When Threats Become Real

Ha! The thinker...

It went down this past Monday evening. It had been a calm and rewarding day as we watched, in part, technicians repairing our crawl space issues of falling insulation, most likely caused by all the humidity our neck of the woods loves sharing with us. We have our HVAC system checked twice a year, and when the last inspection was complete, we learned a lot about the situation we had looming. So, once again, home ownership demanded more money.

We had a great crew working, and we enjoyed the back and forth conversations, when opportunity presented itself. I do believe that most of humanity is good. They want the same thing we want. Peace, prosperity, friendship, love, and agreeing to disagree on occasion.

It wasn't until the evening hours, long after the crew had left, that fear presented itself. Dennis, being the amazing father he is, had accepted a simple request of picking up an item, purchased off Facebooks Market Place, and delivering it back to one of our daughters. His truck comes in handy. He uses it for many things...mainly requests from me. 😉 So, today was no different than any other, until the unexpected happened. 

The pick up destination was a 40 minute drive, one way. It took him to a "questionable neighborhood", an unfamiliar neighborhood, that made him a little uneasy as the evening hours were about to enfold him. He had made the trip alone, as he does much of the time. Never fearful. Never concerned. That was about to change...

Progression of events as they happened once he arrived at said destination:

1) Item that was suppose to be laid out in front of the house, because it had already been paid for, was not in sight.

2) D knocks on the door, several times, with no response.

3) Eventually, the garage door opens and home owner emerges. No eye contact. No greeting. Odd...

4) Homeowner helps D put the item in the back of his truck and grunts as he turns to leave.

5) D said the niceties he alway does; being friendly regardless of how he's received. He then leaves and turns right at first stop sign, following Seri's orders. He notices a few small kids sitting on the ground as he continues his coming home plans.

6) A car pulls up behind him and follows him, then sharply moves up beside him and accelerates to maneuver in front of his truck as they swing their vehicle into a blocking position that cuts off the roadway. Their car is now sitting across the lane, instead of in a forward position, blocking him from forward movement.

7) One of the 3 people in the car, gets out, thinking D will stop, as if to engage him.

8) But...instead of stopping, D maneuvers into the passing lane and goes around them (good boy), giving them a little wave as he goes around them. He had no time to process their intentions and he ALWAYS gives everyone the benefit of the doubt. He trusts people way more than I do.

9) The guy jumps back in the car and the 3 tailgate D to the next stop sign, where D had to stop because of traffic in the intersection.

10) At this point they all 3 jump out of their car (2 guys and 1 girl) and come up to his drivers window with accusations of him taking pictures of their kids (at the first stop sign). They wanted to know what he planned on doing with those pictures. He assured them he was not guilty of what they were claiming. His words: "I'm a Christian man and don't believe in doing that kind of thing."

11) They demanded he give them his phone. He refused. I'm shaking just remembering his telling of this story when he got home. Thank God, he did come home...and in one piece.

12) When he refused to give them his phone, one of the young men (he thought they all looked to be in their 20's), said, "It's a good thing I don't have a gun." This just got real and very clear as to what their intent was.

This is where the girl got involved and spoke for the first time, letting Dennis know they watch over their neighborhood and don't like strangers coming in, to which Dennis responded, "It's good that you do. Someone needs to." 

I do think his demeanor actually disarmed them. Brought peace to a situation where there was none, with every possibility of escalation. She told him to never come back to this neighborhood, and he responded with, "Don't worry. I never will." And they retreated to their car, releasing him from the threat of harm.

Terror on the streets, in the neighborhoods...of America.

He tells me his thoughts as he slowly pulls out into traffic. He had kept his "cool" with them, all the while his insides were churning. His emotions ran the gamut after he got away, causing him to pull over to the side of the road to regroup trying to figure out where he even was. 

It was a long night. And it still invades both our thoughts. I have always been an observant individual, almost to the point of paranoia. All the more so now. I will never allow myself to be in a compromising position if at all possible. But D? Even though he is still dealing with the memory of that event, he seems to be his old self. Mostly. I did notice, however, when I came back from running errands yesterday, the door to our house was locked...with him inside. That is definitely a first!

As I'm working on this post, he popped in to tell me that he still has to pray when all the different thoughts come to him about that interaction. He is still shaken as he thinks of all the wrongs that could have happened. Thank God no gun was involved. Not because guns kill people, but because people kill people. Guns may make it easier, but had they really wanted to hurt him, they would have. 

Thank God he had the character to disarm them with kind sincerity, even while his insides were on high alert. Thank God he didn't respond with anger about the accusations. Thank God he didn't challenge them. Thank God he stayed put and never got out of the truck to address this. Thank God he got home safe. 

I pray that some small word D spoke, pierced their souls. That because of my husband's kindness to everyone he meets, even when directly accused, struck a cord within them, and they, too, had a reckoning with God that night. 

"Do not be overcome by evil (don't allow emotions to rule you, so that you respond poorly), but overcome evil with good." ~Romans 12:21

 So very grateful to have my husband still with me, here you will find me...in Mary's World.