A/N: I wrote this story for a creative writing class and really liked how
it turned out so I though, hey I might as well post it. Any way I'm going
to go on the same rant that everyone else does....I don't own the characters,
they belong to Janet Evanovich. Any way on with the story
The sun is shining dully through a layer of gray, rain promising clouds, onto the houses on Roosevelt Street, a suburban neighborhood in Trenton, New Jersey. The houses are lined up closely on both sides of the street. Each house has a cement stoop with a cast iron railing attached to it; a few of them have wooden porches. At house one fifty-eight a girl about the age of fifteen with brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt is sitting out on her stoop fanning herself from the muggy heat with a folded up newspaper. She looks down the street to see a girl with dark skin wearing a neon pink spandex skirt that was about two sizes to small and a leopard print T-shirt, walking towards her house. The girl on the porch puts her paper down and lifts her arm up and waves at the walking girl.
"Hey, Lula."
"Hey yourself, Steph." Lula called back. Lula closes the gap between her and Stephanie's house and takes a seat next to her on the stoop.
"What's happening, anything exciting happen across the street?" Lula asked The girls look across the street at a graying house with cracked windows, a sagging front porch, and a jungle of a front yard. "A whole lot of nothing." Stephanie replied. "I've been sitting here watching for a half an hour and I've got nothing."
"Bummer."
"I know."
"That man sure is freaky." Lula stated picking up the folded newspaper and starting to fan herself. "Does he ever come out of his house?"
"Once in a blue moon." Stephanie replied.
"Do you think he practices voodoo or something in there?"
"I wouldn't be able to tell you, Mr. Ripley is like the wind, when he does come out you don't see him."
"I bet he sacrifices kittens to Satan or something."
"You've got a broad imagination."
"What? I'm only stating what I think."
Looking at Lula, Stephanie rolls her eyes. "That's going to get you in trouble one of these days."
"Don't give me that know-it-all attitude." Lula threatened raising her eyebrows.
Stephanie puts up her hands. "The subject is already dropped."
"That's what I thought." Lula replied looking back across the street. "Remember when Billy Gable went over there and broke in, then no one ever saw him again? Well I think Mr. Ripley fed him to that big ole rot wilier he's got chained up in back."
"Give me a break, Billy Gable moved to Chicago with his parents."
"That's what they want you to believe." Lula said stopping her fanning and putting the newspaper down.
"Oh please!" Stephanie said rolling her eyes
"And do you remember that story that the seniors are always telling us about when Mr. Ripley was a mobster. They said he used to hack people up, tie um up in a sack and throw um in the river. Now that is some freaky stuff."
"My mom said that Mr. Ripley was in retail before he retired." Stephanie countered.
"Well if you think Mr. Ripley's such a nice old man why don't you go over there and knock on his front door?"
"I wouldn't want to disturb him."
"Bull crap you wouldn't want to disturb him, you're scared."
"No, I'm not scared, I just don't think he wants to be bothered."
"Yeah cuz he might feed you to the rats in his basement if you went over there." Lula said.
"Get real." Stephanie shot back "Mr. Ripley's just some old fart that just because he never comes out of his house everyone makes up stories about him."
"If he's just some old fart, how come you're always watching his house?"
"I'm making sure no one breaks in." Stephanie replied. "Uh huh, and pigs fly."
"What? I'm a concerned citizen when it comes to neighborhood safety."
"Admit it, you're just as curious as I am."
"Curiosity killed the cat." Stephanie stated.
"So did Mr. Ripley." Lula countered.
"Would you give it up already!"
"I'm not going to give it up until you go over there and knock on his front door."
"I'm not going over there."
"Chicken."
"I am not a chicken."
Lula Starts clucking like a chicken and flapping her arms up and down.
"Don't antagonize me." Stephanie said.
"Your such a whiner." Lula stated and starts clucking again.
"Why don't you go over there and knock on his door." Stephanie shot back.
Lula stops clucking and looks at the house across the street and then back at Stephanie. "I dared you first."
"And you said that I was a chicken." Stephanie poked.
"Big girl like me ain't afraid of nothing." Lula stated.
