About three years ago, fter my breakup with my boyfriend, Darren, I didn’t hesitate to leave town. I had about two to three boxes full of my belongings. The apartment was a couple cities away from my hometown. The rent was dirt cheap, and all the stores were in walking distance, and it seemed enticing enough…until I met my new neighbor.
I had just gotten off the phone with my mom, assuring her that I’d be fine. What’s the worst thing that could happen?
There was a knock three times on my door, they were all spaced out to where it sounded more intentional than casual. When I opened the door, I saw a man, way taller than me, wearing a big grin on his face. He said his name was Tom and that he noticed me moving in earlier.
He seemed more happy that I was alone…rather than anything. He told me that it wasn’t often that this town had newcomers, and when I asked why, all he did was smile. Tom’s face looked like it was a mask that was superglued to his face. The only thing on his face that moved were his eyes. The one thing that never wavered was that smile of his. At at first it was endearing, but the more we spoke…the more it became unsettling to look at for more than three seconds. His voice was like one of those 60s and 70’s TV advertisers, and I knew he was using that tone on purpose.
I remember him trying to take a step into my apartment, which I abruptly put a stop to.
His face. It looked like it was made of wax, and even though I didn’t think it was possible, his smile seemed to get bigger and bigger. My heart immediately began racing, and that whole “Woman’s intuition” kicked in.
I tried to beat around the bush, and lie and say I had to leave. That my dad, who was coming back from his job as a cop was coming back. I said he was coming to help me along with a few of his huge muscular cop friends. Y’know, to maybe get him off my back, intimated him a little.
That’s when he said to me. “Oh, come on Beverly, you’re a long way from daddy dearest, aren’t you?”
I told him to get the hell out of my apartment before I called the police, and with that smile never leaving his face, he walked out the door, leaving it wide open.
The minute he left, I instantly called my dad, and begged him to pick me up. I would swallow my pride and live with my parents again. Anything was better than this. Even if it meant seeing my asshole ex every damn day for the rest of my life. While I waited, I armed myself with a kitchen knife.
When I saw my dad pull up, I didn’t hesitate to throw all my boxes in the trunk. As I got into the car, I couldn’t help but look up behind me at the apartment building. That same man, and that spine chilling smile were still there, standing in front of MY (former) window. He was waving at me. I noticed how his fingers looked borderline broken. Even from far away I felt like I could read his mind. It felt like he was telling me with his eyes ‘you got lucky’….
Two weeks later, I got a notification for a news report…about sightings of a man who pretended to live into an apartment building that was arrested…for the murder of a young woman. The news report tell about how he had surgically altered his face to always smile…and in his jail interview he said words that never left me.
“Neighbors tend to trust you more, when you approach them with a smile.”
When I clicked the the link so I could see the mugshot…it was the man I had met that day when I was moving in. The weirdest part of it all was…
I never figured out how he knew my name was Beverly.