The intruder

3:42 P.M. Monday, June 1st

The apartment was dark, the cheap blinds blocking out the bright heat of summer outside. Aside from the occasional passing dump truck or fire engine, it was quiet as I drifted into unwarranted sleep.

"BANG, BANG, BANG!!!" The walls shook from the unexpected disturbance. Holy fuck! Who the hell's that?! What a way to wake up! My long-dormant survival instincts tried to aid the situation as I immediately rolled off the bed and onto the floor. Hide! Although this remained my central strategy, I'm not sure if I would have made it long back in those days when your survival instincts kept you alive.

"BANG, BANG, BANG!!! Open the door!" I was laying on the carpet next to my bed wondering which locks I had used. After army crawling into the living room, I slowly raised myself eye-level with the view hole. A man with a handlebar mustache and sunglasses was standing off to the side of the door. The cable company?! I didn't think they'd send a hit man! I had been avoiding the cable company for some time now. They wanted to take my box, but if they did, the re installment costs would be terrible! Besides, I have every intention of turning my cable back on soon enough.

Okay, he'll leave soon...bastard. What does he think? Banging my door down will make me want to cooperate?? Yeah right! I'm not stupid.

My heart was racing as I hovered between the bed room and living room trying not to make a sound.

"BANG, BANG, BANG!!!" The pictures shook on the wall. This guy's relentless! He must be a professional. Then I heard a familiar sound. Jiggling. The doorknob rattled as the man outside tried to see if it was locked. "I know you're in there!" I heard the sound of a key jamming into the deadbolt, and it unlatched....my stomach dropped.

The door opened with a slam as it caught the chain, the snapping sound of the door frame under stain. "Hey! Who are you?!" I yelled with defiance. I ran to the door. The hit man was trying to shove his head though the opening yelling, "Let me in!"

My chest was pounding, and my head was a fog. The guy was scrambling to get the chain undone. In a fury, I rushed over to grab a bar stool, ready to defend myself. I reached down and leached onto the bottom legs. Behind me, the door swung open with a thud against the wall. A gust of hot air invaded the room.

With everything I had, I lurched the stool toward the person behind me. It was all a blur.

"Crack!" I made contact with the side of his head. His hat and the bar stool flew across the room as the guy fell to floor. Holy shit! I knocked him out! I guess my survival instincts weren't so rusty after all. The man was holding a small peach colored piece of paper in his hand. I reached down to pick it up and it read, "URGENT NOTICE." Huh?

I walked over to retrieve the man's hat. As I lifted it off the kitchen floor, I read the front, "Pierce Properties." It was my landlord. Crap.