Mr. Patterson

Everyone in the neighbor loved Mr. Patterson,

We all thought he was a such a nice man.

Of course no one knew who he really was,

We didn’t know who the women were who visited him every weekend.

But there were rumors. There were always rumors.

When I was a little boy and I was playing with my friends outside we would see Mr. Patterson arrive home at around 5pm.

This was during the week and we all assumed he was just coming home after a day’s work.

On the weekends he would be out washing his car or mowing the lawn or watering it.

He had a wife and kid back then and when the wife died and we found out when the ambulance came and they took her away on a stretcher.

Someone said the son’s name was Eddie but then again it could’ve been Timmy.

The last time any of us saw the son he was standing outside his home and Mr. Patterson was shaking his hand.

He was wearing his Marine uniform and we all thought he was going off to war.

No none ever saw him again after that.

Did he die in Vietnam or did he come home become a ski instructor in the San Bernardino mountains like some say.

We just don’t know.

All these years later and my old neighborhood has become a memory to me.

Old friends tell me that Mr. Patterson is still around.

They tell me about the women who visit the old man.

We all ask if these women are lovers and apparently they are.

We then ask if Mr. Patterson pays for the services of these women.

My old friends don’t know.

But assumptions are made.