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the entertainment room and enjoy the TV. I’d
told him his limits in the house. He could roam amongst the house just as long
as he never stepped foot upstairs or in the basement. Those two sections were
closed off. That was my “safe” place. Although he’d gained my trust by the
hour, I still couldn’t let my guard down completely.
    I had a hair
appointment in thirty minutes and this meant I was going to have to leave Aaron
alone in my home. Zoila came every Wednesday to clean the house and she was due
any minute. Normally I would scold her for showing up a minute late but today I
was hoping she wouldn’t show up at all. I really didn’t want anyone knowing I
was hoarding a homeless man in my home. If my dad found out, he would lose his
shit. I was a daddy’s girl through and through, and if he thought I was in any
sort of danger, he would have the cops here within seconds. A slew of cop cars
parked outside my house was just the perfect headline to make the Sunday’s
paper in this small town.
    “Aaron, I have a
few errands to run. Do you think you’ll be okay while I’m gone?” I asked while
I sent Zoila a text explaining to her to not be alarmed when she found a
strange man in the house. All I told her was he was a friend of mine. It wasn’t
her business who he was and why he was here, and she knew better than to ask.
    He glanced up at
me, those eyes locking onto mine. “I’ll be fine. Thank you for asking.”
    As a test, I
decided to leave Aaron home alone for the rest of the day. His mobility had
improved tremendously from yesterday. If he was legit, everything in my house would
remain untouched and he would carry on as he had been. I texted Zoila to let
her know I wouldn’t be home until later, and under no circumstances was she to
tell him. I also told her to make sure he had something to eat since I wouldn’t
be there.
    While I was in
town, I decided to swing by JC Penney and pick up some clothes for Aaron. This
wasn’t a store I normally shopped at, which was good. If I stepped into my
regular boutiques, the attendants would become suspicious. After shopping there
for years, they knew exactly what size my dad wore. As I walked in, I was
surprised to find the store wasn’t as thrifty as I’d assumed. Maybe next time I
bought for Zoila, I would buy her something from here.
    By the time I
pulled in the garage, the time on my watch read a quarter after nine. All the
lights outside the house were off and an eerie feeling rushed over me. The
lights were set on a timer, and unless Aaron or Zoila purposely turned them
off, something was terribly wrong.
    I killed the
engine and sat a few minutes in my car with the windows down, listening for any
sign of life in the house. White noise filled the garage. After listening to
nothing for too long, I got out of the car and cautiously walked in the house.
The lights inside matched the ones outside — not a single one was on. Complete
blackout. I silently crept into the kitchen, placed my purse on the floor, and
grabbed a butcher’s knife from the knife block.
    I quietly walked
down the hall towards the bedroom Aaron was using. A bluish glow flashed from
beneath the door, and I inhaled a deep breath as I was relieved to realize he
was watching TV. Softly, I knocked on the door. I kept the knife pointed down
in my right hand. You could never be too careful, especially when you were
housing an abstruse stranger.
    “Come in,” Aaron
called out.
    My eyelids closed
for a split second in relief. Suddenly, I wished I hadn’t brought the knife
with me. He was going to be freaked out. He might even think I had some crazy
plan of killing him.
    As I opened the
door, with my eyes focused on the shiny weapon in my hand, I felt compelled to
explain. “Don’t freak, but I have a knife in my hand. I don’t have any
intentions of hurting you, but when I saw all the lights off inside and outside
the house, my security alarms started ringing in my head.”
    The next thing