It was around 9:20 on a Tuesday morning in October. The middle schooler was home sick. I get a text at school (subbing for a sixth grade math class) that some strange guy(the idiot) is knocking on the door. [The kids are on very strict orders to never open the door for anyone.] So I ask him if the guy is still there, and he says that he has left. I figure everything is good.
While outside, the next door neighbor and the across street neighbor are chatting in their front yard and see the guy. They ask him what he wants to which he replies, “I’m not a thief. I mow your husband’s lawn.” He is told that it is obvious no one is home and that he should leave. He gets on his bicycle and rides down the street.
Later in the day, the kiddo sends a text message that he wants some Gatorade. I tell him that I left him some money and to walk to the store(less than a quarter mile) and get some.
When I get home I see that the wooden gate is open and figure the kid just didn’t shut it good - nothing really unusual. I end up on the other side of the front yard doing something(no clue), and I glance in the backyard and see a strange bike. Fear sets in and I hurry to the back. Bikes are missing. One of my favorites –the Soma- is nowhere to be seen, and I notice the neighborhood bike is also missing. Further inspection would reveal one of the mountain bikes is also gone.
As I’m freaking out, I see that across the street that the neighbor's out. I go across the street the street and tell them someone stole some of my bikes. She then relates the story about earlier in the day. While we are talking, the next door neighbors arrive home and more of the story unfolds. The guy next door knows the general location of “Derrick”(the thief). He goes and drives around his neighborhood and talks to a few folks. One says that he just a got a call from the idiot asking about a ride to the pawnshop but tells him he can’t take him.
The police are called and report filed. A couple of weeks go by. I drive around the idiot’s hood daily looking for him. Checking the pawnshops. Nothing. Not looking good for retrieving the bikes. I’m getting numbers together to file an insurance claim. Deductible is $2500 but the guy has stolen $6000 worth of bikes.
I’m in class one Friday and get a call from the police. You should answer the phone when the police are calling, right? It is a detective, and he wants to meet me because he has some pictures of a bike he thinks might be mine. After some discussion, he agrees to meet me during my conference at the school. I meet him in the parking lot, and we compare pictures. There is no doubt that it’s my bike and that he has found it at a local pawnshop.
Five days go by and I get another call. This time he wants me to meet him at the pawnshop. We schedule to meet the next day after school. I arrive, and he is already inside. I go in and find him. As we are chatting, he is looking the case file, and I see the pawn ticket. They gave his buddy that pawned it $125. They are all a bunch of criminals.
Manager is not overjoyed to give my bike back. I don’t give a &*$#.
Put it on the rack and bring it home. I win!
While outside, the next door neighbor and the across street neighbor are chatting in their front yard and see the guy. They ask him what he wants to which he replies, “I’m not a thief. I mow your husband’s lawn.” He is told that it is obvious no one is home and that he should leave. He gets on his bicycle and rides down the street.
Later in the day, the kiddo sends a text message that he wants some Gatorade. I tell him that I left him some money and to walk to the store(less than a quarter mile) and get some.
When I get home I see that the wooden gate is open and figure the kid just didn’t shut it good - nothing really unusual. I end up on the other side of the front yard doing something(no clue), and I glance in the backyard and see a strange bike. Fear sets in and I hurry to the back. Bikes are missing. One of my favorites –the Soma- is nowhere to be seen, and I notice the neighborhood bike is also missing. Further inspection would reveal one of the mountain bikes is also gone.
As I’m freaking out, I see that across the street that the neighbor's out. I go across the street the street and tell them someone stole some of my bikes. She then relates the story about earlier in the day. While we are talking, the next door neighbors arrive home and more of the story unfolds. The guy next door knows the general location of “Derrick”(the thief). He goes and drives around his neighborhood and talks to a few folks. One says that he just a got a call from the idiot asking about a ride to the pawnshop but tells him he can’t take him.
The police are called and report filed. A couple of weeks go by. I drive around the idiot’s hood daily looking for him. Checking the pawnshops. Nothing. Not looking good for retrieving the bikes. I’m getting numbers together to file an insurance claim. Deductible is $2500 but the guy has stolen $6000 worth of bikes.
I’m in class one Friday and get a call from the police. You should answer the phone when the police are calling, right? It is a detective, and he wants to meet me because he has some pictures of a bike he thinks might be mine. After some discussion, he agrees to meet me during my conference at the school. I meet him in the parking lot, and we compare pictures. There is no doubt that it’s my bike and that he has found it at a local pawnshop.
Five days go by and I get another call. This time he wants me to meet him at the pawnshop. We schedule to meet the next day after school. I arrive, and he is already inside. I go in and find him. As we are chatting, he is looking the case file, and I see the pawn ticket. They gave his buddy that pawned it $125. They are all a bunch of criminals.
Manager is not overjoyed to give my bike back. I don’t give a &*$#.
Put it on the rack and bring it home. I win!
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