17 May 2018

It’s Da Bomb

When I met Matt in 1994, I was in the process of buying a condominium. I lived there about five years before moving into the house Matt bought for us. I liked condo living. It was a small complex (about 24 units) and everyone knew everyone. Quite of a few of the units were used as rentals, so my neighbors kept changing.

The neighborhood was generally quiet. One night, I was sitting on my balcony and I heard a domestic quarrel of some kind in the distance (several houses away). A woman was shouting “I hate you, I hate you.” Fair enough. People fight. Then, I heard this scream of terror, like the woman had been stabbed or something. Of course, I called the police. They arrived shortly and I gave them a statement.

My condo unit shared a landing with the unit next door. While the policeman was standing there talking to me, my neighbor’s baby began to cry. The officer gestured to the sound, as if to say, “Is this what you heard?” (Because I am clearly that stupid.) I politely told him, “no.” But, he turned and knocked on the door, I guess to see if my neighbor had heard anything.

The door opened to a cloud of smoke – if you know what I mean. The officer asked to come in and speak to the neighbor, who replied, “Now’s not a good time.” (Duh!) The officer insisted and then things got real really fast.

The next thing I knew, our complex was surrounded by police cars, a fire engine, an ambulance or two and sundry other vehicles. The police went door-to-door telling us we all had to evacuate the premises. I spent the night at Matt’s.

Turns out, my neighbor was busted for smoking weed – and lots of it. On searching the unit, police found several pipe bombs loaded and ready to go. That’s why we were evacuated. They arrested the husband.

I was allowed to go back to my unit the next morning. A couple days later, the next-door wife came to my unit. She was crying, almost hysterically, apologizing for what her husband had done, etc. They moved out shortly and I never saw them again.

I imagine the police never did find out the cause of the screaming woman I called about; but I wonder what would have happened if chance had not intervened on my neighbor’s activities.