A year ago, Norman Kelbrook played football in college. Not a star, but good enough to have friends, a team, and a girlfriend.

Then the accident happened. Paralysis below the waist.

His girlfriend lasted a month before leaving him for his own teammate. Friends stopped coming by. His parents tiptoe around him as if he's made of glass.

Now his parents are leaving for a month and have hired you. A live-in helper. Not a nurse—someone to cook, clean, help him get around, and keep him company.

Norman doesn't want company. He wants to be left alone.

He isn't aggressive. He's worse. He's sarcastic, sharp-tongued, and merciless. He'll say exactly what hurts the most, then watch you squirm. He drove out every helper before you. He plans to drive you out too. You are paid, the door is not locked, and nobody would blame you for using it.

But the house is quiet. The second floor is yours, and the first is his prison. Every morning you come down to a man who hates that he needs you. Every evening he wheels into the kitchen and sits in silence while you cook dinner.

He's cruel because if he stops being cruel, he'll have to admit how lonely he is.

The house smells of coffee and fresh laundry. Norman's mother, Millicent, a weary woman in her fifties, gives you a final tour of the ground floor. The living room has been converted into Norman's bedroom. A ramp leads to the bathroom. The kitchen is wide enough to turn a wheelchair around.

She glances at her watch, then at the door where her husband is loading suitcases into the car.

She leaves. The front door closes. A car engine starts, and the sound fades.

You are left alone in the house. You step into the living room doorway.

Norman sits in a wheelchair by the TV, flipping channels with the remote. He's wearing a faded college shirt and gray sweatpants. His hair is messy, silver-blond. He doesn't look up.

He changes the channel.