Beneath His Stolen Skin

Chapter 1: The Tenant Upstairs-2

Nolan had opened up the brownstone to tenants when Peter Awestruck, his lover of four years, accidentally drowned in the lake. During a Fourth of July cookout at Hugh Break’s house, some three miles east of Medford Street, Peter had decided to go swimming in the lake. A strong current took him under, held him captive beneath its surface, and filled his lungs. Peter's body was found at twilight, that exact time when colorful fireworks began to burst over the lake in celebration of the country’s independence.

With grief therapy twice a week, Nolan Baxter survived his lover’s death, although he couldn’t pay for the brownstone, groceries, and electric bill. Hence, the welcoming of tenants into his abode. It was either he lost the house or opened the spare bedrooms on the second and third floors to roommates. At first, following Peter’s untimely summer demise, Nolan really didn’t think he could live with strangers. But as time progressed, and many evenings of therapy with Dr. Sharon Spada were completed, he learned to adjust.

Tenants had come and gone throughout the past three years. A beefy baseball player named Lance had occupied the attic room on the third floor. A horror writer named Wayne Something or Other stayed on the second floor for six months. A male model named Ace Harding occupied a second room on the second floor for almost a year. Young women had temporarily stayed in the rooms, too: journalist Sabrina Jostlin, elementary school teacher Yona Bradford, and photographer Terese Samuelson.

Currently, three tenants lived under his care: Bradley Shore, Victoria Waltmere, and Zeb Thursday.

Bradley was a twenty-year-old biology student at West End College. Most of the time he was located on campus at Carlton Library, studying his textbooks. The young, bald man with the bright green eyes lived on the third floor by himself. Sometimes he would cook pasta for Nolan and the other tenants. His girlfriend, Naomi Baxter (no relation to Nolan), would send homemade brownies, apple pies, and chocolate cakes to the house for the tenants to enjoy. Bradley was not a problem as a tenant. He constantly emptied the garbage in the kitchen, tidied up the bathroom, and was often found vacuuming the brownstone at free will.

Victoria lived on the second floor across from Zeb’s room. Nolan seldom saw her, although sometimes he heard her moving about in the middle of the night. The twenty-six-year-old had rarely used the kitchen, sometimes showered at the house, and mostly slept elsewhere. Nolan knew she was in love with a downtown lawyer that she spent nights with. He also knew that if it were up to Victoria, she’d be the lawyer’s wife if he asked. Victoria, like most tenants at 1287 Medford, was temporary. Mr. Lawyer would soon scoop her up and she would vanish from Nolan’s life and the brownstone. Not that he minded, of course, since he believed that everyone had the right to their own lives.

Zeb Thursday moved in a month ago. He arrived on June 3 during a horrendous rainstorm. An Army duffle bag hung over his right shoulder, possibly his only belongings, Nolan believed. Nolan interviewed the young man rather quickly and discovered him to be docile, rather charming, and impeccably mannerly. Two months’ rent was handed over up front—Zeb paid with twenties. A monthly contract was signed by both parties. Within an hour after meeting the young man, Zeb was settled in upstairs, enjoying the furnished bedroom, a dry place to sleep, and his seclusion.

Nolan kept a close eye on the young man for a number of reasons, but mainly because he was sexy as hell with his bright blue eyes and muscular frame. When Zeb wore a ball cap, thin and blond tufts of hair hung out at the back. He was also intrigued by the stranger’s timid behavior. Zeb always kept to himself and rarely, if ever, left his rented room. When the woebegone young man first moved into the brownstone, Nolan judged him as having a secret of sorts, but couldn’t exactly determine what it was. After following him around Erie, he determined that Zeb was a loner, enjoyed walking, and liked to visit local bookstores and the Dolling Library on Cashner Street. Not once did Nolan witness the young man selling or buying drugs. Nor was he a prostitute. Instead, sometimes he discovered Zeb entering the Vivo Cineplex on Mercer Drive where he watched foreign movies. Other times he was spotted inside Canter Coffee on Rossdale Street in downtown Erie. Never did Nolan see the tenant with a bunch of friends, a boyfriend, or even a girlfriend. Zeb was the epitome of a lone wolf, quiet and subdued, without a pack to follow or be a member of.