Reader x Grossman - Chapter 1: Strange Neighbor

It was only a few days after your 21st Birthday and you found yourself sitting in a lawyer’s office with your father, you two older sisters, your older brother, and your sister-in-law. They were discussing your late grandmother’s will and what was to be left to whom. Your family had been talking for years about how your grandmother was coming close to death soon, and some disputes had arisen over who would inherit her home, wealth, and all her worldly goods. You still lived at home with your father and one of your older sisters, so the two of you often argued over who’d get the house when she passed. You hoped it would be you. After all, you were much closer to her than any of your siblings were. Plus you needed to get out of that tiny crowded apartment as soon as possible. Your father was a nice guy, but living with him, your sister, and her two kids was very tiresome at times. Not to mention the fact that your father kept all of your mother’s things in the apartment after she passed five years ago. You look out the window to observe the dusty town you lived in as the lawyer began to speak.

“Mrs. (insert sir name) has asked that all her family heirlooms be left to her son” the man said as he looked over the book on his desk.

“Dad gets all the family photos and home movies as I figured” you thought to yourself.

“Sarah is to receive all of Mrs. (insert sir name) jewels and precious metals for her business.”

Of course your grandmother would leave those to Sarah, your older sister. She owned a jewelry business. Your grandmother always told her she’d get all her pretty things when she passed. Luckily you had a few pieces she gave you over the years locked up in your jewelry box at home.

“All of Mrs. (insert sir name)’s wealth is to be split amongst Tyler and Katrina as they have children to support.”

You sigh. Not one dime to you. Somehow you saw that coming. That’s ok though. You are just concerned about the house. The nice two story house with a basement and attic and I nice big back yard. That would be the perfect place for you. Plenty of space to be alone.

“And lastly she leaves her estate and everything in it to (insert your name).”

You look at the man behind the desk, “Seriously? Me? She’s giving me the house? GREAT! When do I get the key?”

“She left two keys. One for you and one for your father.” The man hands you a key. “All I need is for everyone to sign that they picked up the items here for them and you may go. I just need your father to stay and sort out a few other things.”

“Alright.” You quickly sign the papers you need to and head out to your car. You decide to go ahead and go check out the house. You hadn’t been there since last summer anyway, and you missed the neighborhood you lived in when you were a child. You start up the car and drive the fifteen minute drive to the suburban town where you spent the first twelve years of your life. As you past the park you played at many times all your childhood memories rushed back to you. You remembered the hot summers eating ice cream on the jungle gym, and how this one boy stole your pop sickle once. You smiled and chuckled to yourself.

You soon came to the drive way of the house you used to live in as a young girl. You noticed a small black car in the driveway next door.  “I guess someone lives there now. The last time I was here that place was for sale.” You get out and head inside. It had only been a few days since she had passed, but in your grandmother’s absence the place seemed to grow dark and dull. As you walked through the house you started to take down all the family photos on the walls and lay them on the living room couch for your father to collect when he came. You gathered them all up in a nice stack and took a look around at the empty walls. “I guess I’ll have to get started on some paintings. This place looks even emptier without the pictures.”

After you had finished collecting things from around the house for your father to come get you decided to check out the room you and your sister Kat used to share. You walk up the creaky steps and open the door to the first room on your left. It still looked pretty much the same. The walls were a pastel pink on one side of the room and black on the other. You and Kat never did agree on much. There was a bed on either side of the room and one large dresser between the two windows on the front wall. The beds were made and a few stuffed animals sat at the head of each one. You opened the closet where there were a few boxes of old toys and other junk from when you lived here. You reach for the one on top, but right as you grab the edge of the box you are startled by the sudden sound of circus music from outside. The box falls and spills some Barbie dolls and other dolls on the floor. “An ice cream truck? I know there used to be one when I was little, but I thought they stopped coming around.”

