Sometime during the night Sunday night, I was suddenly wide awake.
Something had just woken me up. I didn't know what it was but I knew my instincts were never wrong. I had woken up so suddenly, that I was waiting for my conscious thoughts to catch up to what my instincts were telling me.
Hardly even daring to breathe, I lifted myself up on one elbow and listened for anything out of the ordinary.
Mercedes stirred drowsily next to me. "Baby, what's the matter?"
I silently raised my finger to my lips. Very quietly, not daring to make a sound, I eased out of bed, only wearing boxers, and went to the safe built into the wall, where I quickly spun the dial for the combination lock.
Quietly as I could, I opened the safe and then got my service pistol out. Without even thinking I slid a magazine in and then slid the action back and forth to chamber a round.
I turned around to head for the bedroom door. Mercedes was looking frightened.
I went over and squeezed her arm to reassure her. She smiled but it was a nervous frightened smile. Then I raised my finger to my lips again. She nodded.
Pointing my pistol at the floor, finger off the trigger, I eased out the bedroom door into the hallway.
Walking lightly on the balls of my feet, I went up the hallway to the living room.
I hadn't even reached the end of the hallway when I heard a noise - the click of the lock being picked. That's probably what had woke me up.
I cocked the hammer back on my pistol and got ready to take a life. If some idiot thought he was going to break into my place to steal money, or valuables to sell for money, he was about to commit his last crime.
His next appointment would be to see god. If god existed. Sometimes I wondered.
The door silently eased open.
Not one but three young black men came inside, fumbling and bumbling, like The Three Stooges. Then they made another mistake that a criminal wouldn't make - they started chuckling and snickering, like people who were about to pull a huge prank on someone.
The largest dude said, "Would you guys keep it down? We're gonna wake him up before we can wake him up."
Now I knew who it was. Immensely relieved, I put my pistol on safe, stood up normally, reached over and flicked the lights on.
"Too late."
The three boys jumped right out of their skins.
The same dude who spoke said, "Shit."
I raised my pistol again. "What the hell are you doing in my place?"
The three boys all raised their hands. The oldest said, "We weren't gonna do nothing!"
"Doesn't look that way to me. Talk."
"OK, OK! Mercedes' dad sent us."
"To do what?"
"Scare you a little bit. Rough you up."
"To what end?" Although I thought I already knew the answer to that one.
"To keep you from seeing Mercedes."
I was one second away from cocking back the hammer on my pistol again. But before I could continue my questions, there was movement behind me.
Mercedes brushed past me, wearing her terrycloth bath robe. "Shawn Michael! Darren Thomas! And you, Reggie! I'm surprised and highly disappointed in you. Just what the hell are you three thinking, being out of bed at this time of night?"
The boys actually cringed. The largest one said, "We didn't know you'd be here, Mercedes."
Mercedes placed her hands on her waist. "You didn't 'know' I'd be here?! That is a poor-ass excuse if ever I've heard one. You three get your asses back home and back in bed and if I ever see you three doing some shit like this again I will tell Auntie Jasmine!"
The three of them said, "Yes, Mercedes."
"And you, Shawn Michael!" The youngest one twitched. "I thought I taught you better than this!"
The boy looked at the floor, looking very guilty, and didn't say a thing.
"That's right, child, you know you did wrong! I babysat you while your momma went to night school, and that was after she got through working as a waitress all day! She couldn't afford a real baby sitter so she asked my mother if I would do it. Apparently I didn't do that good of a job after all."
Finally the boy muttered, "I'm sorry, Mercedes."
Mercedes lost some of the fire in her voice. "I know you are, baby. Come here."
She took the boy in a surprisingly tender, maternal hug. Then she looked at the other two. "And just what brought you three here in the middle of the night, anyway?"
The oldest one, who was also looking very guilty, raised his head and said, "Your pops sent us."
Mercedes' face set in some kind of strange expression, and she didn't ask any more questions. Apparently that told her all she needed to know.
"You boys better get back home and back in bed. I'll be speaking to my father." Her voice was brittle and full of tears.
The three would-be pranksters looked at each other, frightened expressions on their faces. Then the youngest broke away from his partners in crime and came forward to me. "Sir?"
I was startled but then remembered to put my pistol away. "Yes?"
"I'm sorry we disturbed you and Mercedes. Won't happen again."
The boy extended his hand.
I took it. "You're thinking like a man. Now do what Mercedes says and get your butt back home, okay?"
The boy grinned suddenly, not so solemn any more. "Yes, sir."
"And don't let me see you in here again. Okay?"
"No, sir."
The three of them left. I closed the door behind them and locked it again.
Then I turned around, just in time for Mercedes to throw herself into my arms, crying.
I did the only thing I could do - I put my arms around her waist and held her for several minutes, as sobs shook her shoulders.
Finally she pulled back, wiping tears from her eyes. "That is absolutely the last straw! Getting young boys to come over here and break into your house, in the middle of the night, while I'm here!"
"Well, I'm not going to lie. I could have just shot first and asked questions later."
She squeezed my arms. "I know. I know. Believe me. The blame is all on my father, Zachary. All on him. This would have never happened if he'd just taken the time to get to know you! Even just a little bit....."
I held her again, rubbing her back. "Come on. Let's get back to bed. We both have work in the morning."
"Yeah. And I have a phone call to make."
I didn't bother asking her what that was all about. I just figured three teenage boys were about to get into some serious trouble.
* * * * * * * * *
By six pm that evening, I was finally coming home. It had been a long-ass day, made longer by the fact of getting woken up in the middle of the night, and then having to calm Mercedes down, and then trying to relax, myself.
It took an hour or two to get back to sleep last night.
As I pulled in to the driveway and parked, I saw Mercedes' car parked nearby, and smiled.
That would sure make up for the long day.
I opened the front door and came into the foyer, my ears attuned for anything out of the ordinary.
Mercedes' voice came from the kitchen. "Zach? Is that you, baby?"
"Yeah, it's me."
She came out of the kitchen and into the living room, wearing her favorite white cotton tank top and shorts. Her hair was slicked back in a tiny bun. She wore no shoes.
Another thing she wasn't wearing was the gold cross necklace, something she wore at all times. I wondered about that. But I didn't know how to ask.
"There you are. I was getting worried about you."
She walked over and gave me a hug.
Her voice sounded strange. Her face looked odd as well.
