{"id":1011,"date":"2026-09-25T02:49:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T02:49:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/truenewsus.com\/?p=1011"},"modified":"2026-09-25T02:49:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T02:49:18","slug":"part-2-i-let-a-homeless-man-sleep-on-our-couch-by-morning-everything-had-changed-unexpectedly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/truenewsus.com\/?p=1011","title":{"rendered":"PART 2 \u2013 I let a homeless man sleep on our couch. By morning, everything had changed unexpectedly."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I pushed the door open about six inches and immediately threw my arm across Liam\u2019s chest. \u201cStay behind me.\u201d \u201cMom, what\u2014\u201d \u201cJust stay there.\u201d The first thing I noticed was the silence. The second thing I noticed was our kitchen table. It wasn\u2019t where I had left it.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-2\"><\/div>\n<p>Neither was the couch. For one terrifying second, my brain jumped straight to the worst possible conclusion. Then I saw Marcus.<\/p>\n<p>He was standing in the kitchen wearing the old gray hoodie I had given him the night before, one hand gripping the edge of the counter while his injured leg rested stiffly behind him. He froze when he saw me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChloe.\u201d \u201cWhat happened in here?\u201d My voice came out sharper than I intended. Then Liam squeezed around me. \u201cWhoa.\u201d I finally looked past Marcus. And that was when I realized why everything had been moved. Our apartment hadn\u2019t been robbed. It had been repaired.<\/p>\n<p>The crooked front door that usually required my entire body weight to close now swung smoothly behind me and clicked shut with barely a sound. The kitchen faucet wasn\u2019t dripping. The loose cabinet door that had been hanging crooked for nearly a year sat perfectly straight.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-3\"><\/div>\n<p>The wobbly kitchen table no longer had an old folded magazine shoved under one leg.<\/p>\n<p>Even the broken drawer beneath the stove, the one I had stopped using because it always fell off its track, had been fixed. The couch had been moved because Marcus had apparently repaired the loose outlet behind it. On the counter sat a loaf of homemade bread.<\/p>\n<p>I stared at him. \u201cYou did all this?\u201d Marcus suddenly looked uncomfortable.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-4\"><\/div>\n<p>\u201cI know you told me to leave.\u201d \u201cThat wasn\u2019t my question.\u201d He nodded slowly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d \u201cWhy?\u201d He glanced toward Liam.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause you gave me a warm place to sleep when you didn\u2019t owe me anything.\u201d I looked around again. \u201cYou fixed my apartment?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome of it.\u201d \u201cSome of it?\u201d Liam rushed over to the kitchen sink and turned the faucet on.<\/p>\n<p>Water flowed perfectly. He turned it off. No drip.<\/p>\n<p>His mouth dropped open. \u201cMom! It stopped!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can see that.\u201d Marcus rubbed the back of his neck. \u201cThe faucet only needed a new washer.<\/p>\n<p>The hardware store sells them for about a dollar. Your door needed the hinges reset. The table just needed tightening.<\/p>\n<p>The cabinet was easy.\u201d \u201cYou went to a hardware store?\u201d \u201cThis morning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith what money?\u201d His expression changed. \u201cI had eleven dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened. \u201cYou spent your money fixing things in my apartment?\u201d \u201cI bought a few screws and washers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarcus, you should\u2019ve bought yourself food.\u201d \u201cI had eggs.\u201d Liam grinned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you didn\u2019t eat my cereal.\u201d Marcus pointed at him. \u201cI was warned there would be legal consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Liam laughed. I didn\u2019t. Not because I was angry anymore.<\/p>\n<p>Because suddenly I didn\u2019t know what to say. I had spent my entire shift imagining every terrible thing a stranger might do inside my home. Meanwhile, that stranger had noticed all the little things I had learned to live with because I couldn\u2019t afford to fix them.<\/p>\n<p>Then I spotted something on the kitchen counter. An envelope. My name was written across the front.<\/p>\n<p>My stomach dropped again. \u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d Marcus followed my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>His expression immediately became serious. \u201cYou should probably sit down.\u201d Those six words erased every ounce of relief I had felt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you do?\u201d \u201cNothing bad.\u201d \u201cThen why do I need to sit down?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause your landlord came by.\u201d My heart sank. \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAround ten this morning.\u201d \u201cWhy?\u201d \u201cHe knocked.<\/p>\n<p>I answered. He wanted to know who I was.