UNINVITED GUESTS
Short story by: Linda Law
It was a hot summer night and it was Jack’s night out with the boys. Early in the marriage Boys Night Out was several nights a week, then I had to put my Mafia smile on and carry the heavy Glock where hubby could see it shine in my delicate hands. It took both hands to hold it, and thankfully, I never had to shoot it. Amazing how quickly hubby realized that this “dog don’t hunt”…. Good ole Texas saying. So, the night out with the boys was sharply reduced to once a month. Actually, I enjoyed that night out too, because it gave me a chance to send the kids to the neighbors for an overnight sleepover, and I poured a nice hot bubble bath, and read a favorite book…even indulged in Fritos and Spinach dip in front of the TV watching Dynasty.
Tonight was a big to-do for the boys as most of them were from the job…the construction company where hubby was Superintendent. He was getting an award and a couple other guys were too…as well as a nice bonus for completing the big high-rise building ahead of schedule. Hubby said, “Oh…I won’t be too late… it’ll be boring for the most part, so don’t be surprised if I come home early….So be ready cutie!” Like I believed him!
My eleven year old daughter didn’t want to sleepover with her friend since they were pouting and fussing lately; so I told her we’d make it our “Girls Night Home”. We painted toe nails, and ordered Pizza and just enjoyed the peaceful evening without her brothers and her dad. Around ten o’clock I had to smile as I remembered hubby’s telling me he’d be home early…. But he knew that he’d better not be home later than midnight regardless or all heck would break loose.. Yes… He was the construction boss, but I wore the pants a lot of the time at home; and he loved it!!
Sissy went to bed in her room around 10:30, and then about ten minutes later she said, “mommie…can I stay in your bed with you til’ daddy comes home?” I agreed, and she kept watching late TV, while I read a magazine. By 11:00 both of us were yawning, and ready to turn out the lights….so much for the exciting evening. We tossed and turned awhile, and I was getting a little antsy because all the boys were gone, and I’m not so good in the dark alone. Having Sissy near was still like being alone the way I figured.
Just as I was dozing, I heard a loud “SPLASH”…. Then footsteps…. Once again, “SPLASH”….then footsteps …. This happened several times, one after the other… I was panicking, and Sissy woke up, was scared too. Our master bedroom had a double glass sliding doorway to the pool in the back yard. Immediately upon opening the door, the cement deck was part patio, and part walking area that encircled the large pool. Both of us were afraid to look. In fact, we were afraid to move. The double glass doors had a set of horizontal blinds that were closed and covered our seeing outdoors, so we had no way of looking out without opening the blinds. I put my finger to my mouth, and did the “sshh” sound.. her eyes looked like mine... Each of us a deer with the headlights!
One by one, we dropped quietly to the carpeted floor… I crawled quietly to the base of the double doors…hoping I could see a teensy bit, but the “SPLASH” sound kept me too frozen to get too close. “Someone is swimming in the pool Sissy… I’m scared to go out there… hand me the phone.” Well, this was one of those cute Princess Pink Phones…and you had to push the little white buttons to call out… there was no 911 either…so, I dialed “O” for Operator. “May I help you?” I had to whisper, and told her someone was in our back yard, and that my husband was out “with the boys” and late in coming home…more information than she needed or wanted to know. I begged her to please send someone right away. The Operator told me to stay “on the line” until the cops arrive… and so I did… Finally… heard noises, lots of footsteps… then a very loud, FREEZE! Oh my goodness… Someone was in the yard, and the cops had caught them! Soon the front door was banging, and I ran to answer it, noticing that our front yard and driveway were surrounded by several police cars, lights flashing all over, and three or four of them came inside. The police followed me to the bedroom, and one opened the blinds to the double doors, and opened them… That was when I saw him! There by our patio deck, stood about six policemen with guns drawn… they were putting the guns away, and laughing so much I couldn’t understand… This was serious!
To the right of the pool, standing in the shadows were two huge Labrador Retrievers….Each soaking wet! They had found a way to shove open the side gate, and decided to take a nice swim …. Several laps later, they had scared us half out of our minds, and half the police department was enjoying the final outcome of what had begun as a very scary call. Well, needless to say, I had to answer questions, and they kept asking me “Where is your husband? Isn’t it a little late? It was now about 12:45 p.m, and since the “fear and excitement of the burglar” was over… I was furious! Right about then, hubby stumbles into the house, looks at the fleet of policemen sitting and standing in our huge living room, and then e sees his daughter with her robe standing next to me…and he knew!!! He knew it was CURTAINS! Well, everyone had a good laugh, the dogs were let to head for their homes down the block, and the policemen went their merry ways.
Hubby thought he could sweet talk me into not being so mad…but I decided to use this for awhile… at least until the following month, when it was “boys night out” once again.
His buddies all teased him and told him I probably lured the dogs into the backyard so I could call the cops…. They thought it was funny to tease the boss. They knew better than to tease his wife!