"Yeah right."
"You do it Ms. I'm-looking-out-for-the-better-of-my-community. Maybe there's a burglar in there right now robbing crazy old Mr. Ripley."
"Fine I'll do it, but you're coming with me." Stephanie shot back.
"I think I'll stay over here and watch you do it."
"I thought you aren't afraid of anything?"
"I ain't, but I'm not dressed to go on an outing like this."
"Your just scared." Stephanie said.
"Am not."
"Are too."
"Fine I'll walk my butt over there with you, but you're knocking."
"Fine, lets go." Stephanie said.
The girls get up off the stoop and walk over to the sidewalk and stop and look up at the house.
"Ya think he's in there?" Lula asked.
"I don't know." Stephanie said. "I guess we'll find out."
Both of them walk across the street and stop again when they reach his front lawn.
"Maybe he isn't home." Lula said trying to look into one of the windows.
"Maybe you're right, lets head back."
"You ain't getting out of this one." Lula stated.
"Alright lets keep going."
They start walking down the cement path that leads from the sidewalk up to the front door.
"Are you nervous?" Stephanie asked.
"Me nervous? No way." Lula exclaimed.
"I think you're nervous."
"I ain't scared of nothing." Lula stated.
"So you say."
They continue to the porch and walk up the stairs onto the sagging, graying wood and look at each other.
"It's now or never." Stephanie stated.
Lula nodded, and they walk to the door.
"Well, knock on the door." Lula said.
"I will, just give me a minute." Stephanie said taking a shaky breath.
Lula started fidgeting with her shirt. "Just get it over with already." She said nervously.
"Fine." Stephanie said raising her fist and knocking once
lightly on the door. "There I did it."
Lula looks at Stephanie and says, "Girl, that didn't even make a sound, you better knock harder."
"Oh alright." Stephanie said raising her fist and firmly knocking on the door three times. The door creaked open from the force of the knock.
"Don't let him kill me, Stephanie!" Lula screamed jumping behind Stephanie and gripping the back of her shirt.
Stephanie peered into the house.
"Anybody in there?" Lula asked peeking from behind Stephanie's shoulder.
"It doesn't look like it." Stephanie said.
"Call into the house, maybe he's dead or something."
"You call I had to knock."
"After you."
"I insist that you do it." Stephanie said
"Fine I'll do it, but if anything jumps out at me I'm getting my butt out of here."
"Fine by me, just do it." Stephanie said stepping to the side.
Lula takes a deep breath then exhales and walks up to the spot where Stephanie was previously standing by the door and yells through the doorway.
"Hey Mr. Ripley! You alive in there?"
There was silence from inside the house. Lula turns to Stephanie and shrugs.
"Guess nobody's home." Lula said.
"Maybe we should go in." Stephanie suggested.
Lula looked back inside the house.
"Do ya think we should? I mean it don't look to sanitary in there."
Both girls peer inside the house, then look at each other. Suddenly a loud noise and a ghost like moan are heard from inside the house. Both girls scream and Stephanie slams the door shut and they run back down the stairs, down the path, and back across the street, they stop on the sidewalk and look back at the house.
"Holy potatoes, what was that?" Stephanie exclaimed.
"I don't know, but I almost wet myself back there!" Lula gasped.
Suddenly its starts raining and the girls both screech and run into Stephanie's house and run to the window and look out at the house across the street.
"I'm telling ya that man does voodoo or something, I said wet myself and it starts raining!" Lula exclaimed.
"It was coincidence." Stephanie said.
"You think what you want, but I think that guy is not a force to be reckoned with, I mean did you here what came out of that house? I betchya it was a spirit from the nether world that Mr. Ripley summoned to do his biddings." Lula said
"And what exactly are his biddings?" Stephanie questioned.
"You know, stuff he bid it to do."
"Give me a break."
"What? You gonna tell me that we didn't just here some freaky sound coming out of that house?"
"No I'm telling you that there's probably some logical explanation for the sound."
"Logical explanation? Now you telling me that Mr. Ripley farted and that's what we heard?" Lula exclaimed.
