I wave my hand across the street motioning to the empty lawns Look No one’s there He whistles under his breath just as one of the front doors opens Told you Here comes Ms Bea I follow his gaze just as our neighbor glides out of her house on a pair of delicate heels As usual her face is painted as if she’s ready for an old-movie premiere even though it’s six thirty in the morning red lips rosy cheeks spider-leg lashes and smooth plastic-looking skin despite the fact that she’s supposedly older than my grandma Jane A layered gold necklace hangs around her neck shimmering against her long emerald gown Her hair is black and woven into an elegant knot on the top of her head Good morning Ms Bea Mike calls waving and smiling from my driveway Ms Bea arches a penciled eyebrow What’s good about it she snarls Sun’s shining Mike goes on He smiles at the sky for emphasis Some nice fluffy white clouds Ease up I hiss at his side You’re laying it on too thick She loves it he whispers back Then to Ms Bea he shouts Your roses look extra nice today Before she can answer the rest of the neighbors pour out of their homes and shuffle onto their own manicured lawns Like Ms Bea they’re well-dressed actually they are overdressed in uncomfortable-looking old-fashioned clothes Their skin looks flawless and they wear frowns that rival Ms Bea’s Mike waves and smiles at them but they ignore him turning their attention toward their roses and their watering cans just as they have been doing morning after morning for the last two weeks ever since Mike and I started our investigation
You’re staring Pretend to stretch I whisper dropping into a forward bend and feeling the familiar burn in the backs of my calves Mike follows my lead his head close to mine You see anything new he asks I peer up at the Oldies our nickname for our neighbors It’s hard to see from here I admit straining my eyes across the street Ms Attwood’s nose looks pointier and slightly crooked Kind of like a cartoon witch’s You see it Mike peers up from his stretch Noted he says Check out Dr Smith He’s swinging that watering can around way easier than he was last week It’s like his shoulder doesn’t bother him anymore Noted I stand upright and stretch out my quads signaling for Mike to do the same I hear Billy scratching at the window whimpering to get out and join us Sorry bud It’s too hot Billy stops scratching as if he somehow understands his eyes looking even sadder than normal sweet brown eyes that have lost their sparkle since Dad died last year It was Dad who first suspected that something was up with the Oldies They’re kind of creepy don’t you think he’d ask Mom and me at dinner It’s kind of like they never age They’re old but not old enough if you know what I mean Leave those people alone James Mom would plead No one likes living across the street from a nosy cop What about a nosy daughter At this he would smile and ruffle my hair Together we’d laugh and continue to exchange our theories about the Oldies despite Mom’s disapproval In the beginning we’d suggest the easy-to-explain stuff Botox titanium limbs plastic surgery It wasn’t until later that the more
supernatural guesses started to creep in ghosts fountains of youth witchcraft You two need to lay off the scary movies Mom would tell us rolling her eyes At this Dad would wink at me and whisper We’ll show her I think about Mom’s comment as Mike and I continue to stare across the street Maybe they’re aliens I say Mike shoots me a look That’s wild What’s wild about it I press You said so yourself they’re too weird to be human I didn’t mean that literally Maybe they’re on some kind of medication Don’t you watch commercials Prescriptions have some pretty major side effects I shake my head No this isn’t from a pill This is something bigger Mike’s always trying to bring science into things Where I see ghosts and ghouls Mike sees medicine and surgeries gone wrong That’s why I didn’t want to investigate with him at first Actually I didn’t want to investigate at all after Dad passed For months it was impossible to laugh or run or speculate I couldn’t think about the Oldies that was a Dad thing and Dad was gone Spying felt pointless without him and far too painful It wasn’t until two weeks ago that I allowed myself to wonder once again about my neighbors and that was only because Mike brought it up Ms Bea looks different again he told me one day on the walk to school And Ms Attwood’s limping kind of funny His usually smug face looked hopeful his eyes genuine from underneath the brim of his signature Yankees hat
And all at once it was as if a switch flipped in my brain Dad would want this I realized Dad would want us to investigate Just the thought made me feel close to him again as if he wasn’t really gone I study Mike now as his shoulders stiffen What’s up I ask I don’t see Mr Brown he says narrowing his eyes as he scans our street He’s Wait You’re right Where is he Make a note Mike says We should go though They’re starting to look at us A chill seeps into my limbs despite the early-June heat I feel the weight of my neighbors eyes without even looking at them Mike lowers the brim of his hat Pond or no pond I look down toward the end of the cul-de-sac at the dark trees leaning over Goodie Pond No pond Mike smirks Chicken Takes one to know one Whatever Quinn Parker Just run With this Mike jets off down the street and I take off after him resenting him for the head start When we reach the corner he spins around and waves wildly to the Oldies Have a great day he cries at which the neighbors just glare and grind their teeth in a way that makes us both shiver Let’s go I urge and together we fly
