Page 7 of When Darkness Comes Knocking
I grinned. “Thanks, baby. Now hurry up. The contractor is on his way to fix our sink.”
“I got you.” JJ raced past me and took care of the trash.
That boy worked my nerves, but he was still my baby. I walked into the living room and turned on the TV before I took a seat on the couch. It felt so good to be off today.
I didn’t have any appointments until tomorrow. Just when I’d gotten comfortable on the couch, JJ stormed into the room.
“Mama, I can’t take out the trash.”
“Why not, JJ?”
“Our garbage bin is filled outside. It wasn’t like that yesterday.”
“What the hell?” I slipped back into my slides and walked outside to our trash bin. It was just like he said. Black garbage bags were piled in our bin.
My bags were purple because I liked the lavender scented bags. I looked at my neighbor’s bin. His bin was stacked with black garbage bags just like the ones that filled mine.
I knew this man did not put his trash bags in my bin. Before I stormed over to his place, I pried a hole in a bag and rummaged through the trash until I came across one piece of letter mail with his name and address on it. We hadn’t officially met, but we’d waved here and there.
He looked like a lazy and dirty ass bum. Every time I saw him, he was drunk and stumbling. He had a little boy that looked as if he was the same age as my girls.
His yard was also filled with trash and very close to spilling on my grass. It looked as if we needed to have a chat. That littleboy looked unkempt as well. Today, my neighbor had a hard lesson to learn. I looked at JJ.
“Help me take this shit to our neighbor’s house.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Together, we removed the four bags from my bin and marched over to his place. We set the bags on his porch, and I rang the doorbell repeatedly until shuffling could be heard on the other side of the door. Seconds passed before the door was snatched open.
JJ and I stepped back. A putrid smell hit our noses at the same time. What the hell? How was they living like that?
“Why the hell are you ringing my doorbell so damn early?” he quizzed with an attitude and an apparent hangover.
“Aye, bro. Watch how you talk to my mama,” JJ voiced with bass in his throat.
I turned to him. “Thank you, Son. I’ll handle it. Stand back there.”
He did as I instructed.
I looked back at my neighbor. “Are you Myron Burrs?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Good. Now I know I’m speaking to the right person. First of all, it’s the afternoon and not the morning time. Secondly, I’m your next-door neighbor. You have unlawfully and without permission placed your trash in my bin.
“Lucky for you, I’m a good person because I brought yo’ shit back to you. Don’t let that happen again, or we’re going to have a bigger problem. While we’re on the subject of trash, please clean your yard so your trash doesn’t land on my property. This is me asking nicely.”
He smacked his lips. His beady brown eyes bore into mine, but I refused to let him intimidate me. I might’ve been a woman, but there was no way in hell I’d let another man push me around.As a concealed carrier, I carried real heat in my house. I hoped he didn’t find himself on the other end of one of my weapons.
Myron looked like a man capable of anything. As if he didn’t care about a thing. I hoped he heeded my warning because I was not opposed to calling the police. “Anything else?” he queried in a nasty tone.
“That’s all I got. I hope you heard me clearly.”
“I did, now fuck off my porch!” he stated loudly.
I snatched open his screen door and glared at him. His body jostled from the sudden movement. I looked him dead in his eyes, ignoring the horrific smell that floated from his home and breath.
“Watch how the fuck you talk to me. That shit might work on the people in your circle, but not me. Please don’t get shit twisted because I’m a woman. Nonsense like this makes me trigger happy. Now you remember what the fuck I said.”
