This is the short story, The Purple Bike Man. This story will be distributed in parts and was written by Naava Dae. This document is the property of Naava Dae and upon illegal distribution, reproduction, editing, altering, or use, will be punishable by law. This is all the figment of Naava Dae's imagination. All of the characters, places, and events that take place in this story are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places, or events is purely coincidental. © 2019 by Naava Dae
No one moved. The knock came again. A frail voice broke us from our terror trance.
“Girls?!?! Girls, are you home? Are you ok…girls?”
Lila and I both gave one another a look.
“That sounds like Mrs. Jackson…I’m not sure though.”
She gets up and starts to hesitantly move towards the door. I follow her and make the effort to get in front of her completely. Lila moves over allowing me to take full reigns of control. I look through the peephole to find our small neighbor standing there in a panic. Her glasses were on top of her head and her gray hair usually brushed smooth down was wild and stringy. She had a nightgown on underneath a large windbreaker and fluffy pink slippers to match the gown. Her hands were folded over her face, shaking from nerves and probably being cold.
I quickly opened the door and greeted her.
“Mrs. Jackson, hi! Are you ok? Did you want to come in?”
I try to urge her inside, but she just shakes her head.
“No. I’m alright girls. I just was checking on you both. I saw all those police officers it made me nervous…oh gosh I was so nervous…” her hands were still shaky. It honestly was cute to see her so concerned. She has always been a fake grandma figure for Lila and I, since our move here in the beginning of the fall.
“Yes, we are alright, Mrs. Jackson. Really we are.” Lila smiled and tried to comfort the woman as best as she could, but Mrs. Jackson was still in a frantic.
“Are you sure you are alright, Mrs. Jackson?” I repeated my question. Her eyes had a mixture of fear and calamity in them. It was chilling.
“Yes, yes I’m sure. By the way, did your friend ever come by for that visit?”
My heart stopped. Lila’s eyes which desperately tried to relax now was filled with a fear that I have seen too much today.
“O-our friend?” Lila tried her best to not stammer but her voice still shook.
“Yes. A man came by today and asked for Lila. I don’t know who it was. He seemed nice, but you know how I don’t like answering doors to much after my Henry died…” she began to trail off and murmur to herself. I tried to gently urge her back to her point.
“Yes, I remember Mrs. Jackson, Henry was a great man. Did this man remind you of Henry, did he say anything to you about him?” Using Henry as a subject is the best way to get Mrs. Jackson back on track with her thoughts.
“No, he was nothing like my Henry. He was taller and seemed more rough. More tough. My Henry was so gentle. He sounded nice from outside my door though, and he said he was friends with Lila. Friends from school. Something about Meadows Prep…high school, I don’t remember. Anyways I’m glad you girls are okay.” She started to walk away.
“Wait Mrs. Jackson, did this man say his name or what he wanted? Or where he was going…or” Lila kept trying to think of more but stopped in a defeat.
“No honey, but he did say he would call you soon.” Mrs. Jackson smiled before biding us good night.
~
The fist bump…red roses…weird texts. Meadows Prep? Who could this be? Who wants me, who did I always fist bump? At Meadows Prep! Think Lila, THINK!
I started to cry. I didn’t know what to do or who to tell or even what to ask myself. I just couldn’t think of anyone. Stop crying. That’s not going to help anyone. I grabbed my laptop and searched my school name. I soon was staring back at memories I wanted to forget. I looked at pictures of everyone I used to go to school with. I looked at events and old videos from our senior class barbecue, from prom, from graduation.
I stopped at an image I didn’t remember taking. It was a picture of our janitor and I on faculty appreciation day. Mr. Allen, I remember his name being. He was nice and always talked to me and had conversations with me. He always asked about school and how it was going and what colleges I was thinking about.
I smiled at the memory. I smiled in that picture. And I was smiling in the next one after that. I wasn’t smiling anymore.
The next picture was also of Mr. Allen and I. Except it was my graduation day. I had roses in my had from my parents. I remember he wanted to hug me that day and I thought that was weird. So we…
“Fist bumped. We fist bumped.”
It couldn’t be. Not him that was all just a coincidence. I had to text Danella.
Where is she? I reached for my phone, but it wasn’t next to me on the couch. I must have put it on the charger in my room. I went to my room and looked to see if the phone was plugged in its home on my windowsill. The window was open, but there was no phone. Did I open this? I closed the window and went to the kitchen to call my phone using our landline my mother made us buy. I dialed my number and listened for my phone. It was ringing but I couldn’t hear it ringing in the room.
The ringing stopped. I looked at the phone in confusion. Someone had picked up my phone.
“Hello?” My voice trembled but no one answered.
“Hey look if my phone fell out the windo…”
“It didn’t fall Lila; I took it out of the plug just now.”
Did you enjoy that so far? Come back Sunday night, April 28, 2019 at 8:15pm(ET) for Chapter 5!
Copyright©Naava Dae 2019
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