A young couple faces an unexpected problem one Sunday afternoon when their doorbell rings. The husband peeks through and sees a dishevelled, unshaven man with a foul odourno bag, no backpack, nothing.
Before the husband can ask what he wants, the man blurts out, “Can I see Emily?” Then he shouts, “Emily, please, come here!”
Emily arrives, studies him closely, but doesnt recognise him. Desperation fills his eyes. “Emily, Im your cousin Ethan. Weve never met. Im ruineddont let me die out here.”
They let him in, though the stench is unbearable. Ethan leans against the door, barely standing. “I hitched rides and walked over six hundred miles, slept in fields, sold my phone, beggednearly got arrested.”
Pleading again, he says, “My wife threw me out, Mum wouldnt take me back. Youre all Ive got. I came to you, Emily. Help me.”
The cramped hallway reeks. They cant just turn him away. They send him to the shower, give him fresh clothesa T-shirt and trousersand stuff his filthy outfit into a bin bag, which the husband takes straight to the rubbish.
Clean now, Ethan glances toward the kitchen. What now? Emily seats him at the table, but her husband pulls her aside. “Were not keeping him, surely? He could rob us in our sleepor worse. Let him go. There are places for people like himshelters, food banks.”
Emily refuses. Not because hes family, but because hes a person in need.
They return to find Ethan devouring soup straight from the pot, slopping it down his chin, gulping spoonful after spoonful. Emily nearly gags. Lunchgone.
She snaps, orders him to sit properly, and serves him properly. He struggles but manages to eat like a human being.
Silent, she waits.
Once full, he sways, exhaustedbut she wont let him sleep. “Tell me what happened.”
He chokes out, “They threw me out like rubbish, Emily. No money, no food. Even Mum shut the door in my face. I had nowhere to go. Id have died out there. You were my last hope.”
She presses, “Why did they kick you out? Explain.”
He cant. Too ashamed. His head hits the table.
They toss old jackets on the floorhis bed. Their flats tiny, no spare room.
While he collapses, Emily calls his mother from the balcony. “Your Ethans here. Filthy. What happened?”
Her aunt wails, “Hes no son of mine! Drank, gambled everything awaysold his wifes belongings while she was visiting me. Stole from me too. We threw him out. So now hes your problem.”
Emily fumes. “You dump him on me? My husbands furiousIm barely holding it together!”
“Just kick him out,” the aunt advises. “No mercy.”
“I cant,” Emily snaps. “I wont!”
Her aunt sobsno help at all.
Her husband storms onto the balcony. “I told youget rid of him. Ill give him some cash if you cant do it.”
Emily refuses. “If something happens to him, Ill never forgive myself.”
“Fine. Do what you want. Im leaving.” He storms off to his mothers.
Everything unravels in seconds. Who is Ethan? A thief? A danger? Theyve never even methow did he find her?
A restless night passes. At dawn, she shakes him awake. “Your mum told me everything. You cant stay. My husband left. Whats your plan?”
She suggests shelterscharities that help people like him. Shes seen ads at bus stops.
Ethan just stares, hollow-eyed.
Then he mutters, “Im a criminal, Emily. But Ive changedId never hurt anyone.”
Fear prickles. What if hes ill? Carrying something? Six hundred milesmostly on foot. How did he survive? And his soulgambling, stealing from family? Is he too far gone?
She tries calling a charity. No space for two days.
Two days of torment. A stranger in her homeunpredictable, unsafe.
Her husband wont return, calls her a fool, demands action.
Emily tells her boss the truthneeds time off.
They eat whats left. She dares not leavewhat if he robs her? He stole from his own mother, his wife.
But slowly, he improves. Swears hes changed. “I wouldnt hurt a fly now, Emily. Thank you.”
She finds him a place. Hes accepted. They never meet again. No calls, no updates.
Five years later, he reappears with a young woman. “I wont barge in like last time.”
He introduces his second wife. “We came to thank you. You saved mesaved us. Without you, Id have died, never met her.”
Hes working now, doing well. No contact with his mother. Emilys his only family.
He starts calling on holidays. Once, he says, “You can always count on me. I owe you everything.”
Its uncomfortable. But at least she learns something about her own husband.
