Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Scared But Okay

Somebody was watching me while I was in bed last night.

The night before, I brushed off my suspicions, ruling it out as an overactive imagination. I read my book, turned out the light and called it a night.

Last night I heard him clear his throat.

There I was, reading about Louis XIV when I heard the same sounds of feet shuffling. Again, I thought it was a figment of my imagination, but then I heard him cough a little bit.

*scary*

I carefully turned off the light and laid still, wanting to see if I could hear distinct footsteps walking away from my window. Thankfully I didn't. Unfortunately, what I heard next was even more scary and aggressive.

My doorbell rang.

At 12:30 in the morning.

This time, I didn't yell my classic, Excuse Me!! Instead, I shouted, "Who the hell is there? I'm calling the cops."

But I really ran to my bathroom and hid. Then I called Jos.

Because he's a man. Because he's single (and thereby doesn't have a family or spouse I would wake up and disturb in the middle of the night), and because he has a Glock 9 among other weapons.

Joseph, being the calm voice of reason, told me to call the police and then call him back.

"Okay," I said between tears. "Do I call 9-1-1 or do I look for the local number? Is this an emergency?" I was scared and wanting to do the right thing, and that includes reserving 911 for people who really need it.

I talked to the dispatcher then stood on my front porch in the rain, wearing hastily-thrown on jeans and a cashmere sweater, looking for someone who would make me feel a little safer.

Two Cincinnati Police officers arrived in separate cars about five or six minutes after I placed my call.

They dodged the drizzle and walked around to the back of the brick apartment building, looking for any signs of my Peeping Tom. The officers came back around to the front of the building and asked to take a look inside my apartment.

I must confess at this point in the post that my apartment looks pretty disastrous. I'm not going to share all of my indiscretions, but needless to say, my abode isn't in shape for house guests.

The police gave the hovel a quick look around and surmised that perhaps I needed better drapes to cover the cheap blinds provided by the apartment management.

Great.

New drapes are going to protect me from this freak?

Now my brain is processing other safety elements - motion sensor lights, dogs, alarm systems - and wondering how I am going to install these elements or take care of them (well, that part is mainly for the dog option).

I am exhausted today, I feel a little defeated and am more angry than frightened that some slimy schmuck had the power to disturb my confidence and sense of safety.

Dick.

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Kate's Random Musings by Kate the Great is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

That sucks! I'm not sure where you live but I live downtown in OTR. NOT in the ghetto though. I live on a really nice street with overpriced homes. Although we haven't had too much trouble there was once a few years back where the window was left unlocked and someone came in and stole some money and things all while my husband and baby were sleeping upstairs! My husband thought he heard something but dismissed it.

Drapes wouldn't hurt and it doesn't have to be expensive. Rod pocket and a flex bar that uses spring to just slip into place. Other than that, keep your doors and windows locked and have your phone next to you.

I'm sorry that this is something that you experienced however, do not let it control your life. Learn from it, use caution and go on. Take care and have a great day!

Ryan R. Dlugosz said...

Hey - sorry to hear about all of this; certainly a bad situation. I'd recommend a variety of things including getting yourself something to protect yourself with & learning how to properly use it. Just remember that you'd better not use it unless they are actively breaking in - otherwise with the crazy backwards laws out there you could end up in trouble.

Also, maybe get a dog? Couldn't hurt, except for that you need to take care of a dog. Maybe just get a big dog & "accidentally" let it out next time the guy is there. (See disclaimer above about getting yourself in trouble.)

Third, I'd take that police recommendation to your landlord & see if they'll pay for the blinds.

Finally, if you want to nail the perv, set up a camera (either still with a flash or an infrared motion camera) and record the dude in the act. Next, take that to the cops and/or post it on your blog.

Good luck. I'll tell Andy to stop spying on you the next time I see him.

Robin Feltner said...

A dog certainly helps. Even if it's just a lap dog, they bark like crazy when someone approaches your door within a mile. A good taser gun don't hurt either. Stay safe!

Tina L. Hook said...

This has happened to me in my past and I ended up with a chronic peeping tom. Yuck. Gross. Scarey. Installing security lights outside helped put the whole thing to rest.

Fadi said...

Two words.. Bear Mace.. if it works on bears it'll work on a perpetrator.