Series: Behind Closed Doors 1

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They noticed it over dinner- neither of them had seen the man next door in weeks. No trash bins at the curb, no porch light flickering on at dusk, no slow shuffle down the driveway with his mail. Just absence. 

After the dishes were rinsed and stacked, Jerrika and Tyler walked the short stretch to his front door, unsure whether they were overreacting or if it was already too late. They knocked. Waited. Knocked again. No answer. Jerrika placed a call for a wellness check.

They hadn’t known him well enough to have his number. He hadn’t lived there long before the TRUMP 2020 sign went up in his front yard- and well, after that they had no desire to know him.

Jerrika pulled her jacket in tighter. “We’ve lived next to him for six years. Six. And I don’t even know his last name.”

“I always meant to ask- before the sign. Like after he helped me shovel the driveway that time. But then- that damn sign. Hell no…” Tyler let his voice trail off.

Jerrika glanced at the window nearest them, its curtains drawn tight. “The last time I saw him, he was rolling his trash bin to the curb. He waved. I just nodded.” Her voice carried a hint of dejection.

Tyler shifted on the step, rubbing his palms together. “You nodded. That’s more than I did. I stopped looking at him after the sign went up.”

“You know what’s funny?” Jerrika said, “He never put up another one. No TRUMP 2024, no flags, no nothing. Just that one year. For all we know, he might have changed his mind.”

“Yeah. Maybe.”

Jerrika pressed her knees closer to her chest. “Or maybe he didn’t. Maybe he just carried on with what he thought was right behind his own closed door. And isn’t that all we want to do? To be able to live the way we want, love the way we want, without having to answer for it every time we step outside?”

Tyler shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe. But it still feels like you’re giving him too much credit.”

“I’m not excusing, Ty. Just admitting that he was more than just that one sign. Even if we never found out how much more.”

Headlights dragged across the porch, pulling to a stop in the street right out front of the neighbor’s house.

The officers stepped out of the cruiser, their radios crackling in the still night. Jerrika and Tyler rose slowly, but their eyes drifted back to the house- its door closed, its curtains drawn, its secrets yet to be revealed. 

Whatever answers lay inside belonged to a man who had lived in silence, his life and choices sealed off from the world, as they had always been- behind closed doors.

This is my contribution to Dan’s Thursday Doors.

This is part of a series of stand alone vignettes.. You may navigate all entries in the series by clicking on Behind Closed Doors tab in the Category drop down list.

37 thoughts on “Series: Behind Closed Doors 1”

  1. So well written Violet, …and so sadly true, …it happened here a few years ago, …multiply that by the population, …. What was that Beatles song “all the lonely people?”…. Oh yes, Eleanor Rigby., … looking forward to reading more “closed doors “ …💙

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  5. People are more than the signs they place in their yards, but sometimes, it’s hard to approach them. We used to know all of our neighbors, Now, we barely know any of them. No signs in our yard, but no one really talks anymore.

    This is a great story. Well written and a very nice thing to offer for Thursday Doors. Thank you for sharing it with us.

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  6. Girl, i can’t wait for more. It’s funny how we can live right next to people and yet never speak to them. How sad actually. Brava as always. Missed reading your wonderful stories

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  8. I have a neighbor living across the street from me for the past 14 years and I don’t know his name, and I never talked with him. I guess you may never know what goes on behind closed doors, but I think this is going to be a great series for you, Violet.

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  9. I really love this story, and the whole idea of writing what goes on “behind closed doors” as a series is brilliant—such rich material for a book. This piece in particular is touching, reminding us that even with our differences, we’re all cut from the same fabric of humanity—just different prints, textures, and patterns. Thank you for sharing this—it spoke to me, and I look forward to more in this series.

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  11. Wonderful story, Violet. I’m still new to my neighborhood, but at least I know my next-door neighbors. I’m very friendly with one of them, and we talk often.

    Well, I just saw a Trump 2028 sign today, so maybe you can use that for your story.

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    • When I said they called for a wellness check in the second paragraph- that is something we do here when we haven’t seen someone or cannot contact someone, and we want to make sure they are ok. When you ask for a wellness call- they send the police over there to find out if they are ok.

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  17. Fun and insightful. And a byproduct of advertising our political affiliations; I mean, do you ever remember people wearing t-shirts advertising their favorite candidates back in the day? Were there Reagan shirts? Maybe I just don’t remember.

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