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Chat with Deb—Haunted Dolls and Freedom At Last
Not in that order, however.
Deb’s sister married her high school sweetheart. They had two kids, a nice house they built themselves on a patch of land big enough for a decent-sized garden and a barn, a not-quite-fairytale life but pretty decent considering.
And then Deb’s brother-in-law developed paranoid schizophrenia.
Over the last several years this has resulted in arrests; periods where he spent time in a psychiatric prison; alienation from both their kids; Deb’s sister no longer being able to have her granddaughter visit (there were no actual threats, just a general concern about what might happen if grandfather was having a bad day); a drop in household income as Deb’s b-i-l could no longer hold a job; continued income loss as he refused to apply for Social Security “because that’s how they get you!”; accusations against Deb and me (Deb plotted things against him, I used my computer hacking skills to infiltrate their home through their Internet connections). Plus other things we won’t go into here (material for another story).
And then, watching TV late at night, he died. (I know what you’re thinking! It’s okay, Deb and I have solid alibis, and the coroner ruled it natural causes so there was no toxicology analysis. All good!) And Deb’s sister is adjusting her…