"Could be." Stephanie said
"Maybe he was dragging a body to his basement!" Lula went on.
"Stick a fork in me, I'm done."
The sun is shining dully through a layer of gray, rain promising clouds, onto the houses on Roosevelt Street, a suburban neighborhood in Trenton, New Jersey. The houses are lined up closely on both sides of the street. Each house has a cement stoop with a cast iron railing attached to it; a few of them have wooden porches. At house one fifty-eight a girl about the age of fifteen with brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt is sitting out on her stoop fanning herself from the muggy heat with a folded up newspaper. She looks down the street to see a girl with dark skin wearing a neon pink spandex skirt that was about two sizes to small and a leopard print T-shirt, walking towards her house. The girl on the porch puts her paper down and lifts her arm up and waves at the walking girl.
"Hey, Lula."
"Hey yourself, Steph." Lula called back. Lula closes the gap between her and Stephanie's house and takes a seat next to her on the stoop.
"What's happening, anything exciting happen across the street?" Lula asked The girls look across the street at a graying house with cracked windows, a sagging front porch, and a jungle of a front yard. "A whole lot of nothing." Stephanie replied. "I've been sitting here watching for a half an hour and I've got nothing."
"Bummer."
"I know."
"That man sure is freaky." Lula stated picking up the folded newspaper and starting to fan herself. "Does he ever come out of his house?"
"Once in a blue moon." Stephanie replied.
"Do you think he practices voodoo or something in there?"
"I wouldn't be able to tell you, Mr. Ripley is like the wind, when he does come out you don't see him."
"I bet he sacrifices kittens to Satan or something."
"You've got a broad imagination."
"What? I'm only stating what I think."
Looking at Lula, Stephanie rolls her eyes. "That's going to get you in trouble one of these days."
"Don't give me that know-it-all attitude." Lula threatened raising her eyebrows.
Stephanie puts up her hands. "The subject is already dropped."
"That's what I thought." Lula replied looking back across the street. "Remember when Billy Gable went over there and broke in, then no one ever saw him again? Well I think Mr. Ripley fed him to that big ole rot wilier he's got chained up in back."
"Give me a break, Billy Gable moved to Chicago with his parents."
"That's what they want you to believe." Lula said stopping her fanning and putting the newspaper down.
"Oh please!" Stephanie said rolling her eyes
"And do you remember that story that the seniors are always telling us about when Mr. Ripley was a mobster. They said he used to hack people up, tie um up in a sack and throw um in the river. Now that is some freaky stuff."
"My mom said that Mr. Ripley was in retail before he retired." Stephanie countered.
"Well if you think Mr. Ripley's such a nice old man why don't you go over there and knock on his front door?"
"I wouldn't want to disturb him."
"Bull crap you wouldn't want to disturb him, you're scared."
"No, I'm not scared, I just don't think he wants to be bothered."
"Yeah cuz he might feed you to the rats in his basement if you went over there." Lula said.
"Get real." Stephanie shot back "Mr. Ripley's just some old fart that just because he never comes out of his house everyone makes up stories about him."
"If he's just some old fart, how come you're always watching his house?"
"I'm making sure no one breaks in." Stephanie replied. "Uh huh, and pigs fly."
"What? I'm a concerned citizen when it comes to neighborhood safety."
"Admit it, you're just as curious as I am."
"Curiosity killed the cat." Stephanie stated.
"So did Mr. Ripley." Lula countered.
"Would you give it up already!"
"I'm not going to give it up until you go over there and knock on his front door."
"I'm not going over there."
"Chicken."
"I am not a chicken."
Lula Starts clucking like a chicken and flapping her arms up and down.
"Don't antagonize me." Stephanie said.
"Your such a whiner." Lula stated and starts clucking again.
"Why don't you go over there and knock on his door." Stephanie shot back.
Lula stops clucking and looks at the house across the street and then back at Stephanie. "I dared you first."
"And you said that I was a chicken." Stephanie poked.
"Big girl like me ain't afraid of nothing." Lula stated.
"Yeah right."
"You do it Ms. I'm-looking-out-for-the-better-of-my-community. Maybe there's a burglar in there right now robbing crazy old Mr. Ripley."
