Nate watched Becky as a freshman in high school.  Little Miss Popular, or Limp as he referred to her.  With long flowing blonde hair, athletic build, and top of her class in academics, had everything going for her.  Although she never appeared to have a boyfriend, it wasn’t from lack of attention.  He was her polar opposite.  His brooding manner had made him an outcast.  While strong from good genetics and doing odd jobs around the neighborhood, he would not consider himself athletic.  And as for academics, he would never know his potential as he found school to be a necessary evil that he would leave behind as soon as he was of age.  Something about Becky made his blood fill with excitement.  It wasn’t lust…He wanted to simply take away all the things she had that he didn’t.  “Then she wouldn’t be so confident and popular” ran through Nate’s mind as he watched from a distance.

Having grew up in the neighborhood, many of the families had tried to help Nate and his mom over the years.  He had never known is father and his mom had made ends meet by working two jobs.  That left him alone for much of the time.  Up until the age of 12, families would let him make make money by house watching or caring for animals while they vacationed.  Each time, the family would leave a key and instructions on picking up the paper off the front porch, how much food needed to be given, and various other minor duties to justify paying for his services.  And each time, he would go down to the local hardware store and have a duplicate key made for his collection.

Then at the age of 12, things changed.  The Walker’s, just three houses down the street, had proudly purchased a new radio.  Nate’s mom had a radio, but it was small and crackled when ever the volume was turned up much above normal speaking levels.  And it was a relic when compared to the Walker’s unit.  Overcome by curiosity, Nate had skipped school and pulled the Walker’s key from his collection to enter the backdoor of their home.  Once inside, he had made his way into the front room and found the radio sitting near the fireplace before stuffing the key into the side of his shoe.  Clicking the round know to the “on” position, the dial glowed a tinge of green with a small red light glowed verifying that power was indeed on.  Turning up the volume, crisp voices could be heard coming from the front speaker.  Nate, with excitement, turned up the volume even more.  Then came the booming voice of Mr. Walker “What in the hell are you doing in my house Nate?”  Jumping in terror, Nate whipped around to watch the large man walking down the stairs in his bathrobe.  Coughing from a cold that had kept him home for the day, Mr. Walker repeated “Nate…I asked you a question.  What are you doing in my house?”  Too scared to talk, Nate just continued to back away from the adult as he walked into the living room.  Finally finding his voice, Nate said “I…I…wanted to see the radio.  The back door was open and I…I didn’t think anyone was home.”  With a grimace, Mr. Walker demanded “Nate, empty your pockets.  NOW!!!”  Filled with terror of what may happen, Nate stuck his hands into his pocket, grabbing the inside lining, and pulled so they would be inside out.  A small worn pocket knife clattered onto the hardwood floor along with five pennies.  Surprised at not seeing a key, Mr. Walker murmured “I was sure that door was locked.  Alright Nate.  Grab your stuff and get the hell out of here.  Don’t ever come in my home uninvited again.  You understand me BOY!”  Shaking his head vigorously, Nate picked up his knife and coins and ran out the back door.  Word traveled fast within the neighborhood and Nate was never asked to check on houses again.

Five years later, Nate had become a hermit, rarely seen outside of his home.  His mother had given up trying to force him to attend school.  Working two jobs, she rarely saw Nate as he would make sure and be in his room with the door locked when she was home.  If it hadn’t been the exhaustion from her grueling schedule, she would have pushed for him to at least have lunch with her before heading to her second job at the dinner.  This second job went from 2pm to 11pm at night and left alone in the evenings.  For now, she would make sure food was in the cupboards and left overs were labeled with his name for whenever he decided he wanted to eat.

Watching out the window in the early evening hours, Nate did a double take when he saw Becky walking down the street.  Having been a year since he had attended school, he had missed watching her from a distance.  She had so much and he had so little.  How he wanted to give her a taste of his world.