\u201d I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>Perfect. Absolutely perfect. Three weeks behind on rent, and now my landlord knew I had invited a stranger to sleep in my apartment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you tell him?\u201d \u201cThe truth.\u201d I opened my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhich part?\u201d \u201cThat you let me stay here for one night.\u201d \u201cMarcus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe already seemed angry when he arrived.\u201d \u201cThat\u2019s his natural personality.\u201d \u201cHe asked why I was messing with the kitchen faucet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I rubbed my forehead. \u201cAnd?\u201d \u201cI asked him why he hadn\u2019t fixed it himself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Liam whispered, \u201cOh, no.\u201d I looked at Marcus. \u201cYou did not.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI did.\u201d \u201cPlease tell me you didn\u2019t argue with my landlord.\u201d \u201cI wouldn\u2019t call it arguing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat would you call it?\u201d Marcus thought for a second. \u201cA disagreement with elevated volume.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite everything, a laugh almost escaped me. Almost. I grabbed the envelope.<\/p>\n<p>Inside was a typed notice from the property management company. My eyes scanned the page. Then stopped.<\/p>\n<p>NOTICE OF INSPECTION. I looked up. \u201cWhat inspection?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Marcus leaned against the counter. \u201cThat\u2019s the other thing.\u201d My pulse began pounding.<\/p>\n<p>He pointed toward the wall beside the refrigerator. \u201cCome here.\u201d I followed him.<\/p>\n<p>He pulled the refrigerator forward just enough for me to see the wall behind it. My breath caught. A dark patch of mold climbed several inches above the baseboard.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh my God.\u201d \u201cI smelled it when I moved the table this morning.\u201d \u201cI never knew that was there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t. The refrigerator covered it.\u201d He crouched carefully, protecting his bad knee, then pointed toward a section of warped flooring.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s been water getting into this wall for a while.\u201d \u201cHow long?\u201d \u201cMonths, maybe longer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I thought about Liam. His cough. The nights he sometimes woke up congested.<\/p>\n<p>The inhaler his pediatrician had prescribed the previous spring when his breathing suddenly became worse. I felt cold. \u201cMarcus\u2026\u201d \u201cI\u2019m not saying this caused anything.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not a doctor.\u201d \u201cBut it could be dangerous.\u201d \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I grabbed my phone. \u201cI\u2019m calling the landlord.\u201d \u201cYou don\u2019t have to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d \u201cHe already knows.\u201d I stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus nodded toward the notice. \u201cWhen he told me not to touch anything and said the apartment was \u2018fine,\u2019 I asked whether he wanted me to photograph the mold before or after I called the city.\u201d My mouth fell open.<\/p>\n<p>Liam looked delighted. \u201cYou threatened Mr. Perkins?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Marcus shook his head. \u201cI informed Mr. Perkins of his options.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd then?\u201d \u201cHe suddenly became very interested in scheduling an inspection.\u201d I read the notice again.<\/p>\n<p>Management would inspect the wall the following morning and relocate us temporarily if repairs required opening the drywall. For almost a full minute, I couldn\u2019t speak. Then I looked at Marcus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho are you?\u201d His smile disappeared. There it was again\u2014that guarded expression I had noticed outside the grocery store.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI told you. Marcus.\u201d \u201cNo.<\/p>\n<p>I mean how do you know how to fix all this?\u201d He looked down at the brace surrounding his knee. \u201cI was a building superintendent for thirteen years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That caught me completely off guard. \u201cFor apartments?\u201d \u201cMostly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d Marcus slowly lowered himself into a kitchen chair. Liam became quiet.<\/p>\n<p>For the first time since we had met him, Marcus looked older than forty. He looked exhausted. \u201cLast year, one of the buildings I worked at had an emergency call.<\/p>\n<p>Burst pipe on the fourth floor. Water was pouring through three apartments.\u201d He stared at his hands.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was carrying equipment down a stairwell when part of a damaged railing gave way.\u201d Liam\u2019s eyes widened. \u201cI fell almost two floors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I winced. Marcus tapped the brace. \u201cTore up my knee.<\/p>\n<p>Fractured my leg. Had surgery.\u201d \u201cBut your job should\u2019ve covered it,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019d think.\u201d Something bitter entered his voice. \u201cThe management company called it a contractor issue.