Vandalism

Saturday was going to be a busy day- Liz was going to take Baxter, the stray puppy she found, to the vet at 8:30am, I had the cub scout rummage sale starting at nine, and John had soccer photos at one and his game at two, and we were scheduled to attend Cheyenne's birthday party at 8pm.

I did not expect to hear the dog bark, and moments later, hear my doorbell ring. Looking at the clock, it was 5am. The police were at my door. My neighbor Chris had called them to report 5 teenagers in a maroon Chevy truck had broken the driver's side window of my Land Rover. Yes, the Land Rover I replaced a windshield in last week...same one...

I was PISSED. The truck wasn't even locked, so clearly robbery was not the motive. The cop asked me if I knew ____ ____, and of course I had no clue who he was. Liz, who was now awake, volunteered that she did know the person and had a falling out with one of his friends. This girl, she was convinced, put ____ ____ up to punching out the window.

Of course, knowing and proving are vastly different things. So I have another repair to make, and I can't be sure more damage won't be done in the future.

When the cop left, I warned Liz away from the girl, advising her not to have any contact with her. The last thing I needed was her adding fuel to the fire.

We cleared enough of the glass to move the truck out to my aunt's property, so at least no additional damage would be done. My uncle, a retired cop, asked my daughter who she pissed off, as we placed cardboard and plastic over the opening. He said that this type of juvenile offense was typically targeted, unless several windows of cars on the block were also smashed in.

And the irony of having my window broken on a sleepy street in Fairfield after having no problems in the Bronx for more than two decades is not lost on me.

I went to all the places I was meant to be, cancelled Baxter's appointment since we now have only one car, and by dinner time I was exhausted. I decided to rest my head for a moment and ended up asleep, soundly asleep, till past midnight. It was a long day.