A rumor is just a lie

Snowflakes were slowly falling on the frozen ground. It was a cold winter and it was going to get even colder. Jane was running late for a meeting with her friend. She was walking as fast as she could, being careful not to slip on the ice. Ice crystals were beginning to form on her eyelashes as she reached the restaurant. She pushed the door open and was instantly welcomed by a warm breeze. Jane spotted Melissa at a small table, drinking what seemed like red wine. 

“Hi, Melissa”. 

Melissa looked up and smiled brightly at her friend: “You’re late”

They ordered the food and began small talk. Jane was thankful for the warmth of the place. Her plate of Carbonara Spaghetti just arrived when Melissa asked her a question, Jane had already heard a hundred times in the past week. 

“So, have you heard about your neighbor Mr. Allen?”

The rumor was that Mr. Allen might be dead, frozen in his own house, just feet away from Jane’s place. Mr. Allen lived with his nephew in a 1 story building. No one had seen him leave the house in over a month. And no one had ever bothered to check in on him. The only one who goes in and out of the house is the nephew. But no one dares to approach him. The thing is, everyone believes he killed his grandpa and stuffed him somewhere in a freezer. The police have been called multiple times but nothing suspicious was found. According to the sheriff, “Mr. Allen was safe and sound”. The people, however, didn’t want to believe that. The place where Jane lived was a small town and people were often closed-minded. They created all these rumors, hoping their little town would get famous one day. And gossip in such a town was the order of the day. Maybe some people knew the truth, one of those being the sheriff, but they liked hearing others fantasize about what mysteries might lie between the walls of the Allen’s. 

Jane looked at Melissa with tired eyes: “Can we not talk about this? You know pretty well I’ve heard about him and no, I don’t think the rumor of him being dead is true. Mike, his nephew, is not a criminal”. 

“Yes, but have you seen Mr. Allen in the past weeks? And have you ever talked to Mike? How are you so sure he’s such a good guy?”

Jane wasn’t sure. But she hoped with all her heart that nothing horrible was happening in the house across from her. She didn’t even want to think she was living near a murderer. Maybe this is why she never checked on the Allen’s house either. She was scared of what she might find. Then again, should she be alarmed? The police said there was nothing wrong there. 

After lunch, Jane said goodbye to Melissa and went home. All that talk about her neighbor spooked her. She just wanted to get home and drink some tea in peace. The cold air was slipping through her jacket and Jane couldn’t help but think that in such cold weather a body could stay frozen for weeks, even without a freezer. 

People were constantly telling her to steer clear of Mike. But deep down, many believed that Jane was involved in the killing of Mr. Allen. He was her only neighbor and people found it impossible for her not to have played a part in what probably went down there. Jane was aware of this but the opinion of others didn’t matter to her. 

There were, of course, those who didn’t believe Mr. Allen was dead. They thought him to have transformed into a vampire. And that’s why he didn’t go out. His nephew had to be supplying him with blood, or he himself was the food source for his grandpa. A select few believed the old man doesn’t even exist and until now, he had been just a ghost but finally he found peace so he wasn’t haunting around anymore. 

Jane was thinking about how this rumor changed constantly from man to man, from woman to woman. How everyone tells the story his way, changing some details for his amusement, or just because that is what he believed was the truth. This is the thing with gossip, you never really know what is true and what isn’t. 

As she approached her house she gathered up the courage for what she wanted to do next. The gossip has been going around for some time and Jane was fed up with all these phantasmagorical ideas. She didn’t see Mike as a criminal. Even though they never had a single conversation he seemed like a nice guy and always smiled towards her. The tea had to wait. First, she had to prove to everyone that the rumor was fake. 

She knocked on the door. Twice. Her hands were shivering but Jane couldn’t tell if it was for the cold or because she was scared. Soon, the big door opened and on the other side stood a man in his late 30’s. He had dirty blond hair and a scruffy beard. Mike was good-looking but he couldn’t be described as handsome. His brown eyes widened at the sight of Jane. For a moment he seemed unsure whether to shut the door in her face or hear what she had to say.

