Sarah felt much better after a shower. She had been extra busy this morning. After the kids had left for school, she made the beds, mopped the floors, and cleaned the kitchen and bathrooms. She considered starting a small vegetable garden in the backyard, but that might be a good idea for when the kids were around. After a steamy shower, she dressed in something comfortable, a grey sweater pants and a top with a pair of white sneakers. She sat down in front of the dresser and rubbed the excess water from her hair with a dry towel. She started blowing her hair when she caught a glimpse of her own reflection in the mirror. The years had dawned on her with the small wrinkles underneath her eyes. A thought entered Sarah's mind. She tried to block it out, but it was too late. Why did her mind keep going back to the past? Maybe she never got the real reason why Craig had an affair. He was quite a bit of a nymphomaniac, but she always thought she provided him with all the satisfaction he needed. What aspect of her did not satisfy him at the time? Maybe it was just the age-old thing of men to spread their sperm everywhere they go? Sarah knew she had to put the past behind her. After all, Craig was a good man and a good father to their children. Sarah knew he would give his last breath to protect them.
Sarah thought she heard a faint knocking. She switched off the hairdryer and listened for a moment. Nothing. She switched on the hairdryer for the second time when she heard it again. Her hair was just about dry with wet wisps here and there when she switched the dryer off for good and placed it on the dresser. There was definitely a knock coming from the front of the house.
She approached the front door when the knock became louder and more prominent, almost rude. They did not know people in Saldanha yet. She only knew about the neighbour Craig had told her about and some of the kids' friends, but that was it.
Sarah unlocked the wooden door. She was greeted by a man standing behind the safety gate. He was in his mid-thirties. He wore an orange T-shirt and brown baggy pants with a pair of grey sneakers.
'Good morning ma'am,' he greeted. 'Sorry to bother you.'
'Yes,' Sarah frowned. She did not trust the guy standing in front of her, a sixth sense she learned to rely on over the past few years. She could not put a finger on what was bothering her about the stranger, but she knew there was something sinister.
'Ma'am, I was wondering if there wasn't anything I could do around the garden. You see, I lost my job a few weeks ago due to retrenchments and things are a little tough at the moment.'
Sarah felt agitated by the stranger who caught her off guard. She had not finished blowing her hair quite yet and now she was standing with a thin sweater pants and a top. She was not even wearing any underwear. Sarah knew something like that could be sensational for a psychopath doing his rounds. Almost an invitation. Fortunately, there was a safety gate between her and the stranger, but she still felt naked and exposed. She sensed his eyes upon her as he scanned her body. Eventually, he lost interest in the rest of her body. His eyes were mostly fixed on her breasts.
'My husband will be here for lunch any time soon. Why don't you come back a little later?' Sarah lied. She had to say something to warn him, just in case he had ideas to satisfy his sure-to-be perverted fantasies.
'Anything ma'am, I'm willing to wash cars. I can paint and do garden work around the house,' he said.
I'm sure you can. Anything to get a job to survey the house while making plans to break in and rape or kill me. Perhaps both. Sarah though. 'As I said, my husband will be here any moment soon, so you can come back when he is here. We do everything ourselves over weekends, so I doubt he needs any help.'
'So there's nothing I can do for you,' he said. This time Sarah noticed something else in his dark eyes. He was losing the battle of kindness and the mask he wore was starting to fall off in a sadistic manner. He grabbed hold of the metal bars of the safety gate and Sarah noticed the tattoo on his forearm. The inferior tattoo had a skull with two horns protruding from it. It seemed like the tattoo was done for a very low price. This alone sent a shiver through Sarah's spine. It seemed like he was almost showing off with his tattoo. He was proud of it as if it meant something deeper.
'As I said, I can't help you,' Sarah snapped. She tried her best to hide her fear. She had to get rid of him and quickly too. The longer he stood in front of her, the more sick ideas might pop into his head. If he found a way into the house, Sarah knew she would not be able to protect or defend herself.
'I see,' he said. This time he had a daring expression on his face. He started looking at the interior of the house through the safety gate and asked, 'have you got anything to eat? Maybe even a bit of spare change lying around?' His eyes slowly scanned her body from her private part below to her breasts before they met Sarah's eyes.
'You can go now!' Sarah shouted. 'Don't make me call the police.' She moved back and just before she slammed the door she noticed a grin on his face.
Sarah locked the door and debated about who to phone first, the police or Craig. She heard a shuffle outside the door and peeped through the window trying to be as discretely as possible. The stranger moved away from the safety gate and walked down the steps. He opened the small gate in the fence wall and turned around to face the house again, scanning it from the roof to the foundation. He scanned all the windows before he started walking down the street. He glanced back and surveyed the house one last time before he disappeared behind the first block of houses down the street.
Sarah's heart was pounding. Something like that never happened, even in the big city or any of the places they had ever been to. She felt slight relief brushing over her at the thought of what could have happened. Things could have been so much worse. What was he looking for in the first place, and why did he target their house? Did he know she was home alone, or did he just take a chance? Sarah felt angry at herself for simply opening the door without peeping through the window first. Now he knew she was home alone during the day and he might be back. Next time he might even have a plan to get inside without her knowing. There were burglar bars on all the windows, but Sarah knew, if that sick man wanted to get inside the house, he sure would find a way.