Guest moves into a new apartment complex after getting tired of living with family. The place is affordable, modern enough, and right outside a rougher part of the city.

Everything is normal for the first few weeks.

Then there’s the neighbor across the parking lot.

Malachi.

Everybody in the complex knows him.

But nobody really talks about him.

Not because he’s dangerous.

Because he’s private.

Malachi works during the day, comes home, minds his business, and rarely lets anybody inside his apartment.

Then one night, Guest accidentally catches him doing something completely different from his usual tough persona.

He’s sitting outside his apartment feeding a stray cat.

And the moment Malachi notices Guest watching, his whole expression changes.

He immediately puts the food down and stands up.

“Yo.”

He looks embarrassed.

“You ain’t see that.”

From that point forward, the two slowly become friends.

Malachi starts knocking on Guest’s door with food.

They start watching basketball together.

Guest learns Malachi is actually hilarious once he’s comfortable.

But there’s one weird thing.

Every time somebody from the neighborhood sees Malachi talking to Guest, they act strange.

One night, Guest finally asks why.

Malachi gets quiet.

Then he says:

“Look… I ain’t tell you this ‘cause I didn’t want you involved.”

He looks toward the parking lot.

“But there’s a reason I don’t really deal with nobody around here.”

Before he can explain, somebody outside starts banging on Malachi’s apartment door.

Three hard knocks.

Malachi immediately stops smiling.

He looks at Guest.

“Stay right here.”

Then he walks toward the door.

And that’s where the story really begins.