Eve

Eve was lying on the couch when the doorbell rang. Sitting up, she called out, “ Who is it?”

“Police, ma’am,” she heard from the front porch.

“Police?” she said to herself. What could have happened? Bill and the kids were supposed to be away for the weekend, up in Albany to visit his sister. Could they have had an accident? Too quickly she stood and the blood rushed from her head. Purple spots danced in front of her eyes for a moment then dissolved into the façade of the cool, air-conditioned room.

Running toward the front door in a bathrobe and flip-flops, she peered through the peephole. Her father had always told her to look out first before opening the door for strangers, even if they claimed to be police. It was a habit that was reinforced living in the city for a few years, and had continued since. Looking out of the hole now, she saw two large men in blue with badges reflecting the soft yellow of the porch light.

She opened the door to the policemen, and a worried look rose in her face. They had an unmistakable aura of bad news about them. “May I help you, officers?” she asked nervously.

“Good evening, ma’am,” the first officer started. “We’re sorry to disturb you, but we’re going around your neighborhood to see if anyone has seen anything strange tonight.”

“No, sorry,” she replied, “I haven’t noticed anything. Is something wrong?”

“Probably not,” he continued. “There was a robbery down the block and we haven’t located a suspect yet. If you see anything out of the ordinary, dial 911 immediately. They know about the situation, and can have somebody over here right away.”

“Thank God,” Eve said without thinking, as an embarrassed smile rose on her face. “I’m sorry, I was just worried that you were here because something happened to my husband or children. I was about to start panicking, I think,” she continued, looking obviously flustered.

“No problem, ma’am. Just remember that if you see anything, call 911 immediately.” continued Officer #1. Then they turned around and started walking back to the sidewalk, on to the next house.

Eve shut the door and turned around. She giggled to herself thinking about how paranoid she acted and walked back toward the comfort of the sofa, her big bowl of popcorn and a good mystery novel.

Lying back down, she picked up the novel and flipped back to the page that was dog-eared. Her eyes moved back and forth across the page, in a steady rhythm, when the doorbell rang again. “What now?” she asked herself as she picked herself back up off the couch and smirked, “No purple spots this time.”

Reaching the door she looked back out the peephole but only saw one policeman this time. He banged on the door yelling, “Let me in lady, there’s a problem!”

“What’s the matter, offi-“ she spoke as she opened the door, then screamed, “Oh my God!” The second officer fell forward through the doorway, holding his side with his hand. Blood dripped through the chubby fingers on his left hand while he held himself up off the floor with his right. The pitter-patter sound of drops hitting the hardwood floor was audible, and Eve pulled him inside. Closing and locking the front door, she exclaimed, “What happened?”.

“The guy…the perp,” he grunted as he struggled to turn over and sit, “he was hiding next door. When we opened the door, he ambushed us. Bastard got me in the side, I don’t think he hit any organs though” as he nodded his head at the wound on his left. “I don’t think that Joe got off as easy. Then the guy ran. I staggered back over here to get to a phone because he cut the lines next door.”

Eve’s jaw dropped as she heard the story. Shaking her head, trying to snap herself back into reality she cried, “Oh my God, we have to get some help. I’ll call 911 and then get you some bandages.” With that she headed for the kitchen and the cordless phone. Picking it up and putting it to her ear she clicked the TALK button. Silence. The line was dead and her eyes flew wide open. “The phone’s dead!”

Lying on his back just inside the front door was Officer #2. He hadn’t responded to her scream and wasn’t moving. Blood continued pooling next to the body, as Eve walked back in and froze upon seeing the amount. Two pints? Three? “Are you still…alive?” she whimpered into the air. He didn’t respond though.

Standing there, in shock, too many thoughts bombarded through her head. Finally one broke through. Get out of the house! She moved toward the door walking slowly and carefully to avoid the expanding pool. Taking baby steps to get there she reached for the door and flipped the latch. Holding her breath she flung the door open, sliding into the warm summer night, where she ran off into the silent darkness.