, like that says "clean" or something?" I asked. 

"No, why?" He responded. 

"Well, I found a marking in my house that said "greed." Maybe all the houses here have that marking." I said. 

"Sounds interesting. I'll look for it when I get home." Charlie said, sounding disinterested. 

I loved the way the brisk air blew in my face and my blonde hair streaming everywhere. We went onto the main street, being extra careful to make sure we didn't get hit by cars. I could sense he was tired of my mind being on that mystery.

 "What's the news with Bobby?" I asked him, changing the subject. 

"Well, he isn't really getting any better." He informed me. 

"Lisa apologized last night. We talked for a long time. Looks like she and Bobby are friends." I said. 

Charlie stopped at the end of the sidewalk, waiting for that one car to go. We turned back onto Rosewood Street and stopped in my driveway. I pulled my helmet off and tons off blond curls fell out of it.

 "I really want to chop my hair off." I complained. My hair was a pain; it always got tangled. 

"It looks nice." Charlie said.

 I snorted. "All you have to do is comb it. I have to do all sorts of stuff to it." I said. 

I put my bike in the garage and went over to Charlie's yard. We opened his garage, which had a lot of things. It was a two-car garage, and his mom only had one car, so the other side was full of things. 

"Man, when will you organize this stuff?" I asked him.

 We always kept our garage tidy because we had to fit two cars in our two-car garage, along with bikes and scooters and skates, not to mention weights. 

"Well, the spirit is moving very slowly, but he's making progress." Charlie said.

 I could tell he wasn't joking. My house was so greedy that sometimes we come home and find little girls and boys crying because their toys are stuck in the grass. No matter how hard we tried, we could never pull the stuff out, instead it sunk into the ground. We had to put up a sign that read "stay off the grass" because too many kids were losing their toys. It was probably the most annoying thing ever. We closed the garage door and then went to go sit on the bench in his front yard. Shannon was at work again and mom and dad were at this teaching convention, so we were going over to Leslie's in a few minutes. 

I pulled out my phone and saw I had 3 missed calls from Lisa and a text message from mom. Charlie did the same thing and found a message from his uncle. I decided to call Lisa back. 

"Hello?" She answered. 

"What do you need? I was on a bike ride." I said hastily. 

"Well, I just wanted to come over for a little while." She said. 

"We are about to go to Leslie's. Want to join us?" I asked her. 

"Sure, for a few hours." She said. 

I looked over to Charlie, who was now playing a game on his phone. I pressed a random button that caused him to lose. He slapped my shoulder and I shoved him off the bench. I guess Lisa heard all the ruckus and asked what all the noise was. "Nothing." I said. "Well, just asked mom, and she said yes." Lisa informed me. "Awesome." I said. "See you in a bit." "Yup, see you in a bit." We hung up. We walked over to Leslie's and knocked on the door. 

"Hey, can I ask you a question?" I asked Leslie. 

"Sure." She replied.

 "Do you have a marking anywhere in your house that you can't explain?" I asked. 

Her smile suddenly disappeared.