"How…how do you know my name? Before Summer could get those words out of her mouth, the random man was gone.
Woosh, like he vanished into thin air.
For a few seconds there was utter silence, Summer sat motionless with Sunshine wriggling in her arms, trying to grasp what just happened. The man must be in his early 30s, much older than Summer and he was definitely not British, even though she could not really make out what part of the world he belonged to because his face was covered in thick beard, but his eyes were brown- and expressionless.
The man's voice ringed a bell in Summer's ear but she couldn't really understand who or what she was trying to relate it to. This past one year Summer had lived a caged life, a carefully crafted facade of false freedom. It was almost like she had lost track of time.
The house was the only space she inhabited, and there looked no escape from this ritual. Ralph's fake promises caused an ending ache in her heart.
Lost in a series of unrelated thoughts, Summer now feeling safe, finally got out of the bathtub. Water dripping from her body in slow subtle droplets, her fingers became swollen and lined. Her mother used to say that's a sign of Low Vitamin in one's body. Vigorously rubbing herself with a white towel, Summer looked at herself in the mirror again.
"Who was he?" she wondered.
Then moving towards her room, she changed into her clothes-a pink sweater with sunflower drawn on it and black leggings. Sunshine now sat in the middle of the bed, staring at her with curiosity.
Even though it wasn't her hair wash day, the chaos of the accident made Summer's hair wet. Combing her wet hair, she looked outside her bedroom window to see Police coming towards her door, she saw them knocking on the open door, before she ran down the stairs.
"Yes, Officer?" Summer's voice sounded hushed, almost breathless.
"Ma'am, there's been a shooting right next door, are you okay? Safe?" The officer asked professionally, taking a long glance at Summer's dazed expression.
"I am fine Officer, thank you."
"Ma'am, we would like to ask you a few questions, is that okay?"
Summer's heart started racing, she gulped her saliva, before nodding a 'yes'.
"Ma'am, two people have been dead next door, a man and a woman. Mr. and Mrs. Pete. Did you know them well?
Summer cleared her throat before uttering a slow "No... I did not."
Suddenly Jasper Pete's sick face came to her mind, Summer squeezed her eyes hard, getting rid of flashbacks that sent chills down her spine.
"Do you mean, no interactions at all ma'am? They live right next door."
"Yes officer, my husband comes home late night from work and I...I mostly stay at home. I don't go out much."
The officer after taking note in his dairy, looked up at Summer a little longer than she could take.
"One last question, did you see anyone when the shooting happened? Because you're the closest to where it happened."
Summer froze, her mind back to the bathtub scene, the bloodied face of the random man still fresh in her memory.
'Ma'am? Did you see anyone?" The officer said this time stressing his words.
Summer opened her mouth, still unsure of what to reply, when suddenly her phone rang.
She moved towards the dining table where her phone rang, that's when Sunshine also came running downstairs. She barked at the officer, who took a slight step back.
"Give me a minute officer" Summer said, now sounding confident.
She saw the name on the phone screen, it was Ralph.
"Hello?" she spoke, her voice shivering
"You still alive bitch? I heard there was a shooting near our house…" Ralph spoke sarcastically from the other end.
"Y...yes, I am okay."
"Great, now for once in life, cook a nice meal for me before I return home. And not that extra spicy nonsense that your mother taught you back home. Got it?"
"Y...yes okay."
Summer cut the call, moving back towards the entrance door where the officer stood staring right at her.
"Who was it ma'am?"
"My husband."
The officer nodded, then asked again 'Ma'am, did you see anyone when the incident happened.?"
"No! Officer. I was too scared to look outside. I just took sunshine into my arms and hid under my bed." Summer said, taking her little Labrador into her arms again.
"She's just 4 months old you see, she got so scared of the commotion." Summer added.
The officer noted it down, then looked at Summer's wet hair suspiciously.
"I…I had taken a bath just before the shooting, didn't get the time to dry my hair Sir."
"Okay, thank you for your time, Ma'am, we might get back to you with further questioning if required." The officer said and turned around.
"Officer, did Mr. and Mrs. Pete do something wrong?" Summer said, instantly regretting it.
"We're not sure of that yet ma'am." The officer said and left.
Summer nodded and then closed the door behind the officer. Holding Sunshine in her arms, she sat on her sofa, completely lost, almost judging herself for not speaking the truth. Why did she hide the encounter with that strange man?
Summer's phone rang again "It must be mom, from India.." she thought to herself.
When she saw the phone, it was an unknown number. She contemplated for a second before picking up the phone- confused, she only had two numbers saved on her phone, Ralph (her husband) and her mother back in India. Ralph didn't allow her to talk to anyone else.
"Hello?"
"Thanks Summer," came the rough voice from the other end.
It was him, the strange man who murdered people right next door, Summer was in shock.
"How did you get my number?" She asked hesitantly.
"I can get anything I want in my life. Anything." His voice sounded serious, almost proud of what he had just said.
"W...Who are you?"
"You don't remember me Summer?" the man teased from the other end.
Summer froze, thinking hard if she knew the man already, she couldn't figure out. She had never met him before. Irritated, she now responded strongly.
"No! I don't know you to remember you. WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"
"Try searching Gustav Fabiano" the man replied and then cut the call abruptly.