The Repo Man

So we had a visit from the Repo Man last night.

Apparently, the lady that lived in our townhouse before us got herself into some trouble when she lived here. Jay was fast asleep and I was wrapping up some homework when I heard a knock on our front door and our doorbell ringing. At 11 p.m. (!!!) And let me tell you--my heart stopped beating and I stopped breathing as I sat at the table. On a typical night, Jay and I are both sound asleep at 11 p.m., but tonight, Jay was the only one in dreamland, as I had 2 assignments due the next day.

So I just sat there at the table, not breathing, not daring to move, when there was even louder and more insistent knocking and ringing. Silently, I sent brain waves to Jay...please get up, please get up, please get up. Naturally, my cell phone with which I could have used to call Jay upstairs, lay on the dresser near the front door. The front door that I didn't want to go near.

A thought occurred to me. Maybe it was Holly, a single woman next door, who was in trouble. But wouldn't she have been yelling for us? Somehow I sensed the knocks and rings were angry, not frantic.

Finally, Jay came down the stairs totally disoriented. And when we opened the door, there were two of the scariest looking men I have ever seen: big, bald, tatted-out dudes. One held a huge silver mag light that I'm sure he would have used to break someone's knees if necessary.

--Where's Darlene Ellison?
--Uh, we don't know. We just moved in a couple months ago. But we think she lived here before us. We've gotten some of her mail in the past.
--Do you know where she is?
--No, sorry, we've never met her. She'd already moved out by the time we ever looked at the place.
--Well, she owes on her Lexus. Big time. She hasn't paid in months. (Big guy starts rifling through his papers. Talks to other big guy with mag light). Well, I guess these people don't know where she is. We'll find her. She can't hide forever.

Then the guy with the mag light throws his cigarette out in our bushes. And they just walked away. Jay must've still been half-asleep because he just shut the door, locked it, and headed back upstairs. But I was livid! How dare those men come knocking on our door in the middle of the night, throw their cigarettes in our yard, and not even apologize?!?!? Because they're repo guys, Jay told me.

As we got back into bed, I got scared again. My heart was still pounding. What if they come back? What if they didn't believe us? What if we hadn't opened the door--would they have broken in? What would they have done to Darlene Ellison if she still lived here? Jay had to get back up and make sure the door was locked and garage was shut, and garage door was locked, and the back door was locked, etc. etc. Needless to say, it was at least an hour later before either of us started to wind down and fall asleep.

Let's just hope the Repo Man never comes back!