“That boy has a piece of the devil in his heart.”

“What makes you say something like that?” one of the cops would say.

“He could be a really kewl guy,” I’d say while sipping my tea, “Even nice.  I’ve seen him be generous and imitate kindness… but he always had a shadow around him.  He has a real dark side – and I’ve seen it.  I wasn’t there when he killed that cat but I believe it.  We had a few beers one time and he told me that he woke up with a bunch of purses and didn’t know where he got them.  He told me he burned them.  He didn’t seem at all concerned by his loss of time, I’m still not sure why he told me it wasn’t like a confession he wasn’t remorseful.  I don’t understand his motivation for doing most of the things he does… and even the things I do understand I don’t usually agree with.  I don’t trust him to do the right thing, more than that – I’m almost sure he doesn’t take right and wrong into consideration.  Not even consequence… and he thinks he’s smarter then everybody.    I’m not saying he isn’t capable of doing good things… but he is definitely capable of doing harm.  I’m sure of it.”

“What kind of harm?” one of the police officers would say – probably the female partner let’s say it’s a male – female team. 

“I’ve had nightmares he burned our house down.  I don’t think it would bother him that there are kids in the house.  It’s still up for debate whether he watched our dog strangle to death or not.  Sometimes I wonder if he lurks around the house at night,”

The male cop would interrupt me here, “Why haven’t you called the police?”

“You don’t call the police because the hair on the back of your neck stood up,” I’d counter, “He never did anything we could prove that he hasn’t been busted for… not that it stops him when he gets caught.  Besides, I don’t think he’d actually go through with anything, he’s not that interested.”

“I thought you just said you had dreams about him burning the house?” the female cop would say. 

“Yeah,” I’d tell them, “But that was before she moved out.  He’s not after us – he’s after her.  We’re only in his radar by association.  That doesn’t put us out of the danger zone, though… he could do anything, and we’re closer then she is.  My strategy is just to stay out of his way.”

When I’d finished the officers would leave their card, and I wouldn’t bother to show them to the door.  The scene would fade out with me staring out the window.