“Jane, right? What are you doing here?”

“Hi! Yes, it’s Jane. I wanted to ask you something.” She paused briefly then continued: “Would you mind if we went inside?” She didn’t plan to stay but the hot air inside the house was just too inviting. Mike nodded shortly then led her to the living room. There was no sight of Mr. Allen. Well, maybe he was asleep. This didn’t seem like a house where a gruesome murder took place. Everything was clean and neat, with no dust to be seen and the temperature was too high for a body not to rot. 

“What’s up?”, asked Mike after they seated themselves on the sofa. 

And then Jane asked the million-dollar question with no hesitation: “I guess you’ve heard the rumor about Mr. Allen. And I just want to say I don’t believe any of it. But I still want to know the truth. Why is your grandfather not coming out of the house? What’s going on?”

Mike seemed like he was prepared for this question. “Well, you see… There is nothing fishy going around here. My grandpa is just on vacation.” Vacation? This was such a simple explanation. How did no one consider this? Jane felt so dumb at that moment. Of course, he probably fled from the icy cold here and went somewhere like the Bahamas. He had the money after all. 

“Wow, that makes sense. It’s just weird he didn’t tell anyone.” All of a sudden a laughter crisis took over Jane. “I’m sorry, it’s just so funny how everyone painted this murder mystery around you and your grandpa when he just went on vacation. But why didn’t you tell anyone? Did you like being considered the black sheep of our community?” 

Mike seemed surprised. “No one asked me except for the police.”

That was plausible. Everyone was inclined to believe the gossip rather than know the truth. 

“So where exactly did he go? Is it someplace sunny? And how long is he going to stay there?”

“I already told all this to the police, I don’t need to tell you too.” He was slowly getting irritated. Jane felt like she pushed too hard. Mr. Allen has always been private with his life. 

“Oh no, of course. Sorry, I was just curious. Well, thanks for making things clear. I’ll go now. I can’t wait to tell everyone that all the rumors are fake!” She was just about to head for the front door when she remembered she was out of eggs. “Could I borrow some eggs if that’s alright with you?” Mike forced a smile: “Sure, I’ll bring them to you”. He went into the kitchen. 

Jane thought about how unfair the people had been with Mike. They believed him a criminal when in fact his uncle was just taking a holiday. Jane would try to apologize to him on behalf of everyone. She decided to bake him a cake. But she was also low on flour. Well, it was going to be a cake baked with half of Mike’s food. Jane hurried after Mike to ask for some flour too. Mike was at the refrigerator door. Red ketchup spots stained the walls of the fridge. 

“I could help you get rid of those ketchup spots if you wanted. I have this really good cleaning spray.”

At hearing Jane talk, Mike turned around as if he had been electrified. Anger was building up in his eyes. Jane took a step back. “Are you alright?”, she asked. 

“No, I’m not alright. Why did you have to come here? I managed to fool the police but only because they knew that all the gossip in this town is fake! And now you came here wanting to find out the truth. You want to know the truth? Some rumors are true. Even if they are exaggerated there is a seed of truth in every little rumor.”

“What are you trying to say?” Jane looked bewildered at the man in front of her, the man at the center of the most notorious rumor of the town. But rumors are just lies. Right? 

“What they say is true, I killed my grandpa and I stuffed him right here in my refrigerator until I had the time to dispose of the body. The police were so eager to demonstrate that the rumors about the murder were false that they bought all I told them. They didn’t even check if the old man was really in the Maldives. People don’t trust gossip at all nowadays. Well, lucky for me.” 

Jane was trembling all over. She needed to get out. But there was no escape. She was frozen in place. It was like she was standing naked outside in the cold. Like she was slowly transforming into an ice sculpture. Into a dead body.

“Looks like I have to take care of you too, now. I’ll wonder what rumor the people will spread about what happened to you next.”