Gypsy Roots

‘Officer I need to report a break and enter onto my property’, Rose said in a hurry to the young female officer at the desk. Her first name was Angela according to the metallic badge she was wearing. She was definitely in good shape and Rose was hoping that she also had good communication skills and empathy.

  ‘Yes ma’am, ’ she replied with a flat lifeless voice. ‘When was that? ’ Angela continued without any change in her facial expression or tone of voice.

  She was a tall, maybe 5 foot 10, blonde with a great figure; lean built with a likely double D bust and fair skin. She was wearing her hair in a ponytail and was dressed in black slacks and a light blue short-sleeve shirt. Both shoulders were beautified by an embroidered sleeve insignia that claimed her as the employee of a state department Police.

  ‘Officer, I am not sure of the time, ’ Rose said trying to control her shaky voice and not let out the mixture of anxiety and anger she was experiencing. She felt worn out and in fear of her life. ‘I left the house around 10:45 am and returned around 04:00pm, ’ Rose added for clarification. She knew that facts were expected from her and there was no place here to show emotions.

  ‘What was taken ma’am? ’ Angela wanted to get to the point without expressing any empathy.

  ‘Oh, that is another thing that bothers me, as you see I don’t know, ’ Rose said to her with an obvious shaky voice now that had little effect on Angela.

  She looked at Rose in disbelief, shook herself as if to grasp the reality and said to her in a small voice: ‘I think that you should better talk to my colleague Patrick, ’ and disappeared into the back room before Rose had the chance to add anything else. Ha, no options here, Rose thought. Two minutes later a male officer, Patrick, approached her and politely asked her to follow him to another room.

  Officer Patrick looked like someone who would have passed easily the physical capacity and psychometric testing that Rose had heard it is expected from the applicants interested to work in the Police force these days. She was hoping that he was also dotted with some patience and sensitivity. Was it too much to ask, she wondered? Maybe her journey here was in vain after all?

  Patrick was a tall and handsome officer that oozed confidence without being confronting. He had a pair of cuffs and a tazer attached to his belt and Rose was wondering how heavy they might be. He smiled briefly at her before he pointed towards a seat. Probably he could read some of her thoughts or was it because of some warning from his colleague? Rose was not sure.

  ‘Let’s start from the beginning ma’am, ’ he said with a soft melodious voice as if he had plenty of time to listen to her story and Rose decided to take that as the sure sign of a good start. He is goooood talker, she thought. He showed good communication skills. It took them 30 minutes to discuss the situation, get all the demographics and fill the forms and then he said to Rose: 'So ma’am you are sure that you locked the door when you left? ’

  ‘Absolutely sure, officer, ’ Rose said as by now her confidence was creeping back.

  ‘And the door was locked when you returned? ’

  ‘Yes. ’

  ‘But your stuff was disturbed? ’

  ‘Yes. ’

  ‘But nothing was taken? ’

  ‘Not from my stuff: the box of jewelers was just put into a different place, my underwear was not in order and my bed drawer was open, ’ Rose briefly summarized.

  ‘Do you think that they were looking for something in particular? ’ Patrick said expecting probably some deep reflection from her.

  ‘Looks like that to me, ’ Rose said a bit tired by now and was declining into a passive aggressive mode.

  ‘Did they take any money? ’ He waited.

  ‘I don’t keep any cash at home, ’ Rose said.

  ‘Don’t you think this is a bit strange ma’am? ’ Patrick insisted.

  ‘Yes, officer, ’ Rose simply admitted.

  ‘Have you ever had anything like this happening to you before? ’ he said looking at her speculatively.

  ‘Definitely not, officer, ’ Rose said almost shocked by the implied allegations. ‘I never get entangled in things like this, ’ Rose elaborated, by now gesticulating to highlight her frustration.

  ‘Do you have a theory about this, ma’am? ’ he continued still looking at her pensively. Maybe he was getting tired too, she thought.

  ‘I don’t know, ’ Rose said reluctantly.

  ‘Go on, what it is? ’ he asked sensing there was more to that answer.

  ‘I wonder if anything has to do with my uncle. It is his house, you know. ’ Rose reminded him and returning to her initial suspicion.