<\/p>\n<p>The contractor blamed building maintenance. Insurance fought everybody. While they argued, I couldn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He paused. \u201cThree months became six. Savings disappeared.<\/p>\n<p>Then my lease ended.\u201d \u201cYou lost your apartment?\u201d He nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI kept thinking I\u2019d get back on my feet before things got really bad.\u201d His eyes dropped toward the floor. \u201cPeople always think homelessness happens in one dramatic moment.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes it doesn\u2019t. Sometimes it\u2019s a hundred small things breaking one after another.\u201d Nobody said anything.<\/p>\n<p>I looked around my tiny apartment. The rent notice on the counter. The old furniture.<\/p>\n<p>The grocery budget I calculated down to the dollar. Three weeks. That was all that separated me from being current on rent.<\/p>\n<p>And suddenly three weeks felt terrifyingly small. Marcus continued quietly. \u201cI had a friend letting me stay in his garage for a while.<\/p>\n<p>Then his landlord found out. Since then, I\u2019ve been rotating shelters.\u201d \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell us?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat would it have changed?\u201d I didn\u2019t have an answer. Liam walked toward him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid anybody help you?\u201d Marcus smiled sadly. \u201cA few people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLike Mom?\u201d Marcus looked at me. \u201cLike your mom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I turned away because my eyes were suddenly burning. The oven timer beeped. I jumped.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus stood. \u201cBread.\u201d \u201cYou baked bread too?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy grandmother taught me.\u201d Liam whispered dramatically, \u201cCan we keep him?\u201d \u201cLiam!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Marcus laughed. And for the first time since I had opened the door, so did I. We ate bread with butter at the table that evening.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus insisted he would leave afterward. I told myself that was probably best. Then it started snowing.<\/p>\n<p>Not gently. Within thirty minutes, the windows were white and the local news was warning people to stay off the roads. I looked at Marcus\u2019s thin coat.<\/p>\n<p>Then at his brace. \u201cYou can stay one more night.\u201d He immediately shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d \u201cWhat do you mean, no?\u201d \u201cYou already took a risk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd now there\u2019s a blizzard.\u201d \u201cI\u2019ll find somewhere.\u201d \u201cWith your leg?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve managed.\u201d I crossed my arms. \u201cYou repaired half my apartment with eleven dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChloe\u2014\u201d \u201cYou\u2019re sleeping on the couch.\u201d He opened his mouth. \u201cThat wasn\u2019t a question.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Liam pumped his fist. \u201cYes!\u201d Marcus looked at both of us.<\/p>\n<p>Then something happened that I would remember for years. His eyes filled with tears. He looked away quickly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t want your son seeing me cry.\u201d Liam shrugged. \u201cMy mom cries during dog movies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do not.\u201d \u201cYou cried during Paddington.\u201d \u201cThat bear was separated from his family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Marcus laughed through his tears. And that night, he stayed. The inspection happened the following morning.<\/p>\n<p>It turned out the leak inside our wall was worse than anyone expected. The city inspector ordered management to repair the plumbing, remove the damaged drywall, treat the mold, and replace part of the flooring. Mr.<\/p>\n<p>Perkins looked like he wanted to strangle Marcus. Marcus looked perfectly calm. Then the inspector noticed our front door.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho fixed this?\u201d Marcus raised his hand. The inspector tested it twice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou maintenance?\u201d \u201cUsed to be.\u201d \u201cWhat company?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Marcus told him. The inspector paused. \u201cI know that company.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Marcus\u2019s jaw tightened. \u201cThen you probably know why I\u2019m not working there anymore.\u201d The inspector studied him.<\/p>\n<p>Then asked a question. \u201cYou looking for work?\u201d Marcus looked surprised.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat kind?\u201d \u201cMy brother manages three senior housing buildings on the North Side. His maintenance supervisor quit last week.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My heart actually skipped. Marcus stared at him. \u201cI\u2019m still recovering.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe needs somebody who knows buildings. Doesn\u2019t mean you need to climb ladders tomorrow.\u201d Marcus didn\u2019t speak.<\/p>\n<p>The inspector pulled out his phone. \u201cWant his number?