Mrs. Healy keeps the basement door locked to keep transient former borders from breaking into the house.

Two summers ago a heroin addict and former boarder known only as Shane jimmed open the rear bulkhead, thereby gaining entry to the house wherein he ran from room to room brandishing Mrs. Healy's butcher's cleaver (the one she used and still uses to hack up the chicken and beef parts for the Sunday stew) and demanding payment.

I lost about $50 in that raid. I would have lost more but I hadn't yet cashed my Estate check from that month.

Now the basement door stays locked as does the bulkhead.

Mrs. Healy has two keys. One she keeps hidden, the other she loans out to the boarders she trusts - Jim, Abdul, and me. None of us are especially trustworthy. But we have lived here the longest. Mainly deaf and wholly mute, Mrs. Healy has come to depend on us.