My neighbor changed from a lion to a cat in a way that was suspicious

 

“My neighbor was a conspicuous man. He was a regular at the bars around where he drank heavily and stayed out late – always. Living next door, I became a regular caller at his home where my refereeing skills were honed to perfection because I was constantly in the middle, trying to protect the wife from her husband’s physical and verbal attacks after his drunken binges. The man was a constant source of headache to his quiet wife who suffered the embarrassment and shame of his drunken and irresponsible ways.

 

His ‘out of control’ ways continued until sometime when I realized that for a while, I’d not played referee or heard him staggering home. I wondered what was up with him but of course, didn’t ask because it was not like I missed his craziness. One day, I saw him and it was an unexpected sighting. Unlike the man I knew, he was driving into his home before 6pm and he looked sober. I mentioned it to my wife and she said the same thing – she’d seen him a few other times and he was sober. A couple of other friends on the street mentioned the same thing ...

as well so we figured the man had turned a new leaf. Good for him and great for the wife. 

 

It wasn’t long before I noticed that I was seeing him even less than before. For weeks, I’d not seen him drive in or out. Then one day, I was home on casual leave when I looked out my bedroom window overlooking their backyard and saw him lying on the yard floor. He looked a little frail and wore casual shorts and a top. This was not the man I knew and it was strange to see this shadow of him. Before I could think it through, I walked over to his place. He didn’t even get up to say hi, just lay there looking at me with what I’d call a ‘stupid’ expression on his face. We talked a bit and his side of our conversation was unintelligible; it was just plain weird.

 

I have to say that my time with him made me uncomfortable. I was happy he was not drinking or abusing his wife but his behavior was weird, if you know what I mean. What made me more convinced that something was up was when the wife came home. She didn’t look too happy to see me even though I’d come over to help with her husband many times before. Once she drove in, the husband rushed over to carry her stuff, and headed straight for the kitchen where he started unpacking the items. I was shocked; people can change but that much in such a short time? Hmm.

 

Being curious, I began watching them closely. The husband would follow her around, carrying her stuff and just be subservient in a way that didn’t look normal to me. I’m thinking that maybe the woman had enough of his shenanigans and took matters into her own hands by spoon-feeding him to some crazy powers that rendered him controllable. It happens, though I’ve only heard about it and never seen it. But with what I’m seeing now, I think this is one case of it. Or else, how could that crazy man change from a lion to a cat overnight?”