So the other night I am sitting at my desk typing away as I do on so many uneventful nights. However this night would prove to be anything but typical or uneventful. As my fingers were flying across the keyboard, like that of a classical pianist working on his or her latest composition, in hopes of conjuring up my muse; which rarely works out. She (my muse) tends to just show up, dressed in her seductively simple and usually dark attire, gracing me with her glorious presence and blessing me with her heavenly kiss. Things could not have felt more "normal", and here was a gentle and non-threatening knock at the door. This is not typical as it was approximately 10 PM and it is rare that i get any company that is unannounced, and extremely rare that I get unannounced at ten o' clock at night.
As I pondered whether or not I was going to bother answering, my vicious (yeah right) four pound guard dog named Baby came out from the bedroom where she typically spends majority of her time and began whining and barking, you know, like dogs do. Well my pondering was brought to an abrupt end as I would rather answer the door and be inconvenienced by an annoying neighbor wanting to borrow a cup of sugar or whatever then listen to a dog carry on as if the world were coming to an end. A second knock, this one a trifle louder than the first set the dog off even more adding to my irritation.
Without thinking, as I have done so many times before, I wheeled over to the door and opened it. This was when the night took a very atypical twist. "Give me your money!" screamed a ski mask adorned young man as he stuck a gun in my face. Instinctively I backed away from the doorway as he followed "I don't have any money!" I yelled in utter shock and terror. He paused for a second before asking "you don't have any money?" "No," I told him. The gun yielding thug then ordered me to give him my phone, assuring me that he would not kill me as long as I was quick about it. After I handed him my phone he asked me a third time if I had any money "NO!" I screamed. He paused pointing the gun at the dog who was skittishly pacing the floor, before pointing back at me "I don't have any money," I pleaded with him. "How about drugs, do you got any pills?" he asked frantically. It was at this point I realized that he was more then likely under the influence of a stimulant, probably crack cocaine as it is prevalent in the inner-city.
Being a recovering addict myself, I know the mannerisms all too well, the frantic, nervous, downright desperate mindset. When an individual is coming down from cocaine, their mood dramatically declines and the only thing that matters at that moment is getting more. Often times one is willing to take drastic measures to get more. Until the effects of the drug wear off completely, the individual can appear insane.
In just a few seconds 2 things became painfully obvious to me. One, this masked man was more than likely coming off from a crack binge, and two, I was probably going to die!
After I convinced him that there was no money and no pills to be had, he turned towards the door and began to exit the apartment. Turning and pointing the gun at me one last time, he shuffled out the door.
I was in total shock and for a few seconds I was frozen. After a failed attempt at messaging a friend on Facebook, I called him on Skype and screamed, "Call 911! I just got robbed!" My friend who has never had to call 911, and has never experienced the darker side of humanity, fumbled his way through a 911 call with me coaching him along the way.
Within less than ten minutes the first of many police cars pulled in. I went outside and nervously explained the scenario to one and then another cop. The first cop Irecognized immediately as he had been to my place at least twice when I was still neck deep in my disease of addiction. It was glaringly obvious he was apprehensive at the least, annoyed and doubtful of my story.
After I told the story what seemed like a hundred times, with rightful trepidation, based on my past behavior the officer went inside with me as two more cruisers pulled in. One was a K9 unit with three officers, one walking a determined and focused German Shepard headed to the wooded area in my back yard.
Long story short, after about twenty minutes the desperate young man was apprehended, a backpack with a ski mask, jacket and what turned out to be a pellet gun was found minutes before the robber was caught. At the last minute my phone was found laying in the grass.
During the altercation, I could not help but think there was something vaguely familiar about this young man, but I could not put my finger on it. Well as soon as they brought him around to the parking lot, I was able to ID him as a local young man I had encountered several times but had no personal relationship with. After several minutes he confessed to the crime as he knew he was caught anyhow.
Wow! What a night this had turned out to be! Very scary to say the least and even though the weapon turned out to be a pellet gun that was not loaded, when I was looking down that barrel it seemed very, very real. To be continued....
