Maybe you can help me. That was something that was going to be stuck in Evan’s mind.
He looked down at the pavement and then back at Shadow. “How can I help?
“My entire life, I grew up in a controlled environment. I did as I was told and the minute I started to do things that I wanted, there was friction and tension. I wanted to make my parents happy, you know, but I wanted to live my life too. I just have a habit of pleasing people and I forget about myself sometimes and I never learned how to confront an uncomfortable situation. I walk around it because it’s easier to do instead of actually talking about the problem and resolving the core issue.” She paused for a beat to collect her thoughts. “I moved here because it’s far away from everything that isn’t right in my life. I just don’t know if I’m running away from my problems or actually making a decision that’s best for me. I don’t want to be running away from things, you know?”
He looked out into the neighborhood. His eyes panned down the street before focusing on the house right in front. “You said ‘everything that wasn’t right.’ I don’t think you’re necessarily running away from your problems. You began to make your own choices at some point in your life. It’s your parents who had the problem. Friction and tension was created on their end when you began to make your own decisions—and yes, it’s an instinct to please your parents. However, you can always learn how to face problems head on and you probably have before but because the end result didn’t go as you thought it would, you made a choice that led someone other than you to be unhappy. So it can feel like you aren’t resolving the issue when in reality, you have. It just didn’t go the way you thought it would, which makes it hard to decipher whether or not the issue’s been resolved.
“But you said ‘everything that wasn’t right in my life,’” he continued. “That tells me that there’s something deeper that you’re dealing with that made you pick up and move here. Normally, people wouldn’t move out of a city only because there was tension and friction between their parents.”
Her mind immediately jumped back to Marvin. He wasn’t right for her. He was the main reason why she’d moved to Lake View.
“Yeah, you’re right but…”
“But what?”
Shadow sighed. “There’s more to the story. I don’t think I want to talk about it right now though.”
Evan nodded.
Maybe you can help me. The words lingered in his mind.
“Okay, Shadow. We don’t have to talk about it but if you ever want to, I’m right next door.” He let out a soft chuckle and met her eyes. “Just don’t be ashamed.”
Shadow nodded. She then asked with a smile, “Since we’re out here, and we both can’t fall asleep, you wanna play a game of twenty questions?”
The corners of his mouth turned upward. “Sure.” He chuckled. “I’ve got a hunch you’re gonna ask me some embarrassing ones.”
She laughed, knowing how true it was. “C’mon, it’ll be fun and I’ll get to know you a little better. I’ll start.” She thought about her question. It had to be a good one. A question that would lead to some insight in Evan’s life. “If you could go back in time and change one thing, what would it be?”
“That’s a hard one,” he admitted. Aside from the fact of changing his past life, there wasn’t anything he wanted to change. “On the top of my head, I’d say…jeez…I can’t think of one.”
“C’mon, think harder!”
Evan laughed. Shadow had become more enthusiastic within the last few minutes—a side that was novel to him. She was like a playful schoolgirl and he liked it.
“All right. The one thing I would change if I got to go back in time would be the time when we went skinny-dipping. It was with my buddies and the girls we were seeing at the time.”
“Skinny-dipping?” she teased. “I wouldn’t imagine you as a skinny dipping kinda guy.”
Evan smirked. “It was a long time ago. It was during my junior year at college and we decided to go celebrate after finals. One of my friends had the bright idea to go skinny-dipping. Long story short, after I went in, one of my best friends ran off with my clothes and not to mention, I brought the girl I was dating along too. I guess it was a good way to break the ice.”
Shadow laughed. “Oh my god! That’s so horrible!”
Evan chuckled. “Yeah. It was pretty embarrassing. I had to walk butt naked all the way back to the car, with nothing but my hands to cover up. My friend ended up giving me my clothes before we headed back only because he didn’t want my naked butt touching his car seat. I was pretty pissed at him for about ten minutes.” He grinned. “Now, it’s my turn.”
“Let’s see what you’ve got.”
“If you could pick up any talent and make money off of it, what would it be?”
“Singing. I love to sing.” She giggled. “I always wanted to be a singer, but I don’t have the voice. It’s not horrible but it’s not all that amazing either.”
“A singer,” he thought aloud. “Have you ever entered a competition?”
Embarrassed, she nodded.
“Did you win?”
“No, I didn’t win. I came in second.”
“Second place isn’t so shabby. Wait, how old were you during the competition? It doesn’t count if you were five or six.”
She playfully rolled her eyes and looked out into the street. “I was a senior in high school for your information.”
“If you came in second, then you must be really good, assuming the winner landed a record deal afterward.”
“I don’t know about the record deal but he’s married with two kids now.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“Hear what?”
“Sing something.”
Her face flushed. “No way. Absolutely not.”
Evan laughed. “Why not? It sounds like you’re really good.”
Shadow shook her head with the widest grin on her face. “I’m not going to sing. Ask me again in a hundred years or so.”
Evan chuckled. “Fine. But I will get you to sing one day.”
“We’ll see,” she flirted. “It’s my turn now.”
