I remember sweet little Samantha. We had matching outfits from the American Girls catalogue. I wanted to be just like Samantha because she could be whoever she wanted to be. Sometimes a nurse, sometimes a schoolteacher, but my favorite outfit was Samantha as a magician. She could make bunnies appear from hats, or ribbons change color, and she always wore that chic pin-stripped suit. I asked mom to buy me the same suit once, but she didn’t think it was a useful purchase. I learned a lot from Samantha, but knew, with time, that I would surpass her.
It all started with Brenda Colms. She was the neighbor on Hillside Rd that everyone talked about. On my street, everyone’s grass was properly trimmed; everyone planted a fresh crop of tulips each spring; their mailbox’s lined up in a perfectly horizontal line down the block, all with matching lettering displaying the owners name. It was difficult to distinguish the houses, when they all stood as if mirror images of one another.
Brenda Colms, daughter of Mindy Colms, rarely noticed the absolute perfection of her own town. Perhaps from the tinted windows in her bedroom she saw these things, but one would ever know. Everyone knew she was a little odd, but never dared question Mindy, who was such a loving mother. Mindy herself never reacted to her daughter’s strange habits; only smiled and pretended as if her family were just like any others. The father had died in a freak car accident when Brenda was only a baby, leaving Mindy alone with their child to raise her.
I often saw the neighbors stare through their windows like scared vultures, waiting to feed on her as town gossip, yet locking their doors as she walked down the street everyday after school. They only spoke of the girl when they knew, or least thought, no one was listening. When I asked mom what was wrong with Brenda, she told me Brenda was just different, but that I was to never go near her. She told me she loved me, and that I wasn’t to talk to strangers. She was quite a bit older than me – an early teen at the time – but she would be no stranger.
As every other child on Hillside Rd did, I attended Baymont Elementary School. Mom used to walk me to and from school, always carrying my red Dorthy lunch box under her arm. I didn’t even like the Wizard of Oz, except for the parts when the Wizard would magically send Dorthy home. What I really wanted was the spider-man tin lunchbox that my friend Johnny had, but I was a girl and mom told me girls didn’t have those types of lunchboxes and people would ask questions. I thought about how everyone wanted to ask Brenda Colm’s mom questions.
One day as I walked home, I was in my third year now at Baymont, I saw Brenda sitting outside on her porch. Brenda never ventured far from home, and I found myself staring at the neighborhood outcast. Then she was all of the sudden speaking to me.
“Hey, little girl. What’s your name?”
I could tell she had been waiting for me and I couldn’t resist my burning curiosity to speak to the mysterious girl. I walked, mesmerized to her front door, and told her my name. The house appeared very similar to my own. Although, I didn’t have much time to scan it because we went straight to Brenda’s room.
“Brenda, why is there a large box in the middle of your room? And the windows are all black…hey, I have that same magic eight ball in my room!”
“Well, I was going to show you a magic trick. Wanna see it?”
I had never seen a real magic trick performed, only pretend one’s with Samantha. She was obviously a master, especially to a seven-year-old, because she had all these sorts of gadgets that I had never seen before. She had chains, and magnets, and lots of ropes hanging from the ceiling of different sizes. Books flooded the floor for each of her expertise. My eye was caught by a flicker of the suns reflection sparking through her collection of knives.
“Yea. Yea, I really wanna see a magic trick!”
She pulled some pranks with a deck of cards, and made my quarter disappear and she told me if I wanted to see more I would have to come back tomorrow. I couldn’t wait to get home and tell Samantha about my new friend.
As I was leaving her room, I noticed a large telescope peering out her window. It was looking directly at my house, at my room, and I asked her if that was used in a magic trick.
“No, silly. I use that to watch you. See, if you look through it you can see right into your bedroom. Isn’t that amazing? I bet Samantha would think that was amazing…”
“You know Samantha!”
She was perfect. I couldn’t wait to go back tomorrow. That night, as I lay awake in my bed, holding Samantha tight to my chest, I smiled knowing Brenda was watching me through her telescope, waiting for me to fall asleep.
For the next few weeks, I hurried home from school everyday to go meet Brenda, who would always be patiently waiting for my arrival outside her home. I knew Mrs. Branson and Mrs. Shinfield saw these daily faux pas, but I also knew in my neighborhood, no one spoke of these things - at least not in public. I could rest assured mom would never catch on.
The metal box sat there, everyday in the middle of her room, and she never used it. I sometimes peered into the device through the small air holes on the outside when Brenda left the room, but all I could see was darkness. I couldn’t even see the other end of the box, and thought perhaps it was a trick. Once, I reached into the box to find the other side, and just as I was feeling around, Brenda walked into the room and said calmly, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Never know if your arm will come out again…”
I stared at her with my wide blue eyes, and slowly drew my hand from the large metal box as if entranced. I didn’t fear Brenda -- I admired her.
“What’s in it?” My voice was small, almost guilty.
“You’ll see. Don’t you worry. I think it’s time you went home, we can’t have your mother becoming suspicious of your little visits, now can we…”
“No, no we can’t.” I paused for a moment expecting myself to leave, but then added, “You know people look at you. They think you’re weird.”
“Do you think I’m weird?” She turned her head urgently and peered at me through the corners of her eyes, hungry for my response.
“I don’t think you’re weird. I like you…so does Samantha. She told me so. Do you have any friends, like in high school?”
“I don’t need any friends. I have you.”
“Oh, ok. Well, I better get going. Tomorrow is show and tell day at school and I’m bringing Samantha in with her magician outfit on.”
