Trashed and Scattered

I woke up on Matt’s couch to Bishop’s insanely loud barking and hesitated to jump up and check out what was causing him to go ballistic. Likely a passerby with another dog but this was a different community I wasn’t familiar with. We had freaks in ours, and surely Matt had freaks of his own. I checked the front windows only to find a flock of birds on the front lawn pecking at the ground. It was still kind of dark out; I checked my phone clock. Just after eight and three unseen texts from Brian. I felt bad about not answering them but I recall last night I was so tired after talking to him on the phone that I bunked in the living room and passed out cold. They were just updates anyway, telling me that they’d hit the road again off to St. Louis. I could tell he was hung over by his short sentences. I’d call him later once he’d settled into another hotel.
I let Bishop outside to pee for a few minutes. He chased the birds in the front yard away and came bolting back in, wet paws tracking all over the house. Too tired to want to acknowledge Bishops paw prints, I crawled back on the couch to sleep another hour. Bishop crawled over and nudged my hand before taking a nap as well.
When I woke again it was just after ten. The sun was gleaming through the window and right into my eyes. Annoyed, I pulled the throw blanket off and made way for the bathroom to relieve myself. I checked his mirror, which stretched across half the whole bathroom, and observed that there was a little bulge in my belly. I fondled it with both hands and exhaled a sigh of anxiety and gratitude that I’d been blessed with this baby, yet cursed with all the symptoms that came with it.
I let Bishop out one more time before locking Matt’s place up again. I’d be back and forth throughout the day, as I had a few errands to run anyway. I gave him a little food and topped off his water dish and scratched his ears like he enjoyed it, and placed little kisses all over his forehead. He whined at the door after I left and I could have sworn he stayed there until I got back.
I went home for a shower and a change of clothes. The house seemed so sad, so empty. Funny how things changed when Brian left. When I hopped into the shower basin and turned on the water, I let the air fill with steam as the water pelted off my skin. Washing my hair, I scrubbed my extremities with care and washed off, only to stand under the stream for a few minutes. I grabbed his body wash and squirted some onto my sponge, wiping it over my arms. My longing for him surged. I wished that wherever he was at that time, he was thinking the same thing.
Just as I was getting out of the shower I heard a rumbling outside the bathroom door. My heart fluttered in panic. Footsteps and low murmuring of voices. What the hell? I turned the bathroom light off and waited by the door. Voices shouting—numerous, my guess was three, maybe four—at each other from all directions. Fuck, we were being robbed. How the hell did they get in here when I had the alarm engaged?
My heart was pounding. I couldn’t exactly hear what they were saying until I ever so quietly pushed my ear against the door. “Jesus Christ, look at all this stuff! Kids would kill to get their hands on it. So much for the great Synyster Gates, can’t even properly lock his shit up. Wonder where his woman is.” Oh, Christ. Oh god, no. They knew I hadn’t left with him. How could they have known? How was it possible?
I was trapped without a phone, naked, and without a way out. Kneeling on the floor, I began to whimper and cry, whispered every curse I knew, damning my luck. Out of all the times this could have happened, it had to be when my husband-to-be left me alone here without anyone to turn to. Thank god they hadn’t heard me. If they did I made sure the door was locked, and although I had nothing to block it off with, the window may have been small enough to squeeze through. It was my last resort. I couldn’t risk harming Junior. I would sooner face these intruders as an angry, frightened pregnant woman than show off my naked body to the world outside.
Just when things went quiet, and I heard no more footsteps nor saw no more shadows from under the door frame, I snuck out and into the bedroom to find Brian’s bat in the closet. I threw on a pair of pants and a shirt and left my hair tangled and matted. If those fools were still here, I’d show them pain.
Alas, they were gone. And I could breathe out of relief. My hands shook uncontrollably for a good while, even when I dialled the police and security. I wasn’t going to tell Brian. Didn’t want to worry him and have him come home from his tour, even though it was something we both wanted. The operator of 911 answered as fast as my line connected. “Yes, hello. My house was just robbed. I was in the shower. There was about three or four of them, all male.”
“Ma’am, what is your address?” the operator asked. I told her and waited for her to respond. “What is your name?”
“Melissa. Melissa Haner.”
“Okay, Ms. Haner, we’re going to send several squad cars. Please stay calm. They will be with you shortly.”
“Thank you.” We both hung up simultaneously. In about eight minutes following the call, several squad cars and an SUV came barreling down the street, lights flashing, sirens blaring. Oh, boy the commotion was about to begin. I was getting antsier by the moment. Two policemen approached me on the front step and asked for my permission to enter the premises. “Ms. Haner, was anything taken, and how much?”
“Quite a lot by the looks of it. His band paraphernalia, vinyl, old guitar stuff…oh god, I hope we can recover it all.”
“We understand Mr. Haner is away on business leave, is that right? Their band tour or something?” I nodded, still shivering from shock. “When is he expected to return?”
“A little over six weeks from now. I haven’t told him what happened. Hoping it can stay an isolated incident. As long as I have bases covered on my end, guess there’s no harm that can be done, right? Or should he know?”
The cop shrugged and looked at his partner. “It’s your decision. You didn’t gather any discernible or credible information about these robbers at all?”
“No, sir. I was trapped in my bathroom wearing a towel. I wasn’t about to expose myself to them.”
“No, of course not. Alright, you said there was possibly three or four of them?”
“Yes, I believe so. Officer, do you think they have any relation to the punks that were peeping through our window a while back? It’s why we had a new security system installed. I had the alarm engaged while I was in the shower. Can’t be too careful, you know. And they busted in but the alarm never even went off.”
The cop looked troubled at his partner and exchanged glances. “Ms. Haner, is there anywhere else you could stay tonight besides here? Any friends or family in the area that you’d feel comfortable with?”
I paused to think a little about it. I could stay at Matt’s for a while, be with Bishop and be in a safer neighbourhood, or stay with Alyshia or Jamie, Jimmy’s gal. I wouldn’t want to impose on the girls, and staying with the big dog would fend off any attacker. “I have another place to stay, yes. I’ll let Brian know tonight everything that’s going on.”
The cop shook my hand and reached down into his breast pocket to pull out an information card. “If Mr. Haner has any questions, please get him to call me. Best that he is told what happened here today, ma’am. If you want I can have someone escort you to wherever you’re going.”
“No, no. I should be okay. Just need to pack a bag. I’m going to write out a list of everything that was taken to help give an idea of what to be looking out for.” He and his partner waved me off and retreated back to their cars. They didn’t leave right away, but were probably radioing their info back to dispatch. Some shit like that. Detective work isn’t my bag.
I stepped back into the house to quickly throw some clothes into a mesh pack before getting back into Brian’s truck and ripping off to Matt’s. I just hoped that whatever misfortune found me today wouldn’t follow me across town.

Notes

Here we go. All or nothing. Are you ready?