Chapter II, part 7

The fact that the government encouraged people to stick their noses in their neighbors business wasn't anything new, nor was it something anyone wise would ignore. Back in the Bush years, it was part of the national "vigilance" in the wake of 9-11. The Obama years had shifted focus from religious extremism to domestic issues, still in the name of terrorism. Alot of hunting guides and weekend warrior types got hauled in back then. As the economy went into convulsions since then, the focus had become more localized. Instead of calling some DHS hotline because your next door neighbor wore camo and drove a van, it was more about dropping a line to the local PD because the guy across the street had left his house after 10 pm. It wasn't like he was going to work, and the effort showed that you were on the correct side of the law. Some people probably still thought that they could get something out of the whole scheme, but there was nothing left to give.

With those thoughts streaming through his mind, Aaron carefully drove home, and he only went 8 miles out of his way to do so. He had enough insight and forethought to avoid the mobile checkpoints, this time. It was mid afternoon by the time he pulled into his driveway, and the clouds were breaking up enough to halt the incessant drizzle that had stained the day. He saw that his father-in-law had taken advantage of the break in the rain to split wood, and he got a rare, yet barely perceptible nod as idled by the main house on the way up the hill to his poor little singlewide. The old man begrudgingly tolerated Aaron, if only for his only daughters' sake, and in turn Aaron tried to respect him. After all, if it weren't for Becky's dad, he wouldn't even be with his family, much less living with a roof over his head.