Knock Knock – A Short Story

Knock . Knock knock knock.. knock.. 

The rhythmic knock reverberated on the empty hallway on the second floor apartment building that hosted 6 flats in that row, 3 on each side. 

“Who could that be”, thought Joe, as he sprinted towards the door. He had a personal goal of not allowing  another set of knocks from the visitors.

“What kind of a man lets the visitors knock twice?” His father’s voice echoed inside his thick skull. 

If a visitor knocks when there is a doorbell ,  they expect you to be at the door. Doesn’t matter if there is a serial killer on the other side with an unsharpened knife or a clown with a bunch of balloons.  

What could go wrong opening the door to strangers. 

As Joe opened the door , a quick November breeze hit his face , as if it was waiting the whole day right by the door. Outside stood a tall black man , a wide white woman and a Latino  . The black man had a Bible in his hands. The white woman was not wearing a jacket of any sorts . Her face is as red as a tomato out of puberty matching the colors of the red flowers on her skirt. 

Joe immediately frowned. “Damn it, Not these people , Should’ve answered from the doorbell”, after all that’s what a doorbell does best, kicking away the strangers right at the bud, Joe thought. 

“We are from the ministry of God” the black man announced. 

As Joe was about to say “no thanks” and shut the door on them, the white woman interrupted his thoughts. 

“What does your t-shirt say?” she said with an exclamation and started reading words out of Joe’s T-shirt in the hallway. He was without a jacket too, but then who wears a jacket inside the house these days. 

“Science proves that the universe does revolve around me“  was written on Joe’s t-shirt . It took a few mins and a few combinations of the same words to soothe the woman about the satire on the t-shirt. 

“I thought you were one of them” she said with a sigh of relief. 

Joe knows better not to ask who is “them”, Yet he could only respond with a “them?” fully knowing whom she is suggesting as them. 

“You know, them” said the white woman with flat sandals , as if it’s the universal fact that every human should know about. 

How she is not freezing and why did I wear this t-shirt, of all days, why today thought Joe. 

Now he had to explain what it meant or Worse start a conversation with them. 

“I am still not sure whom you are referring to“ Joe thought of closing the door to their faces. 

Now, the white woman started preaching, “Just so you know , God created the universe and all the things in it “.

Joe couldn’t resist , “why, doesn’t he have better things to do” .As soon as the words came out , he bit his lips. Joe knew that he made a mistake. He could sense that the white woman is arming up.. 

“What do you mean?” .She is clearly offended. 

You don’t offend the Bible people.  It’s the unwritten rule of conversing with solicitors. 

As his father always says , “You don’t poke the bear.Definitely not the bear on cocaine.”  

Joe has to de-escalate the religious knights armed up at his doorstep. A part of him wanted to invite them in and see where the conversation goes. After all, it’s the day after Thanksgiving and his wife and kids were out on a donation run and he had nothing better to do till evening where he planned on visiting a special place with a special someone. What could an unaffiliated nun possibly do to him? The sensible part of his brain mumbled on “ say sorry and close the door on them”

 “should’ve answered from the damn doorbell” 

Joe invited them over as he was not ready to engage in a war with that white woman, not when it was shivering outside and not to someone who was about to start with the history of Christ which could go on for hours. 

Why does religious text have to be so condescending ,  thought  Joe while he held the door over hoping to get this over with quickly. 

The Latino was not interested in any of the conversations and the black man held on to his Bible like he was holding a handcuffed case with diamonds worth millions. 

The white women signaled them to cover other flats in the same apartment and they left without asking questions. 

As they entered , the white woman did take notice of the kitchen and the mess it was.  dishes overflowing,   grease on the glass top and trash bags not taken out. 

“We had a big thanksgiving dinner and my wife took the kids out before we could clean up “ Joe tried to convince the white lady that they aren’t that bad . 

“Sure” said that white lady with a smirk. She didn’t have an ounce of fear of stepping into a stranger’s house, rather she entered with authority.

“Sorry , didn’t mean to offend you” offered the plump white lady. 

Oh he was very offended. Usually men don’t get offended by these. But the judgemental tone of her apology made him aroused.

“Kids I know “ She didn’t wait this time to fire at Joe. 

 Her smirk hurt Joe as he hurriedly tried cleaning up the mess on the recliner sofa in the living room. It has everything that should be part of trash

Joe wanted to fire back at her,  to regain lost position. That’s what you do when you are in battle. 

“Anything to drink? Coke , beer? I bet beer is allowed while in service of God “ . 

He wanted blood. And blood he got.

“Oh those things are allowed all day every day”, she smirked. Again that same smirk. There is something familiar yet hysterical about this woman, thought Joe. 

“The lord’s path only prohibits polygamy , blasphemy , betrayals , violence” said the white woman with yellowish teeth. 

