Him ~ chapter five

By Maryanna Gabriel


       He smiled sideways at me. I stared. He said it was okay the hot tub was closed. He would like to stay. I said no that is not possible. His stay has been cancelled. I continued, "You need to move the wood." He looked at me. He offered a new price. I shook my head. "No thank you," I said politely. I half shut the door. He tried a different tack. He then said that I owed him money.

     I replied. "I do not handle the money. If you have questions phone the agency."

       "You owe me money," he said again.

        I repeated, "Phone the agency." 

        "You owe me money."

        At eleven repetitions I firmly shut the door. Holy smokes, I thought to myself. Stay calm. Be calm. I am calm. Breathe. Five minutes later the door knocked again. My heart was thudding. I didn't answer. The phone rang. It was the Case Manager. "He thinks I owe him money." She blew out air and sounded exasperated. "That has already been explained to him. Many times. I think you need to go to the police. I also think you need to do anything possible to get this man out." I paused and thought before I replied, "The police only handle something like this if there is bodily harm or willful damage - I could cut the power..." my voice trailed off. How do I do that? What had he said to her that made her think this way? My stomach was contracting. Fear seemed to have take up residence. Another unwelcome guest. We rang off. 

      An email pinged. He wanted to talk. I thought to myself - well I sure don't want to talk to you. I peered out. It was starting to rain. The day was turning to night. I almost jumped. There he was silhouetted against the forest. He was lifting the axe again and again. In the falling dark, under my living room window, with the rain pouring down, he began to chop wood. My scalp prickled. The sound of the axe coming down over and over made a chilling but rhythmic sound. My heart pounded hard.