Chapter 10 You Are My Spirit Animal

In Foodland, Esther and I hit the produce section first.

“They sure have a good variety,” I said. “Everything looks so fresh.”

“I bet the prices are higher than in New York.”

“They certainly are.” I picked up a head of romaine lettuce with a price tag of $3.99. I put it in my cart, and chose the rest of my produce carefully, taking just enough to get by for the rest of the week—a few bananas, four tomatoes, one cucumber, one onion, and a bunch of purple seedless grapes

“You’ll get used to it in time,” Esther said, setting two apples and two oranges in her cart.

“I know I will. All things considered, it seems a small price to pay to live in Paradise.”

The bakery section held row after row of tempting pastries. “I prefer to do my own baking,” Esther said.

“I’ve never done much baking,” I said. “In Africa we had our own chef—”

“Wait a minute. Did I just hear you say you had your own chef?”

“As an American, I was expected to hire help from among the locals. We had a nanny, a chef, a maid, a gardener, and a chauffeur.

“Sounds like you lived real well there.”

“I suppose we did. But as their employers, we were obligated to support the entire family of each of our workers. Besides their salary, we paid for everything from their medical expenses to their children’s tuition. It was like adopting several dozen people. If we hadn’t done so, we would’ve been run out of town. Or worse.

“In New York, there’s a bakery on every corner. I could get anything I wanted within easy walking distance. So I haven’t baked in a very long time, but I’d like to give it a try. I’m thinking I might bake a loaf of challah on Friday.”

“Then we need to get us to the baking aisle.”

She led me there and I added a small bag of flour and a packet of yeast to my cart.

“That’s all?” Esther asked.

 “This will be an experiment. If it goes well, I’ll buy more next time. Now I need eggs and butter.”

We each picked up a carton of eggs and a quart of milk, and I grabbed butter and a block of aged white cheddar. From the freezer section, Esther selected a half gallon of peanut butter fudge ice cream. Tempting as it was, I bypassed the desserts and I took a couple bags of frozen peas and broccoli.

On the way to the cashier, we passed an impressive selection of wine with several big sale signs. Many of the bottles were more than half off. If I bought enough wine, it could well make up for the high cost of my other groceries.

“Just a minute,” I said, pulling my cart up to the racks of wine.

I selected two lovely bottles of chardonnay. I was nestling them in the cart when I noticed a young woman standing three feet away, watching me intently. Startled, I took in her appearance. She wore yoga pants and a camisole top that exposed heavily tattooed arms. Her hair was a large mop of unruly brown curls. A small diamond stud sparkled on one side of her nose.

She eyed the contents of my cart, then met my eyes. She said, “You are my spirit animal. You must take me home with you.”

My mouth fell open. Before I could think of a word to utter, she laughed merrily and turned away, pushing her cart into the canned goods aisle.

“There’s a poker game tonight, Lillian,” I heard close behind me.

I whipped around to see Tiare and Violet standing almost shoulder-to-shoulder.

“Will you be joining us?” Tiare asked.

“The Neighborhood Watch meeting’s at six,” I said.

“As soon as that’s over, we’ll play.”

“I’m not much of a card player—”

“What kind of prescriptions are you on?” Violet interrupted.

“Me? Prescriptions?  I’m not real big on doctors or medications.”

“We play for pills,” Tiare said.

“Oh, sorry. I don’t take anything. I prefer to do my best and let nature take its course.” For once I was off the hook. Or so I thought.

“You must have something,” Violet said. “Pain killers from the dentist …”

I chuckled. “All I’ve got in my medicine cabinet is an old prescription stool softener—”

Their faces lit up. “Bring it!” Tiare and Violet said in unison.

***

Officer Wilfred Martin was wide in the hips and tired in the face. He had to be very near retirement age. Once everyone had settled in a semi-circle, he said, “Thank you ladies and gentlemen for coming. I know you all know each other, but let’s go around the room and each of you tell me your name.” He gave Romy a nod. “Let’s start with you, sir.”

