The Key to Everything Read Free Page B

halfway up your driveway you turn back and say, “Nice to meet you. Thanks for coming by to say hello.” Gene turns back, smiling, and waves again. Before you close the gate, you realize something. “Hey, Gene.” He stops just short of his front door and turns around again. “Do you guys have any problems with squirrels around here?”
    “Not that I’ve ever seen.” Scraggly white eyebrows lift up high on his forehead. “Why?”
    You lean on the gate and look down at the trashcan. “No reason. Forget I asked.” You think for a second. “When we finish unpacking, why don’t you come over for a barbeque? How does tomorrow afternoon sound?”
    Opening his front door, Gene waves. “Sounds great. I’ll bring my famous heart-attack corn.”

* * *
     

    “Who were you talking to Daddy?” Jeremy asks as you come back into the house.
    You pick him up and piggyback him on your shoulders. “That was your new Vice Principal, Mr. Harmon. He lives across the street.” You throw Jeremy down onto the ottoman, and he squeals happily. Emily is halfway up the stairs with one hand full of towels and the other carrying a box marked “Boys Bathroom Stuff.”
    “Their VP lives across the street? Is that good or bad?” She calls out, not slowing down to hear the answer.
    You yell up toward her, “He seemed pretty nice. I think I freaked him out though.” You pick up Jeremy and push him  toward his room to start putting his toys away. “I was throwing out that weird squirrel, and all my tattoos were showing, and, I dunno. I felt all flustered.” You start putting dishes away in the kitchen. “But I invited him over for a barbeque tomorrow.”
    “Tomorrow? You really think we’ll be ready for company by then?” She sounded a little pissed off at that one. She came down the stairs and turned into the kitchen. “We have so much to do. I just don’t think I’m up for hosting a party.” She grabbed another box for the boys’ rooms and headed back for the stairs.
    “Come on, babe. It’s only one person. We have to eat anyway.” You pick up the kids’ plastic cups and put them on the bottom shelf. “Plus, it won’t dirty up the kitchen. I can grill up some hot dogs and patties on the grill. Gene said he would bring corn. You love corn, right?”
    “Is it just him?” Her voice comes from Jason’s room. “No family? No kids?”
    “Um…”
    She comes down the stairs and puts her hands on her hips. “You didn’t ask, did you?” Her hands splay out in obvious frustration. “Oh, Auden. You are so bad with details." Her voice rises in pitch. “Which house does he live in? I need to go ask how many people are coming now. You are such a guy.”
    “He lives across the street.” You take the last cup out of the box. “I’ll go. I know which one it is.”

-2-
    Auden: The Key
     

    The street lights are buzzing all the way down the block by the time you make it outside. They should be turning on any minute now. You’ve always hated that sound. As a kid in the summertime it signaled that playtime was over. You could be out anywhere in the neighborhood, doing pretty much anything with anyone. But as soon as that buzz started and the lights came on, every kid around knew that it was time to go home. Mom voices would begin shouting names of children, summoning them away from their whiffle ball or superhero games, calling them home for dinner. Now, in your thirties, the feeling is just as strong. And just as depressing.
    Knocking on the door, you notice the antique birdfeeder hanging off the top of the porch. It doesn’t look like too many birds have been getting their grub on here anytime lately. There’s a wicker rocking chair covered in camouflaged pillows to the right of the door in front of the window, and the Christmas lights are still strung up all over the place. Just as you chuckle about the holidays in August, you hear Gene’s voice. “Hello?”
     You clear your throat. “Hi there, Gene. Uh…it’s