What Does It Mean to Trust Someone?

We use the word trust as though we all agree on what it means. Usually we mean we believe someone won't hurt us, lie to us, or betray us. Sometimes we mean something simpler: we believe they'll do what they said they would do, that when we need them, they'll show up.

Those are not necessarily the same thing.

I've known people I could absolutely count on to come when I called, no matter what time it was or how inconvenient it might be. If I needed them, they came. What I couldn't always predict was what they would do once they got there, and there is a strange kind of trust in that.

Cal Decker made me think about it.

Cal keeps a wall in his apartment covered with photographs, index cards, and string in three colors, a record of things he can't report and can't prove. He trusts what he sees over what he's told to believe and asks questions people would rather he left alone. He isn't necessarily the man you want showing up because he notices too much and defers to no one's version of events but his own.

There's one person who calls him anyway, and when she does, he comes.

That doesn't mean he'll agree with her when he gets there, do what she wants, or follow a rule simply because somebody else decided it was a rule. Whatever she trusts about Cal, obedience isn't part of the bargain.

So what is she trusting when she calls him? Is it his judgment, his loyalty, his intentions, or his ability to know when the rules stop applying? Maybe she's trusting something much simpler: when she needs Cal, he'll be there, even though what happens after that is another question entirely.

One of my beta readers said something about Cal that stayed with me:

"I think I trust Cal, but I don't completely trust him."

I knew exactly what she meant, but I'm not going to tell you whether she's right.

I wonder what you'll think.