"Fine I'll do it, but you're coming with me." Stephanie shot back.
"I think I'll stay over here and watch you do it."
"I thought you aren't afraid of anything?"
"I ain't, but I'm not dressed to go on an outing like this."
"Your just scared." Stephanie said.
"Am not."
"Are too."
"Fine I'll walk my butt over there with you, but you're knocking."
"Fine, lets go." Stephanie said.
The girls get up off the stoop and walk over to the sidewalk and stop and look up at the house.
"Ya think he's in there?" Lula asked.
"I don't know." Stephanie said. "I guess we'll find out."
Both of them walk across the street and stop again when they reach his front lawn.
"Maybe he isn't home." Lula said trying to look into one of the windows.
"Maybe you're right, lets head back."
"You ain't getting out of this one." Lula stated.
"Alright lets keep going."
They start walking down the cement path that leads from the sidewalk up to the front door.
"Are you nervous?" Stephanie asked.
"Me nervous? No way." Lula exclaimed.
"I think you're nervous."
"I ain't scared of nothing." Lula stated.
"So you say."
They continue to the porch and walk up the stairs onto the sagging, graying wood and look at each other.
"It's now or never." Stephanie stated.
Lula nodded, and they walk to the door.
"Well, knock on the door." Lula said.
"I will, just give me a minute." Stephanie said taking a shaky breath.
Lula started fidgeting with her shirt. "Just get it over with already." She said nervously.
"Fine." Stephanie said raising her fist and knocking once
lightly on the door. "There I did it."
Lula looks at Stephanie and says, "Girl, that didn't even make a sound, you better knock harder."
"Oh alright." Stephanie said raising her fist and firmly knocking on the door three times. The door creaked open from the force of the knock.
"Don't let him kill me, Stephanie!" Lula screamed jumping behind Stephanie and gripping the back of her shirt.
Stephanie peered into the house.
"Anybody in there?" Lula asked peeking from behind Stephanie's shoulder.
"It doesn't look like it." Stephanie said.
"Call into the house, maybe he's dead or something."
"You call I had to knock."
"After you."
"I insist that you do it." Stephanie said
"Fine I'll do it, but if anything jumps out at me I'm getting my butt out of here."
"Fine by me, just do it." Stephanie said stepping to the side.
Lula takes a deep breath then exhales and walks up to the spot where Stephanie was previously standing by the door and yells through the doorway.
"Hey Mr. Ripley! You alive in there?"
There was silence from inside the house. Lula turns to Stephanie and shrugs.
"Guess nobody's home." Lula said.
"Maybe we should go in." Stephanie suggested.
Lula looked back inside the house.
"Do ya think we should? I mean it don't look to sanitary in there."
Both girls peer inside the house, then look at each other. Suddenly a loud noise and a ghost like moan are heard from inside the house. Both girls scream and Stephanie slams the door shut and they run back down the stairs, down the path, and back across the street, they stop on the sidewalk and look back at the house.
"Holy potatoes, what was that?" Stephanie exclaimed.
"I don't know, but I almost wet myself back there!" Lula gasped.
Suddenly its starts raining and the girls both screech and run into Stephanie's house and run to the window and look out at the house across the street.
"I'm telling ya that man does voodoo or something, I said wet myself and it starts raining!" Lula exclaimed.
"It was coincidence." Stephanie said.
"You think what you want, but I think that guy is not a force to be reckoned with, I mean did you here what came out of that house? I betchya it was a spirit from the nether world that Mr. Ripley summoned to do his biddings." Lula said
"And what exactly are his biddings?" Stephanie questioned.
"You know, stuff he bid it to do."
"Give me a break."
"What? You gonna tell me that we didn't just here some freaky sound coming out of that house?"
"No I'm telling you that there's probably some logical explanation for the sound."
"Logical explanation? Now you telling me that Mr. Ripley farted and that's what we heard?" Lula exclaimed.
"Could be." Stephanie said
"Maybe he was dragging a body to his basement!" Lula went on.
"Stick a fork in me, I'm done."