I am peeking out between the slats of my window blinds. When I am doing this, I make absolutely sure that I’m not seen during the day or night. Something strange is going on across the street, and it keeps going through my mind as to what it might be.

There, straight from my house, is a modest, white house. It’s different from the other homes in my neighborhood. Unlike the other colorful, friendly homes, it gives out a cold, vacant feel with its windows always dark, its old gray shades always pulled closed. Its front yard stays unkempt with dead grass and weeds, and a big pile of stones. Sitting in the yard is an empty window planter. And, there’s a metal bench that no one ever sits on.

This is a friendly neighborhood. People walking their dogs stop and chat, kids skip along and wave. It’s rare when a car or truck drives by, so it’s a pretty quiet street.

As I go through the day, I find that my fascination with the scene across the street pulls me back to checking out best I can what is going on there at that house. Several times during the day a white van will pull up and carefully back into that driveway. The driver will get out, look over my way, and quickly disappear to the back of the truck. Unable to see the back of the van, I get glimpses of big boxes being carried to the side door of the house. After some time, the driver gets back into the van and drives away. Within two or three hours (I keep track) another van will drive up to the house and unload something. In all, three identical vans will come and go. These aren’t just ordinary vans. They are top-of-the-line, new vans. Expensive, too. They are Mercedes!

What could it be? It seems to be a huge operation of some sort.

The drivers are nice looking guys in their 30s or 40s, dressed in neat work clothes. Their haircuts are short, crewcuts. Sometimes I am able to detect a foreign language when they rarely speak to one another. They keep looking over here…..at me, for sure!

Can’t help wondering. Maybe they are storing, then delivering, big rubber rafts to rent to people for river rafting.

Maybe it’s a food catering business.

Or……….it could be that they’re a delivery service for Covid masks…or toilet paper?

It’s a habit, this peeking out every time I walk by the window. When I’m outside, I’ll crane my neck to look, trying not to be obvious. There are times when I can’t help but hide behind the bushes to get a better look at what is going on.

Sometimes, a neighbor stands, just watching, as the van pulls up and parks. I think he’s in on it, too. Oh, the other night at 2 AM, pitch dark, a van backed in by the side door of the house where a red light was on, and someone was busy doing something. That woke me up! I’m just not getting any sleep!

I hesitate to think this, but it could be drugs….cocaine, heroin….pot….maybe they’re growing in the backyard! But, five or six deliveries every day? And at night, too! What could that be?

An idea of taking over a plate of cookies and saying a neighborly hi had to be discarded because it’s rare when anyone is there, and when there, they are totally preoccupied. In fact, there’s such an ominous feeling over there that I’m a little nervous to go over….

What if an awful drug cartel is using that house? Gracious!

If I go over there, they might get suspicious. And of course they would have guns! They have probably already seen me peering out the windows or the door. They might have binoculars! Oh, my, I still have my pajamas on and my hair isn’t combed! What if they see me this way!

What is there to do! Maybe I should call the police!

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“Joe, did you see that window blind across the street bend a little and someone peering out?”

“Yeah, I see it whenever we’re here. Someone is sure curious over there. When she came out once, I noticed she’s an old lady, quite unfriendly, and like she’s sneaking around peering at us. Especially the vans.”

She might be doing something over there in secret.”

“She drives away in that old car, and when she returns she has boxes of stuff. Sometimes she hides behind her bushes on the way to her house. Sometimes someone comes with a lawnmower, or rakes and hoes, and disappears around the house to the back yard.”

“Could be a cover up for some operation?”

“Could be something going on in the backyard.”

“Drugs? Could those be deliveries of drugs? Or maybe a pot growing business in full swing.”

“She looks ‘normal’ but that could be a cover-up too, pretending she’s old and kind of poor.

Bet she’s pretty wealthy with THAT business.!”

“Anyway, let’s get this last load of boxes of rental bikes into the house. We’ve got to work on them, and then deliver them early tomorrow to the bike shops.”

“Oh, there she is again, peering through the blinds. She’s writing things down. She sure is hiding something. Maybe we should call the police!”