Close to Death

Content Warning: This section discusses murder, death by suicide, domestic violence, racism, and racist violence.

It is 4:00 am, and Adam Strauss is playing chess online in his home in Riverview Close. He is a grandmaster chess player and is contemplating a move, finger hovering over the keyboard, when his neighbor drives up the shared driveway, music blasting. It must be Giles Kenworthy, the rudest neighbor in Riverview Close. In his anger, Adam accidentally presses a key on his keyboard and sends the wrong move, losing the game.

Tom Beresford, another resident of the Close, hears Giles come home and can’t get back to sleep. He goes downstairs and finds the whiskey bottle and glass from his nightcap but makes coffee instead. He thinks about the neighborhood meeting that night to discuss the issues that have arisen since the Kenworthys moved in.

Tom’s problem with Giles is that he owns four cars and parks them in the shared driveway, often blocking Tom’s car. When Tom confronts Giles, the other man insists that he is overreacting. Tom is a doctor and takes it very seriously when he can’t get to his office on time, but lack of respect and breach of common neighborhood etiquette angers him most.