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BY THAT EVENING IT was raining so hard it would have been dangerous for Emma to drive home, even if she had been sober. I set her up on the living room couch with a blanket and pillow. She was out by nine. It took me a little longer to get to sleep. People describe the sound of rain falling on a metal roof as “restful.” Which, sure, if you like the sound of someone pouring buckshot into a metal garbage can right over your head.
The next morning I thought at first I had gotten up early. But I hadn’t. It just seemed dark because of the dense cloud cover.
I walked out to the kitchen and brewed myself a cup of coffee. Emma was fast asleep on the couch, unbothered by the rumbling of the coffee maker. I took my cup out to the lanai and watched sheets of rain sweep across the cemetery behind my house.
I saw something move out on the lawn. A big red-and-white golf umbrella propelled by a scurrying little pair of legs. My neighbor Mr. Henriques was heading my way.
I ran around to the front door and headed him off before he could knock and wake up everyone in the house. But then I remembered Donnie and the baby were on the mainland and the only person inside was Emma.
Mr. Henriques shook out his umbrella, spattering both of us. He apologized and set it down on the porch. I invited him inside and tried to jostle Emma awake, but she muttered something and pulled a pillow over her head.
“Would you like a cup of coffee, Mr. Henriques?” I asked.
“Do you have orange juice?”
“No, I’m afraid I still don’t.”
“Coffee’s okay then.”
I brewed him a cup, and a second cup for me, and set out the cream and sugar on the dining table.
“Sorry to bother you again,” he said as he got seated. “Thanks for the coffee, ah? I thought I should tell you right away.”
Mr. Henriques dumped the entire contents of the cream carton into his coffee cup, leaving me to drink mine black.
“So, Mr. Henriques, what is it you have to tell me? It must be important to come out in this weather.” I sipped and tried not to wrinkle my nose. Mizuno Mart house brand coffee without any cream in it tastes like paving tar.
“There’s no one in the house,” said Mr. Henriques.
“I don’t understand. You and I are sitting right here, and Emma is over there on the couch. Wait. You don’t mean...”
“Mr. Henriques looked embarrassed.
“My renters’ house? Were you spying on Jandie and her husband?”
“Nah, nah, not spying. I saw the jalousies was open. The rainwater was going to get in an’ cause damage.”
“Oh. Well that seems reasonable, I guess.”
“I went over an’ knocked and no one answered. I wanted to make sure everything was ok. I know you said stay away from ‘em, only I suspected something was wrong. I was worried about their safety.”
“Do I smell coffee?” I heard Emma ask from the couch. “Eh, howzit, Mr. Henriques.”
“Mr. Henriques was just telling me he saw the windows open on the rental unit,” I said. “And when he knocked, no one answered.”
“I’m listening. I’m gonna make myself some coffee.” Emma ambled into the kitchen.
“So what happened then?” I asked.
“Well I went inside to see what was going on.”
“Okay. I think that’s technically breaking and entering. So what did you find? A dead body or something?”
“No.” He fidgeted. “Nobody there, the house was empty. They was gone.”
“Gone like empty? Like they’d packed up and left?”
“No, the furniture and everything was there.”
“So you broke into the rental unit when the occupants were away.”
Mr. Henriques concentrated very hard on sipping his creamy coffee.
“I’m glad you’re being honest with me, Mr. Henriques, but do you understand why it was a bad idea to go inside? What if someone had been inside and thought you were a burglar? You could’ve gotten shot.”
Emma brought her coffee over and sat down at the table with us. She picked up the cream carton, shook it, and put it back down. She sighed and spooned four heaping spoonsful of sugar into her cup.
“You see any broken windows?” Emma asked. “Blood spatters anywhere?”
“No,” I said before he could answer. “They just happened to be out. Let’s hope they don’t notice and please, Mr. Henriques, never go into their house unless they specifically invite you.”
“But where’d they go? They shouldn’t be out in this weather,” he objected.
“You were out in this weather,” I said testily. “You walked over here.”
“But they left the windows open,” he said.
“Good for you, Mr. Henriques,” Emma said. “You stopped the rain from coming in and now Molly and Donnie don’t have to pay to fix water damage.”
“I appreciate your good intentions,” I said. “Next time you see something amiss, please just knock. If they don’t answer, come here and let Donnie or me know. We’ll figure out what to do.”
“A lot of people have guns, you know,” Emma said. “You coulda been shot.”
“I already told him that, Emma.”
His eyes widened.
“Do you think Jandie would shoot me?”
“Nah, I can’t see Jandie shooting anyone,” Emma said. “But the husband might, you know.”
“Eh, when I was inside, I saw they got da kine, a big saltwater aquarium.”
“They what?” I said.
“I got one aquarium too, you know,” Mr. Henriques said. “Small kine. Eh, I just caught a couple snowflake eel down at the tidepools. Maybe I could give ‘em one.”
“Did you see any water damage?” I asked.
Emma reached over and shoved my shoulder. “Who cares about water damage, Molly? You get Jandie Brand staying at your house.”
“Yes I do. Jandie Brand and her saltwater aquarium.”
I watched Mr. Henriques tip his cup back to finish the last drop of his cream-with-coffee.
“Thank you so much for this, Mrs. Gonsalves.” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“No problem,” I said. “Always a pleasure.”
“Cream in my coffee is a real treat for me.”
“I know. I like it too.”
“I don’t get to enjoy it much. I’m on a fixed income, you know.”
“Oh.” Well, that made me feel bad. “Um, look, Mr. Henriques, when we closed down the Drive-Inn to do the renovations? We had to bring home a lot of food. More than we could possibly eat. Could I get you to take home a tray or two? It’s frozen, so it’ll last.”
“Oh, I don’t know, Mrs. Gonsalves...”
“Please. It’s just taking up room in the freezer. You’d be doing me a favor.”
Emma and I stood on the porch and watched Mr. Henriques make his way back to his house. In one hand he held his giant golf umbrella. In the other he clutched a Mizuno Mart shopping tote containing foil trays of chow mein and chicken katsu. One protein and one vegetable.
“It is kind of weird for Jandie and her husband to be out when the weather’s like this,” Emma said.
“Maybe they were spending time with friends, and they got stuck and had to stay overnight. Just like you did,” I said.
“Sure,” Emma said. “Maybe.”