Horned Men
By Karl Taro Greenfeld, first published in ZYZZYVA
When a mortgage broker goes under in the 2008 housing crisis, he and his family move and attempt to start fresh, but he finds himself haunted by the past.
Author
Published in
Year
Words
Collections
Plot Summary
Bob, a mortgage broker by trade, is laid off after his company goes bankrupt. In debt and feeling lost, Bob moves with his wife and daughter to a new house. Bob is determined to fix up the house on his own, and one day crawls up into the attic. From there, he can see his preteen daughter Becca, and he worries about her loneliness. He feels a sharp sting on his arm and sees a spider scuttle away. He starts a new project: installing a satellite dish. Years prior, when his mother died, he fixed up her house so they could rent it out. The Wagonsellers had been renting the house for five years, but when Bob lost his job, he gave the Wagonsellers a ninety-day notice and moved in. Bob crawls back up into the attic to check out the wiring, and once again sees Becca. A disappointment fills him; his daughter is ugly. He backs awkwardly out of the attic, but his eyes land on a strange item in the corner, a small goat-like figurine with devil horns attached to a popsicle stick. Bob feels a strange presence, puts the sculpture back, and leaves the attic. He walks into Becca's room and stares at her unpacked boxes as his arm throbs in pain. In the living room, he finds two subpoena requests for him to testify in court. Back up in the attack, he notices some things have been moved around but chalks it up to suspicion. Suddenly, Becca hollers from down below; she has found another eerie horned goat sculpture in her closet with a threatening note about an eye for an eye. In response to the subpoenas, Bob drives to a law firm and testifies, but can't offer much information. Finally, Bob sees a doctor for his bite, but, without health insurance he has to pay for the steroids and antibiotics out-of-pocket. Bob finishes installing the cables, and although his wife is panicked about the horned statues, Bob insists the house is not haunted, as he suspects that the Wagonsellers may have had something to do with them. As their lives move forward, Bob's arm never fully heals and he continues to watch his daughter sleep from the attic.
Tags