In Short(s), A Robbery

Funny that I wrote a topic relating to home in my previous blog as if my sixth sense was switched on for what was about to come next. But then, one usually says this kind of things on hindsight.

Monday, 24th July marked the 5th month anniversary of Sadia’s birth. My husband and I (and Sadia) left around noon to go for our usual mall-hopping and to buy a small dessert to celebrate Sadia’s 5th-month-day. We arrived home about 4:30 in the evening and everything was fine – I was trying to put Sadia to nap whilst my husband planned to download the new CD he had bought – the Soundtrack of Memoirs of the Geisha – into his Ipod. But he couldn’t place the Ipod. He was sure he left it in the bedroom.

While I drifted in and out of sleep with Sadia, he checked everywhere for the blasted thing and even scoured his car twice. It was nowhere in sight. It was strange indeed.

I decided to intervene and help since at times I have a knack of finding missing items. I went to the room where we hanged our laundry to dry to look for his shorts. The knee-length shorts which I finally managed to wash that day, after a few months of mucky condition since he wore them to death (pardon the expression). I was afraid I might have missed one of the pockets when I emptied its contents before putting it into the washer and his Ipod, albeit broken, might hopefully be in a pocket.

But I couldn’t see his shorts on the rack where I had hanged it. I looked out at the window that I had opened so as to dry up the clothes faster. Had it flew out the window? But that’d be next to impossible. The trajectory of any wind, either strong or weak, will never cross the path of that green shorts from where I hanged it.

So I asked my husband who was wearing different shorts (for once) if he had hanged the shorts someplace else. Where’re your shorts? How should I know, he replied.

There and then, we realized something was amiss. I quickly checked my undergarment drawer – some of my gold jewelries were gone! And my husband’s watch (the one I gave him as a wedding gift) was also missing. WE HAD BEEN ROBBED!

We tried to assess what else went missing. Ipod’s gone, along with my husband’s Sony Ericsson phone charger. This was bizarre, since my charger which lay besides his, was still on the floor. The un-cultured thief must have thought the charger was for the Ipod since it has a small opening that might fit the Ipod. Duh!!! Our passports were accounted for – thank God! – it’d take ages to get new ones (to go to Holland) if they were stolen due to immigration’s security reasons. And of course, the darn shorts were filched.

The thief had come in through our open-air utility room’s door. Somehow, he managed to vault from a nearby fire escape’s window into the ledge that led into our backdoor. We had left the door ajar because we had just finished washing our clothes. The washer’s hose (the washer is INSIDE the kitchen), that drained out the water into a man-made hole located in the utility room, straddled in between the door and its edge, thus deterring us from having any real inclination to close the door. By the by, we were also comforted by the fact that our apartment is on uppermost floor - the 19th floor! Little did we know a desperate petty thief would have the guts to leap from that height!!!

The moment I realized our house had been violated, I got goose-pimply all over. It is a scary, spine-tingling experience. I’m still more or less traumatized by it – wanting to make sure the backdoor is locked all the time.

The next day, we bought and installed latch-lock and metal door stopper that were screwed on to the backdoor. Also, we even hired a welder to construct and assemble grilled-like cages to seal the ledge in the utility room and to enclose the immediate area leading to our entrance door. It’s not cheap but our safety comes first, especially now that we have a baby.

As for the shorts, we are still both baffled and amused that he took it. Maybe, during the intrusion, he was wearing pants that didn’t have pockets. My husband would like to think it’s because he thought it was fashionable enough for keeps. Fashion or not, the idea of one day seeing him in public in that shorts is creepy! I might beat him to a pulp on sight!

I’m still angry that our sentimental items are gone but I thank God that we are safe. Who knows what happened if we went back home a bit earlier. We’re already on the way back actually when we decided to divert to new ‘Tesco’ – a Brit-based hypermarket – that just opened in Ampang. God knows better. I am grateful to Him for the divine intervention.

Hmmm, perhaps I should post a photo of that shorts so that you guys out there can inform me if you stumble into one that resembles it. Any volunteers?