Hick went to bed around 8:45 on Tuesday night. At 9:00, I heard his phone ringing. It was on the bathroom counter, and I was in the kitchen. I don't answer Hick's phone. I don't wake him if it rings. He'll answer it if he wants to. If it's family with a problem, they know my phone number. Sometimes Old Buddy calls Hick the night before, to say he won't be working the next day. If he doesn't get an answer, he leaves a text. I was not concerned.
At 10:00, I was sitting at the kitchen table with HIPPIE. I saw a humanoid shape in the window reflection, moving through the living room. Creepy! But weird things happen around here. I turned and looked over my shoulder. Nothing. I turned my attention back to HIPPIE. I almost jumped out of my skin when Hick came tromping through the kitchen. He was fully dressed, not in his tighty-whities as I had last seen him. I figured he must have gotten up to check his phone.
"What are you doing??? You scared me half to death!"
"I've gotta go to town. Somebody's locked out again."
"I thought you put a lock box there with a key!"
"I DID. But she says it doesn't work. It's stuck."
"Are you okay to drive? Are you still sleepy?"
"I'm okay. Be back in a bit."
Hick returned at 11:02. That's like the middle of the night for him!
"Did you figure out what's wrong with the key?"
"No. I just let her in with my key. She was waiting at the back door so I didn't have to go in the front. She only lives on the second floor. So I just unlocked her door and left. I'll look at it tomorrow."
"You really should be paid for getting out in the middle of the night, just because somebody can't remember their key!"
"Oh, I'll get paid. Not from THEM. I'll tell my boss I had to make a special trip to town."
Wednesday morning, Hick gave a few more details. It was the lady who's called him before. She goes out to smoke, and forgets her key. That's why he put in the lock box with a key inside! So he doesn't have to get out in the middle of the night.
"I know that key works! The exterminator has been using it. Apparently, they couldn't get the lock box open. That other gal who wanders around, helping people, was with her when she called. I gave them the number to open the lock box, but they said it didn't work. I thought they were talking about the key, not the box. It has four numbers. It's 0###. I can almost bet they were forgetting the zero first, and just putting in three numbers."
Anyhoo... maybe Hick will get a full $300 this month! To cover SilverRedO's gas.
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