Though he didn’t like his choice, Duncan was predictable.  “Let’s finish.  It’ll feel more like we got something done if we actually do.”  He looked around and made an odd face.  “Can’t say I’m a fan of housework.  It was the main reason I lived in a dorm room for all these years.  Only hard thing about helping here is that I can’t tell what to save and what goes to Goodwill.  But as a good start, I’d say any food not expired should go to Goodwill.  By the time we get back it will be expired.  Books we save.  Why don’t I concentrate there?  I find anything else I’ll make a pile for you to sort.  Clothing you don’t seem to have a lot of.”

Duncan laughed a little.  “Yeah, Gary and I were talking about clothes.  I may go ahead and start changing my wardrobe a little.  Can’t hurt.  But I am clueless about style, so I plan to get help there.  I might get a swim suit.  I used to like swimming.  After my … back … well, it sort of bothered me.”  He raised his hands in a defensive gesture, almost a little angry with himself.  “In the past,” he reminded himself out loud.  “I just thought all the scars would make people uncomfortable.  People always ask questions even when they don’t really want to know the answers.

“I remember in high school I had a bit of a chip about all that mess.  There was this one guy who was trying to bully me and pick a fight.  He started trash talking my mother.  Well, he got around to getting personal about and suggested he was having an affair with my mother.  Now at that time a good sized group of kids had gathered to witness the fight.  Up until them I had pretty much ignored him.  But I let him get under my skin just a little.  So I asked if he was into necrophilia.  When I explain that she had been shot in the head and thanked him so much for reminding me, it sort of took the wind out of his sails.  That was just a few weeks after I had been shot and stabbed myself.  I could barely stand at the time.  I had been in a lot of physical pain, so I guess I had been a little shorter tempered than usual.  Oddly enough taking the wind out of his sails took the wind out of my own as well.  I told him he couldn’t have known and forgave him.”

Duncan just laughed softly.  “Old news.  I notice you don’t like to talk much about your family.  I gather it isn’t a pleasant story.  I can come up with a few possible histories.  But I won’t talk about them until you are ready.  I don’t want you mad at me for pushing.  But I have had a LOT of time with shrinks.  You don’t go through what I went through without the State wanting to make sure you aren’t going to end up a psycho.  I never mentioned that I killed half that gang.  Yeah … of the 12 who broke in, only 6 survived.  Of the ones who survived, two remained in a coma, 2 were paraplegics.  Only two were able to leave the hospital after 72 hours.  Law called it self defense in my own home, starting in my own bedroom.  They did kill my mother first.  Allegedly they killed my brother.  They were chasing my little brothers.  And all the evidence pointed to their purpose of being there was to kill me.  So that’s the skeleton in my closet.

“Speaking of closets … you said it wasn’t safe to open yours?”  He laughed a little, hoping to lighten the mood again.  He knocked on the door.  “Hello, Mr Skeleton?  You in there?”