“I’m Romy. I’m the building manager. This gentleman next to me is Arnie.”

“Tiare.”

“Coralee.”

“Mae.”

“Sylvie.”

“Vee-o-lette.”

“Kaulana.”

“Esther.”

I introduced myself last. “Lillian.”

“Very good,” said Officer Martin. “I understand there’ve been a series of thefts your building. And now, unfortunately, the death of your neighbor, Ms. Corvelli. I know you folks are scared. Rightly so. I want to commend you for taking this first step toward making your neighborhood a safer place.”

“It was Lillian’s idea,” Esther said.

There were a few murmurs of thanks and approval.

Officer Martin gave me a nod. “First let me tell you folks a little about Neighborhood Watch. It’s one of the oldest and most effective crime prevention programs in the country. The idea is to bring citizens like yourselves together with law enforcement to deter crime. Neighborhood Watch, to put it simply, is a network of neighbors keeping an eye out for each other. Citizen participation is one of the most effective tools against crime because the job of stopping burglary, robbery, or sexual assault—”

There were several gasps around the room. Eyes grew big, jaws dropped.

“Oh my god,” Violet said.

Coralee verbalized the question on all our minds. “Was Pearl sexually assaulted?”

“No, she was not,” said Officer Martin. He allowed the room to settle before continuing. “As I was saying, the police can’t be everywhere at once. Even if they happen to be passing by, they won’t recognize that a car, a truck, or people don’t belong in the area. However, you who live here will know if there are strangers around. You are the eyes and ears of the community. There have been many instances where good neighbors, people just like yourselves, have been instrumental in the apprehension of criminals simply by reporting suspicious activity. Any questions so far?”

Silence.

“Okay,” he continued. “Let’s turn to the first page of the pamphlet I gave you. Here it lists some of the things you’ll need to watch for.” He went over the bullet points.

*A person running from a residence or vehicle for no apparent reason

*Someone screaming for help

*Someone going door to door, or looking windows of homes or parked cars

*A person with seemingly no purpose, wandering around or loitering in the neighborhood

*A group gathering together to engage in a fight or otherwise apparent gang activity

*Unusual sounds such as breaking glass, door pounding, an alarm going off, or a gunshot

*A vehicle idling, just circling with no apparent destination, or driving without lights

*Any unknown person removing property from an unoccupied home or a closed business .

*A stranger, on foot or in a vehicle, stopping to talk to a child on the street .

*A child resisting the advances of an adult .

*A person selling or exchanging merchandise, conducting business out of their vehicle .

*A stranger entering a fenced yard or residence when unoccupied .

*Anyone sitting in a parked vehicle for an extended amount of time .

*Anyone removing accessories, license plates, or gasoline from a vehicle  

*A stranger removing appliances, electronics, carrying a garbage bag, pillow case, back-pack/satchel or other bundle, from a neighbor’s home .

“That’s a whole lot to remember,” Arnie said.

Officer Martin nodded. “I agree, it’s a lot of words. Simply put, you’ll want to be on the lookout for anything that seems suspicious. You’ll probably recognize what that is when you see it.

“Now everyone please take a look at the Suspect and Vehicle Description Checklist I gave you. You’ll need to have with you as you make your rounds of the neighborhood. If you see any of the things we talked about, fill out the sheet out as completely as possible. Not just the person’s height, weight, clothing, and hair color. Remember, clothing and hair can be changed. Also look for any distinguishing marks such as scars, injuries, tattoos … For vehicles, do your best to include the make, model, color, and license number. If you see a crime in progress, call 9-1-1 immediately.” He eyed each of us before saying, “Remember. You should never attempt to apprehend a suspect.”

“When do we get started?” Tiare asked.

“You can start tomorrow if you want. I suggest you set up a regular time to patrol, once or twice a week. I’ll meet with you again in a month and we can talk about how it’s going.”