  ‘Please explain, ma’am, ’ he said becoming again hopeful and she had to tell him again her story.

  ‘And why do you think would anyone be interested in your uncle’s house? ’ he pushed on with his inquiry. His face remaining a mask to Rose through all of this. Like a diplomat, thought Rose and she was not sure if that’s the way it was supposed to be. Or is it like a robot? Not much empathy here either, she realized with a sigh.

  ‘Well, most of the stuff in the house is his. I did not throw away anything, ’ Rose explained and she refrained to add that she did not have much stuff with her. He was definitely not very talkative and might find that information as unnecessary and small talk.

  ‘Has he got valuables there? ’ Patrick asked with a slight raise of his eyebrows but easily recognized by Rose who took a special class at university in learning body movements.

  ‘I don’t think so but I have not checked every box yet, ’ Rose said vaguely irritated.

  ‘Is any of his stuff missing? ’ the officer insisted and now some wrinkles appeared on his forehead.

  ‘Now that would be difficult to know as I did not take an inventory, ’ Rose said starting to feel demoralized. ‘I suppose the lawyers might have done one and I could ask them to give me a copy, ’ she added, a bit unsure.

  ‘Ok then, ’ he said suddenly brighter. ‘You ma’am do that and if you discover that something is missing give us a call, ’then he shook Rose’s hand and lead her to the door.

  ‘Thanks, officer, ’ Rose said and left in a hurry. Now that she said it out loud the situation appeared stupid and she could see why the poor officer was becoming desperate. They at least took her complaint if there was any consolation for her. She was becoming a bit depressed herself just considering the amount of time she’d have to spend going through that inventory list if there even was such a list in the first place.

  Then an idea hit her. If there was anything of value among the clutter at the house that, by will, was left to someone else and that thing disappeared she’d have to have a good explanation for it. That idea left her more depressed but jolted her into action. Now she found the motivation to get working through the list. Negative reinforcement, she said to herself. It always worked for her.

  …. .

  Rose was half way through a 500 item list when someone knocked forcefully at her front door. As she was upstairs she looked out the window and saw a Police car parked outside. She recognized the male and female officers as the pair to whom she reported the brake into her house a couple of days ago.

  They looked relaxed and younger than they had initially appeared to her. She was surprised but pleased that they had not completely ignored her problem and invited them into the house. They wanted to ensure that she was feeling safe and she guessed that she managed her emotions well as a victim. They might possess some capacity for empathy after all, she thought. Or they have little else to do these days.

  ‘Anything new ma’am? ’ the female officer, Angela, asked first.

  ‘Nope, ’ Rose said briefly, still somehow holding a grudge for the cold treatment she received at the police station a few days earlier. She did not want to mention the long list she was working on but they asked.

  ‘Half way through it, ’ Rose said. ‘Nothing that could interest a burglar, ’ she added with resignation. ‘You know, like jewelers or rare ite
ms, ’ she said. They both smiled at her.

  ‘Good one, ’ they said looking at each other.

  ‘Ma’am we don’t think that you need to worry about it but you could let your neighbors know about the incident. We have a good neighborhood watch around here, ’ Patrick said.

  ‘It’s always useful to know your neighbors, ’ Angela added while leaving.

  The rest of the day pasted without hiccups and Rose managed to almost finish checking all the items on the list. Lots of books. She was slowed in her work by the temptation to leaf through them. She noticed that the subjects varied and most of them were informative. ‘Not interested in fiction my uncle, ’ she remarked.

  As it was getting towards the evening she decided to go for a brief walk and accumulate some points towards her aim at 10, 000. 00 steps per day. She still believed that it was achievable however it was not happening for her.

  I just need to be more organized, she told herself. She thought about joining the gym and starting work on her tummy, an old idea of hers. Not that she was out of shape but a girl needs to be toned to perfection and she was having some insecurities stemming from that issue. In plain English, she thought that she needed to tone up. Better me to say it than wait to hear it from others, was one of her mottos. So Rose went out.

  In her way she stopped to chat with neighbors, to have a coffee and do some last minute window shopping. She returned home tired but fulfilled. The chocolate ice cream with a hint of