\u201d I watched Marcus\u2019s face.<\/p>\n<p>Hope can be frightening when you haven\u2019t felt it for a long time. You almost don\u2019t trust it. Finally, Marcus said, \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The inspector gave him the number. Marcus called that afternoon. The interview was two days later.<\/p>\n<p>I lent him my ex-husband\u2019s old button-down shirt. It was slightly too large, but Liam insisted Marcus looked \u201cextremely professional.\u201d Three hours after the interview, Marcus called me.<\/p>\n<p>I answered during my lunch break. \u201cHello?\u201d There was silence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarcus?\u201d \u201cI got it.\u201d I stood completely still in the nursing home hallway.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou got the job?\u201d \u201cI got the job.\u201d His voice cracked.<\/p>\n<p>I covered my mouth. \u201cWhen do you start?\u201d \u201cMonday.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I started crying. Of course Liam later reminded me that I also cried during Paddington. For the next month, Marcus stayed at a transitional housing program recommended by his new employer.<\/p>\n<p>His knee continued improving. His first paycheck wasn\u2019t huge. But to Marcus, it might as well have been a million dollars.<\/p>\n<p>He showed up at our apartment that Friday holding two grocery bags. \u201cWhat is this?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDinner.\u201d \u201cYou\u2019re not buying us groceries.\u201d \u201cI\u2019m not buying groceries.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He handed the bags to Liam. \u201cI\u2019m paying my chocolate-cereal debt.\u201d Liam looked inside.<\/p>\n<p>There were three boxes. He nearly screamed. But Marcus had another envelope.<\/p>\n<p>He handed it to me. Inside was money. I immediately pushed it back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d \u201cChloe.\u201d \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s for the nights I stayed.\u201d \u201cYou don\u2019t owe me rent.\u201d \u201cYou\u2019re behind on yours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My entire body stiffened. \u201cHow do you know that?\u201d He pointed toward the counter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re not great at hiding overdue notices.\u201d My face burned. \u201cI\u2019m not taking your money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen don\u2019t.\u201d He pushed the envelope back toward me. \u201cConsider it payment for the hoodie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat hoodie is worth maybe four dollars.\u201d \u201cVintage.\u201d \u201cMarcus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His expression became serious. \u201cYou helped me when helping me made absolutely no sense for you.\u201d \u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean\u2014\u201d \u201cYou were struggling too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stopped. He continued. \u201cYou didn\u2019t help me because you had extra.<\/p>\n<p>You helped me when you didn\u2019t.\u201d That sentence broke something inside me. Because he was right.<\/p>\n<p>Kindness is easy when it costs nothing. That night had cost me fear. It had cost food.<\/p>\n<p>It had cost trust. And yet I would make the same choice again. I finally accepted enough money to cover one week of rent.<\/p>\n<p>Not all of it. Marcus complained. I threatened to throw him out.<\/p>\n<p>He reminded me he didn\u2019t live there. Liam laughed so hard he nearly choked on his cereal. Three months passed.<\/p>\n<p>Then six. Marcus became maintenance supervisor at the senior housing complex. His brace eventually came off.<\/p>\n<p>He moved into a small studio apartment near his job. He bought a used truck. And almost every Sunday, he came to our place for dinner.<\/p>\n<p>One Sunday afternoon, Liam was working at the kitchen table on a school assignment. His teacher had given the class a simple question: \u201cWrite about someone who changed your life.\u201d I assumed he would choose a teacher.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe his grandfather. Possibly some basketball player. Instead, I walked behind him and saw the title at the top of the page.<\/p>\n<p>THE MAN ON THE COUCH. I stopped. Liam noticed me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom, don\u2019t read it yet.\u201d \u201cSorry.\u201d \u201cYou can read it when I\u2019m finished.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That evening, he handed me the paper. The first paragraph described the night we met Marcus. The second described how frightened I had been.<\/p>\n<p>The third described the repairs. Then I reached the final paragraph. I read it twice.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus was sitting across the room when he noticed my expression. \u201cWhat does it say?\u201d I looked at Liam.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan I read it out loud?\u201d He nodded. My voice shook as I began.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI used to think helping someone meant fixing their whole life. But my mom didn\u2019t fix Marcus\u2019s life. She gave him one warm night.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus didn\u2019t fix our whole life either. He fixed our door and our sink. But sometimes one small thing gives someone enough hope to fix the next thing themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Marcus looked down. I kept reading. \u201cMy mom says we helped Marcus.