My Neighbor-s Son Part 1 - Jack Radley Rafael... May 2026

And I knew, with absolute certainty, that was a lie. End of Part 1.

He knew my name.

I froze, half on the branch, one foot on my sill. My Neighbor-s Son PART 1 - Jack Radley Rafael...

“Sure.” He took a drag from the cigarette, exhaled a plume of smoke that curled up like a question. “Then why are you out here at two a.m., Lena?”

I watched from my window as they unloaded: a worn leather armchair, stacks of books in crates, a guitar case with a cracked latch, and boxes labeled Fragile – Records in sharp, angry handwriting. The new neighbor was a woman—sharp-shouldered, dark-haired, always smoking on the porch like she was posing for a black-and-white photograph. Her name, I learned from my mother, was Celeste Rafael. She was a pianist. Divorced. And she had a son. And I knew, with absolute certainty, that was a lie

So I ignored him.

For a long moment, neither of us spoke. Then he smiled—slow, crooked, and dangerous. I froze, half on the branch, one foot on my sill

“Bad night,” I admitted.