Seven Bad Years

A terrified ex-Sheriff nodded vigorously yes. Before they went, they hung a transparent plastic bag with one bloodied testicle above him to see when someone came to check on him.

Soon after that incident, the guard walked Isaac through the prison's maze and then watched him leave through the backdoor.

====

Isaac stepped onto the bus and bought a ticket with a simple agenda in mind. He needed transport, communication, and a place to sleep that night. This is where his network from "ExConv Services" came in handy for him. ExConv for short was started simultaneously with Isaac and Ben's investment company simply called "IsBexcon Investments."

Three quarters of an hour later, Isaac got off the bus and walked another half an hour before he arrived at a garage. There he was greeted warmly with a shout, "Doc, you're out! Welcome back. Need a drink?"

Isaac grinned widely. "No thanks. I need transportation. What do you have for me?"

The man grinned back and replied happily, "Ben already told us that you would show up. I selected a Nissan truck. Nice clean truck, crew cab, low mileage, lots of power, four-wheel drive. It's over here."

Isaac looked at the car, smiled and said, "That'll do nicely. I'll take it. How much?"

The man looked appalled. "I can't have you pay! After all you've done for me."

"Nope, not going to happen. I'll take a discount but no freebees. And no arguing about it."

The man sighed. "Ben predicted that. We'll work something out."

While enjoying a cup of tea, Isaac waited for the papers to be taken care of. Somewhat later, he started the truck. He familiarized himself with the layout and the workings before driving off to pay a visit to his loyal friend.

Late in the afternoon he was sitting himself down, with a deep sigh, in a comfortable chair. He said to Anna, now Ben's wife, "It's been a very long time since I've sat in a chair like this."

Anna smiled at Isaac; she loved the man dearly. Many times she had gone with her husband on visits to the prison to see him and knew, just like her husband, that Isaac was innocent. At the same time, she noticed a lot of "wear and tear," in his face. It had lots of worry lines now. Whereas his eyes used to be soft and light, now he had a sad but-steely look in them. His face, because of his beard, wasn't easily readable like before, when she could read him like a book.

His manners, though, were still those of a gentleman, courteous, well-spoken, and, indeed, gentle. Isaac brought her flowers. He still remembered Ben and Anna's wedding day, even though he had been unable to attend. She told Isaac that Ben could arrive any moment and he would pick up Indonesian takeout on his way home. They knew it was Isaac's absolute favorite food.

Ben entered with a lot of bluster. "What is that ugly sapphire-blue truck doing on my driveway?" He laughed and the men hugged each other. "Welcome back Isaac. I'm so happy to have you here."

Isaac just nodded, suddenly unable to speak. Anna rubbed his back and told him softly, "It's alright. We understand, take your time."

Isaac shuddered. He shook his head to dispel the gloom and said, "Nice house."

The spell was broken. "Isaac, what do you want to drink? Beer?"

Isaac thought for a moment and answered, "No, just some sparkling water. I haven't had a drop of alcohol for five and a half years. I'll keep it that way."

Anna began serving dinner but suddenly stopped with a tray of delicious smelling food in front of two hungry men. She smiled saying, "Now that I have your undivided attention, I have something to say. This evening is all about celebrating. Tomorrow you can go fighting dragons again. Capisce?"

Both men immediately agreed. That was the signal for a very pleasant evening. For the first time in almost seven years, Isaac was at ease and relaxed.

At the end of the evening Ben told Isaac that they already prepared the guest room for him. Isaac felt a little embarrassed and said, "That's too much. I can go to a hotel."

Anna said in a tone that would brook no argument, "I insist. You sleep here. Tomorrow you will probably want to go and see your house. I don't think it's wise for you to go alone, so we'll go with you. This, also, is not negotiable."

Isaac gave in. "I'm in your debt. Now I'm dead tired. Please show me where I can crash."

Again, Anna said in exactly the same tone, "Are you out of your mind? We're your friends, you know. Get that in that thick skull of yours. You bloody paid for a major part of this house with the money from the traffic lights project. Ben will show you the way. Tomorrow is a new day,"

Much softer Anna said to Isaac, "Sleep well, you big oaf. Don't forget that we love you, too."

That night Isaac didn't sleep well. The bed was too soft, it was too quiet. He missed the snoring of K2 and the noises from prison, but he finally fell into a restless sleep.

