ex-housemate

Last Updated on January 2, 2025

Veronica jolted awake. Her mind tried to wrap itself around what was happening. The door bell ringing over & over. Why was her doorbell SO loud. Her nervous system was instantly in overdrive. Her heart raced & her hands shook. She frantically searched for her phone under the pillows & in the bedsheets. It glowed as she lifted the comforter. She grabbed it & looked at the time. 2:00 am. Who the fuck is ringing my doorbell 100 times at 2:00 am?

She stumbled out of bed & pulled her robe around her. She shoved her feet inside her slippers. She tiptoed down the hall & looked out the windows over the second floor balcony to see if a car was in her driveway or on the street.

There was an old clunker parked at an angle in the driveway. It looked like a hoarder car. A cold fear spread throughout her body. What the fuck was going on? She knew that it was connected to Cody.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw someone walk past the kitchen window. She crept over & looked. Yes, it was Cody. He was heading towards the back yard. Would he try to climb over the fence?

Veronica ran to make sure that the sliding glass doors in the back rooms were both locked. Luckily they were. She looked at her phone. Should she call 911? She punched the numbers on her screen and called.

“911, what’s your emergency?” Came the voice in the other end of the line.

“Hi. There’s a man trying to break into my house. He’s an ex roommate & he’s relapsed & become addicted to meth. He’s trying to climb over my fence in the back yard.” Veronica was breathless.

“Please give me your address, mam. We’ll send a unit out right away” The dispatcher said.

Veronica gave her name, address and Cody’s full name. “Can you stay on the phone with me until they get here?” She asked. “He’s coming back around to the front of the house now. I’m scared.”

She spoke with the 911 woman for 4 minutes as they waited. “Mam, the officer is at your location now. He’s with your ex roommate. Please open the door & speak with them.”

“Thank you so much.” Veronica said.

The very last thing she wanted to do was open the door & see Cody’s face. The officer was now knocking on the door loudly. She took a deep breath, unlocked the deadbolt & opened the door.

“Good evening, I’m Officer Gonzalez. Can you tell me what’s going on here, mam?” He was tall, broad chested & had a commanding presence. Cody stood next to him looking painfully thin & exhausted. His clothes were hanging off of him, jeans synched with a tattered scarf at his narrow waist & his pant legs rolled up to reveal his tiny ankles covered with sores.

“This is Cody, he used to be my roommate. He disappeared 6 weeks ago & has not responded to my attempts to communicate with him. I’m gone through the process of evicting him. He didn’t pay his rent & I’ve discovered through friends of his that he’s relapsed into heavy drug use.”

Cody interrupted, “I’m just here to get my stuff & my security deposit back.”

Veronica was livid. “You do not get your deposit back when you don’t pay rent! Your friends came & got your stuff. It’s in storage. There’s nothing here for you anymore.”

Cody looked devastated & ashamed. V. felt slightly bad for yelling at him, but fuck what he had put her through in the last couple of months. Officer Gonzalez searched Cody and found drugs on him. The car had been reported stolen. Cody was taken away in the police cruiser after the stolen car was parked in the street. V. didn’t stop shaking for hours.

#NovelPossible Mission #9