Eye On The Ball

by Paul Vivari

About the Author: Paul Vivari is published in The Dark City Crime & Mystery Magazine, Free Spirit Press: Revenge, and The Washington City Paper.

Excerpt

The mail truck pulled up in front of the sprawling yellow house, decrepit and decaying, and the driver rechecked the address on the package; the property appeared to be abandoned, but the rusted numbers loosely hanging to the left of the front door matched what was scrawled in chicken scratch on the box. The gate was permanently jammed open, and the driver cleared overgrown brush away with his free hand as he made his way down the short path to the splintered porch. He left the package on the steps and knocked on the door, then hurried back to the truck and sped off to his next stop.

Waiting until the mail truck was out of sight, Boy Howdy emerged from the alley that ran parallel to the house. Nobody had answered the knock on the door, and he was confident the sagging, yawning house was unoccupied, the package probably a misdelivery; this was one of the easiest opportunities he’d come across in a long time. He looked up and down the street, saw no potential witnesses who could incriminate him, and quickly walked down the crumbling stone path to the porch, picked up the box, and tore it open.

Protected by some loose sheets of bubble wrap, a new black and white regulation soccer ball greeted him. Boy Howdy cursed, hoping for something of greater resale value, but it was better than nothing. He took the ball out, tossed the empty box into the yard, and walked through the open gate and back into the alley.

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