the insurance man

the insurance man wore a grey suit
with a white shirt pressed from the dry
cleaners. it held that processed smell
which made his nose itch. a blue tie
dotted with anchors along its wide
fabric was knotted around his thick
neck. he carried a brown briefcase
in his left hand while he rang the door
bell with his right hand, a finger pressing
on the warm dot of white light.
he then knocked, but there was no answer.
he looked at the card he kept in the pocket
of his suit coat, and read the name
and the address to himself.
it wasn't a cold call, the woman had called
him, inquiring about life insurance.
term life to be exact.
he knocked again and leaned off the porch
to peek into the living room.
the curtain was pulled back just
enough that he could see inside.
the lights were off now, which weren't
when he pulled up in his car.
he knocked again, then looked once
more inside. he saw a woman
crawling on her hands and knees,
away from the window, across
the floor and out of sight, heading
towards what he thought might be
the kitchen. she seemed to be wearing
a costume of some sort. black,
with a cape. boots. he couldn't quite
make the rest of it out.
it began to rain. it was the end of
the month and he wanted this sale.
it would round out nicely his paycheck.
he put his hand up to shield his
eyes, and stared up into the sky.
the rain came down harder. he thought
about waiting in his car,
or going around back to knock on
the kitchen door. he paused, tapping
his brown shoes against the concrete
porch, then rang the door bell once
more. he called out her name. miss
taylor, he said. Deena Taylor? it's me,
the insurance man.
you called me about insurance.
then he heard a door close from the back
of the house. a dog barked
and he heard the rattle of a chain link fence.
he went down the steps and looked
towards the alley that ran dark
and long beside the clapboard houses.
he could see the woman in the black
cape and boots, running away in the rain.