Familiarity

An old man walked onto the doorstep and rang the doorbell. A man with brown eyes, black hair and an age that ranged from mid-thirties to early-forties answered the door. The man and the old man walked a ways before arriving to a slab of cement with four columns jutting from it; a word was not spoken until they arrived.

“I appreciate the help. I’ve been trying to finish this for a week,” spoke the old man.

The younger man turned to meet the gaze of the old man’s dimming blue eyes.

“Sure, maybe this will help me get my mind off of my daughter.”

“Nine, right? How long has she been missing?”

“Eight. Seven days.”

“Shame, maybe she’ll show up soon.” It was after this conversation had concluded that the younger man noticed a pungent odor that seemed to be coming from the cement slab.

“What is that smell?” he asked.

“Strong and nasty, isn’t it? The cement mix had quite a smell; I believe I used a bit too much. The smell should disappear in time,” he replied casually.

The two men worked without exchanging anymore words, they parted ways at dusk, and they would meet in the same fashion and follow the same routine until the shed was finished four days later. Upon the shed’s completion, the two went to the old man’s house for dinner, the young man sat at the mahogany table as instructed by the old man and waited patiently as the old man fired up the stove and fetched him a drink.

“What’s for dinner anyway,” asked the younger man.

“Something very special,” he replied emphasizing the word special.

The man took a drink of his root beer, it tasted out of date, but he kept on drinking due to his thirst, thinking about his daughter all the while. The old man walked back into the dining room and found the younger man passed out, he smiled. The basement door opened and light shone in for the first time all day. The old man placed a plate at the top of the stairs and looked down at the eight year old girl at the bottom.

“I miss daddy,” she said softly from the bottom of the basement.

“He might be closer than you think,” replied the old man with a smile and a quick glance toward the plate.

The girl cautiously ascended the steps and grabbed the plate. The old man watched with fascination as the girl dove into her meal face first. He was taking care of her now, but hopefully she would come to take care of him when he progressed to the point of not being able to function by himself.

He'd always wanted a daughter and now he had one. After the girl had finished her meal she handed the plate back to him.

"Do you know what that was, Sweety," he asked knowing full well that she did not.

"No."

"That was your old daddy. I had to get rid of him so that I could be your daddy. I decided to get rid of him in a way that he'd always be with you."

The little girl began to sob as she came to realize the gravity of what had transpired. The old man shut the basement door and locked it, leaving her alone in the dark.