AvecLion
February 23rd, 2007, 02:28 PM
Two weeks ago, Soldier bought the XBox 360 and gave DJ his old XBox (ya know, the plain one) and loaned him a couple games. DJ went to his dad's for part of the school vacation, then came home. He had his best friend over during the day to play games before the gang got together for our weekly Lost family night. After the show, he went to stay with Swan and Soldier.
He was told he'd be grounded starting during vacation - his grades are atrocious - failing everything but his shop. Wednesday, we pulled the cable from his room. When he came in Thursday night, he asked what we did with the XBox - huh? We hadn't touched it. And asked where Ashes was. J went downstairs with him to look around. Our cellar window was gone. The door to the hatch was locked from the inside. The hatch itself was unlocked. J called the police - I had to go to work. Ashes (the cat from hell) had gotten outside through the window. Normally, not a problem, but Ashes is an indoor cat and only went out once and spazzed - couldn't wait to come back in. While the police were here, J heard mewing on the deck and opened the slider to let in a very cold feline. At least he came home (dammit!)
The cops didn't believe anything was taken. But no XBox, no games, no controllers, no power cords. Ironically, DJ's video iPod was laying out right next to where the XBox was. Cops said a thief would have taken the iPod as well. The controllers were in a bureau drawer, not out in the open. J said DJ's friend had come over and said he left his wallet behind that morning and could he go down and get it. J let him. This is a kid who for the last two months has been family - he's over here all the time, he's included in with family stuff. DJ didn't want to believe him, after all, this kid knew DJ's bike was stolen from school (and the police caught the kid, charges were pressed, but the bike was gone). DJ called him late last night and asked, but his friend denied it.
This morning, DJ told me his friend stopped over and offered DJ his Playstation until DJ found the XBox. I went through the DVDs and noticed that there were four missing, but two of the cases were still there - my movies. I told DJ he had to talk to Soldier and tell him that his games were gone. He did. Soldier apparently called Swan because she called a few minutes later. She suggested we go out and hit the video stores to see if anyone took the stuff there to sell. First shop we hit was around the corner from my house. I waited outside while DJ and Swan went in. They talked to the clerk, gave a list of games (one of which was a special edition of Halo 2) and the controllers (again, one was a special edition). They gave the clerk the name of the detective in charge and the case number as well as our contact info. We drove all over town, repeating that procedure.
We bombed - the stuff was nowhere to be found. After 90 minutes, we were heading home when my cell phone rang. It was the guy from the first shop. He had someone there with stuff that matched the description we gave. He was waiting on us to come and ID it. We headed back downtown. When we walked in, everything was on the counter except one game (but the special edition was there). And DJ's best friend was sobbing in the corner. He admitted he tried coming in through the window knowing that DJ was gone but he didn't fit. So he woke J a half hour later and told him he left his wallet. J let him in, then went to the bathroom (no secret what you have to do the second you wake up). While he was alone in the cellar, he slipped the XBox and accessories through the door to the hatch, unlocked the hatch and came back when he knew I'd be sleeping. Took him 5 minutes. He met J on the stairs coming up and showed him the wallet in his hand. There's still one game of Soldier's missing and my DVDs.
J was feeling like it was his fault because he let the kid in the first place and to top that off, someone came in while I was sleeping. He asked DJ to stay home today so I can sleep. He now wants someone here so he doesn't have to worry. He's convinced that it'll happen again and this time the person who breaks in will go upstairs and I'll get hurt. I was upset about the DVDs that are gone - sentimental reasons. Clerks, Clerks II, Jersey Girl and Chasing Amy were my Xmas presents from Kai - the first gifts she was able to buy all on her own. She knows my weakness for Kevin Smith movies.
We decided not to press charges. The kid is 18, turns out his mom tossed him out last month, which is why he spent so much time at our place. He needed money cause the shelter had to boot him - only so many consecutive days, unfortunately. Sad thing is that if he told me he had no where to go, we'd have taken him in. If he told me he needed money, I'd have given him the old computers and all the peripherals, books I'm done with, DVDs that I don't watch, the PlayStation 2 and all the games- DJ doesn't use it anymore - a ton of CDs (all my music is digitalized anyway)...stuff like that to sell. We've done it for our friends, we've done it for some of my daughters' friends. Hell, I'd have even driven him to a pawn shop!
