XXXIV
1509 Words
Thirty minutes later, Helen found herself sitting in front of the Women and Children’s Desk. It had no partition of any sort to separate it from the other desks so all of the other policemen could see and hear them as they talked. A few meters away were three policemen huddled together, looking a little too frequent to their direction and she heard someone do a little catcalling towards them. The policewoman sitting across her who was looking more like a man than a woman sneered. Since her frantic escape from her mother’s house, Helen did not mind the very little clothing she was in until that moment in the police station and it made her conscious. The back of her robe was already soaked from the combination of her still-dripping hair and her sweat and she has not combed her jet-black hair. But still, she proceeded to make a blotter report.
“So you want to say that a masked man entered your locked house while you were taking a shower? Is that right?” the policewoman asked a bit too loud for just the two of them. Helen wondered if she was doing it intentionally for the benefit of the other men inside.
“Yes. I was in the shower when I heard my front door open.”
“And your husband was not at home at that time?”
“No, I don’t have a husband. I’m single and I was alone when that man came.”
Helen heard a low whistle from the three bunched men.
“Did you finish your shower?”
“Excuse me?” Helen asked in disbelief.
The woman in uniform grinned.
“I’m sorry. What I meant was how long have you been in the shower before that man came?”
“I can’t tell. Maybe fifteen minutes already. Or twenty, I can’t exactly say.”
“Were you expecting another man tonight, instead of this man?”
Helen could not understand the direction her questions were going to. But she tried to answer each the best that she could.
“No! I told you already I’m single and I wasn’t looking for anybody’s company tonight. That man came into my house and tried to attack me. That’s it!”
The policewoman stretched and then she clasped her hands as if in a prayer. Then she leaned forward so that their faces were almost touching.
“Did he succeed in doing so?” she asked in a very low whisper.
“Would I be here if he succeeded?!”
The policewoman with a man’s haircut leaned back and put her black boots on the table between them. Helen was shocked at such actions by a police officer and she refused to believe it was happening to her right now.
“He must have been very disappointed.”, the policewoman said to herself, licking her lower lip.
“I’m sorry. What was that?”
“I mean he must be having a very bad day for him to do this petty misdemeanor.”
Helen was already feeling pushed to the very edge
“Did I hear you right? Petty misdemeanor? The guy entered my house and attacked me. He had a gun with him and you call it petty misdemeanor?“
“Calm down, ma’am. We’ll send our men down there to investigate your place. They’ll check if it is already safe for you to go home. We’ll probably write this incident down as attempted robbery at the most. Once we make sure it is already safe, you can come home and finish your shower.” the woman winked at her.
“What about the man? Aren’t you going to go after him? To at least know who he was?” Helen asked.
“We know what to do ma’am, thank you.”
Helen felt helpless at that moment. She was threatened but the men who were supposed to help her just humiliated her. Having enough of her disregarded complaint, Helen stood up and straightened her robe.
“I’m sure you do. That’s why a lot of us people trust all of you!”
The policewoman did not even bother to look at her as she said that. Helen heard the three huddled men laugh as she headed for the glass door. One man shouted if she needed someone to stand guard outside her bathroom as she finishes her shower. Helen turned to the men and gave them the dirty finger. The three policemen laughed harder. She furiously marched out of the station without looking to anybody anymore. Helen despised the police ever since but her experience that moment cemented a direr opinion about them. She was still walking madly on her way out when she bumped into somebody and it sent her down to the concrete entrance of the station. Helen felt everything accumulate at that very moment and she cried silently at all the mishaps that she had suffered in a single day. The attack at her mother’s house, her life-and-death escape from him, the humiliation she had a moment ago and that event that left a fresh laceration to her left knee all combined together to break her into crying. The lower portion of her robe rode high above her legs and it exposed half of her. The man apologized and quickly stood her up as she sobbed.
“Miss Sandoval?” a familiar voice asked.
Helen wiped her eyes and looked at the man she bumped into. It was Sergeant Gonzalo.
“What are you doing here at the station at this hour? What happened to you?”
“I came to report an attack on my house while I was taking a shower. But your men just laughed at me and ignored my concerns, Sergeant.” She said between sobs.
“An attack on you? When did this happen?”
“About an hour ago already. I manage to escape him and I came here in a rush to ask for some help.”
“Well, I can see that clearly. Where are you going now?”
“I’m going back home now. I guess I’ll be better defending myself than those scumbags hiding inside that building.”
Alex denied her of her wish.
“I can’t let you do that. You have your car with you?”
“No. I hitched a ride on my way here.”
“Then come with me. I’ll bring you home.”
“Don’t bother, Sergeant. I’ll find my own way.”
“No, I insist. Besides, I need to see if this man is still in there. I’ll do an investigation myself.”
With teary eyes, she complied. Helen was still terrified but the thought of having a real policeman to search her house made her feel a lot secured than going home alone. They started to walk towards the police car when Alex stopped in a sudden and turned to face her once again. He had a funny look on his face.
“Just a question. You managed to run and go to a police station at this hour wearing only that?”
Helen was exasperated.
“Well, Sergeant, I couldn’t be dressed-to-kill to go to your station when I’m about to be killed, can I?”
They drove back together to the house. Alex told her to stay in the car until he was sure it was safe for her to go out. Then he held his gun in his right as he took out a small flashlight and held it in his left hand. He cautiously went in to search. Helen spent a couple of dreadful minutes waiting inside the car for him to go out of her house. Then she saw a flash of light from the dark house as he reappeared at the front door. Alex gave an ‘okay’ signal to her so she went out with her bag.
“Everything’s clear and I don’t see anyone inside. But you must secure your door and every window you have. I don’t want to scare you but he might come back. I can send two of my men to watch you tonight if you want.”
Helen remembered the three mean policemen earlier and she refused his offer.
“Are you sure? Will you be okay on your own tonight?”
“I’ve been okay on my own for a couple of years already. Another night won’t be a problem, I’m sure.”
Alex took her answer doubtfully but he agreed. She thanked him for his help and watched him drive away. Then, she went inside and closed every window and locked them all. She added another set of locks on her front door and headed to her bedroom. She had more than enough since that chest arrived and this one couldn’t be just another coincidence. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep everything out.
She drifted into a dreamless one wondering if she would ever live a normal life again.
- Writer
