It was just an ordinary day in the neighborhood. I have lived here for almost six years when my next-door neighbor had recently put their house up for sale unexpectedly. We weren’t close friends. They were quiet and kept to themselves for the most part. When I saw the For Sale sign on their lawn I was shocked. But I guess I shouldn’t have been since. We waved at each other but never really said anything beyond, “hi, how are you doing?” We both always said, “fine.” in response but a little more.

At the time I was a stay-at-home Mom. Since both of my children were under five and hadn’t started going to school yet. I waited a long time to have children and I wasn’t in any rush to go back to work. My day was focused on taking care of my kids and tending to the house and garden. My days were busy day so I didn’t have much time to worry about what any of my neighbors were up to. Since most of the neighbors, kids were in school and the husbands and wives were working full time.

But after that For Sale sign popped up life changed. There was a string of young, middle-aged, and even a few older couples who came by with their realtors viewing the house for sale. It was the first time in about fifteen years since there was a house for sale in our neighborhood. Pennsauken was a great place for kids to grow up. It was a quiet street with little noise. People maintained their homes and gardens. The elementary and middle schools were within walking distance. There were two playgrounds nearby.

During the Summer neighbors had bar-b-ques and invited their friends and neighbors to stop by. While the adults talked and ate hamburgers the kids would swim in the neighbor’s pool. Everyone decorated their house on Christmas and Halloween. I didn’t realize how much I love it until things started to change and not for the better. And it all started the day my next-door neighbor put that For Sale sign up.

After about three weeks passed I happened to be outside hanging the laundry on the clothesline. “Yeah, that’s right I had clothes outside to dry.” Anyway, I noticed the For Sale sign next door had a sticker on it that said in bold, red letters, SOLD. After lunch, I started getting phone calls from the neighbors who lived nearby asking me if I knew who was moving next door to us. I said, “no, I hadn’t seen or heard anything”. It must have happened yesterday when I had taken my kids to visit their grandparents who lived two towns away.

About ten days later I noticed a moving van pull into our neighbor’s driveway all their worldly belongings were being loaded into it and the family members got into their respective vehicles without a how-to you do, or see ya later. And they had been our neighbors the whole time that we lived here. They didn’t even wave goodbye. I have to admit I felt kind of sad. I began to get a bad feeling about who or what kind of people they sold their house to.

Early the next morning I noticed a large moving van pull into the driveway next door. It was Deja vue only in reverse. Two movers began moving in the new owner’s furniture. I hoped that it would all work out and they would be a good match for our neighborhood.

Later I was outside sitting on our front porch and I saw some people getting out of their cars. There was a woman and two young children and two men. I decided to walk over and say hello and welcome them to the neighborhood. “Hello, my name is Sarah, I’m your next-door neighbor. I don’t want to take up too much of your time. I know you are busy. Welcome to the neighborhood. I’m right next door if I can help you in any way let me know.

The woman said, ” Hello, my name is Meghan Walters and this is my husband Paul and this is my boyfriend, Harry. And these are John and Rob, my kids.” My boyfriend, Harry is a cop in Merchantville.”

I stared at her momentarily. I thought I must have misheard what she said. But then I knew I hadn’t because she said twice this is my boyfriend, Harry. I really didn’t know what to say about that. So, I just said, “well, it was nice meeting you all. And I waved goodbye.”

I walked back to my front porch and plopped on the chair. And I kept thinking husband and boyfriend? What in the world is going on here? Good grief. As I was sitting on the porch I glanced over and I noticed that the new neighbor’s two kids were next to the curb. And the youngest boy had a rope tied around his neck and was sitting on a bike and the older boy was getting ready to push the bike from under him.

I jumped up off the porch and ran over to the two boys. And I screamed, ” what in the name of god are you doing? Are you trying to kill your little brother? That is when their mother, Meghan called out, “oh they always play like that they’re fine. Not to worry.”

I looked over at her and I yelled,” Is this some kind of joke? He was about to hang his little brother?”

“Like I said, they always play like that. “

That is when I leaned over the two boys and whispered to the older brother, “if I ever see you do this to your little brother, I’m going to make you very, very sorry. Do you understand?”

