Well today I have a post that has nothing to do with leather. Instead I’d like to share a true story that happened to me over last weekend. I have some friends that went away to Tampa for four days. They have two big dogs and a cat, so I helped them out by house sitting for them.
Thursday night went fine. Then Friday night came. Now, for those who don’t know, I’m a bit hard of hearing. So when I’m asleep I don’t hear much. I was sleeping in a back spare room of the house. Around 2:30 AM the dogs woke me up by jumping on the bed and barking.
So I got up and went to the living room. They were both growling at the back door. The house has a fenced in back yard with a screened in back patio. There is a double door that opens to the back patio from the house. It’s that type of door where one is shut all the time by a sliding latch at the bottom and top of it.
Then the other door has a long deadbolt that locks into that door. Well I lifted one of the wooden slat shades and peeked out, expected to see just a skunk or something. Instead I saw a big bald guy sitting in a chair not 20 feet from the door!
He had on a white shirt that was covered in blood. His right eye was swollen up big with blood on his face. He was large, around 230 lbs. or so. At first I thought “what is this, a prank”? It’s Halloween horror nights down here in Orlando at Universal Studios, and the owner of the house works there!
So I thought that at first. But then he saw me, and came to the door. I let down the shade and backed away. He knocked on the door. Yeah right, like I was going to open the door! All this time the dogs are barking like crazy and this guy is not fazed. So, I get my phone and call 911.
Then I go into the kitchen and grab the biggest knife I can find, around 7 inches long, and wait. He keeps knocking louder and stronger on the door, shaking it. After what seems like 5 minutes or so, the worst thing happens. I see both doors slowly start to open up. Somehow he unlatched the other door and was opened them up together.
Because of that the deadbolt just slides out and opens. I’m thinking “oh s**t, here we go”! I’m not sure why I did what I did, it’s hard to explain what goes through your mind in those circumstances. But I guess I felt I was responsible for the safe keeping of the house I was sitting for.
I just thought that I could not let him in. So I went over to him and started waving the knife around in his face, yelling “get back, get back or I’ll cut you up!” He seemed very drunk or high, not sure which. But he put up his hands and was like “ok ok”. He tried to say something, but with the dogs going nuts and my hearing I could not understand him.
No, the dogs did not attack him. They just backed up behind me, so much for their help! Then I told him to sit down, as I wanted him down on the floor. He sat down, then laid right down, looking like he was in pain from his wounds. Finally I saw the cop lights, and got the dogs in a room, then went outside and got the police.
Turns out there was a big fist fight two houses down from me. This guy was somehow part of it. He busting the side fence, a locked one, to get into the back yard. THEN he broke in, as I explained. Maybe he was just trying to get help, that is what it seems like.
But you don’t bust a fence, then bust into the back door and expect a friendly welcome!! Plus all this time the two dogs could have been ones who would bite, but he was so far out of it he did not care. I’m waiting for my friend to find out all the details about who the hell the guy is, and what he wanted.
I also want to know how the hell he opened those latches on the other door. You can’t reach them with the door shut, but somehow he did. So, I guess I got a good Halloween scare this year! Try not to do this at your home, and if I were you, I’d run out the front door, not attack him like I did! 😉