Tanglewood Road

Chapter 2-2

“I know you know how stressful moving is,” Cody’s mom told him as she waited to pull two low calorie TV dinners out of the oven, “but maybe you don’t get that it’s also stressful to start a new job. I’m an assistant manager, meaning I have employees who resent me and dislike me because I exist.”

“You’re getting paid,” Cody said defiantly.

“Not enough. I also miss your dad. We talk on the phone, but it’s not the same.”

“When is Dad moving?” Cody asked eagerly.

“He said the realtor thinks she has a buyer, so it could be two or three weeks. Wouldn’t that be great?”

“Yeah, right when I start school. Anyway, what’s the point?” Cody smelled chicken cooking and wanted to hurry things along so he could storm into his room and slam the door to show his mom how independent he was. Just as soon as she finished making his dinner.

“I could really use less stress around the house is my point. I get home, and you start in on needing cameras and thinking there’s some conspiracy to avoid us or something. Now you think people are knocking on the door and running away—which I’m fine with as long as they don’t leave flaming dog s**t on the front step.”

“It starts with ding dong ditch, and escalates to—”

“It’s a bit much, kiddo.” A timer dinged and she took their steaming dinners out of the oven.

“The lawn looks nice, doesn’t it?” Cody asked.

“Yes, thank you. You did a great job,” his mom said as she pulled two plates out of the cabinet. “Have you thought about meeting any locals online?”

“I don’t want to get molested.”

“I meant kids your age, silly. There’s got to be kids around the neighborhood.”

“There’s nobody in the neighborhood. Literally.” He felt exasperated and he tapped his fingers anxiously on the marble counter top. “I can prove it to you if you want.”

His mom took the plastic covers off their dinners and dumped each out onto a plate. She tossed the trash away and eyed her son for a moment.

“How?”

“Let’s take a walk around the street. If we see any sign of life besides a car driving through, then I’ll drop it. Deal?” He sounded confident, but inside he was nervous. He didn’t want to run into five families and have his mom think he was having problems again.

“It’s a deal. Let me eat in peace, and have a glass of wine, and then we’ll scout out the neighbors.”

“Finally.”

Cody scarfed down his food and waited twenty minutes for his mom to leisurely eat and sip her wine while she watched the evening news. They still had an hour of sunlight left when they put their sandals on and left the house.

They took a right on the sidewalk, heading toward the start of Tanglewood Road. A car with a North Carolina license plate drove by, otherwise the scene could have been a painting.

“It’s nice spending time with you,” his mom said.

“You think I’m crazy,” Cody said. They reached the start of the road and crossed the street, walking back the other way.

“I do not think you’re crazy. I just think you’re lonely and cooped up all day and getting a little cabin fever.”

They walked in silence, passing several houses. Both of them craned their heads this way and that to no avail. They continued on past the gray sedan across from their house and took the first bend in the street.

“This is a little weird, right?” Cody asked after another five houses.

“Son, the lawns look great, the pools are clean, and there’s no graffiti. Who do you think is doing all of that?”

“I don’t know…”

A breeze wafted by, slightly cutting the ninety-degree weather. Cody tried stalling and slowing down, but his mom kept a brisk pace as they turned another bend in the road.

“Maybe we could make a routine of this,” his mom said. “We can have a little mother son walking s***h spying bonding time. That would be—hey, this is more like it.”

Cody could barely believe the mosaic in front of him. The houses down the street actually had people in front of them. Someone in overalls worked under a raised truck covering part of an oil stain on the driveway. A woman lay on her stomach on the other side of the street in a bathing suit, soaking in the last of the sun. Clippers flashed back and forth over a hedge, slicing through branches, and a shadowy figure stepped inside the last house on the left.

“Feel better?”

“I guess,” Cody said, although he didn’t. “Can we turn around now? You win, everything’s normal on Tanglewood Road.”

“Of course we can turn around. I’m sweating to death here.”

They walked back in silence. Cody’s mom barely contained her joy at proving nothing nefarious was going on, and Cody feeling silly for thinking so in the first place. They noticed the silhouettes of a woman turning a TV on through the windows of one house and a couple watching TV in another.

They got back home and Cody returned to his bedroom to blast his music. He felt isolated and crazy and wanted to be back in Michigan with his dad and his friends.

After a few songs played, Cody’s cell phone vibrated from on top of his nightstand. He grabbed it and read a text from his dad—How you holding up?

He replied, This place sucks. When are you getting here?

He opened a box of socks and dumped them into a dresser drawer. His phone vibrated as he finished.

I’ll see you soon.

Cody considered what to say. He noticed he was nearly out of text space on his phone, so he deleted all the messages. He was about to reply to his dad when his mom knocked on the door.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“Come check this out,” she said.

“What?”

“Just come here.” She trotted back into the living room, with Cody trailing several feet behind her, his thumbs poised on his miniature keypad.

Cody’s mom stood in front of the TV, which had a little camera stuck on the top. His dad grinned on the TV screen and waved.

“Hey son, how are you?”

“I finally got the video conference working.” Cody’s mom beamed. “We’ve been talking for ten minutes already and it hasn’t screwed up once.”

Cody turned and asked his dad, “You texted me while you were talking to Mom on here?”

“I didn’t text you,” his dad replied. His puzzled expression matched his wife’s. “Maybe it was one of your friends.”

“What friends?”

His dad held his hands up and said, “I don’t even have my phone on me. Must have been someone else.”

The phone fell from Cody’s fingers and clattered on the tile floor as a cold tingle flashed through his spine.