Welcome to E. Mayberry

“Hi.”

“You must be Bastian’s new friend,” she said.

New friend. Why did that make me wonder about his old friend? Did he have an old friend? Or was I new because I was…new? Like new to the neighborhood?

“I guess I am,” I said. “My name’s Sunshine.”

I loved my new name and surprised myself by how easily and quickly I’d adjusted to it. It was one more thing to help me start a fresh new life. I had a new home, new clothes, a new man, new neighbors, and even a new name.

“Sunshine,” she repeated. “What a befitting name. You certainly are radiant.”

I felt myself blushing and didn’t know what to say.

“Isn’t she, David?”

David stopped fiddling with the flowers and looked over at me. His face brightened, a sure sign that he found me attractive.

“She’s radiant alright.”

“Stop it,” she said as she gave his thigh a little kick and they both laughed. “Dave here has one of those never ending hard-ons. You never know when he’s gonna try to assault you with it.”

They both laughed. I felt oddly out of place, like I’d woken up in a bright, cheery, erotic TV show. They were too nice.

“My name’s Tina,” she said as she held her hand out for me to shake.

I did.

“Nice to meet you,” I said. “And you, Dave.”

Tina glanced down and seemed to be staring at my tits. When she saw that I’d caught her looking, she grinned and passed me a wink.

“Well, I better get back inside. I have a few things to take care of being new and all.”

“Did you read the book?” she asked.

“Words to live by,” Dave shouted as he went back to working on the flowers.

“I have. I’d like to go over it again.”

“I see you’re wearing the necklace,” Tina said. “So you’re a pet now. That’s great.”

She wasn’t wearing one which I thought was odd.

“Yes, I put it on a few minutes ago.”

“Well make sure you don’t take it off,” she said.

“Never take it off,” Dave agreed. “It becomes part of you.”

He turned to look at me and the sun reflected off the pendant on his necklace. He was the pet. She was the owner.

I waved goodbye and headed back to my house.

“If you ever find yourself bored,” I heard Tina call out. “Stop on by. We love company.”

The meeting had been awkward at best. Something about the woman’s stare was different. It was the look I’d gotten from so many men in my life. Like I was a piece of meat and she was sizing me up. Was it jealousy? I wondered if Bastian had ever fucked her. Jealousy wasn’t allowed. I remembered reading that in the book. Living so close to each other, in a neighborhood like this, meant Bastian had probably fucked her.

I heated the water once more to fix myself another cup of coffee when I heard a bang from outside. It sounded like something being slammed against the side of the house. I slid open my back door again and looked toward Tina’s house.