“Why don’t you bring Samantha with you to my house tomorrow. My mother is leaving for out of town, and it might be nice to have the house to ourselves. Plus, I have a magnificent surprise in store and I don’t want her to miss it.”
“Ok! See you tomorrow.”
Tomorrow took forever. After a dreamless sleep, I told mom I would be staying late after school, working on a science project with Johnny. Mom liked Johnny and I knew it was a good excuse. I would need all the time I could possibly have with Brenda.
I heard the click of the clock strike 3:10 and I rushed out of school, running all the way down Hillside Rd to meet Brenda. She wasn’t waiting outside. Where was she? I didn’t know what to do, and my mind ran with ideas. Maybe she had left Samantha, and me and didn’t want to be our friend anymore. I remembered there being a spare key on the porch. As I approached the door, I saw that it was already slightly cracked open. Without hesitation, I pushed open the door and stepped into her house. It was so quiet. I had never really looked around the place before because whenever I came over, we always went straight to her room. The place was clean, flowers bloomed out of antique vases, pictures hung of the former family when Brenda was just a baby, and I saw her smiling – her crooked teeth drew my attention. I saw no resemblance between the two girls. As I studied the various pictures, I noticed only childhood photos of the family, nothing taken within the past 10 years or so.
“I don’t photograph well.” Brenda stood watching me at the bottom of her stairwell.
“Brenda! Don’t scare me like that!” I could feel the sweat from my hands seeping into Samantha’s mound of perfectly combed hair. I had done it special for today.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Well, why don’t we be going upstairs now? No need to look at these old photos. In fact, I thought I told my mother to take those down…”
She went straight over to the mantle and turned each one over.
“There, that’s better. Shall we?”
She led the way to her room, but I didn’t follow. I knew the exact turns of her house once we got upstairs, and entered her room with confidence. I was more concerned for Samantha. She had never been outside our house, and I worried she was scared.
“Brenda, are you going to show me what’s in that box today! Oh, Samantha and I were so excited to come see you; I just couldn’t wait.”
“Well, I’m so happy you both could make it. Today is a very special day indeed. Exactly one year ago from today I started working on a magnificent magic trick.
“Ohh! What sort of magic trick!”
“You are going to be the first to see it. It is a masterpiece and I’ve been waiting until the right moment, until you were ready, to show you.”
She swiftly pulled off a large drape covering the metal box, just as any other magician would do and the show began.
“Will other people be coming too?” I’m not sure why I asked this because I knew the answer. I guess I just wanted to hear it; make myself feel god that I was her only friend – her best friend.
“Only you and Samantha.” She looked over to the window as she responded and then added. “Remember that first day you came over and you asked me about my windows and why they are black? I tinted my windows a couple of years ago when I started doing my more dangerous magic tricks, you know so the neighbors wouldn’t see. It makes me feel powerful, just as the telescope does. I can see you. You can’t see me…” I couldn’t tell if she was speaking to me or to the window.
“Well, anyway. Don’t worry about anyone seeing what happens here today. Only this room, and the things in it will ever know. Now, it’s time you see this trick. This is no ordinary box. In order to complete this task I am going to need a member of the audience for assistance.”
I found myself saying “pick me, pick me!” and waving my hand in the air convulsively. It wasn’t like she was going to pick anyone else...
“Yes Elizabeth, come right up. The trick is simple. You remember where I store my sharp knives now don’t you?”
“Yes of course!”
“Now listen carefully. I am going to go inside this box, and you will stick all the knives you can possibly fit through these front holes. You are not allowed to stick more than one knife through each hole. After you count to 5, I will magically reappear from the box. Do you understand?”
“Yes yes! I understand.”
“Ok, you must remember to count to 5 though. This is the most important part of the act, and it will not work unless you do so. Can I trust you to remember that?”
“You can trust me.”
“Alright then. See you on the other side…and don’t you or Samantha get scared if you here me scream. It’s all just part of the magic.”
Brenda slid smoothly inside the dark box. Her face smiled at me for the first time, and the picture of her as a child suddenly flashed through my mind. I stuck the first knife in right through the center, and, with some difficulty and resistance, finally got it pushed in all the way. I forced the second one in with some strength, so I wouldn’t have to feel the blade of the knife cutting through anything. After the fourth and firth ones went in, I decided I had done enough. Brenda hadn’t made a noise.
“One-mississippi, two-mississippi, three-mississippi…”
I didn’t even need to count to 5 before I saw a pool of blood forming around the base of the box. It was flowing and it wouldn’t stop. It slowly formed a pool around my feet, and then the carpet, and then the cracks of the floor flooded and I heard the dripping getting faster and faster. I opened the top of the box and saw Brenda sitting there just as she entered, still smiling at me. Her face was perfect – beautiful. The maze of knives through her body seemed endless. All I saw was blood, and it wasn’t stopping.
I walked down Hillside Rd that day and didn’t notice one perfect thing. All I saw were the blood stained prints on the ground as I walked from Brenda’s house to mine. They were real dark at first, but became fainter with each step. I went home and didn’t talk to anyone - not even Samantha.
I waited until it was nice and dark outside, until most of the neighborhood was asleep, to open my windows. I breathed in a lung full of air, air that held Brenda inside it. The stench from her deceased body easily carried over to my room. It was full of Brenda – still fresh and everything. I stayed there until the morning, and upon sunrise, I closed my windows and decided it was probably about time I bought some tinted windows for my own room. You know, so the neighbors wouldn’t see.