Being: A Collection of Short Stories

The Neighbors

TW: stillborn and suicide

When I was young I used to watch the neighbors argue through the window. They argued about everything, from bills to what they wanted for dinner. Sometimes they threw things and always they cursed and insulted each other.

If I was ever outside when they started to argue, my parents would make me come inside. I still heard them though, if I put my ear to the window.

The thing they argued about the most was someone named Sam. I'd never seen anyone else with them before, so I didn't know who Sam was. Later my mom told me that Sam was their stillborn baby. She also said that's when they started fighting so much.

I couldn't understand why a person that wasn't even alive made them so mad at each other. I asked dad about it and he told me to stop being so nosy. I asked mom and she told me that people that aren't there sometimes create the biggest impact. I didn't know what that meant either.

One day when I was playing in the snow outside Mr. Neighbor hit Mrs. Neighbor. She started to cry, then he started to cry too. He tried to apologize but she got into the car and drove off for a couple days.

I don't know what happened when she was gone, but when she came back it was only to pack her things. There wasn't any arguing, only crying and him asking her to stay. She didn't though, and mom said that she left in the middle of the night.

I didn't see Mr. Neighbor for a couple days. He came outside when I was helping dad shovel. His eyes were red and it looked like he wasn't taking care of himself. Dad asked how he was doing but he just shrugged. He looks at me and his eyes got really sad. When he drove off dad told me we should do something to cheer him up.

When we showed up to his home with cookies Mr. Neighbor started to cry. He hugged us all, thanking us for our kindness.

Mr. Neighbor came outside and talked to us more often. I learned that his name was Johnathan Trip, and he told me to call him John.

John left us not long after that. Mrs. Trip was at the funeral with her sister, whom she had been living with. She cried the entire time. She wasn't able to say anything about him and she left when John's father said things about him. I wasn't sure how John had died, but mom said he had called Mrs. Trip and she found him in the bathroom.

Mom asked Mrs. Trip if John had been depressed. She said he was, but she didn't think he would react that way. She said she only needed a break. Then she told me I reminded her of Sam. I didn't know what to say.

Mrs. Trip went back home and didn't come out for a couple days. When I finally saw her through the window again she was holding a picture and crying. She put the house up for sale and we didn't see her after that.

I asked dad why everything happened like it did. He told me that not everything was simple and not everybody was happy. That didn't answer my question well enough so I asked mom. She told me that Mr. Trip was sad and his wife leaving made him super sad.

I went to bed that night and cried. I wasn't sure what I was crying about but my heart felt heavy.