Bangs and Smashes

Life with OD is nothing if not unpredictable.

Friday evening, after SJotLS and I had visited the disappointing Hadrian exhibition at the British Museum and were just departing our second hostelry of the evening around 9:45PM (first The Museum Tavern, then the Cambridge) when OD rang to advise that she believed there was an intruder in the house having earlier heard noises downstairs. Thinking it was me she called down but no reply. A few minutes later the dog began barking loudly and so she and her chum, Permanent Fixture, walked down to the kitchen to find it empty. Hearing noises above them, they quickly became convinced there was an intruder in the house and rang me. I asked if this was just weed-related paranoia but they felt not. The two of them then went out into the street where they stopped a passer-by and asked him to investigate. Thus whilst I was rushing home, running like a fool up the stairs at Euston to get a train, a complete stranger was nosing through my house looking for a burglar who - in the end - didn't exist. No, of course not. The following morning I found the cordless house phone outside on the wall of my house where they'd left it. Wet.

Of course, I would normally have thought that this was just typical of them making something out of nothing were it not for the previous weekend when somebody threw a brick through my front window. Yes, you read correctly, a brick!

How did this occur? Well let me just tell you. OD had invited YD up to stay as it was her 15th birthday and, as such, she thought it would a treat for her to attend a house party she was going to her with her friends. All so well and good I hear you say. I was out that evening rehearsing (yes, rehearsing. On a Saturday night!) with the cover band I recently joined (one of four bands I now play in. Four!!) and had agreed that I would come and collect YD at a suitable hour as and when her old sibling decreed it was her home time. So, there was I, fully clothed and a-kip upon the sofa, when the phone rang. It was two in the morning. "Dad can you pick us up. We're at Watford Junction station. We got into a fight and now we're worried about walking back in case we get set upon". Clearly I was up and in the faithful Fiat like a shot and drove down to the aforementioned station on what was the foggiest night I've seen in a long time. Once OD, YD, PF, Laura and Niamh materialised through the mist, I got the full story. Apparently they'd decided not to go to the party but had travelled to a private drinking establishment they know of instead. (Do such things exist in Watford? Apparently yes). Once inside, they recognised two girls whom they'd argued with several weeks earlier and, as a result of this previous altercation, had got themselves thrown out of local music venue The Railway. These girls apparently made loud snidey comments about OD and PF throughout the evening, which got louder as more alcohol was consumed. As the time to leave was declared, OD went to the bar and requested a glass of water which she then proceeded to throw directly into the face of one of the girls before walking out. Mayhem then ensued as the girls ran after OD, only to be caught and held by everyone else. Bouncers intervened; words were exchanged, blah, etc.

Anyhoo, upshot was I'm a-lying in bed fast asleep at 3:30 when I hear a loud crash. I go downstairs thinking something had fallen over (not that I entirely know what). Everything looks fine. I get up the next day and, yes, a large brick has shattered the double-glazed main front window. OD tells me she knows who it is (one Ricky Freeman, a local skateboarder she claims) as he was with the girls and knows where OD lives. I report it to the Police. They come over several days later when I'm not there. OD quizzes them about whether or not throwing a glass of water in someone's face can be considered assault. She's told that it is. I therefore drop everything because the last thing I want is a counter-claim against my daughter. Window replacement is £142. Thanks a bunch!

YD seemed relatively unphased by all this but as I so rarely see her these days I'm not sure whether that is her current demeanour or if she's just hiding her shock. Still, it's hardly going to encourage her to visit more.