“What does that supposed to mean , are you suggesting that I am cheating on my marriage “ Joe couldn’t help his cheeks turning red. 

“You say you have kids. Your wife is out shopping , I see no ring , are you even a Christian?”.

Joe wanted to prove that he is a good Christian , his family’s history with the local church , and even to point out that he was a choir leader once. At the same time he was so angry that he could only reply with ”my religion is none of your business woman” . 

“So you do plead guilty for polygamy?” 

A sudden chill swept through Joe’s body. He felt like a thousand needles were getting into his skin at the same time. 

Does she know ? How could she possibly know, there is no way she knows. She must be bluffing . Joe was too stunned to speak , but somehow came up with a “ no I did not cheat on my wife” 

“Here comes the lies” again same smirk . 

“This woman will eat me alive, “ thought Joe.  “This is it. I don’t answer to strangers, get out! How dare you come to my home, sit on my sofa and blame me for something that I didn’t do “ 

“Oh this isn’t your flat darling, neither am I a stranger and we know what you did“

From the beginning Joe had that feeling. He knew that he saw her somewhere but he was also sure he didn’t. 

“Who exactly are you then?“ Joe couldn’t hold the suspense building in that room. 

“That depends”

Who is this woman , what does she want from me! He would’ve answered from the doorbell if he knew it leads to this. 

“I did not marry another woman” Joe threw his full weight behind his words ,knowing what exactly each of those mean. 

“Ah word plays , what about adultery” 

“That’s it”, he stood up and showed the door to the White woman who was still on his couch. 

The hallway again reverberated as he heard a similar knock. 

Oh no , is that Lilly? He really didn’t want her to meet her. 

“Don’t worry it’s not Lilly “ said the women in frocks with red flowers all over them. 

How did she know his wife’s name, what is this woman’s plan? Should I kill her right here, right now so as to not to witness what’s gonna happen in the next few minutes? He didn’t want to talk to that woman. Obviously she knows a bit about him. 

His brain began to fog as he tried looking at his phone’s doorbell app for who’s knocking. 

“It’s the folks from the ministry, go and open” .

“You are not my master “ the woman is pissing off Joe now. 

“ Oh you will see about that in a few“

His mind is combing through and firing up neurons to come up with a plan  to throw this woman out.  He arrived at the decision to threaten her first before actually throwing her out . 

“I am gonna call 911, it’s better if you get moving . Don’t make them remove you from here “ said Joe while trying to unlock his phone.

Knock…Knock..Knock.

Joe’s mind raced as to whether to open the door, or to call 911, or to confront and throw the lady out by himself. 

Knock… Knock Knock Knock..Knock.

His inner voice pleaded not to open the door. He is athletic, but he can’t wrestle the White Woman and possibly the tall black man and the latino at the same time. The white lady should’ve gotten some information about his past from somewhere and clearly has some motive. 

He started typing in the numbers to make a call!

“Thud” was the last sound he heard before he fell down with a whoosh. The phone was smashed outwards and his ears started bleeding. 

 The white woman stood with the 9 golf clubs resting on her shoulders.  

He tried searching for the phone , and the white woman took care of that with no rush.

Joseph’s ears started ringing and all he could hear was a flat white sound as he watched the White Woman open up the door and the tall black man and the latino were entering. The latino had something on his hands, but his squinting couldn’t get him a clear picture of what they were doing. Joe started tasting blood on his mouth as he was swept from the center of the living room to the corner where Lilly had her small church with Jesus crucified. 

He closed his eyes for a second. It felt like an eternity. 

When he opened his eyes, his hands were tied and legs were causing an extreme amount of pain. He was shirtless, his torso torn till knees. His pain subsided a bit, but a reign of terror swept through his body. He wanted to shake off the feeling that he was about to die. 

The white woman’s frocks now had wild red flowers and bits of blood. She held to the cross and kneeled in front of him.

“I beg you for your forgiveness for that i made a sin” 

Joe couldn’t control putting in a weird little smile as Joe thought he was in the clear. It’s all a simple misunderstanding, he thought. What happened has happened, after all these are people of God and should be all forgiving. 

“We lied to you at your doorstep, we ask you to forgive us” 

“What? What lies?” he muttered as his neck refused to stand up. 

“We are not from the Ministry of God! We are from “The Temples Army” . 

That name meant nothing to Joe! 

“You may not remember us , but we were there at your wedding, José, was a small boy then, but he did some of the flower decorations”  as she pointed out the Latino,. 

I was the third in line to Lilly , when you stated your verses to her . 

Quincy here, as she pointed out the black man – wanted to walk Lilly down the aisle, but could never do so. Do you remember why?”  

So this is why she looked familiar , his marriage was as disastrous as it could .  His parents , for the racist monkeys they were, refused to allow any people of color to the wedding. “We want this to be pure” , they said.

