The woman who has a spare key to my mom's house.

When I was a teenager (18-19) I lived with my mom. Back then I wasn't allowed to have friends over when she wasn't home so I was always looking for ways around this. A friend of mine from college was always looking for a place he could use to do his own thing.<br><br>The only way my mom would allow it was if she met him. He was the most shy person I had ever met so I was taken aback when I told him and he agreed. My mom asked what he was studying and he told her he was in computer science but she didn't know what that meant. She was a southerner from Texas. We moved to the Pacific Northwest when I was 12. So she asked what that meant. He told her computers. <br><br>"like Tiktok?" she asked. <br><br>He clarified that he only wanted to do programming for them. To sum up the story he was a very nice person. I still didn't think he could win over my mom, but he did. From that day on, my mom loved him. I think she even said something about wanting to join Tiktok but I knew better than to encourage her so I didn't. I would sometimes wonder if she was joking, but then again you never know with my mom. <br><br>One of the things she did was give him a spare key. Since I was an only child who didn't live there anymore, she wanted a way for him to get in when she was away if he needed to avoid traffic. My mom worked full time so she wasn't home until 6pm. I had band practice when I was 16 so I know how it feels to miss traffic if you can't leave after school.<br><br>So my mom let my friend keep a spare key to her house and use it whenever he wanted. She just asked that he lock up after himself. She didn't care about regular stealing. She said it wasn't her style to hoard or keep valuables. But she did have some heirloom family items that were priceless to her that he was not allowed to touch.<br><br>He never touched any of those things. That's why he was the only person she trusted to be there when she wasn't. She would leave for work at 7:30 and get back at 5:30. Then she would tell him that he could still be there until 6 so he wouldn't feel rushed.<br><br>Now, I finally get to the point. So one day I got off work and realized I didn't have my key. It was too cold to wait outside until my mom got home so I decided to ask my friend to let me in. The door was locked and I could hear him inside playing video games. He always did this where he wouldn't answer the door. It was a trait I really hated about him but my mom never cared. <br><br>When I was inside I started looking for him. When I couldn't find him in his usual spots, I decided to check the basement. It was weird for him to be in there because my mom has all her things set up down there. Our house was a tri-level so the basement was unfinished and she decided to put all of her things there. It was hard to reach since you had to use a ladder. <br><br>When I started walking down the ladder I noticed my friend was sitting at a computer, but he was crying. He had the lights turned off and was lit by the glow of the screen. I was going to ask him if he was okay but then I saw her. <br><br>I think I will never forget the sight of the woman who was standing next to him. It was such a shocking sight. She had neck length curly black hair and very pale skin. I'm not sure why but she made me think of Wednesday Adams. I'm sure she didn't have curly hair though. She had very wide hips and shoulders and was wearing a long black dress with white sleeves. It was so out of place in my mom's basement. I don't know why but it was just so shocking to see her there. <br><br>I was so confused and my brain wouldn't assimilate any of it. Why was my friend crying? Who was this woman? How did she get in? Why was she standing next to him? What is my friend doing in the basement? The only one I could answer was how she got in and that made everything worse. It was the thought that my friend let her in. <br><br>She was standing next to my friend and her hand was on his arm. She was looking at me with a blank stare. She didn't look surprised. I was taken aback by that. When I finally figured out that she was with my friend and he wanted to do something with her at my mom's house I felt such intense anger. My mom gave him a key because she trusted him, and he used it to do whatever he was doing with this woman. <br><br>I was so angry. I left without saying anything to her. I didn't know what to say to her because I couldn't even process it. I couldn't comprehend that she was letting him cry but was still looking at me. I mean who was she? What was she doing? I just left without saying anything. And my mom never mentioned it to me. Never. I would sometimes wonder if I was dreaming or not. <br><br>And I never saw my friend again. I always wonder about that woman from time to time. Was she an ex? Did they meet online? Why did my mom never tell me? Why did she have such a blank stare? One thing I do know is that I'm never going to forget her. She is forever etched in my memory as the woman who had a spare key to my mom's house.