====

Laura Wenstad looked at the people arriving at the house at the end of the street. They drove up in two cars, stopped at the gate, and got out. One woman, two men. Since the FBI used her house as a lookout point before the raid, she was wary of strangers visiting that house.

She got out the binoculars the FBI agents had forgotten to take with them, and took a good look. One man and the beautiful woman were obviously very much in love. They waited until the skinny, bearded man got out of his blue truck and had a good look around. She trained her binoculars on his face, which was lined with crow's feet around the eyes. When he turned around to take in his surroundings, she had a good look at his eyes. She took a sharp breath; they were light brown and reflected a lot of pain. She also observed that the pair were looking at the man in his Ill-fitting clothes with a lot of compassion. Finally, all three walked through the gate and up to the front door before the single man walked back to his truck and picked up a crowbar. Not long after that they entered the house.

Laura put her binoculars down and made herself ready to get her little boy from school.

Isaac walked through the ruins of what six-years-before had been the interior of his home. Now everything felt degraded by what had taken place there, making it, to Isaac, just another building.

The furniture was stained, chipped and damaged beyond recovery. The kitchen was so filthy and broken that he would have to replace it. The bedrooms smelled foul. In fact, the whole house reeked like a public toilet, with some places the smell being even worse than in prison. Electrical wires were cut or ripped out, and the ceiling had been torn down to allow disabling of the main security system. All electronics, computers and other things of value had disappeared, probably stolen.

Isaac wondered if he could ever make this his home again.

He walked out again and went to his truck where he opened the back to get at his belongings. Yesterday he bought three folding chairs, a camp bed, sleeping bag, and other camping gear like a stove, and so on. He also bought toiletries and some basic clothing and towels. Picking up what he could carry, Isaac started to lug it inside.

When Laura returned with Timothy, her ten-year-old son, she was just in time to see Anna asking the sad man something. To the astonishment of both women that was the moment Isaac completely went to pieces.

Isaac's resolve was slowly deteriorating after he assessed the damage to his house. All that remained of his life before prison was a bare husk, seriously defiled by misuse and bad memories. He had set up his bed and cooking gear in the cleanest room he could find and he was about to take a rest in the sun when Anna softy asked. "Isaac, is this a good idea? I, and Ben too can see that you are very disturbed. Please come back with us."

That was the proverbial straw. Isaac crumbled into the chair next to the front door that he'd just folded out and let go. Sobs racked his body, tears ran into his beard until they dropped through the coarse hairs, staining his shirt. He screamed out in frustration, pain and grief, shocking Anna to the core. Ben tore out of the house and immediately wrapped Isaac in his arms.

"It's ok Isaac, it's ok. We're here to catch you. Just let it all out. I have your back. Let it all out. We understand." Ben softly said to the distraught man while he silently mouthed to Anna, "Finally. He finally shows some emotion."

It took Isaac a long time to compose himself again. In the end he gathered his two friends in a hug and said, "Thank you. I wouldn't know what to do without you. I'm calm again. The way they mistreated the house was just too much to bear."

Anna. still very worried, asked, "Isaac, we have to go now. Are you sure that you want to stay here? Please come with us."

Isaac smiled wryly, "I'm alright now. I need to pick up a new phone and start doing business. This is my house and I'm going to make it into my home again. Don't worry, I'll be ok. Now something more practical. Your phone numbers please? I only have Ben's office number."

Both handed Isaac their card and silently made their way to their car, while Isaac entered the house again.

When they were almost in the car Laura came up. "Good morning, I'm the neighbor. My apologies for the intrusion. Can I ask you something?"

Anna looked at the woman. She had a lovely face in spite of the worry-lines. Framed by a halo of curly light brown hair, she was slightly overweight but still curvy and she moved graciously.

Anna replied a bit curtly due to all the emotions she'd gone through over the last hours. "You can ask, but I don't know if I can or would even want to answer them. My name is Anna, by the way, and this is Ben."

"I'm Laura Wenstad and I live over there with my ten-year-old son Timothy. I wanted to know whether your friend will be okay? It's been quite a bad neighborhood lately so I'm concerned with my boy's and my safety."

Ben laughed out loud but it was Anna who answered, "Laura, your neighborhood became just a freaking lot better. No, it's not ok with Isaac. He will be, over time though."

Laura didn't feel relieved yet. "So, he isn't dangerous? Sorry for asking but it's been that bad."

