Reposessed

They evicted my neighbour while I was away.

Some faceless men came and changed the locks. Their inhumanity multiplied only by the photocopied notice which they'd posted onto the door. Stuck there using the same tape as they'd sealed the postbox, emblazoned with the words "do not use".

Where she and her child had gone, I could not say. No longer just across the way. Now she was gone it was impossible to say where.

When her electricity bill had been excessive, she'd asked me if it was right. Which it was when I showed her the meter reading. Such was the price of keeping a baby warm. The same one that ate her mothers cigarette butts from the ashtray. Sometimes she'd even knock on the door to ask for some sugar. All entirely benign and there wasn't much going on.

Had it been the money? I don't think so. That with all the state dole outs for single mothers, it seemed implausible for her not to keep up with her rent.

Though for the first time in ages, the fire door had been closed. Not wedged open for the buggy.

The 'For Sale' sign gave it away in the end. It had been the landlord all along.