Later that night, with my lights out, I spied out on Dr. Wilson’s yard, hiding myself with the blind down. The lawn was black, the overhanging trees were black, the garage, like Dr. Wilson’s house, was all rough, rustic-style dark planking with white trim. There was one window in the garage on this side, and it was dark, but suddenly I knew they were in there, wearing their Medusa mask. There was something darker in the window, with two pale spots on it. It could have been the mask, sitting on a shelf, or it could have been them, sitting perfectly still. There was no sound but the overlapped pulses of crickets at first. Then I heard a coyote yipping into the sky somewhere up on the ridge. He kept yipping out into the night. I waited to hear if any others joined in. None did. So, that was me, peering around the shade into Dr. Wilson’s indigo yard, seeing Medusa mask sitting motionless at the window of the darkened garage, hearing that coyote’s unanswered, shrill cries waver up in the neutral wash of cricket static.

I saw them nearly every day after that, always doing something around Dr. Wilson’s place, in plain view. Everyone was used to Medusa mask but me. My Aunt Gabrielle recruited me to help her prepare what she called a “wing ding” so I tidied up and dusted her figurines and went to get supplies at the store with Mrs. Figiel and her son Dominic who only wanted to talk about metal. I saw the people stocking shelves at the store and stomping back to the inventory to get more, and people clearing brush along the side of the road in the blazing heat and orange vests and helmets, and guys in oily coveralls slapping their hands together and smoking out in front of the auto body shop, and I saw the Halloween store, somehow still open in the middle of summer. The “wing ding” happened, and all sorts of neighbors came to eat my Aunt’s chicken wings from paper plates. Dr. Wilson showed up to say hi and apologize.

“My son threw his back out doing some yard work the other day, and I wanted to go check in on him. I’m sure it’s nothing serious, but he’s all alone out there while Lily’s back east. She’s a tax adjuster.”

He looked at me.

“Fascinating job. I could tell you about it some time.”

“Sure,” I said.

He left. All the hobnobbing was getting me down, so I went back to my room. Shades down. I peeked around them. Medusa mask was bent over the car, with a toolbox open next to them. I began to wonder if I was strange for caring. Nobody else paid any mind. Why did this bother me so much?