No Regrets

Chapter 5

     The police arrived ten minutes later, while my mother waited for their arrival, she called into work to explain that she would be a few minutes late. The boss was fine with that, mother being on time and never missed one day, the boss would let it slide for just today. She thanked her and promised this was a one-time thing. Mother opened the door after hearing a knock and was greeted by two police officers who stood there with their hands on their hips. One was a fat, tall woman, and the other, a muscular tall man. Mother let them in after they introduced themselves as officer Romero and officer Santiago. "Please come in," she was tense and scared but now with two officers by her side, she could breathe a little. Not a lot. She would be finally able to breathe fully after the officers found and arrested this stalker and potential pedophile rapist.

     They both entered and skimmed the living room and a part of the kitchen which could be seen behind a wall, poking out only slightly. The woman, officer Santiago, asked, "Ma'am, what is it that you are concerned about?" The report had already come in and they knew why they were here; she was asking for confirmation. 

     Mother quickly replied, wanting everything to sort out soon, "I found this drawing of my daughter, Margaret." She showed them the drawing which she grabbed after reporting this potential crime. They both stared at it impressed by the skillfully drawn face of myself. Mother noticed this, she told them why this drawing made her worry, "My daughter is six, she can't draw like this. No one else besides me and her live here and I didn't draw this. There is someone who did this though, and I'm afraid that they broke into my house and are now stalking my daughter." She felt tears coming into her eyes and she had to cover her mouth as she sobbed. She wanted this to have never been true, she wished this never had to be. Mother began asking the Lord to protect me and allow the officers to arrest whoever was responsible and swift, before I got hurt.

     The police looked at her, listening intently. The man, officer Romero, then replied, "We will take a look for any signs of a break in." And they did, they looked around the windows, making sure they didn't miss any broken locks or footprints that would confirm mother's theory. As officer's they couldn't let the distress mother had bother them. They looked and hoped to find anything to alleviate her worries instead of leaving empty-handed. It was the best they could do to offer a bit of relief.

     As they searched mother explained through tears and voice cracks that made it hard to speak, "I looked around the whole house just a couple of minutes ago. I heard that homeless were breaking in homes and living in them. I wanted to make sure no one was living here."

     "Yes." The officer Santiago answered, she explained, "We have been getting reports of homeless around neighborhoods and some breaking in." It wasn't uncommon but barely talked about, it surprised the officer that mother had known about this. It meant she had done her research before reporting this crime, the officer believed. But really, mother spent a lot of time on Facebook and had seen people talking about this. A rising concern which the news hadn't talked about.

     The officers checked all the windows in the living room and kitchen and found nothing. They moved on to the bathroom which had a small window, too small for a human to squeeze through. Nonetheless, they checked with due diligence. After, they checked mother's room and then mine. Knowing that there was someone who was coming into my room, they were attentive to anything, any movement. It could be, that if someone was in hiding, they would attack when they saw police officers near them.

     As the police officers searched my room much more thoroughly than the other rooms, mother couldn't stop her thoughts from screaming. Did Maggie know this was happening? Or did she have no clue? She thought as the officers checked the window for any damages, hands placed on their guns to draw them out if needed. What if the person assaulted her, or worse, raped her, the thought made her sob. Officer Santiago looked at her and went up to her, ready to console her. "My baby! What did this person do to her?" She screamed while covering her mouth.