Storming the Citadel sounds more entertaining. Unfortunately, it was far from entertaining at the time.
Two weeks ago-and it's taken a good few days for my ears to stop ringing. There was a police action in my building. I've seen these things on television, and occasionally in the news, but never up close and personal- very personal.
At 5:30 in the morning, there was an almighty banging on the front door of the building. I was already up (I get up at 5AM, always have done), so I was making coffee when all hell seemed to break loose. Bang, bang, bang-this went on for about ten minutes, and I wanted to go out to see what on earth was happening-but I thought better of it. Good thing, too.
The door was forced open, and police in riot gear came storming up the stairs. Riot gear: helmets, visors, Kevlar, shields, batons-you name it, they had it-up to my floor, turned to go right past my neighbor's door to the next apartment, and proceeded to use their battering ram to smash through my other neighbor's door. They went inside, there was a huge kerfuffle, and then I heard the ram smash through one of the internal doors. By this time, there must have been at least thirty police, some in uniform, some in plain clothes, all making plenty of racket. And police officers began carrying things out of the flat, almost past my door, down the stairs-and more officers were standing outside everyone else's door. I was looking through the peephole in my door-usually used to see who is coming to see me, but this time to see -?- what, exactly?
It was frightening. And loud, lots of loud talking, shouting-I had to walk away after a few minutes, and went to have my coffee. After about forty five minutes, it all started to die down. I went to look through the peephole and counted six officers in riot gear going down the stairs. I just had to open the door, and a big, burly policeman turned around and said that it's all okay, we're all safe. I asked what was going on, and he said that they were executing a warrant. So many of them? And so loud? Is that it? He couldn't tell me anything, because it was an ongoing investigation-but he did say that someone had been taken away...
At 7:30 it was all over, and the police were gone. I kept thinking: all the crime that's happening in the borough, and all the police are here, in my building, scaring the shit out of all of us who live here. It turned out that my neighbor next door didn't hear anything. She's profoundly deaf, and slept through it all (she is 90-so it's a good thing that she was oblivious). Before the copper who was stationed outside my door, he asked if I was okay. Sure, I said. I'm fine. I'm now also deaf. He then laughed, told me to have a nice day-and I really wanted to kick him down the stairs, but I thought better of it.
I've made many calls-and I've emailed-the landlord, but nobody has had the courtesy to reply. No surprises there-and we still don't know what caused the cops to raid the building. We think that it must have been drugs. Who knows?
To add insult to injury, I then had to go to the dentist after the whole palaver was finished. A back molar that has been trouble for years finally had to come out. Didn't need it, so out it came. I couldn't help wishing that the police would come and arrest me, just so I wouldn't have to go through it. Bad enough to loose a back tooth, but then you're numb on one side for the next four or five hours. Ever tried to drink water, coffee, tea-with a numb jaw? You dribble everywhere. I should have been prepared enough to buy some straws. But no-I drooled and dribbled. Very sexy, no? Ummm-no.
And I'm early enough to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! Eat lots, drink lots, don't get arrested. And a very happy and healthy New Year. We've had two crap years, so let's hope that 2022 will be so great that it will make up for the last two.
Happy Christmas. Happy and healthy New Year. Don't get arrested (watching the police action unfold made me never want to leave the house. It was that disturbing). If you see the police coming-run!
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