BACK TO REALITY... Same ole, same ole (Part 165d)

BACK TO REALITY… Same ole same ole (Part 165d)

I hadn’t been to the city since I’d gone in to meet with Morris the first time. I had to be at the association headquarters by 9:30am and taking public transportation made it ‘dicey’. I wanted to make a good impression by not being late so asked if I could go in the night before and stay in a hotel. I got a quizzical look when I asked but Hobie agreed that for the first meeting I should be there well before it started. That meant bringing my clothes for the Thursday meeting with me to work on Wednesday. It was somewhat of a pain but I managed. The hotel I chose was within walking distance of the headquarters so in the morning of the meeting I was there in plenty of time. I was more than pleased to see a familiar face in front of the coffee urn. It was the woman who’d helped me set up my hospitalization records when I’d first started at the bank. Stunning red hair and a statuesque figure, she stood out in a crowd. I chatted with her for a few minutes and before I knew it there were at least a dozen others there. Most of them called her “Red”. It was obvious she had a way about her that made her a favorite to work with. By the time the meeting was convened I’d touched base with a few others I’d had dealings with at the same time I’d met Red. It made the situation a bit more comfortable.

The make-up of the committee of sixteen was almost all male with only two women listed as members. Only one of the two was there, an attractive but very businesslike 40 something lady who wanted to be called by her given name, Patricia. She was an officer in one of the big city banks. At the first break she made an effort to meet men which was appreciated. After a casual chat over coffee she handed me her card and told me to give her a call if I needed some direction as to how the committee operated. She looked around as she told me not to be intimidated by some of what I might hear during the rest of the meeting. I was impressed that she’d singled me out with those words of warning. At lunch I was able to connect with some other members who represented banks similar in size to my bank. As they say, ‘safety in numbers’. We exchanged business cards and by the time the meeting reconvened I was feeling a bit more comfortable. All the members were given a draft of the new “Mission Statement” and told to look it over and forward comments to the Chairman by the end of the month. We were also given a list of topics that the committee would be addressing over the next few months and told to be prepared to be called on for comments. I’m smiling as I write this because I remember walking out of the room and thinking I was back in school and had homework. All in all I was looking forward to being a part of the group but, in looking at the material I’d been given, wondered how I’d fit it in with all I had to do at the bank. On the train I got to look over the schedule and saw that the committee met monthly and two of the meetings were not in the city but were held in smaller cities. I liked the idea where I’d get to go different places.  Another thought I had was that this was the second trip to the city that I’d made and not had the time to stop at either Macys or Gimbels to peruse the lingerie department. But, now the committee assignment with monthly meetings meant I’d soon be able to get there.

Upon arriving home I found Elle was quite upset. The police had stopped in that day to ask if she’d seen any unusual activity at the house next door. She told me she asked why they wanted to know but didn’t get an answer. That bothered her. Even before changing my clothes or eating I called Andy, the young real estate agent who had the house listed, to see if he knew anything. Since his sign was out front my thought process led me to believe they’d checked with him. He knew nothing about it and, not surprisingly, was concerned. He said he’d come right out and I asked if I could go with him. I still don’t know why I did but he arrived about ten minutes later and the two of us walked around the house. Because of the previous incident where a window had been left open we checked all the windows. Once inside we were both shocked. It was obvious that there had been people inside. There were food wrappers on the kitchen floor and empty wine bottles in the sink. When we checked the bathroom it was a disgusting mess. There was puke on the sink and toilet and a pair of soiled men’s briefs in the toilet. Andy was very upset and, since we came in trough the kitchen door (which was locked) he went to the from door and found it was also locked. I still couldn’t get it out of my mind that the police wouldn’t ell Elle why they were investigating the house. I invited Andy to come over so he could call them to get a definitive answer and to also report the obvious trespass.

Walking through the opening in the hedge to get to my house I asked if he’d shown the house recently. He said he hadn’t but he’d recently hired an assistant and he’d shown it a couple of times. To make conversation I asked if he’d gotten any feedback. I remember him laughing when he said at the price it was being offered at it would never sell. The only thing he was able to get from the police on the call was that they’d send a car out to take a report. I was sorry I’d not been able to let Elle know about the call. In listening to Andy talking with the police I could see she was getting more upset. She called me outside to ask what we’d found in the house. I couldn’t lie and when I told her it was obvious there had been people inside she grabbed my arm and said she was scared. I didn’t know what to do except to say we’d have to wait for the Police.

When the patrol car arrived I wasn’t allowed to go with the patrolman and Andy as they went back to the house which was upsetting to me. The one good thing was that the  patrol car had pulled up my driveway which, in my mind, gave me a chance to ask what we (Elle and I) should do to be safe. When he returned he gave me no real encouragement but did say that there was no sign of a break in and that, in all probability, whoever it was had a key and that Andy was in the process of getting someone to change the locks. Unfortunately, Andy had parked his car over at the house and I didn’t get to see him. As you can imagine the whole situation left Elle and I quite concerned. I tried to ‘camp out’ to see if Andy or whoever he was getting to change the locks returned but to no avail. I wasn’t happy about it but tried to take a pragmatic approach in thinking that whoever had done it knew the police were now involved and wouldn’t be back. However, Elle wasn’t buying it. It made for a long, long night.

To be continued…