The Mugging

Original story written in 2/05
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So I'm sitting in my room painting. Things are going well, although I'm a little hungry. After a few hours I need a stretch so I stand up to get a drink and to look outside my window.

That act in itself is unusual because of two reasons. One, I don't really drink much during the day and secondly, I normally have my curtains drawn in the evening. Let me rephrase that, I ALWAYS have my curtains drawn in the evening. The only reason tonight was any different was because I'm working on a painting of the room itself and the painting looked nicer if the curtains were open. That's sort of a crazy coincidence that might have saved someone from some serious harm.

So I look outside and see that some people are in my driveway. At first I didn't understand what was going on, but then I realized some people were fighting. Initially I thought it was just some punks messing with each other, but one of these kids hit the other one in such a vicious manner that I knew something was up.

I head downstairs and turn the lights in the kitchen on and try to open the backdoor. I don't have a key and this is one of those old school houses that needs a key to go in or out. I look out the window again, and I see that no one is there anymore, but there was a bag and a big pile of some stuff laying on the ground.

I was pretty sure that it wasn't a person laying on the ground, but it was still like deja vu. You see, A few years back I was hiking and I saw a what looked to be just a pile of stuff and it turned out to be a person who had fallen off a cliff. Needless to say, whenever I see a pile of stuff that looks like it might be a person, I usually check.

That was the initial motivation to make me go outside, but there was also an alterior motive. As I looked at that pile of stuff I realized that I was actually nervous to go outside of my house. Instantly that pissed me off. I said 'Screw that,' and immediately headed out the door. I never ever want to be afraid to leave my house.

As I head out into the night, everything is silent. There seems to be no one around, but you can never be too sure. Especially after witnessing someone getting jumped. The lights being turned on probably scared the punks away. I arrive at the pile and was very relieved to see that it's just a jacket and a bag and some chinese food, not a collasped person like I might have imagined.

After bringing the stuff inside I start to root through the bag looking for some clues as to who the owner is. I was hoping for a phone number to try to get in touch with the guy. Half way through I realize that the odds of someone having their own phone number in their own bag were pretty slim. Fortunately I did find some mail, so I knew I could return his stuff eventually. In his wallet, which was devoid of money I find a credit card with the guys name on it, James Burch.

Eventually I head back to my studio and get back into my painting when the hunger pangs start again. There's only one thought in my head. Obviously the chinese food was a gift from the heavens. It was even warm. So as I'm getting ready to eat the food, I realize that I can't eat this. This guy could be sitting at home right now all pissed off, the least I could do is bring him back his food. So I pack up his belongings and head out the door to his house which is right down the street. I get to the house and of course he doesn't live there anymore. He apparently moved into another house down the block.

While I'm over at James Burchs' old house, my current landlord calls, who also happens to be Jim's landlord too, he tells me that Jim is in the hospital and that I should just leave his stuff in my house and he'll come pick it up. This was good news and bad news. It was bad because I was worried about this Jim character. He must have gotten a wallup. I did see him get kicked in the face and that really bothered me, because the other guys doing the hitting looked like they were having fun. I hate seeing violence portrayed as a fun activity.

But on the other hand it was good news because it meant that I could eat the chinese food. Which I did and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was expecting chicken, but it was this weird rubbery meat. I'm assuming it was pork. It tasted fine, but when I bit into it and expected a certain feel, this rubbery texture caught me by suprise.

It's not too long before the cops show up. They're walking around the neighborhood flashing lights everywhere. I wander outside since I assumed they wanted to talk to me and see what went down. It's around midnight and I'm wandering around outside talking on my cellphone. A cop sees me and I say, 'Hey, you all here for the incident?' He is immediately suspicious and I tell him if he wants to ask me something I'll be inside.