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus says he helped us. I think both are true.\u201d I had to stop for a second.<\/p>\n<p>Then I read the last lines. \u201cIf you see someone struggling, you might not be able to solve everything. Maybe you can\u2019t give them a house.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe you can\u2019t give them a job. Maybe you only have a couch, a plate of spaghetti, or one night of safety. But sometimes the little thing you give becomes the first piece of someone\u2019s new life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nobody spoke. Marcus wiped his eyes. I smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCrying?\u201d He cleared his throat. \u201cDust.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s no dust.\u201d \u201cYour apartment is very dusty.\u201d Liam laughed.<\/p>\n<p>Then Marcus looked at him. \u201cYou forgot something in your essay.\u201d \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Marcus pointed toward me. \u201cYour mother was scared that night.\u201d Liam nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d \u201cNo. That\u2019s important.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Marcus leaned forward. \u201cPeople think courage means you\u2019re not scared. That\u2019s not true.<\/p>\n<p>Your mom was scared. She helped me anyway.\u201d I looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus looked back. And suddenly I understood something I hadn\u2019t understood on that freezing night outside the grocery store. I thought I had invited a homeless man into my home.<\/p>\n<p>But \u201chomeless\u201d had never been who Marcus was. It was only something that had happened to him. He was a worker.<\/p>\n<p>A builder. A friend. A stubborn bread baker.<\/p>\n<p>A man who could repair almost anything with a screwdriver, three screws, and an unreasonable amount of confidence. And eventually, he became family. Years later, when Liam graduated from high school, Marcus sat in the front row beside me.<\/p>\n<p>When Liam crossed the stage, he looked into the audience and pointed at us both. Afterward, Marcus pulled me aside. \u201cRemember what you said the first night?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d \u201cJust don\u2019t make me regret this.\u201d I smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI remember.\u201d \u201cWell?\u201d \u201cWell what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you regret it?\u201d I looked across the parking lot. Liam was laughing with his friends, diploma in hand.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus stood beside me, healthy, working, living in his own home, no brace anywhere in sight. And I thought about that freezing man sitting against the brick wall years earlier. I thought about eleven dollars spent on washers and screws.<\/p>\n<p>I thought about a repaired door. A loaf of bread. A school essay.<\/p>\n<p>A hundred Sunday dinners. \u201cNo,\u201d I said quietly. \u201cNot once.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Marcus smiled. Then he said something I will carry with me for the rest of my life. \u201cNeither do I.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That night, I had believed I was opening my door for a stranger. I was wrong. I was opening it for someone who would eventually become one of the most important people in our lives.<\/p>\n<p>And maybe that is the strange thing about kindness. You rarely know what is standing on the other side of the door. Sometimes it is risk.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes it is responsibility. Sometimes it is a second chance. And sometimes, when you open that door for someone who has nowhere else to go, you discover that the person you saved will someday help repair pieces of your own life too.<\/p>\n<p>Not every act of kindness changes the world. But it can change someone\u2019s world. And sometimes, that is more than enough.<\/p>\n<h2>THE END!!!<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I pushed the door open about six inches and immediately threw my arm across Liam\u2019s chest. \u201cStay behind me.\u201d \u201cMom, what\u2014\u201d \u201cJust stay there.\u201d The first thing I noticed was &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":997,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family-drama-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/truenewsus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/truenewsus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/truenewsus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/truenewsus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/truenewsus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1011"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/truenewsus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1012,"href":"https:\/\/truenewsus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1011\/revisions\/1012"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/truenewsus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/truenewsus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/truenewsus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/truenewsus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}