The drive home was short and Ben was happy to turn into his street. He saw new car in the driveway of the Beaumont’s driveway so he assumed the husband finally made it. Hopefully he was getting that credit card fixed so he could get the services on. Ben pulled into his own driveway and pulled into the garage. He closed the garage door and went in the side door with his bags. Tina squeaked in surprise when he entered the kitchen from the garage.
“Ben! You scared me!” she yelled frantically.
Ben watched the young woman and thought her reaction was just a little extreme for the fright. He put his bags down and opened his arms. Tina was against his body in a second, clinging to him and crying.
He got a little frightened. “Tina, what’s wrong? Is Christopher ok?”
She slowly got control of herself and nodded.
“Talk to me. What happened?”
“Ash- Ashley was having lunch with me. Madison and Savannah were here too with Miriam. The boys were playing together. They were so sweet. Then we heard some loud honking. It went on and on. I went to the door and saw it was Ashley’s husband. He had arrived early and was standing in his driveway leaning on the horn of his car. Ashley was so frightened but she picked up Joshua and took the two girls with her. Everyone was so scared. They got outside and the man started to yell at them. He said such awful things as they walked home. I stepped outside and he called me a ‘fucking chink’ and told me to mind my own business.”
Ben stiffened when he heard what the man called her. He kissed her forehead and gave her a squeeze.
“We have not heard from them and I am worried.” Tina began to cry again.
“Did Miriam hear what he said as well?” he asked and Tina nodded. “Ok, good. She went home?” Another nod.
“I’m going to go welcome our new neighbor and I’ll see if I can see any signs that she’s ok or not.” Ben said calmly and Tina gripped him tighter. “I’m just going to say hello… after I put on a dry shirt.”
Tina finally nodded and stepped back. She took his suitcase and led him down the hall. Ben slipped off his shirt and put on a black t-shirt. He walked to the front door and put on his leather jacket and black boots. With a nod to Tina he stepped outside.
The spring air felt good on his face as he walked over the Beaumont’s house. Ben walked up the drive and looked at the sleek black BMW sedan. The windows were tinted almost black and the rims gleamed silver even in the dim illumination of twilight.
He stood at the door and listened. Nothing but silence. Could be good, could be bad. Only one way to find out. Ben rubbed his temple then pressed the doorbell. Twenty seconds later, nothing so he pressed the doorbell again. He counted another twenty seconds and pressed the doorbell for a third time. Finally the sound of heavy footsteps approaching the door.
The inner door yanked open. The hall light was off so the figure in the doorway was heavily shadowed and only his edges were backlit. He was silent for a second then Ben heard a deep gravelly voice.
“Who the FUCK are you?”
“I’m Ben Shepherd, your neighbor Mr. Beaumont.”
There was a long pause. “What the FUCK did you just call me?” the voice went quiet and sinister.
“Mr. Beaumont?”
“The CUNT’S name is Beaumont! I ain’t no fucking Beaumont!” the man spat through the screen door in his anger.
Ben smelled foul breath and whisky and suddenly he wasn’t at the door anymore. He was standing in the backyard of a house with a pool, a barbeque, and a picnic table looking up at a big man in the shadows. Ben saw the man’s knuckles were bruised and cut. Then he saw the woman on the ground behind the picnic table.
“ARE YOU FUCKING DEAF?” a voice yelled in his face and the reek of whisky washed over him. Ben blinked and looked at the bleary eyes behind the screen.
“What?” he tried to focus.
“I said who the FUCK told you I was a Beaumont! Did the bitch tell you that?” the man sprayed.
Ben felt a pressure in his head building. The big old man with the bruised fists smelling of whisky overlayed the man behind the screen every time he yelled.
“Who are you?” Ben managed to say.
“I’m Elija Ray Sturn, motherfucker! That’s who the FUCK I am!” the man growled and pounded his fist on the door jamb. Ben’s eyes caught the redness of his knuckles. Split. Bruised. Bloody. The picnic table. The woman lying dead or dying behind it.
Shifting ever so slowly to the left he looked behind the shadowed man. There… on the floor just poking into the doorway was a hand. Fingers twitching desperately.
Ben’s punch went through the screen and into the soft center of the large man. He hooked his fingers behind the large, ornate belt buckle and pulled with all his might as he screamed his rage at the old man for killing the sweet old woman.
Glass and metal shattered and screeched as the man crashed face first through the storm door. Ben released the man on his way down to the driveway surface. Chin, nose, teeth, and forehead hit the asphalt first and teeth shattered but Ben was already stepping past, into the house, rushing to drop to his knees by the bloody and broken body of- Ashley Beaumont? Ben was confused. This wasn’t Margaret Cosburn. It- it was Ashley and she was alive!
Ben blinked and looked up at the sofa. He saw two bruised teen girls clinging to each other, eyes wide with terror. He was afraid to touch Ashley. He could hear Joshua crying in the other room.
There was the sudden sound of an engine roaring to life and Ben raced to the door to see the sedan careen backwards down the driveway. It clipped a post at the end of the driveway and shattering a tail light. Then the car surged forward and raced away down the street. Ben went back inside and stood over the injured woman. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed 911.
“911, what is the nature of your emergency?”
“I need an ambulance at 13 Ashburn Court. Send the police too. The bastard beat her pretty bad. She’s breathing but she’s unconscious. There are two teen girls who look pretty bruised too but they are conscious.”
“OK sir the ambulance and police are on the way. Please stay on the line. Can I get your name?”