Last week, across the street…

https://dailyflabbergast.wordpress.com/2021/03/11/cw-last-week-across-the-street/

Last week, across the street

They were moving in.

Trucks, dollies, strong men

Strong women with boxes

Children unpacking toys

between the truck and the house

Last, week across the street

They put up the curtains first.

The children didn’t want

to go into the house.

Nobody was smiling.

I grabbed my casserole dish and

put the standard ingredients in–

Mac and cheese and hotdogs,

plastic forks.

Last week, across the street

the trucks left and the children were

still on the porch.

A white car pulled up

The driver walked to the porch but

he looked around the neighborhood–

suspiciously.

The children were quiet

They moved out of the way.

Last week, across the street,

I saw him leave.

He lit a cigarette then

walked slowly to the car.

I took over the casserole.

The children kept playing quietly

I rang the bell.

Last week, across the street

She answered

with tears in her eyes and

a fresh bruise on her face.

She asked if I had a first aid kit.

I left the casserole and went home.

Last week, across the street

I took in the bandages and ice

And applied them to the unrecognizable face

of her husband.

His picture was in a box

He was a policeman.