Night of the Hats

  Neighborhood Watch (2025) Simon was institutionalised for ten years, can’t find a job, has difficulty keeping eye contact, occasionally hallucinates his father telling him he can’t do anything. He lives with his sister DeeDee who works in a salon while taking nursing classes; money is more than tight and she needs Simon to contribute. Their next door neighbour is Ed, retired university campus head of security, who keeps interfering with his replacement, and who spends too much money on gambling. When Simon spots a woman being beaten and forced into a van, he can’t make out the face of the man who did it and his father’s voice tells him he’s hallucinating. He tells a police detective, but the car registration number is for one out of state, and when she looks up his mental illness history she dismisses him. Simon in desperation turns to Ed, who has been ordered off campus and been cut off from his online gambling, so decides to help out of boredom. He knows that number pla...