Read Undermind: Nine Stories for Free Online

house?
    “Before you go, I want to know what you’re going
to do about this. I called child services on this bastard and then
he assaulted me. Then I called the police about the assault and he
set my house on fire. Now that I’ve reported his arson, or
attempted murder – whatever he intended – he’s probably going to
kill me next. What has to happen for you to arrest this man?”
    “Sir, we’ll investigate and do whatever we can
do. This isn’t the movies where we can just go arrest anyone we
want. We have to acquire evidence and establish a case.”
    “I’ve got evidence for you. Look at my fucking
house. Look at my head. What more do you need, a goddamn corpse on
the lawn?”
    “Please calm down, sir.” At the mention of the
word “lawn” the officer looked over at the grass and saw something
shiny. He started walking toward it.
    “That’s mine. I bought it today for home
defense. I didn’t know I’d be needing a fire extinguisher
instead.”
    A fireman came through the front door of the
house just then and said, “The batteries on your smoke detectors
were not connected. You’re lucky you got out in time.”
    “Oh shit.” Dave remembered pulling the batteries
partly out when he’d forgotten he was heating leftover pizza one
day and had turned it into black smoking wedges.
    “We’re going to head over right now and see if
he has an alibi for this,” the officer resumed
    “What about the assault on me earlier
today?”
    “He had an alibi for that,” the officer
responded.
    “Great. Well, I’m glad I have a gun now since
he’s going to be even more pissed off after giving you his new
alibi. I don’t believe this.”
    “Please don’t think about taking the law into
your own hands. It would be best if you put the shotgun in a safe
and dial 9-1-1 if you have any trouble. This isn’t the movies, Mr.
Parsons.”
    “Right,” Dave said. “I’ll just lay in the
smoking ruins of my house with the stitches in my head and give you
guys a call to come out and take a third report if he does
something else. Maybe next time the coroner can join in the
fun.”
    ***
    Dave and Nikki spent that night at a local
motel. The next morning they talked to Joy and accepted her
invitation to stay with her while dealing with their insurance
company and various contractors until their house was habitable
again. They felt relatively safe at Joy’s although Dave was sure
that if Ron Mackey had more vengeance in mind, he could probably
find them.
    He waited to hear back from the police after the
new round of questioning, but no one contacted him. When he called
the police department for an update, hoping to hear that Ron had
been arrested for at least arson, if not also attempted murder, he
got nowhere. His calls were ultimately transferred to a voice
mailbox for the officer in charge of the investigation.
    Dave lived in constant fear, but did not reveal
this to Nikki. Not at first. He didn’t want her to be as afraid and
worried as he was. He acted as though he had faith in the police
and the legal system. Since he had been assaulted while leaving a
job, he was terrified it would happen again and so he postponed all
of his appointments indefinitely. He found it nearly impossible to
get to sleep because the slightest sound anywhere in the house
seemed to be a confirmation that they were under assault.
    The shotgun allowed for a measure of confidence
in being able to defend himself and his family, but he felt
incredibly vulnerable whenever he left Joy’s house and had nothing
but a new cell phone for defense, so he started the process of
purchasing a handgun. The salesman at the gun store told him he had
to fill out a form, pass a federal background check, and that there
was a state imposed waiting period.
    Dave found the form to be laughable. It relied
on him giving honest answers to questions such as, are you under
indictment for a felony, are you mentally ill, are you a fugitive,
are you a drug addict, and so