to Simon

To Simon

Looking over the Chesterfield and Lincoln town square is an old brownstone apartment. This fourth floor apartment and its tenant has remained a neighborhood mystery for fifteen years, and a subject of town gossip. No one has ever seen the person who lives in apartment 404. Mrs. Timins, the manager of the building receives the rent regularly and on time each month in the mail. Mrs. Timins, a widow and retired sea food processor claims that she's never had a reason to disturb her perfect tenant as she claims.
"As long as they pay their rent I've no reason to bother them. And they never complain!" Said the old lady to a visiting friend.
Curiously, the living room window is always open at night and closed during the day. "It must be a lovely view of Biscane Bay in the distance from up there. Perhaps that's why the window is always open." The town's people would say.
At night the lights are rarely on, and so whenever they are on it attracts the attention of everyone below. Rumor has it that an old man comes to visit the apartment and that it reminds him of the family that once lived here. It's almost like a sacred ritual and it spooks the residents of the brownstone. Some have claimed to see the man arrive early in the morning and leave before sunrise while everyone is still asleep.
There were once reporters here to do a story on the strange apartment, but they did not find a clue as to who the mystery tenant is nor were they able to find the owner of the old four-story brownstone. So, without much of a lead the trail got cold and they finally gave up.
Renting out the adjacent rooms has often been difficult for Mrs. Timins. No one wants to rent an apartment near number 404. They've all heard the story. If it weren't for all the stories, Mrs. Timins has her hand full with stopping the neighborhood children from playing their game called Chicken's run. It is a special game whereby; a kid knocks on the door of apartment 404 and waits two minutes. If they run before time is up they are called Chicken Run. It's a neighborhood favorite and the winner gets bragging rights.
Apartment 404 is like the other apartments in this old brownstone. It has a bathroom, two bedrooms, a kitchen, and one of the largest living rooms. Similar in all respects except that there is one peculiar characteristic that sets it apart from the others. There is only one room furnished in apartment 404. In the center of the living room is an old couch that rolls out into a double bed. There is a brown left handed Catcher's Mitt resting on a table atop a knitted cotton doily. The table is conspicuously seated between two walls, cata-cornered I should say. The name Huggybear is scratched into the leather of the mitt near the thumb. Its leather now worn with age and showing signs of ancient use appears to represent a symbol of days gone by, perhaps a memory of a favorite baseball player or some sort of shrine. Above the table hanging on the wall is a picture of a young boy in his teens kneeling and dressed in full baseball gear? He is smiling and looks happy. His boyish smile below his baseball cap with the Jaybird insignia is mounted in an old hardwood frame. They don't make this kind of frame anymore, and besides someone took special care and attention to have particular details crafted into the wood. Perhaps, the strangest thing is the absence of other hanging pictures in the apartment. There is evidence that there once were pictures. The outlines of the frames are still on the walls. There is linen in the closet. Enough for one person and for one bed change. A gas range left unused, a refrigerator without food and a neat placing for two at the dinning table. A book titled Captains Courageous written in Braille lay open at one of the sitting. Underneath the kitchen sink is a dish drying cloth neatly folded and placed on a shelf. The liquid dish washing detergent is still full. In the smaller bedroom is a pair of baseball cleats neatly positioned on the floor of the closet. The baseball cleats resemble the pair worn by the young boy in the picture. The shoes are joined together by string and a red bow as if presented as a gift. Inside one of the shoes is a slightly yellowed piece of folded paper inconspicuously hidden. Above on a shelf within the closet is a birthday card. It is surprisingly dated with yesterday's date.
The following words are written on the letter inside the shoes. "Thanks Daddy for the new shoes, there real swell. But, this world of darkness is too much to bear. I know that losing my eyesight was an accident. It's just that I miss playing the game, and watching the sails in the bay. I am sorry for being so selfish. Please forgive me-Simon."
The words written on the Birthday card read, "Dearest son, I will always love you. Happy Birthday your father."
It was Simon's birthday. He would have been twenty eight years of age.