You rush over to the window to see what was going on. There was a small white ice cream truck parked in the middle of the road. On top was a large spinning clown head that played music from its open grin. A few children crowded around the small window on the side as a man dressed in colorful clothing and face painted like a clown handed out ice cream cones and snow cones. The man looked awkward in the truck. He seemed to be taller than the vehicle itself. After the children left another man came off the porch of the house next door where the little black car was. He walks to the window on the truck and leaned against the side as he began to speak to the ice cream man. He wore a grey hooded sweat shirt and baggy blue jeans. He had messy blond hair and narrow blue eyes. He looked to be about the same age as you. You quietly cracked the window to see if you could hear them since the music from the truck had now stopped.

“Looks like I got a new neighbor. It’s about time too. That old hag was driving me insane with all her stupid sweets she kept baking me since I moved in. I was about to make her my next guest. She better be glad she croaked before I got too annoyed.” The blond chuckled.

When the ice cream man spoke his voice was kind of deep and raspy. It wasn’t at all what you expected for a happy clown. He laughed, “Well that would have been interesting. Although, you wouldn’t be able to put any weight on such a brittle piece of furniture.”

“That’s true, but I’m sure I could have done something with it. Even if it was just for decoration.” The blond laughs as he brushes his hair out of his face. “I’ll probably go introduce myself to whoever this person is sometime later today.”

“Sounds like fun, but I have to get back to work making all the little kiddies happy. I’ll see you later.” The ice cream man shuts the window and starts the truck back up again as the blond heads back to his house. The music begins again, and that’s when you finally recognize the song. How could you not have realized it before? It was a circus rendition of “Pop Goes the Weasel”. That was one of your favorite songs to sing as a kid. You even had an antique jack-in-the-box that played it.

After the two strange men left you decided to do some dusting. He did say he would come introduce himself later. You figured you’d stay the night here and make dinner. You could invite him over for dinner to meet him. He may seem strange, but then again you were always interested in things that were “out of the ordinary”. You wondered what kind of person he was. He seemed nice enough, and he was pretty friendly with the ice cream man. He obviously didn’t like sweets, so you had to remember not to bother with making any desserts.

It was getting pretty dusty from your cleaning, so you decided to step out for some fresh air on the front porch. You noticed the blond man in his garage hooking a small trailer up to his car. The trailer was covered so you couldn’t see what was in it. You know he said he’d come introduce himself, but you decided to be the first to say hello. You stepped off the porch and headed over to the garage. He saw you coming so he stood up straight from hooking up the trailer and smiled.

“Hey there”, he said as he waved.

“Hi. I figured I should introduce myself to all the people around here since I’m going to be living in that house there now. I figured I’d start with you since I know most of the other people around here from where I grew up here and visited often after moving away. My grandmother just passed away, and I got her home in the will. My name is (insert first and last name).”

“Oh? Well I’m sorry to hear about your grandma, but it’s nice to see a new face around here. I’m William Grossman, but you can call me Will. It’s nice to meet you.” He holds out his hand to shake yours.

You happily shake hands with him. His grip is strong but friendly, “So it looks like you were just about to leave.”

“Yeah. I have a delivery to make, but I’ll be back in about an hour or so. Maybe we could hang out?”

“Actually that would be great. I was thinking about cooking dinner anyway. Would you like to come over to join me?”

“Yeah! That’d be great. You know how to make steak and potatoes? I got the meat in my fridge if you need some.”

“Yeah. I’m actually really good at cooking.”

“Cool. I’ll be right back.” He goes inside for a minute and comes back with everything you’ll need to cook dinner in a big bag. “I figured I’d just hook you up with all the stuff. That way you don’t have to spend any money. I know this shit’s expensive.” He laughs.

“Thanks, but I could have gone shopping.” You take the bag from him with a smile. “Well I guess I’ll see you in a couple of hours then. I’ll get started on this in a while. I still have a bit of cleaning to do before I can move my things in.”

“That’s fine. I’ll see you later.” He goes back to rigging his car before hopping in and starting it up.

You head back to the house with a smile on your face. This was going to be fun. Dinner alone, with a cute guy, on your first night on your own, after your 21st birthday. It was the perfect date. You took the food inside and put it all away before deciding you did want to make a dessert after all, and since you were of age now you wanted to pick up some wine to go with dinner. You made a quick list before heading back out to the car. This was starting out to be a great summer.