the murderer

Can I tell you a secret? One moment in my life. A future murderer and I were alone together. I sat inside a tent. He laid half in, half outside the tent, on his stomach, his hands on my bare foot. He carefully, lovingly, applied mole skin to a blister on my foot, chatting at me. I felt uncomfortable. As a former obsessive preteen roller skater, I had experience with mole skin,  and could've done this myself, but he, with his eagle scout badge and sense of responsibility for my wellbeing, convinced me he should be the one doing the work. Five months later he tried to strangle a woman with a garland of Christmas lights. That failing, he stabbed her so many times she was almost decapitated.

He spent a lot of time on me, convincing me of his innocence, even after I'd gotten a letter stating that my phone had been tapped.

Life. Is. Weird.

Trust is a gift. Instinct is a greater gift.