I Don't Trust Easily Anymore
My cousin, whom I'll call Norma, became friends with her handsome charming young neighbor right after she moved into her condo many years ago (this was in the 90s). My cousin was in her late 30s and newly divorced, busy working as a legal secretary and raising her teen daughter.
Her neighbor whom I'll call Roger, was openly gay. He said he had a special friend, sometime lover, who worked in another city, and that they would live together when their jobs were in the same place; they were computer programmers and had often changed jobs. They communicated frequently by computer using email and other means.
My cousin had just come out of an abusive marriage and didn't really want to date, so a friendship with her neighbor suited her perfectly. They were pals for nearly three years and had a lot of fun together going shopping, to the gym, and to plays and ballet performances. Roger had a great sense of humor and so did Norma and she remembers how they used to laugh a lot.
One day something truly terrible happened. Roger had not felt as well as he usually did, so he went to a doctor. The doctor ran a lot of tests and also sent him to another doctor for a second opinion. After weeks of tests, he got the diagnosis.
He knocked on Norma's door sobbing: He had AIDS. Not just HIV positive, but full blown advanced AIDS.
Sometimes AIDS moves very slowly, and nowadays it can often be slowed down considerably, but that is not always the case. The doctor told him they'd do what they could, but at the rate it was progressing, things did not look good.
Norma held him as he cried, assuring him she would be there for him, comforting him.
Over the next few months Roger deteriorated, but he did all he could to take good care of himself and he was getting good medical care. My cousin took time off from her job to help care for him.
One day when Norma had not talked to Roger for a day or so, she went to his apartment to check on him. She found him lying unconscious on the floor next to his computer where he'd apparently been emailing his special friend, as he said he often did.
She called 911 and as the paramedics arrived and carried Roger away on a stretcher, she walked through his apartment turning off lights, picking up the fallen chair near his computer...and then she looked at the screen in order to shut down the computer.
Glancing at the email as she got ready to shut it down, Norma went into shock. She sank into the chair she'd righted, and she read the email. Within minutes, she found herself going back into his emails to his friend and reading them with a horrible fascination, shaking and sweating.
When she was done, she reached for the phone and called the police.
The emails were all about murders Roger and his friend had committed together. They would carefully select a victim, often a neighbor, always female, and then email back and forth for months coming up with a detailed plan for torturing and killing her. Then, as soon as they could resume living with each other again, the two guys would lure the woman to a remote area and kill her. They estimated they were about a month away from their next, carefully planned, murder.
Their next victim was to be Norma.
They had exchanged many emails discussing and relishing in great detail all the things they planned to do to her before they killed her. They joked about how shocked she would be when she realized what was happening.
The police arrived and confiscated Roger's computer. They took my cousin down to the police station to make a statement and to answer questions.
Eventually, the police told my cousin that these two killers had been under suspicion for several years, and that having this evidence would finally allow for a case to be made and charges brought against them.
Meanwhile, my cousin went from the police station to the hospital her neighbor was in; a policeman went with her.
Roger was coming out of the half conscious state he'd been in when they got there. She sat next to his bed until he seemed conscious enough to converse, then waited until he could talk. She then told him what she'd found on his computer. He burst into tears, babbling apologies, insisting he was only "joking" in the emails (there'd been nothing even slightly humorous in them). She told him she did not believe him.
Then the policeman stepped into the room and officially placed Roger under arrest as Roger sobbed. Norma left.
Roger was put on trial, but did not live long enough to be convicted; he died in the midst of the trial. My cousin had not yet been called to testify. His friend was eventually convicted and given life without parole.
It took Norma, who is normally a very extroverted person, several years before she felt strong enough to even consider meeting or befriending new people in her life. She barely talks to neighbors anymore. And, of course, she'd sold her condo and moved away across town before the trial even took place.
People are the scariest creatures on earth.
My cousin is still an outgoing, warm person. But she has never really been the same. And neither have I since she told me the story of her friendly charming neighbor.
Her neighbor whom I'll call Roger, was openly gay. He said he had a special friend, sometime lover, who worked in another city, and that they would live together when their jobs were in the same place; they were computer programmers and had often changed jobs. They communicated frequently by computer using email and other means.
My cousin had just come out of an abusive marriage and didn't really want to date, so a friendship with her neighbor suited her perfectly. They were pals for nearly three years and had a lot of fun together going shopping, to the gym, and to plays and ballet performances. Roger had a great sense of humor and so did Norma and she remembers how they used to laugh a lot.
One day something truly terrible happened. Roger had not felt as well as he usually did, so he went to a doctor. The doctor ran a lot of tests and also sent him to another doctor for a second opinion. After weeks of tests, he got the diagnosis.
He knocked on Norma's door sobbing: He had AIDS. Not just HIV positive, but full blown advanced AIDS.
Sometimes AIDS moves very slowly, and nowadays it can often be slowed down considerably, but that is not always the case. The doctor told him they'd do what they could, but at the rate it was progressing, things did not look good.
Norma held him as he cried, assuring him she would be there for him, comforting him.
Over the next few months Roger deteriorated, but he did all he could to take good care of himself and he was getting good medical care. My cousin took time off from her job to help care for him.
One day when Norma had not talked to Roger for a day or so, she went to his apartment to check on him. She found him lying unconscious on the floor next to his computer where he'd apparently been emailing his special friend, as he said he often did.
She called 911 and as the paramedics arrived and carried Roger away on a stretcher, she walked through his apartment turning off lights, picking up the fallen chair near his computer...and then she looked at the screen in order to shut down the computer.
Glancing at the email as she got ready to shut it down, Norma went into shock. She sank into the chair she'd righted, and she read the email. Within minutes, she found herself going back into his emails to his friend and reading them with a horrible fascination, shaking and sweating.
When she was done, she reached for the phone and called the police.
The emails were all about murders Roger and his friend had committed together. They would carefully select a victim, often a neighbor, always female, and then email back and forth for months coming up with a detailed plan for torturing and killing her. Then, as soon as they could resume living with each other again, the two guys would lure the woman to a remote area and kill her. They estimated they were about a month away from their next, carefully planned, murder.
Their next victim was to be Norma.
They had exchanged many emails discussing and relishing in great detail all the things they planned to do to her before they killed her. They joked about how shocked she would be when she realized what was happening.
The police arrived and confiscated Roger's computer. They took my cousin down to the police station to make a statement and to answer questions.
Eventually, the police told my cousin that these two killers had been under suspicion for several years, and that having this evidence would finally allow for a case to be made and charges brought against them.
Meanwhile, my cousin went from the police station to the hospital her neighbor was in; a policeman went with her.
Roger was coming out of the half conscious state he'd been in when they got there. She sat next to his bed until he seemed conscious enough to converse, then waited until he could talk. She then told him what she'd found on his computer. He burst into tears, babbling apologies, insisting he was only "joking" in the emails (there'd been nothing even slightly humorous in them). She told him she did not believe him.
Then the policeman stepped into the room and officially placed Roger under arrest as Roger sobbed. Norma left.
Roger was put on trial, but did not live long enough to be convicted; he died in the midst of the trial. My cousin had not yet been called to testify. His friend was eventually convicted and given life without parole.
It took Norma, who is normally a very extroverted person, several years before she felt strong enough to even consider meeting or befriending new people in her life. She barely talks to neighbors anymore. And, of course, she'd sold her condo and moved away across town before the trial even took place.
People are the scariest creatures on earth.
My cousin is still an outgoing, warm person. But she has never really been the same. And neither have I since she told me the story of her friendly charming neighbor.
70-79, F
