I was not there when it happened, but was not prepared for what I faced when I finally did go home. I cried. I'm still crying, and I'm crying right now as I write this blog. This was my home, and now it will never be again. I am not staying there tonight, tomorrow, or ever again. They might come back.
I am extremely lucky that I wasn't there. I am extremely grateful nothing was taken from me except my sense of security, my home, my sense of trust. I am grateful Keith is alive and Hugues and Igor and Christian are all safe.
I was house sitting for Bill up in the Bronx. It had been a wonderful thanksgiving, going to the Macy's Parade. And then I got the text message from the landlord: "The locks to the doors have been changed, but had they been locked both top and bottom as they should have been, perhaps the incident wouldn't have happened". The incident? what incident. I called my roommate Hugues. "Hugues I just got a text from the landlord, what incident?".
"Dude you don't know? we were robbed, last night 3 guys in masks came in, went to Keith's room and asked where the rent money was. they weren't playing. I think they hit him. They tied him up and stuff and when the couldn't find the rent money, they took his laptop. Nothing else from anyone else's rooms. Nothing was taken from you. Dude, did you put your flat screen TV on the floor before you left?"
"NO, I didn't". Nothing was taken from anyone else? I don't understand! what were they after, how did they get in?"
"Dude this is an inside job, police said that there was no forced entry so either they had a key, or someone let them in. Of course the landlord has a business to protect so they are saying we left the doors open, but dude, I know that it was locked, Keith knows it was locked."
"I'm supposed to come home tonight!"
"Are you sure you want to do that, I'm not staying there, Keith is not staying there, and the other 2 are out of town. If you have a place I say stay there. Look, my mom is on the other line, I gotta go."
"Please call me back! when you can!" I say.
I quickly call one of the landlords. He tells me to call his cousin-- the other landlord who will explain everything. "The house is safe now, we changed all the locks and the keys are there with Andre upstairs (The Navy Seal) who will be sure that only people who are supposed to have keys have them."
I call the other landlord. "William, someone left the front door unlocked, and then maybe your roommates don't want to admit but they left their door unlocked and someone came in and tied Keith up. They took his laptop. Look, I live in a nice neighborhood this can happen anywhere. But the building is safe now, we changed the locks".
"I don't understand, if there was no forced entry, what is the point in changing the locks? How do we know someone didn't just let them in?"
"Look William, the police are investigating it now.
"I'm not going back. I'm sorry but this is my 60 days notice, I'm moving out".
I tried calling Keith. No answer. I leave a message praying that he is okay, and to call me. I text message Keith. Did I tell Hugues to call me back? I text Hugues to be sure to call me. I tell Bill and his father that my apartment was the site of a home invasion last night and I cannot go home . Can I stay? Can I move here in 60 days till I decide what to do? Bill says to me: "I told you so, moving to that area was a big mistake. Admit it William, you were wrong, what were you trying to prove anyway moving there? sure you can come here"
I moved there because Bill and I broke up. I had no where else to go, the room was nice, it was fully furnished. I met all the neighbors. I was the first to move in, then Hugues, Keith, Christian, and then Igor. We were a family. We would watch TV together. Cook together, talk about how our days went. Listen to Hugues have sex. Drag Keith with me to Yoga. Listen to Christian talk about her long days at work. Brag about the perks I had with my job, my blog... We were a FAMILY. We felt safe. We NEVER had a problem coming home.
Hugues calls me back. He tells me that he thinks its one of the other tenants on the property. How did they know that we didn't mail our rent checks in that He (Hugues) collects them? How did they know what date that the rent was to be there since the date changes every month depending on the landlords schedule? How did they know what apartment to barge into? How did they get in? why did this tenant ask Hugues 4 times that day if everyone else had paid on time or not. Why did she go to the bank to get money for her rent, tell Hugues she was leaving right before the home invasion, and then come back right after and still have no rent money?
"Dude, both Keith and I have been let out of our agreement with 30 days not 60 days. You need to do the same or you will be alone in the house when they come back. Come back tomorrow and get your important stuff, documents, valuables and come back for the rest later. Don't sleep here, I won't."
I let the landlord know that I am leaving in 30 days. He understands. He asks if I can help him out by posting an ad for him on craiglist for my room.
Work was horrible for me today. What will I find when I go home? Will it be safe? My bosses are AMAZING. They let me leave early so I can go home while it is still light out. Someone responded already to my ad on craigslist and wants to see the place at 7PM. I agree.
I get home, the Navy Seal upstairs hands me my new keys and tells me its going to be alright. Keith and Hugues are home. No one else. We sit and we talk... Keith has a bruise on his face and his lip is busted. "I thought it was you guys playing a joke at first. Then I realized it was for real. They asked me where the rent money was. I told them I don't know, I didn't have it. They said they were going to kill me. I got scared, I told them Hugues in the next room had it. Sorry Hugues, I was scared".
"It's alright man" Hugues says. "so I was home William when this was happening to Keith, I didn't know. Someone jiggled my door handle but they didn't knock or try to bust in. I didn't feel good so I just didn't get up. I tell you its an inside job, that bitch even texted me during asking me if I was still home. She knows I was home, I told her I was sick. She still didn't give me any money.. its fishy man."
Keith replies "She asked me several times too if I was the only one home that day. I need to tell the police. They took my computer. My paper I was working on for school was on there, 18 pages of hard work. All my notes too was on there. My professor will understand but all that work, they took my phone too man". That is why Keith never responded to my phone messages.
I can see that Keith has fear in his eyes. I have never seen Hugues look scared. "We use to be here alone, just the 2 of us Will" says Hugues. "It was so safe" I say. Every single noise makes us jump.
I go to my room, everything has been pulled out from under the bed and stuff. Clearly they went through my stuff. They didn't take a single thing. I don't understand. I'm grateful, and I am glad Keith and Hugues are okay. It feels so dirty. I cant sleep here, they might come back tonight. Hugues decides to stay but calls his really good friend to spend the night with him. They will sleep with knives under their pillow. Keith is going to his girlfriends. Igor is coming back from a Chicago trip. He knows what happened but I'm not sure he feels the impact yet. Christian went to an appointment. She told me we'd talk later. What's going to happen to us? to them? to MY FAMILY!
The girl who comes to see the room loves the place. She asks me "wasn't there a shooting or home invasion in this area recently". I tell her yes. Nothing more. "I wanna move in this weekend she says......" I let the landlord know.
I grab my valuables and go home to my new home at Bills house. I cry on the train. I call Herbelicious to meet me with the dogs in the park.... .I cry. "This was OUR HOME I cry, they took it all away".
I tell all of you please make sure your doors are locked no matter what city you live in. And please, please leave your comments to this blog.. I NEED to hear from you...I NEED to know that I'm not alone.......
Thanks for letting me vent... Please pardon my spelling and Grammar tonight
William