He looked at me and laughed. Laughed, he laughed! I walked away and didn’t look back I felt like I was in some kind of bad dream or something. I couldn’t imagine what was going to happen next. But I was about to find out.

Each day that went by something unexpected and unpleasant happened. And it always involved my new neighbors. And their close proximity to my home. Which heretofore was uneventful and peaceful. One day I took my children outside to play on their swing set and slide. Only to find that the swings were missing and the chains that held the swings were broken. I just couldn’t imagine what had happened.

Did someone come into my backyard and vandalize the swing set for some unknown reason. I just couldn’t imagine why anyone would do such a thing. My children start crying about their broken swings so I said, ” you know what I think it would be a good idea if we take a walk to the park. It’s such a nice day. What do you say?”

They immediately forget about the broken swings and want to go to the park. I found that distraction is something that always works when kids are upset about anything. So I said, “let’s go it’s a beautiful day for a walk in the neighborhood.” And in less than ten minutes we‘re at the park and the kids run-up to the swings and are laughing.

About an hour later I say, “time to go home and eat lunch. Who wants peanut butter?”

They both yell out, “I do, I do.” And we‘re on our way home. When we got back to our street we stopped at the candy store and I buy them both a pop cycle for after lunch. As we‘re walking past my new neighbors’ house I happen to notice what looks like our swings seats and the chains sitting on the front porch deck. I decide to give the kids lunch and put them down for a nap. I think it would be a good time to go over and have a talk with my new neighbor.

After the kids fall asleep I head downstairs to the kitchen. I wash the dishes and as I start putting them away I see that my neighbor has just pulled up into her driveway and her kids all but fall out of the back door of their car. The older boy grabs his little brother and starts throttling him with both hands around his throat. Meghan says absolutely nothing to either one of them. I open the kitchen door and double-time it across my driveway to her side steps. I yell, at Meghan at the top of my lungs to get her attention and hopefully to stop the homicide I see happening right in front of me.

“Hello, hello, Meghan. Sorry to intrude but someone came over into my yard earlier and broke my kid’s swing set. And I couldn’t help but notice that the swings and the chains are sitting on your front deck. “Oh, yeah, I meant to come over and apologize but I had to run some errands this morning. But you know boys will be boys. And you can only beat them so much. “

“What? Did you say you beat them?”

“Yeah, how else can you teach them?”

“I don’t think beating them changes their behavior. Has it worked so far?”

“Well, no. I guess not. But eventually, it might if I hit them hard enough.”

I looked at her and if looks could kill, she would be lying dead at my feet. Well, I’m going to take the swings and chain back to my house and I’ll ask my husband if he can repair the swings. Can I talk to your boys for a moment?”

“Yeah, go ahead but I have a doctor’s appointment in an hour. So, I don’t have much time to chit-chat. Do you know what I mean? I have a prenatal three-month visit. I hope I have a girl this time. I don’t think I can handle another boy. Say, could you watch my boys it will only be about an hour or so?”
“Prenatal visit? Oh sorry, I didn’t notice.

Congratulations. Sure, I can watch them for an hour or so.

“And maybe I’ll find out whose the lucky father? LOL

“Whose the lucky father?” Oh yeah, of course.” I blinked my eyes a couple of times. I was flabbergasted by the whole conversation. But I did know one thing I was going to get to know John and Rob and I was going to give them a safe haven to spend time in.

“How about they come over and have lunch at my house. And then they can play out back until you come home. I’ll sit outside with them it’s a beautiful day out isn’t it?”

And that my friends is how my daughters and Rob and John started a friendship that lasted for years. And when Meghan had her little girl. I took care of her on occasion. And when she got older. She would come over to my sidestep and keep me company while I was cooking dinner. She could talk my ear off.

Meghan and I just never hit it off. But I came to love her kids. At some point, her husband woke up and they got divorced. And somewhere along the way, her boyfriend went home and never came back. Meghan informed me that she was on the lookout for a new guy. Some people are incapable of learning from their mistakes. And Meghan was one of them.

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