the spies next door

the federal agent
knocks at my door, stiff in her
blue jacket, white shirt.
short hair.
she shows me her ID,
her gold badge and says
do you mind if I ask you
a few questions
about your neighbor,
he's applying
for a government job.
standard procedure, nothing to be
concerned about. she hands me her
business card.
sure, I say, come on in.
i'm making tea, please, have a seat.
I bring the tea out in two
teacups that I rarely use
and set out a plate of cookies.
she's not an unattractive
woman, but she seems a tad
manly in her demeanor. I wonder
when the last time was that she was
kissed by a man, a real man.
I want to observe her, to
find something usual
about her to write about.
one lump or two, I ask
her from the kitchen.
I peek into the dining room
and see her crossing
her legs. she has nice knees
and i suspect that she might be a runner.
with a snap she takes out her notepad.
no sugar for me, she says,
just cream if you have it.
when I bring the cream out I see
that she's already into the cookies,
in fact she's bitten into about
five or six of them and set them
back on the dish.
she's eaten the chocolate
kiss from the center of
the peanut butter cookie.
so, she says, sipping her tea,
wiping the crumbs off her lap.
how well do you know your
neighbor. she points to the wall
that adjoins his house to mine.
I lean towards her and cup my mouth.
I don't know him or his wife
at all, I tell her softly. they never
say hello, or anything. they are really
quiet people, which makes me suspicious.
I truly think they might be
Russian spies.
she writes this down.
I have cake, if these cookies
are a little stale, I tell her.
my dad sends me a tin every Christmas
from swiss colony.
they're always stale. no thank you,
she says. so what else do you
know or suspect about him.
well, I've never seen him with any
weapons, or anything, but
sometimes if I put a glass to the wall
I can hear them whispering to one
another, who whispers to one
another in their own house? oh,
and get this,
he's growing a beard.
I see she says. well. I think that's
all the information I need.
thank you for the tea and cookies,
we'll contact you if we need to know
more.
i'll keep an eye on them for you,
if you'd like. I have your card.
I stare at her card. is this a direct
line to the Bureau or your personal
cell phone. she takes the card and crosses
out her cell phone number,
then hands it back to me.
have a good day she says, walking
quickly out of the house. hello, can I wrap
up some cookies for the road? I yell to her,
but she's already back into her black
SUV and driving away.