Becky walked down the sidewalk and turned to walk up to the Bishop’s, which lived right next door to Nate.  Mr. and Mrs Bishop had two children, Maggie age 5 and Wyatt age 3.  Hiding behind a partially closed drape over a side window, Nate watched as Becky first rang the doorbell, then walked inside with a confident smile on her face after Mrs. Bishop opened the door.  Nate waited and watched.  Thirty minutes later, Mr. and Mrs. Bishop left their home, backing out of the driveway before turning left and heading toward town.  “Babysitting” are mouthed by silent lips as his mind begins to race.

Making sure all the lights are off in his home, he decides to wait and watch.  What will he do next?

Darkness has taken over the neighborhood.  Nate continues to watch the home as movement catches his eye.  The Bishop’s had remodeled the kitchen area last year, which included adding two large windows, one for a seating area and the other over the sink to allow “more wonderful sunshine into my world” Mrs Bishop had told his mother.  These windows also allowed Nate the privilege of watching Mrs Bishop from a distance.  Toward the rear of the house, he sees Becky walk into the kitchen.  Behind her, Maggie follows wearing pink pajamas and carrying a brown stuffed bear.  Opening up a large jar on the counter, Becky takes out two large cookies and puts them on a plate.  Then she grabs a glass and fills it with milk from the refrigerator.  Becky and Maggie then sit down at a small table to enjoy their evening snack.

Watching intently, Nate notices a phone hanging on the wall on the opposite side of the kitchen.  Then a thought crosses his mind.  Getting up and moving quickly in the unlit room, he grabs the address book and carefully makes his way into the bathroom.  Closing the door and turning on the light, he flips open the book and scans down until he finds his prize.  Reciting it to himself a few times, he turns off the light before opening the door and heading back into the living room, he grabs the phone receiver and places it to his ear and begins to dial.  Looking back, Becky and Maggie are still sitting there, talking about something.  Nate’s pulse rate is racing in anticipation.  Then Becky turns and looks at the ringing phone.  Looking back at Maggie, she gives a shrug and a smile before getting up and walking over to the ringing phone.  Picking up the receiver, Nate hears joyful “Bishop Residence….Hello?”  Nate, caught up in the exhilaration of hearing Becky’s voice can only breath heavy as he doesn’t know what to say. 
After a couple seconds, she continues with “Who is this?”.  The voice is no longer full of happiness, but sounds uneasy.  Then Nate hears a click and he looks back toward the Bishop’s kitchen.  Becky is standing with her hand still on the hung up receiver, just staring at the phone.  She takes a step back and then turns to the Bishop daughter and offers a shrug before returning to her chair.

Just as she sits down, Nate dials the number again.  Confident that he would say “Hi, My name is Nate.”, he watches as the two females look over at the ringing telephone once again.  Watching Becky slowly stand and walk over to the phone, she hesitates and appears to be simply staring at the phone.  Then she answers “Hello?”  Nate once again is speechless.  All those times he had watched her from a distance, he had never heard her voice.  Swallowing, he just starts to introduce when she blurts out “LISTEN YOU PSYCHO.  GET YOUR KICK’S ANOTHER WAY!”.  Hearing a click of a dead line, Nate doesn’t move a muscle.  Then he slowly replaces the receiver and turns to see the two females walking out of the kitchen and into another part of the house.

Nate could feel the anger building.  She was just like everyone else he had dealt with in school and in life.  He just wanted to talk with her.  But no, she had to insult him with her condescending attitude.  Fuming, Nate picked up the phone again and dialed.  Several seconds go by and he see’s Becky’s reappear at the entrance to the kitchen.  She just stands and watches as the phone continues to ring.  Nate’s heart is still racing and he is now breathing heavy as he fights to control his emotions.  And the phone continues to ring.  Nate has all the time in the world as he watches a petrified Becky in the distance.  After several more rings, he sees her move closer to the phone, but still does not reach for the receiver.  Then as if picking up a fragile glass, she picks the receiver up and holds it to her head and says “Hello?” In a trembling voice.  Fueled by anger, Nate blurted out “BITCH” before hanging up the phone.  Nate watched as Becky slammed the receiver down and took a step back from the phone while bringing her hands up and covering her mouth.  Then she turned and quickly left the kitchen turning off the light as she walked through the doorway.