"Isaac? Dangerous? No Laura. Whatever the rumors are going to say. He is everything but dangerous. He is one of the gentlest people I know and will probably be the best neighbor you ever had." With that said, Anna stepped into the car and drove off, leaving the confused woman behind.

Isaac was walking through his house. He noticed that at the fuse box the cables weren't cut. Only the fuses were gone and it looked like that the little black box hidden in an alcove above the door was intact. That was the fuse box for the solar panels that powered his backup security system in the house. The rest of the panels powered the system outside, which in turn fed the downfall of Peter Ramsday.

He went straight into what once was his office but which was now filled with rubbish, empty carton boxes, and whatnot. His desk was still at its place against the wall, covered in filth. Frantically he pushed everything aside and, with great effort, he shoved the desk over and pried at the plinth. It came loose and with it a hatch. Behind the hatch was his backup security system blinking green. Isaac thought, It's still there! This proved to be a very worthwhile obsession. If it still works of course.

He was fairly certain that they hadn't found any of the cameras or microphones, otherwise they would have ripped the house apart to find the system. Add a computer or a laptop to the list. he thought. Isaac never bothered with writing things down; his memory hadn't failed him yet.

The afternoon was spent shopping. Phone and a provider. Tablet and laptop. Computers will come later because they can't be recharged. Thumb-drives and a small generator for electricity. The solar-panels weren't enough to provide for his needs.

He returned to the house with a truck full of items and dinner. When he had finished his dinner, he pulled out his phone and called Ben.

"Hi, Ben, it's Isaac. Got a pen and paper?" Isaac gave Ben his cell number and new email address and asked him for a list with ExConv companies. Within minutes he had an answer. Ben could always predict Isaac's train of thoughts and had everything prepared in advance.

The next morning Laura looked out of her window to see her new neighbor sitting in the morning sun in a folding chair, at a folding table with a laptop on it, while he was talking into his phone.

Laura did some research on the internet and was again confused. The man had been in prison for five and a half years because he assaulted his wife and daughter and physically harmed them. One must have mistreated another pretty badly to deserve such a sentence, but that man and woman told me he's harmless, thought Laura, who decided to err on the cautious side. Today she had only to take care of Timothy since much to her regret, she only worked part time. She would like more hours but that was not in the stars. Her employer was very inflexible.

She was having breakfast with Tim when a van arrived at the house. On the side was written.

ExConv Services

Underneath was,

"We learned the hard way to be honest.

But now we deliver honest work at an honest price.

Call" and a telephone number.

She stored that to check it on the internet when Tim was at school.

Two men got out and greeted Isaac with smiles and handshakes. They had a thermos flask and a big bag with them. Isaac laughed and they all went inside.

Isaac had noticed that his neighbor was observing him the day before. Now, he saw her looking again and thought to himself, Rumors will be flying soon. Maybe it's best that I'll wait with the introductions for a while. and he started to give the men instructions. "I need it cleaned up. Starting with the kitchen, a bedroom and my office over there. Everything can go to the dump. If you find something and you don't know what to do with it, just come and ask."

That afternoon, a truck backed up and unloaded a 40-yard dumpster. A short time later, Laura looked out again to see a minivan with ExConv Services on its side. A woman came out, looked around, and gave instructions to the rest. When done, she walked to the back of the van and got out a large bouquet of flowers before walking to Laura's front door and ringing the bell. Laura opened the door and the woman handed her the flowers with the words, "With the compliments of Doc Isaac, for the inconvenience. And if we get too loud just say so, we'll stop."

The woman left, leaving Laura open-mouthed behind. Laura looked at the other house and saw Isaac sitting at his table next to the front door. He looked at her and waved. She held up the flowers, waved back and went inside to look for something to put them in. She felt strangely elated.

====

Two weeks later.

Two dumpsters later, the house was cleared from its past and Isaac and a contractor had finished making plans to rebuild the interior. It was far from finished, though with only his bedroom and a part of the kitchen being usable.

Isaac was at his usual table next to the door when it started raining cats and dogs. He'd had a canopy erected next to the house, so when the rain started, he went under the tarp since he loved the feeling of being outside with the smell of the forest. He was enjoying the sound of the rain on the tarpaulin when he heard the motor of a car dying. Looking up, he saw Laura panicking. He got his umbrella and walked over.