“Fine. Shoot.”
“What’s one thing that people don’t know about you?”
“Umm…another hard one. Where do you come up with these questions?” He shot Shadow a boyish grin. Secretly he loved that Shadow wanted to know more about him, more than what was at surface level. “Let’s see…” he wondered out loud. Evan thought about it for a moment. There were a couple of things that not a lot of people knew about him. “I still sometimes have trouble accepting my parents’ death. As a psychology teacher, you would think it’s something that would be easy to understand and accept, but I don’t know why sometimes I have a hard time with it.”
Shadow let his answer sit for a minute. “Maybe it’s cause you lost both of them within a span of two weeks?”
Evan shrugged. “Maybe. I have a tendency to chase after reasoning. There’s always a reason why things happen, right? I think I’ve been looking for the reason and that’s why I’ve never gotten closure. Denise, on the other hand, accepted it a long time ago, which makes me wonder if there’s a part of me that’s in denial and that’s why I haven’t accepted their death. I mean, what reason did God have to take my parents away from us so quickly?” He sighed and looked at Shadow with a hint of sorrow in his eyes. He wanted answers he knew he was never going to get. “Do you believe in God?”
She turned to Evan with a half-smile. She rested her head on her knees and sighed. “To be honest, no. I’d like to though,” she said, lifting her head, “but when I think about everything that has happened in my life, I don’t see him there. If I did, I wouldn’t have to go through so much alone, you know?”
“I get where you’re coming from.”
Evan learned more about Shadow in t
he next hour than a person would have on their first date. She had a sense of humor, was easygoing and adventurous. Evan admired who she was and became fond of her personality. He came to know how much she loved wine. She wanted to travel and explore the unknown parts of places that people overlooked. She loved simplicity over everything else.
Evan shared what it was like growing up and being raised by Grandma Venice. He shared the struggle of not having a male figure in his life, even though Mr. Brar filled that role over time. Yet, the love from a father for his son was something that couldn’t be forged. Evan realized the shortcomings of not having parents in his life at an early age. In return, Shadow shared what it was like growing up in Pool View as an only child and having everyone at her beck and call. Her life and lifestyle indeed was completely different to Evan’s and everyone he knew. But there were some things that clearly held her back, and he desperately wanted to know what they were.
Maybe you can help me. Those words had lingered in the back of his mind since that night.
***
Evan had been digging for hours out in the cold. It was 4:00 in the afternoon. The sun was barely visible and at times, it was fully naked, which not only brightened up his mood, but it made working out in the yard a lot easier. Had it been like this throughout the entire day, it would have made his work more bearable.
As he leveled the ground with a rake, he pondered his conversations with Shadow and Venice at the coffee shop.
Just like Shadow, Venice was keeping something hidden. Although it wasn’t unusual for Venice to hide things from him or Denise, this time, she was willing to tell Evan the reason. It was odd. The question “why” lingered in his mind and he was forced to wait.
Lost in thought, Evan hadn’t realized Shadow’s cat, Mr. Jingles, found himself roaming around in his backyard. Mr. Jingles caught Evan’s attention as he grazed his leg, softly nudging Evan with his tiny head. Evan looked down and saw Mr. Jingles peering up at him, patiently waiting to be played with. Seeing the most innocent creature made him smile. Evan walked to the edge of the fence and rested the rake against it. Mr. Jingles followed, wanting Evan to scratch him behind the ears like the other day. When Evan did, the cat purred.
Evan enjoyed the company of animals. Growing up, as much as he wanted an Alsatian, Venice, terrified to the core of huge animals, especially dogs, didn’t allow Evan to keep a dog. “I’m allergic to animals,” she would say just to end a conversation about getting a puppy.
Evan observed Mr. Jingles, who sat down in front of him, his tail swaying side to side. Mr. Jingles looked at him as if Evan was expected to give him some sort of treat for being such a good guest.
I don’t have any treats for you, man, he thought. I wish I did. Where’s Shadow by the way? He stared deeply into Mr. Jingles’ eyes, almost daydreaming about the cat’s owner. He wanted to see her but didn’t know how to quite go about it. Her resemblance to Samantha had made things more complicated, which only drew Evan more to her.
Moments later, Evan was standing in front of Shadow’s doorstep, holding Mr. Jingles in one arm. He rang the doorbell and patiently waited for Shadow to open the door.
Seconds later, the doorknob started to turn. Shadow stepped out from the doorway, having eyes only for Mr. Jingles.
“I’ve been looking for you everywhere, mister,” Shadow said with great relief.
Evan handed Mr. Jingles over to Shadow. To Evan’s surprise, Shadow appeared to be as panicked as a mother who had lost her child at the supermarket.
“I found him roaming around my garden. If I knew you were looking for him, I would have brought him over sooner,” he said smiling.
“Thank you so much for bringing him back,” she said thankfully.
“Yeah, no worries.”
“Moving to a new city and all, he’s the only thing I’ve got here.”
“I bet it’s hard,” Evan said, shoving his hands in his pockets.
