Chapter 4 #2
He laughed. “You have a beautiful young woman blossoming in your charge,” he confirmed. “So, that’s definitely something to consider, but I don’t think in this case that Henry’s a danger.”
“Hmm,” she muttered. “At least I’m not going crazy. I’m just a little surprised to hear it’s one of my neighbors. I haven’t met any of them to date, other than you—oh, and one guy waved at me from his front porch.”
Camden nodded. “I’ve met them all. They are more of the let’s-not-bother-anyone types than the Welcome Wagon lady with a warm casserole to deliver.”
Devon had to laugh at that. “Do the Welcome Wagon ladies even exist anymore?” He just shrugged.
She shook her head. “I never even considered what my neighbors were like when I bought this house. Can you tell that I’m a first-time homeowner?
” she quipped. “Yet obviously I lucked out having you as my next-door neighbor. So about Henry …”
“Really, you don’t have to worry about him. If he shows up, you just tell him nicely to go home and how his parents are worried, and that should be the end of it. … I have been checking the security cameras.”
“Security cameras?” she repeated, startled.
“I have some,” he explained, “and the one pointed toward my backyard got a little of yours too, but I moved it a bit to get more of yours. That way I could see if you had any trouble back there.”
She didn’t really know what to say. In a way she was almost pathetically grateful. Yet it was an eerie thought that a security camera was pointed at her backyard.
“I can change it back if you want,” he offered, “but it’s the only real way to know if anybody has been coming or going.”
She shook her head. “No, I would definitely prefer to know,” she shared. “And thank you for changing the angle. It never occurred to me that a neighbor would do that. I’m really not that happy about it either. I guess I don’t even know what to think about it.”
Camden nodded. “First off, let’s not freak out about it. Second, let’s just see if Henry comes back. It might help if you were to go over and introduce yourself.”
“Or maybe not,” she muttered. “It might be a whole lot better if there’s no contact.” She could see that Camden was considering that.
“I guess I’ll have to leave that up to you,” he replied. “I’ve known the family for a very long time, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen or even heard of him doing something like this.”
She didn’t say anything at first. “No, but has he been interested in other preteen girls?”
He stared at her and then shook his head. “Not that I know of. Good point.”
“Right, so I’m not sure how I want to deal with this. I don’t want to piss off Henry’s parents, neighbors I haven’t even met yet.” She groaned. “I really hope he doesn’t come back again.”
“Of course,” he said. “We’re doing what we can.”
“Yes, I know, but this is all new to me.”
“And being new,” he added, “it’s easy to overreact, and it’s easy to make something small into something much bigger.”
“And yet,” she countered, looking at him pointedly, “it’s also very easy to make a mistake and to not take something seriously enough.”
He smiled. “Am I hearing my own words coming back at me?”
She laughed. “They are reasonable words and expectations,” she stated. “It’s just something I feel a little leery of.”
“Of course,” he conceded. “I didn’t tell them that I wouldn’t tell you or anything, so, if you feel the need to talk to them, you can. But do understand Henry’s state of mind and what he might have been thinking about at the time.”
“It’s that thinking about part that has me a little concerned,” she acknowledged. “I mean, he’s an adult male but with the mind of a child.” At that point, she just left it up to Camden to consider.
“I’ve never seen any issues before with Henry. Yet you’re right. We don’t need a first one.”
“No, we don’t.” She sighed. “Man, I didn’t even consider these issues when I stepped into this world of parenting.”
He smiled. “If you had had any experience with preteen kids, it would have already been on your radar. You just circumvented the infant stage and headed straight for the trouble stage.”
She nodded. The years had disappeared so quickly.
“Good Lord.” Then she laughed. “I’ve known these kids since they were born, and that’s one of the reasons that I agreed to do this.
I was there when they first came into this world.
I was there to see them walk and crawl. And it just seemed as if they were already half mine in a way.
So how could I put them in a foster home?
… Now I’m responsible for them,” she declared, “and you’re giving me the heebie-jeebies about what that will entail. ”
He laughed. “Just as with any other parent on this block and anywhere else,” he stated. “You look out for them as closely as you can and do your best to keep them safe. When it comes to teaching them to keep themselves safe? You may want to have some talks with them about it.”
She nodded. “We’ve talked lots about stranger danger and those things,” she shared. “However, since Henry lives right here, that won’t necessarily be the same talk.”
“No, it won’t,” he agreed. “Yet let’s not make it so everybody’s afraid of Henry either because—”
“I know,” she interrupted, “because, in your world, he’s never done this before.”
He frowned as he stared off into the distance. “I’m not sure how he even got out. That was one of Henry’s parents’ biggest concerns, since he’d never left the house at night before. I’m hoping by now they’ve figured it out.”
She didn’t say anything more but nodded.
“Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that you weren’t going crazy.”
She sighed. “Thank you for that, though I’m not sure this is better or worse.”
“I understand,” he replied, “but, in the end, knowledge is power.” And, with that, he headed back inside.
She stayed outside for a little bit longer, thinking about the consequences of now having a preteen girl in her charge.
One who was well on the road to developing into a beautiful young woman, with everything else that entailed.
And she stared up at the sky and whispered, “Dear God, Tabitha. What have you let me in for?”
*
As it worked out, Camden had a chance to see Henry sooner rather than later.
Camden often went out for a walk in the evenings to stretch his legs and to help settle his mind after a long day at work.
He’d only just left his house when he turned and caught sight of a shadow in his peripheral view.
He turned and searched the dusky surroundings.
Someone moved slowly toward Devon’s house.
Tall, slim, and, yeah, … young.
It appeared to be Henry. Camden quickly fell into step behind the young man. As he went to walk around the side of the house toward the back yard, Camden called out to him, “Henry?”
Henry stopped and turned to look at him. He smiled with the innocence of a child. He pointed to the backyard and said, “Pretties.”
Whatever that meant. Devon? Tabby? Or even Toby?
“No, no pretties today.”
Instantly the smile fell off Henry’s face, and he shuffled his feet in dismay. Camden reached out a hand, and Henry placed his on top, and together he walked Henry back to his family home. There Henry’s father stepped out and snapped at his son. “You were told to not go over there.”
Henry looked so sad that Camden wanted to jump into the conversation, but it wasn’t his place to sort this out.
Henry’s father continued. “Maybe one day you can go over and visit,” he explained, “but you need to wait for an invitation. They’ve just moved in, so they don’t know anyone yet.”
Camden lifted a hand to Ben, Henry’s father, and turned to continue his walk down the street.
While walking, he quickly texted Devon about what happened, ending with, He just wants to come over and play with the pretties.
He added a smiling emoji to the text. Then he put away his phone to enjoy his walk.