Sixth sense

I was a 12-year old latch-key kid. I had had a half day at school. It was around 1pm when I climbed the steps to the front door. I opened the screen door and the main door blew slightly open.

It was not locked.

I thought to myself, Mommy must have been rushing this morning.

I entered the house and every hair on my body stood up.

Mommy? I said even though I knew she was at work.

Silence. Even so, I felt a presence. A malevolent one.

I took off my shoes and started tiptoeing around the house. Through the living room, I dropped my backpack in the kitchen, turning on the light and making sure the doors to the basement and the pantry were locked. I grabbed a knife from the butcher block.

I continued quietly: linen closet, empty. Bathroom and shower empty. Mommy's bedroom, empty but clothes strewn everywhere. I wondered what she couldn't find.

My room was upstairs but I ran out of nerve while my body was still ice cold with fear. I went back to the kitchen to call my mother at work.

"Mommy?"

"Hi, baby. Are you home?"

"Yes."

"Did you lock the door?"

"Yes, but I don't think it was locked when I got home."

"Hmmm..."

"Were you looking for something this morning?"

"Yes, why?"

"Stuff on your bed...The house feels weird. It think we may have been robbed."

"Don't be silly, darling. It's the middle of the day. Sorry, baby, I have a call. I'll see you later. Don't forget I have a wake to attend tonight. But I'll come home first."

I sat at the kitchen table for the next five hours. When my mother came home, she went to her room to change. She came back to the kitchen, ashen-faced.

"Pooh bear, did you do that to my room?"

"No."

"You were right. We were robbed."

There was very little to steal. My mother’s wedding rings she'd kept even though they were divorced. Perhaps some cash although that is unlikely unless that's when she started hiding money in books.The biggest thing they stole was our peace of mind. Any sense of feeling safe in one's home was wiped away.

Within a week, a nice craftsman from Sicily had installed beautiful iron bars on all the first floor windows.

One thing I did gain from the experience was confidence in a certain sixth sense for danger. It has, fortunately or unfortunately, served me well.