"Good afternoon. We haven't been introduced yet. I'm Isaac Manner, your neighbor as you might have noticed," Isaac said with a little smile to keep the sting out of his remark.

"Uhm, yes. Sorry, I'm in a hurry. I need to pick up Tim, my son, from school. I'm late as it is and my car..." Laura gushed.

"Your car will go nowhere by the sound of it. You can take mine if you want to or, if you aren't afraid to be seen with an ex-convict, I can drive you."

Laura was a bit blindsided at Isaac's offer. She thought furiously, weighing the pros and cons and finally said. "I'm more afraid of driving that big truck of yours. Can you please drive?"

"Sure, get your coat and hop in. I have to lock up. Uhm, would you like some help with your car?"

Laura whispered ashamed, "I can't afford that. My ex..."

Isaac interrupted before they drove off to school. "Neighbor, I said help. As in help? You know. Help. No strings or repaying in any way. Just a friendly face and a cup of coffee sometimes will be enough."

Laura noticed the use of 'neighbor' in his addressing her and was ashamed of herself. She said, "I'm Laura Wenstad. Sorry, that I've been so rude. Yes, please, if you can get it running again." The last part sounded partially hopeful but part fearful as well.

Isaac pushed a speed dial on his phone and set it to handsfree so that Laura could listen too.

"Doc," came over the speakers, "how are you doing and what can I do for you?"

"I'm doing fine, Keith. Ahh, can you call Joey for me and ask him to check on my neighbor's car? Keys are in the ignition. The car just died. We're picking up her little boy."

"Sure Doc. Anything else?"

"Just let Joey call me when he has news, please?"

"Will do and did you know that K2 has to appear for the parole board next week? Mr. Green has already been informed."

Isaac laughed. "Thanks. Good to know. Another start-up. It starts to look like work. I need a PA soon, I think."

Laura, confused, glanced at Isaac. "When I try to make an appointment with a garage, I have to wait for at least a week. When and how do I get the car over at that garage so quickly?"

"Don't worry about that. Joey is already on his way with a flat-bed. I reckon."

"Are you their boss? They react so promptly?"

"Nope. I helped them to set up their business. That's all. Don't try to tell me that you didn't research me and "ExConv" on the internet. Or that you didn't hear the rumors flying about me. But in truth, Ben Green--you've met him--and I founded IsBexcon Investments and ExConv Services to help ex-convicts to restart their lives. It works out very well. That's why I get a little extra service."

Laura looked at the man seeing him in a new light. If only he hadn't mistreated his ex-wife and daughter.

On arriving at school, Laura got out of the car and waved when she saw Timothy waiting for her. Timothy's face lit up when he saw the car and shouted, "That's our neighbor's truck. Cool! Why is it here?"

Laura helped Tim in the back of the crew cab and buckled him in while she said sadly, "Our car broke down. Again."

Isaac turned around and said "Hello, big boy. I'm Isaac. If your mother is ok with it, you can call me that too if you want. Now let's take you home."

Back at the house, Joey took Isaac aside. "Doc. That car is a deathtrap on wheels. The motor is shot, but the rest is even worse. What do you want?"

Isaac thought about what Laura had said to him and asked, "She can't do without a car. Do you have something available?"

"I have a nice little Nissan Rogue, only it has an ugly color. She can have that one. Shall I ask her?"

"No. Just take this one and switch it. Send me the bill. I can't have dead neighbors or neighbors with dead children on my conscience."

Joey walked to Laura and said, "Sorry Ma'am. I need to take your car and the papers please."

Laura was close to crying. "I need that car. I can't pay for the repairs."

"Don't worry, Ma'am. Doc's already taken care of that. I'll bring a replacement this evening."

Laura stammered, "Isaac took care of it? He can pay for that? Is he always like this? And call me Laura, please."

"You've no idea, Ma'--uh Laura. He's one of the nicest men I know, honest, sharp and generous. And I know where this little conservation goes. No, Laura, he never asks for something in return. Better don't start that way with him, because he thinks it's insulting. That's why everybody goes out of their way to help him with jobs he needs to get done. He pays anyway, whether you want it or not. And there are a lot of people who owe him." He paused for a second before adding, "Oh, and I, for one, don't believe for a second that he beat up his ex and daughter. I've seen him train in prison. He just doesn't have it in him. I'll have to go Ma--uh sorry, Laura. See you after dinner."