Prologue
Rex unlocked the keys to his new house, grinning like crazy. His first house! Well, the
first house he had bought on his own. He took a deep breath in and looked at his surroundings. He just wanted to check the Cul-de-sac around him before he submitted himself to an eternity of unpacking.
It was mid autumn. Rex had returned from 6 years in prison as the main suspect for an intense case of arson on a church- It killed 3 people and injured many more. He didn't do it- He was just the only person who admitted to being in that area as it happened at the time. He was the only suspect for 5 years before cops pulled over a suspicious car in California and found out that the owner of the car did that arson- And much more.
Before going to prison he was in a relationship with another man- Maxwell White. They adopted a son together and had a very happy family going until Rex got sent to prison. Once he got out, though, Rex agreed to keep in touch with Drey (his son) and Max (his ex), even agreeing to pay child support once he got his own home and job sorted! Max broke up with Rex about 2 years after Rex got sent to prison- They both agreed that it would be too hard to keep a relationship like that and if Rex ever got out they'd stay friends. That worked out well enough!
As he looked around the Cul-de-sac, Rex noticed many things. An ominous, black house which stood out from the rest of the houses. A house with a perfectly trimmed lawn with 3 children playing out in it.. (Why did they look all the same?) A shaggier house next to it with an overgrown lawn. A house that was bigger than all the rest with a small girl reading a book out in front of it. A baby-blue house with 2 girls out in the lawn playing what seemed to be baseball. A friendly beige house with faint music pumping out of it. A small pale yellow house with a window being repaired by an insurance company. And a house with a large man in front of it, scolding his son for smoking.
Rex smiled as he observed most of his own neighbor's- But he could get to know them later. First he must submit himself to an eternity of unpacking- The moving van company thankfully had placed all of Rex's stuff indoors.
And so he went indoors to unpack his stuff, still smiling proudly at his accomplishment.
