Mason
I sighed as I stared at the overgrown grass leading to the old man’s house. I’d have to do something about the grass soon. I would come by later in the week since I was just dropping off groceries that day. As I walked up the stairs, I noticed one of the steps felt a little shaky. The old man didn’t go out too often, but when he did, he always refused help. The last thing I wanted was to come over and find him on the ground because the stair broke beneath his feet. I’d have to fix that as well.
“There really should be better services to help vets,” I muttered to myself as I carefully walked toward the front door of the man’s house.
I tried to come by every few days to check on him, but obviously I’d need to make sure his house was in good repair, which meant more than a quick visit.
In the distance, I heard a loud popping sound. Memories flooded back to me, and I had to remind myself that I wasn’t in Afghanistan. I was in Liberty, Utah, nowhere near the desert. Another popping sound echoed, and I recognized it as firecrackers. Ahh summer, I thought, when everyone and their brother lit off fireworks, even though it wasn’t Fourth of July for a few more weeks. A veteran’s worst nightmare.
I searched the area, my eyes falling on two teens down the street. Just a couple of kids, likely bored and intending no harm. I scoffed to myself, remembering a time when I was just like them.
I continued up the steps, stomping on the wooden porch near the door before knocking, my way of letting the old man know someone was there so I didn’t startle him.
“Calvin,” I called as I placed my hand against the heavy wood of his door. “It’s me, Mason. I bought you some groceries so you wouldn’t have to go out in this heat.”
No answer. I knocked as quietly as I could.
“Calvin?” I tried the doorknob. It was locked, of course. If he was in the kitchen on the other side of the house, he might not hear me. So I raised my fist and knocked louder, calling out to him. “Calvin, it’s me.”
When there was no sound on the other end of the door, my pulse raced a bit.
What if… no, don’t go there Mason. He’s an older man with health issues, but still…
I stepped over to the window next to the door. The curtains were shut, blocking my view of his home.
“Dammit,” I grumbled, placing the groceries on the bench on the other side of the door. I attempted the window, assuming it would be locked as well, but lo and behold, it opened for me.
I called out again, my face pressed against the screen. “Calvin? It’s Mason. Everything okay in there?”
Silence.
I opened the window wider, noticing I would have to break the screen in order to climb inside. But my heart was racing, and I feared the worst. Calvin’s truck was parked out front, so unless he’d walked somewhere, he was home.
With trepidation, I pulled the screen out of the window and promised myself that I’d replace it. I crawled in through the window, which wasn’t an easy feat when you’re six foot six and hardly fit through doors, much less windows.
“Calvin?”
My chest hurt just thinking about what I might find, but I kept walking. Hoping maybe he was asleep and couldn’t hear me.
I walked through his living room and into the hall. I glanced into the kitchen as I passed but saw no sign of him. I passed a spare bedroom and the bathroom to my left, his bedroom at the end of the hall. The bathroom door was closed. His bedroom door was wide open. I slipped into his dark bedroom silently. No sign of him.
I glanced towards the bathroom, the only room I hadn’t checked. I tried the handle, and it was locked.
“Calvin?”
I expected silence, since that’s all that I’d been getting up until this point, but I heard something. Not an answer, per say, but a mumble. And some movement. Yes, someone was inside.
“Calvin, are you okay?”
A weak voice spoke back softly. “Mason, is that you?”
“Yes, it’s me,” I said as relief rushed over me. “Can you let me in?”
“I—I,” Calvin stammered.
I looked at the doorknob, a simple one. Easy to break into. I was weighing my options on how best to do just that when I heard the lock click. I