Robbery and Vandalism

A college campus story

Lesley took his phone and dialed “CS” from the directory. A voice picks up: “Good morning, Campus Security. How may I help you today?”

“Good morning,” he replied. He hesitated, pursed his lips. “My stuff was stolen this morning.”

Flo mirrored the caller’s calm tone. “Okay, can you explain a bit more?”

“Sure,” Lesley replied, maintaining composure. “I woke up at 8:30, then I took a shower for about 10 minutes. I didn’t lock my door because let’s be real: everybody religiously locking their doors every single time they go to the bathroom? Like, that’s not happening; that would be crazy! Anyway, I leave the shower, return to my room, and I saw that my wallet was missing from my desk. I was a little confused, so I checked my bag for it: no luck. Eventually, I had spent, like, 30 minutes searching the room from top to bottom, but I couldn’t find it. But, that’s not all: I realized that my laptop was also missing, and my watch, a 14-karat ring, a pair of Nikes, my favorite cologne, my hand-made suit from my grandma...”

“Sorry, but I’ll have to stop you there,” Flo interrupted. “If you didn’t lock your door, then what’s stolen from your room is your responsibility.”

“I know that I didn’t lock my door, but I was just taking a shower. Should I be punished so badly for that? Also, I figured that even if something like that happened, I know that the dorms have cameras in the hallways. I’ve seen them every time I came in, and the guide also says that there are working cameras in designated areas. So, we can check the cameras, right?”

“Um, well... a lot of the cameras aren’t fully functioning; they haven’t been for a while, and...”

Just as Flo heard an emphatic “WAIT, WHAT?!” through the receiver, the second phone line rang.

“I’m sorry, could you hold on please?” She put Lesley on hold and answered the second line.

“Good morning, Campus Security. How may I—”

“Yes, good morning. So, like, everyone on my floor is going absolute crazy right now, because someone emptied all the garbage from the bathroom all over the lounge! I think it was, like, Rena who saw it first? Yeah, then she told everyone about it. I just can’t believe; like, who would do that? Ugh...anyway, you can check the camera footage from last night to this morning, right? To find the person? It makes sense in this situation, doesn’t it? You can do that, right?”

“Well, you see...” Flo barely started her response when the third phone line started ringing. Almost instantly, the fourth line started buzzing, then the fifth...

Darlon Riviere - Staff Writer