catching rays 101

summer has begun.

forget

i've been listening to this lovely gem as of late.

lianne la havas

i love her voice & i'm diggin' her rad, laid-back style.

enjoy!

the encounter

so... picture this.

both of your parents are out of town.

you're asleep in your room.  it's 4am.

you wake up to the sound of boxes & books falling down, in a room down your hall.

you see cop car lights flashing through your window (outside your house).

you realize "someone's in my house & i don't have a weapon nearby".

you go to open your bedroom door to see a short, heavy set, latino woman standing

also, holding onto your door handle, presumably trying to come inside.

she then tries to shut you back in saying, "oh sorry! go back to bed!" --ever so politely.

you pull your door open to find this woman break down begging you to hide her.

"who are you?  what are you doing in my house?!  what's going on?"

"oh please!  you have to hide me, the police are looking for me!  they have a warrant out for my arrest!"

this woman, begging for help, is wearing nothing but a tank top, jeans, & socks.

again you ask, "what is going on?  why are the police looking for you??"

"please, please, please don't turn me in!  i crashed my friend's car outside & they are looking for me!

please, please!  you have to hide me!  please don't turn me in!"

finally, your sister wakes up & comes into the hallway with you.

"who are you?  why are the police looking for you?"

& then her story begins.

"i'm a meth addict.

i was raped by my grandfather when i was young, that's why i started meth.

then i got clean for 3 1/2 years, but then a guy broke my heart,

so it was a stupid reason, but i started meth again.  i lost my house in bountiful,

& my two jobs & i'm out on bail & the cops have a warrant out for my arrest.

please!  you can't turn me in.  please hide me, please don't make me go to jail!

i was speeding, driving my friend's car & the cops tried to pull me over

& i tried to get away because they will arrest me, 

& i crashed into the garage & now they're looking for me!  please don't make me go to jail!"

to your dismay, your 11 year old brother then wakes up

& walks out to where you are standing with this woman.

you hush him & send him back to bed.  your sister walks him back,

he asks if it is our friend & she tells him to not worry & to go back to sleep.

he does.

"please don't make me go to jail!  i am a good person.  you can go back to bed, i will just sit here.

please, please, please, please!"

she sits in the fetal position on your floor, rocking back & forth.  begging.

your sister comes back & turns on a light.

"please turn off your light!  please, please, please!  the police will see your lights & come in!"

your sister dims the lights, so she will calm down.

you remember you have a brother upstairs, alone.

so with your sister & this woman sitting at the base of your basement stairs,

you walk upstairs saying you're just looking for your brother.

he's ok, but frightened.  locked himself in your parents' empty bedroom.

you look out the window & see how badly she has destroyed the neighbors' garage with her car.

in addition to the 3 cop cars parked right outside your house,

you notice the trained german shepherd sniffing the neighbors' lawn.
you realize that you now have two options:
1) you can go back downstairs, try to get her to leave peacefully,
& then inform the police of where she is.
or
2) you can bring the police through your front door,
knowing that the second this woman (who might be high on meth) hears the police inside, she will panic,
while she's alone, with your sister, & your 11 year old brother is just down the hall.
you need to protect your family.

so you rush back downstairs after less than 30 seconds of being upstairs.

she looks at you, you say, "you need to leave our house.  now."

she says, "you are making me go to jail!  please don't make me go.  where are we?

can i just call my friend to come get me?"

your sister says, "you can leave & walk down to highland drive.  you can't stay here."

she calls 2 friends in a panic.  no one will come pick her up.

"can you drive me out in your car, just down your street?  please!"

"no!  you are scaring our brothers & you need to leave our house now.  you cannot stay here."

"ok, ok, ok.  do you have a number for a cab i can call?  please!"

"no.  you need to leave now."

"please, don't make me go!  you are sending me to jail!  they will get me!"

"listen, you have disrupted our home, we cannot help you.

you can either go to jail through the front door, to the cops, or through the back door.

but you need to leave now."

"ok, ok, ok.  please do you have shoes or a black jacket i can wear?!  they will see me!

they will catch me, please, you're sending me to jail!"

you have a pair of old, slippery, flip flops you may never wear again sitting on your floor.

you're wanting & willing to do anything to get her to leave your house.
so you give them to her.

& when she begs, "ok, can i please just use your bathroom before?  i gotta go!  please."

you walk her to the bathroom down the hall,

& stand in the doorway noticing your brother's shaving razor sitting on a shelf above the toilet.

not quite watching, but guarding, you allow her to use the toilet--without shutting the door.

after she's finished, your sister walks her to the back door.

you look at the window she came through, to see the damage done.

nothing is broken, but she's grabbed sweaters from a nearby clothes rack.

your sister takes the sweaters, saying,

"you can't take these.  they are ours.  we gave you shoes, now go."

she steps into the stairwell & asks one last favor.

"please turn off your motion sensor light!  they will see me!  you're sending me to jail."

"i'm sorry, we can't turn it off.  the switch is on the light."

the door shuts & she hesitates in your stairwell.

it is then that your sister verbally panics saying, "anna she isn't leaving!  oh my, what do we do?!"

you wait for her to leave your stairwell, rush upstairs to see if she is in your backyard

or where she goes, but can't see anything.

less then a minute after she walks out of your basement door,

you walk out front to inform the officers still searching the neighbors' yard.

"the woman you are looking for just broke into my house & left through our backyard."

they call for back-up & take the dog to the back.

all of this taking place in less than 15 minutes.

4 news interviews, several police interviews & statements,

& countless phone calls between the neighbors & your parents later,

you learn she has still not been found.

you learn she had stolen beer from a gas station & that's what started her chase.

you learn the police received a phone call 2 hours later

about a suspicious woman trying to break into a house a few blocks over.

you see the picture of the suspect, & recognize her face.

you learn this woman has a $25,000 warrant out for her arrest for a long history of drug abuse.

but after treating yourself to breakfast at otc with your neighbors',

& a series of concerned phone calls & texts from loving friends & family,

you rest calmed.

this story is a true story.

it was my morning.

this woman broke into my house.

both of my parents are out of town,

luckily, along with the brother whose room she broke into.

don't worry folks, we are safe.

we've double & triple checked all of our windows' locks,

we've got the eyes of our loving neighbors on us.

we are safe.

here are the news reports (i like channel 5 ksl best).

kutv channel 2 news

abc channel 4 news

channel 5 ksl news

fox 13 news

here's the ksl story:

allyson vavro, ladies & gentlemen.
my wake up call.