Untitled part two

The troll had been with us a couple nights when we found out about his buddy. Now that he was sleeping with the roommate he wasn't any trouble at all. Honestly, it was nice to have another vibe in the place, thing had been getting weird between the roommate and I for weeks. Now it was like something was always happening, it distracted us from the mundane barely scraping by existence we'd fallen into.

We were sitting around in the living room, hanging out when he said something about how he and his friend had been taking turns sleeping in the van. He was joking about how convenient having all those keys were for going out in the parking lot during his shift to visit with him and have a cigarette. The friend worked the night shift so they alternated sleeping in the parking lot of one another's work places. He said it worked great except on their days off when they'd get real bored hanging out in the van in a parking lot all day.

"Wait. So where is the friend right now?" I asked him.

"Out in the van."

"You left him in our parking lot?"

"I wasn't sure if I should bring him in."

"That's horrible!! Go bring him in."

This is the part in the movie where you scream "Don't do it naked teenager! Don't answer the door! Do NOT run upstairs, you're trapped, trapped!!!"

The roommate and I were laughing and marveling over the fact that he hadn't revealed any information about having a friend with him at any time. So bizarre! And funny! We really chuckled and chortled over all the little holes in his story. I even pointed out that every time he told the story about having to leave his apartment it sounded a lot more like he was busted cheating with some stripper and that's why her boyfriend wanted to kill him. The roommate didn't care for that interpretation one bit. I laughed and said I only meant it was sort of stupid that he would make up such an elaborate lie when all he had to say was "I need a place to stay." and he would have been in.

Moments later we had another homeless man in our apartment. He looked a bit older than the troll but they said they were both twenty-five. He was different, seemed uncomfortable with the entire situation, had more intelligence in his eyes. Made me talk him into staying over too.  It could be that was genuine, it could be he was just that much better a con man. One thing that's certain; he was smart,  he could tell a story. He played with words. And he was funny.

Did you hear that? That was my fate being sealed.

Still, he was much older, covered in prison tattoos, and always in a stocking cap, making him look a little shifty.  He just had more life under his belt, "Twenty-five" or not. I enjoyed his stories from the other side of the room but kept my distance from him. He had a way of always watching me, really seeing me that made me uncomfortable, made me feel awkward, inexperienced and vulnerable. He knew that. He was patient, knowing the same way I did that what was coming was inevitable, that I truly had no defense to match him.