In the early 1990’s we had this most unusual mystic neighbor. He was small built, nice, quiet but very likable guy with a smile who was very much into the Tampa Leather Community. He was living on disability, was HIV+ so we all invited him to all the dinner parties. He would show up 2 hours early and bake dinner rolls then would be the last person to leave after the dishes were done. What a perfect guest!!!
He lived in a garage apartment with his many cats and many, many computers. Here is where it starts to get strange…. Nobody was ever allowed into his aluminum covered windows apartment. He would never answer the door when we knocked.
Then one day he was wearing cat flea collars on his ankles and wrists. We offered to give him pest spray & bug bombs. He would politely say no thank you. Some of his cats were hiding and he didn’t want to harm them. When he passed away the landlord (who was a friend too) asked us all to come over to the apartment. Long before we knew what it was called… he was a compulsive hoarder. There was so much garbage, piles of magazines, newspapers & all kinds of junk in the apartment that you could not move about.
There were 3 cats found. Then in the freezer, wrapped in white plastic bags were his dead cats. Thanks to the cable reality shows we all know what this is about today. Back then it freaked everybody out.