Joe being the man of his kind, did not resist, did not speak a word as he knew he could lose their estate. What else can a lazy man with no job and purpose in life hope for. He constantly dreamt about drinking wine from his father’s cellar. It all changed when he met Lilly. What a blossom she was. Kind , beautiful, submissive. “You don’t see women of that kind anymore” said his father on the night he brought her home to get their approval.

 “She is as white as Mary.” This was his mom. 

His marriage had 200 guests with no black men or women or kids in it. 

“I am sorry for the way I have treated you all that day, i am a changed man, i am not a racist anymore, I treat every color the same” he screamed with the last bit of energy he had . His lips were dry, the blood from his ears had dried. His right eye hurt so much that he could only see from the other.  

Joe continued , “And I wholeheartedly forgive you! You taught me a valuable lesson to never be a racist again and it’s my turn to ask forgiveness”  as he got down from the chair and knelt down with his hands folded in front and legs about to give up. 

“Forgive me for what I have sinned” he started. 

The white woman looked a bit perplexed. She signaled the other men in the room to lift him up and to put him on the chair. 

“You are not being judged for that!  not today! “ said the dark haired plump woman as she sat on the sofa. 

“You are being judged for what you did to our beloved Lilly”, 

“ My Sweet Little flower” , “All she did was to love you! “ a small strain of tears ran through her cheeks as Joe was being lifted up with the ties being removed. The latino brought in two planks and laid them like a cross. 

“There is still a bit of hope”,  his frontal lobe argued. 

“You were hit by a golf club ,  this is it “  Temporal lobe wanted this to end right then and there. 

Joe’s heart is pounding now. He can sense the feeling of a dead soul murking inside him. 

“ I am sorry , I don’t deserve Lilly , forgive me Lord for sinning Lilly , for betraying her, for treating her like trash, all I can do is beg for forgiveness “ screamed Joe as he was being laid out on the planks. A part of him wanted to confess his sins in detail with a faint hope of getting forgiveness. 

“I beg all of you , you can let Lilly beat the same way as i did to her, she can treat me the same way i treated her, please” his words were garbled while the mucus and tears  

The White Woman smacked her lips with a , “ too little, too late” 

Joe’s frontal lobe wanted to bring up something about Bible and forgiveness but gave up as soon as the first nail pierced Joe’s right hand.  “Why are they crucifying me? It is Lilly who suffered the pain”, Joe thought. 

His body began trembling as the rusty iron nails pierced his flesh and went through the planks. 

Then he faced death right on his face as they inverted the cross upside down with the blood from his legs now flowing down his face.

“You pieces of shit, I would do the same thing again and again to that whore of a woman, any day , all day, do whatever the fuck you want, you bimbos” Joe let the worst of him go out a little and felt it liberating. 

All three members of the cult now wore robes and the plump woman started making a cut on her forearms and started versing… 

“And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them”

 And the chorus joined. 

“Please … I will do anything … ANYTHING..” Joe thought he was screaming but words hardly came out. Laid upside down with hands and legs pierced with nails on the planks , he felt light headed, with all the blood from legs flowing to his heads both inside and outside, it felt like they didn’t exist. 

“And in those days shall men seek death…” 

They were screaming now, as the Latino sharpened the knife. 

“Who are you , who are you to decide what I did is wrong and right, there are laws, there are moral codes” Joe used the last of his strength to try to induce some morality into them. 

She approached him now as the other men kept screaming in unison. 

“And in those days  …”  The same words echoed inside his mind now. 

Joe was ready to give up. A part of him knew this day was coming. He knew it when he started Abusing Lilly, he knew it, when he forced on her. He knew it when he let other women abuse her. 

That day is today.. Joe experienced the pain on his thighs and belly as he saw the blood oozing down his face from the inverted position he was in. 

His mind was in a delirious state, it kept murmuring the sins he made. 

I should’ve never brought other women to this house. 

I should’ve never hit Lilly in front of the kids. 

I should’ve never.. 

He now saw a fourth person in the room which looked more of a shadow and it eerily looked like him. 

The shadow started glowing and it started to hurt his eyes. The light kept shining to a point where even when closing his eye lids, all he could see was light. 

Joe never saw the light again.

*****

A few weeks later

Far from the apartments sat a woman and her two kids .

Lilly sitting up in a river front cafe, Lilly was combing the hair of her second son while the first one was watching her when she said. 

“You guys should always respect the women in your life, treat them with dignity , and above all, be honest to her”

The kids couldn’t help but keep staring at her arm cast that had their handwriting. They knew what their mom meant and they would never hurt a woman in their life. 

A church located opposite to the cafe and across the river had an old hoarding that said –  “The Temples Army”

Inside the church sat a blind, legless, pale man with crosses engraved on his forehead, thighs and stomach who begged for forgiveness all day, every day!

“The Lord is always watching from above and he will deliver thundering justice to betrayers”

The end