So I lost my movies. J lost peace of mind. Soldier lost a video game. But DJ lost the most - he lost his innocence. That was his best friend, a kid he trusted. Sad way to be introduced to the real world.
He was told he'd be grounded starting during vacation - his grades are atrocious - failing everything but his shop. Wednesday, we pulled the cable from his room. When he came in Thursday night, he asked what we did with the XBox - huh? We hadn't touched it. And asked where Ashes was. J went downstairs with him to look around. Our cellar window was gone. The door to the hatch was locked from the inside. The hatch itself was unlocked. J called the police - I had to go to work. Ashes (the cat from hell) had gotten outside through the window. Normally, not a problem, but Ashes is an indoor cat and only went out once and spazzed - couldn't wait to come back in. While the police were here, J heard mewing on the deck and opened the slider to let in a very cold feline. At least he came home (dammit!)
The cops didn't believe anything was taken. But no XBox, no games, no controllers, no power cords. Ironically, DJ's video iPod was laying out right next to where the XBox was. Cops said a thief would have taken the iPod as well. The controllers were in a bureau drawer, not out in the open. J said DJ's friend had come over and said he left his wallet behind that morning and could he go down and get it. J let him. This is a kid who for the last two months has been family - he's over here all the time, he's included in with family stuff. DJ didn't want to believe him, after all, this kid knew DJ's bike was stolen from school (and the police caught the kid, charges were pressed, but the bike was gone). DJ called him late last night and asked, but his friend denied it.
This morning, DJ told me his friend stopped over and offered DJ his Playstation until DJ found the XBox. I went through the DVDs and noticed that there were four missing, but two of the cases were still there - my movies. I told DJ he had to talk to Soldier and tell him that his games were gone. He did. Soldier apparently called Swan because she called a few minutes later. She suggested we go out and hit the video stores to see if anyone took the stuff there to sell. First shop we hit was around the corner from my house. I waited outside while DJ and Swan went in. They talked to the clerk, gave a list of games (one of which was a special edition of Halo 2) and the controllers (again, one was a special edition). They gave the clerk the name of the detective in charge and the case number as well as our contact info. We drove all over town, repeating that procedure.
We bombed - the stuff was nowhere to be found. After 90 minutes, we were heading home when my cell phone rang. It was the guy from the first shop. He had someone there with stuff that matched the description we gave. He was waiting on us to come and ID it. We headed back downtown. When we walked in, everything was on the counter except one game (but the special edition was there). And DJ's best friend was sobbing in the corner. He admitted he tried coming in through the window knowing that DJ was gone but he didn't fit. So he woke J a half hour later and told him he left his wallet. J let him in, then went to the bathroom (no secret what you have to do the second you wake up). While he was alone in the cellar, he slipped the XBox and accessories through the door to the hatch, unlocked the hatch and came back when he knew I'd be sleeping. Took him 5 minutes. He met J on the stairs coming up and showed him the wallet in his hand. There's still one game of Soldier's missing and my DVDs.
J was feeling like it was his fault because he let the kid in the first place and to top that off, someone came in while I was sleeping. He asked DJ to stay home today so I can sleep. He now wants someone here so he doesn't have to worry. He's convinced that it'll happen again and this time the person who breaks in will go upstairs and I'll get hurt. I was upset about the DVDs that are gone - sentimental reasons. Clerks, Clerks II, Jersey Girl and Chasing Amy were my Xmas presents from Kai - the first gifts she was able to buy all on her own. She knows my weakness for Kevin Smith movies.
We decided not to press charges. The kid is 18, turns out his mom tossed him out last month, which is why he spent so much time at our place. He needed money cause the shelter had to boot him - only so many consecutive days, unfortunately. Sad thing is that if he told me he had no where to go, we'd have taken him in. If he told me he needed money, I'd have given him the old computers and all the peripherals, books I'm done with, DVDs that I don't watch, the PlayStation 2 and all the games- DJ doesn't use it anymore - a ton of CDs (all my music is digitalized anyway)...stuff like that to sell. We've done it for our friends, we've done it for some of my daughters' friends. Hell, I'd have even driven him to a pawn shop!
So I lost my movies. J lost peace of mind. Soldier lost a video game. But DJ lost the most - he lost his innocence. That was his best friend, a kid he trusted. Sad way to be introduced to the real world.