People Who Knock on the Door Read Online Free PDF

causing a couple of dogs to bark in people’s backyards. He trotted around the curve into his own street, West Maple, then slowed to a walk. He could see the dim glow that meant the living room light was on in his house. Norma Keer’s light was on next door, behind her living room curtains. Norma was always up late, reading or watching TV. Arthur went softly up her front steps and knocked with two slow raps.
    “Who’s there?” called Norma.
    “Burglar.”
    Norma unlocked the door, smiling broadly. “Come in, Arthur!—My, you look nice. Where’ve you been?”
    “Out on a date.” Arthur walked into her living room, where the TV was on with no sound, and a book lay open on the sofa under a standing lamp.
    “What’s your news?—Would you like a drink?” Norma was in stockinged feet as usual.
    “Um-m—maybe. Gin and tonic?”
    “Sure thing. Come with me.”
    They went to her kitchen at the back of the house, and Arthur freshened Norma’s drink and made one for himself. Norma watched him, looking pleased by his company. She pushed her fingers through her thin, orangy-colored hair, which was short and stood out around her head like a vague halo in certain lights or like the idea of hair instead of hair. She was dumpy and shapeless, perhaps one of the least attractive women Arthur had ever seen, but he liked to be with her, to answer her questions about school and family life. Norma’s dinner dishes lay unwashed in the sink.
    “I’m so pleased Robbie’s home again,” Norma said, “leading the life of Riley, I gather, after his ordeal.”
    “Ah, yes.” Arthur relaxed in an armchair. I’ve met a wonderful girl , Arthur wanted to say. Norma would listen with interest while he told her about Maggie, all except that they had been to bed together once. “And Dad—has found God. Did he tell you?”
    “Wha-at? Well—he did say something. I forgot. What does he say?”
    “Well, he’s thankful Robbie pulled through, and Dad thinks it’s because he prayed. He’s reborn.”
    “Oh. You mean Richard says he’s born-again. Town’s full of ’em. They don’t do any harm. Very honest people as a rule. Hah!” Norma gave one of her slightly out-of-place laughs.
    “So,” Arthur continued, “there’s a new law in the land next door. Church every Sunday and a grace before dinner every night. We have to thank the Lord for our bread.” Arthur smiled, realizing that bread meant money, too.
    Norma tucked her feet up on the sofa with a whisking sound. “What’s your mother say?”
    “Puts up with it to keep the peace.” But would she rebel about church every Sunday, when she needed her free time for paper work for the Home, and wasn’t that doing God’s work, too?
    Norma took a delicate sip of her gin and tonic. “Does Richard want to make born-agains out of you and Robbie?”
    “I’m sure he’d like to.”
    “I heard you have to have a personal experience for that, like a revelation.—Well, honestly, as boys go—I think your father should be pleased with you compared to some of the kids I hear about, wrecking cars right and left, on drugs and dropping out of school.”
    Arthur took no comfort from that. He felt vaguely uneasy, and glanced at his wristwatch.
    “Not late for me, but maybe for you.”
    “No. Got an English exam tomorrow, but in the afternoon, thank goodness, so I can sleep late if I want to.”
    Norma’s bulging eyes explored the corners of the room thoughtfully, as if looking for something. Arthur was reminded of fortune-tellers’ eyes gazing into crystal balls in cartoons. He had a sudden and unpleasant thought: Would his father try to block his going to Columbia, somehow? Was his father jealous of him because of Maggie? Crazy thought, since Arthur was not sure his father would know Maggie if he saw her, but his father knew of the family.
    “News from your grandmother?” Norma asked.
    “Oh—yes. She’ll come for a visit this summer. I’m pretty sure.” Arthur’s maternal