Shadow smiled as she softly stroked Mr. Jingles’ coat. “Would you like to come in?”
Evan waited a moment before answering, just so he didn’t seem so eager.
“Yeah, sure,” he responded.
Mr. Jingles mingled around as they sat across from each other in the living room.
Evan noticed there weren’t any photos hanging up on the wall. Shadow’s voice echoed in his mind. I moved here because it’s far away from everything that isn’t right in my life. What was it that she was running away from? It’s better to stay away. Grandma Venice’s voice seemed to push itself forward. There was something definitely missing and from what he gathered from their conversation seemed more of an acceptance issue with her parents. But it wasn’t novel. There were always going to be some differences between the children and their parents. It was all part of growing up. So that wasn’t it.
He went over his theories again in his mind. Everything that isn’t right in my life. She moved six hours away from her parents because of their relationship? No. That didn’t sound right or reasonable. Although everyone did certain things that were unreasonable in the face of society, Shadow’s choices didn’t fall into the norm.
There were still missing pieces to the puzzle.
Shadow looked to him with a smile. “So,” she said, slapping her hands against her thighs, “what can I get for you? To be honest, my fridge isn’t stocked, so I don’t have much to offer, but name your drink and I’ll see if I have it or not.”
Evan chuckled. “Umm…if you have water, that would be great.”
She smiled, getting up. “That I do have.”
He looked down at his shirt, seemingly forgetting he had dirty clothes. He’d sat down on Shadow’s couch without any hesitation as if it were his own. This wasn’t good. He knew how women were, not to mention he’d lived with two of them most of his life. The glares and scoldings came rushing back, mostly from Venice. He’d had one girlfriend who had major OCD. That relationship ended with Evan getting the boot because he wasn’t “clean enough,” as she put it.
Shadow walked back into the living room with a glass in hand.
“Here you go.” She handed the glass to him, and then sat back down in front of him.
“Thank you,” he said, lifting the glass up in the air before taking a sip. He shifted his gaze to his dirty white shirt and jeans. “I apologize for potentially ruining your couch with my muddy clothes. I was doing some work out back.”
Shadow threw up a hand, dismissing his concern, but showed appreciation. “When do you think you’ll have it completed?”
Evan took another sip before responding. “I’m hoping, if everything goes as planned, to have the backyard all done by the end of winter vacation.” He looked around the table. “Do you have a coaster I can set my glass on?” Grandma Venice always scolded him for not using coasters. Not that he cared for coasters since he didn’t own any himself, but it was always nice to ask.
“It’s okay. You can just set it there,” she said.
Shadow rose from the couch and started toward the hallway. She turned around midstride. “Can I show you something?”
The way she spoke was eccentric.
“Sure.”
He rose from the couch and followed her. He would have followed her anywhere, as a matter of fact. She was compelling.
Shadow stood in front of the back door that led out to the garden. Evan stood beside her and viewed the garden. There was nothing but tall grass and a little patio made out of cement.
Evan knew the old neighbors who now lived in Brickwood. Brickwood was secluded and quieter as opposed to Lake View. Mainly the retirees and people who enjoyed the countryside moved to the outskirts. It was a beautiful and peaceful place to visit in Evan’s opinion. Zack’s ice cream parlor became a major hit a few years ago, which attracted more people to the city itself. Now, more and more people were opening mom-and-pop shops in Brickwood, creating tra
ffic to a town in which the people were happy without.
It didn’t come to a surprise his neighbors didn’t do much landscaping. They were old and most likely didn’t care much about the appearance of the backyard. They had no kids, so no one really came around and most of their friends slowly moved to Brickwood anyway. It was only a matter of time until they made the move as well.
He shifted from one foot to the other. “Wow.”
“I know. That’s what I said when I first saw the place. How much would it cost for the landscaping?”
Evan subconsciously crossed his arms at his chest. His brow furrowed as he made basic calculations. “A few grand if you’re looking at putting in some new grass and redoing the patio. You could probably make a raised flowerbed if you wanted in the corner and add a walkway in the middle. That’s my professional opinion.”
He knew he hit a home run when Shadow laughed.
“A professional?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Evan scratched an imaginary itch on his chin, trying hard to disguise his smirk. “I have the magazine to prove it.”
He looked at Shadow with a boyish grin, unaware it was making Shadow nervous.
Shadow quickly looked away, feeling her cheeks flush. “A few grand huh?” She let her words sink in. She didn’t have that kind of cash sitting in her bank account for landscaping. She still needed to buy more furniture to fill in the empty spaces. It didn’t quite feel like home yet.
“Yeah. I know a guy who can do it for nearly half the cost but because he’s so cheap, his schedule is often backed up. It all depends on how badly you want to fix that,” he said, pointing at the weeds. “I can put in a good word for you and see if he can fit you in.”
Shadow turned and faced him. She was taken aback by Evan’s sincerity. “I would really appreciate that. Do you think he would be able to come in this week for a consultation? I’m guessing I’d have to book an appointment for a consultation, huh?”
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