A Knock at the Door

1:04 AM. A faint tap at the door. Tap. Another. Tap. Very quiet and in rapid succession, the the way my girlfriend used to knock. Cautiously I approach the door, peer through the peep hole silently. An older man in a black T-shirt and blue jeans stands nervously, his height slightly distorted by the fisheye peep hole. I open the door.

“Hi, I’m Tom, your neighbor from upstairs.”

We shake hands, awkwardly.

“My wife and baby are stranded down town and the car won’t start and they don’t have jumper cables.” he says, an unmistakable hint of panic quivering through his voice. “I just need a ride downtown.”

“I’m really sorry,” I say, “but I can’t tonight.”

“She has cash on her, I can pay you, I just need a ride downtown.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have my car here tonight.” My car is in the lot, visible through the living room window.

Defeat drips down his face. “Do you have three dollars? Anything?”

“Yeah,” I say, “let me grab my wallet.” I walk towards my bedroom and the door closes unwelcomingly loud. I open my wallet, a one dollar bill peers back out at me. I go to the kitchen and open the squirrel shaped cookie jar that contains loose change. For what seems like ten minutes I pick out all the quarters, dimes, and nickels. I open the door and hand them to Tom.

“This is all I have, I don’t know how much it is, but hopefully it’s enough.”

“You don’t have any pennies, anything else?” he says.

“Yeah, just a second.” I walk back to the squirrel while the door closes again. I open the jar and debate dumping all the pennies into a grocery bag before returning to the door, squirrel in hand.

“That’s a pretty cat.” he tells me, motioning to my black and white cat.

“Oh, thanks.” I say absently, pouring the pennies into his cupped hands.

“I have two Siamese cats myself” he says as the pennies finish their waterfall descent into his hands.

“I hope this helps, sorry I can’t do more.” I try to assure him.

“Thanks a lot, I’ll give you twenty bucks or something.” he says as he turns and walks away.

“Oh no, forget about it, don’t sweat it.” I say, but he’s already gone.

I close the door and return to my couch, where I had been sitting before the taps interrupted my movie. What are his wife and baby doing downtown at one in the morning? Why didn’t I give him a ride? I get up and walk to the window, hoping to see him outside. I should have given him a ride. I slip on a pair of sandals and head out the door, walking to both ends of the hallway with the intention of finding Tom and giving him a ride downtown. I don’t see him. I walk back to my apartment, closing the door and locking it behind me.

What were his wife and baby doing downtown this late? He looked kind of old to have a baby. I sit down on the couch, press play on the dvd remote. Did that just happen? I get up and walk into the kitchen. I open the squirrel. It’s empty. I walk back to the couch and sit down. I finish watching my movie.