(Phaysis)

An hour ago I stepped outside to empty my trash and check mail when heard a sound I don’t normally hear: that of an aircraft engine revving up and down really close to the apartment. I went out back to investigate and found one of the APD helicopters circling over the neighborhood. Its floodlight was in a sweep-and-search pattern; they’re looking for somebody.

I walked down the block to check it out; got to Chesterfield and saw there was a cop parked, with lights flashing, on each end of the street at North Loop and Koenig. They’re definitely searching for somebody. The cop sitting at Koenig spotlighted me as I was walking away to return to my apartment (and me in my black hoodie, heh). I stopped, turned around, showed my face to the cop; he turned off the light. I waited to see if he was going to bark commands. Nothing. So I slowly and deliberately turned around and walked back home.

A half hour later, the chopper is still circling, taking longer arcs. I could still faintly see the reflections of the lights flashing on the car at Koenig from my place. Hope they find the fool and soon; sleeping might be difficult with a rumbling helicopter overhead.

To hell with protecting the public. Screw all this “enforcement of public law” bullshit. I’ve got to sleep!

So last night / this morning someone stole the right two wheels off of my car.

You read that right.

I came home at 2am, parked. Nothing out of the ordinary. I woke up around noon and looked out to check the weather; I noticed that the nose of my car was leaning forward more than usual and figured maybe I ran over a bolt or something. When I grabbed my laundry and attempted to leave around 5pm, I checked the tire to see if it was flat…and both were gone. Instead, the right side of the car is chocked up on top of a granite block. Even the lug nuts were gone.

Shock, despair, anger.

Called the cops, made my report, got a case number. They dispatched an officer to dust for prints. There were no prints. However, a neighbor saw that I was at the car with a cop, and came over to offer an eyewitness account. Apparently, at 7:30 to 8am, she had her apartment door open to let in the breeze. She stepped out onto the balcony and noticed a man at the car; he saw her, looked nervous, and then carried a tire in each hand to his car and drove off. She thought he was my car’s owner and didn’t think anything of it. The description she offered was rather generic: light-skinned black male, bald, medium height and stocky build. She got no description of the car.

I have no hope of getting my wheels back. By my estimate, it’s $150 out of my pocket to replace them. The wheels were nothing special: cheap stock rims, cheap tires that were nearing a replacement. Why my car was targeted, I don’t know. If it was at 7:30am, then yeah, I don’t know. If it was during the night, then the lighting in the lot, the shadow on the right side of the car, the right side facing the street and away from the apartment building, would all make sense.

I’ll need a ride to pick up some spare lug nuts, get a set of locking lug nuts, and top off the air in my full-sized spare and my donut spare so I can limp around tomorrow to get new wheels. Until then, I’m stranded, deflated, defeated.

My apartments are the bestest. My neighbors are really neat. All of them. I got home ten minutes ago. Right now there are 4 police cruisers and 5 police officers in my apartment complex. They’re talking with some of my really neat neighbors. That’s so neat.

Can you guess what today’s secret word is? No, that’s not it. Try again.

Yes, there you go. Can you spell today’s secret word? Try it.

G-H-E-T-T-O

Very good! I knew you could.